Guy de maupassant donut summary. Other retellings and reviews for the reader's diary
Drawing by F. Thévenot
Very briefly
Merchants who have left on business are detained by a Prussian officer. He demands that a prostitute who is among them give herself to him. The girl succumbs to the persuasion of her companions, and they turn away from her.
Winter, French city of Rouen. The Franco-Prussian War is on. The Prussian army occupies the city. The Germans allow several merchants to leave the city for Le Havre on business.
Early in the morning, ten people leave Rouen in the carriage of the Normandie. Among them: a wholesale vintner with his wife, a paper-spinning mill owner with his wife, a count with his wife, two nuns, a Democrat Cornudet, and a prostitute nicknamed Pyshka. Men who adhere to the conservative party unite against Cornudet, and women begin to discuss the prostitute Pyshka.
The crew drives very slowly, constantly getting stuck in snowdrifts. Expecting to arrive quickly, the passengers did not stock up on provisions, and soon became terribly hungry, but neither a tavern nor a farm where food could be bought is visible on the road. By three o'clock in the afternoon, Pyshka, who did not want to stop in taverns and intended to eat her supplies on the journey, could not stand it and took out a supply of food for three days. At first, Pyshka hesitates to treat the arrogant gentlemen, but soon even the virtuous ladies step over their pride and join the meal.
Pyshka says that she cannot see the Prussians on the streets of Rouen and left her hometown out of a sense of patriotism. The night is coming. The journey has been going on for 13 hours. Soon the police stop the crew to check the documents, after which everyone decides to spend the night at the "Commercial Hotel". The innkeeper informs Pyshka that a Prussian policeman wants to speak to her. She goes and returns indignant, but does not tell anyone what happened. Everyone is having dinner. At night, Korniude pesters Pyshka, but she does not want to provide him with services while Prussian soldiers live in the hotel.
In the morning it turns out that the coachman is gone. When they find him, he explains that a Prussian officer forbade him to harness the carriage. It soon turns out that the policeman will not let them out until Pyshka surrenders to him. At first, everyone is outraged by the impudence of the officer, but the next day they already begin to get angry that she does not do what he wants, and that her "profession" implies.
On the third day, having gathered in the tavern, everyone begins to figure out how to make Puffy fulfill the condition, scold her and despise her for being stuck here because of her. Even the nuns participate in persuasion and sophism inspire Pyshka that her sacrifice will be pleasing to God.
By the middle of the fourth day, the servant reports that Pyshka agreed and will not come out for dinner. Everyone is celebrating, making greasy jokes, drinking champagne. Only Cornudet believes that they have committed an abomination.
The next morning, a harnessed carriage awaits everyone. Everyone ignores the released Pyshka and sits down from her as if from a leper. When it's time for dinner, everyone takes out the stocked food, only Pyshka has nothing - she did not have time to take care of the food. Full of resentment and rage, Pyshka remembers her basket with three days of provisions, which these bigots did not disdain, and begins to cry. Everyone turns away. Cornudet sings, and until the end of the road, Pyshka's sobs are interspersed with the stanzas of the Marseillaise.
Guy de Maupassant
For several days, the remnants of the defeated army passed through the city. It was no longer an army, but a disorderly horde. People with long, dirty beards, in uniforms that had turned into tatters, trudged sluggishly, without banners, having lost their parts. It was evident that everyone was depressed, exhausted, had lost the ability to think and make any decisions - and they walked only out of habit, falling from fatigue as soon as they stopped. There were mainly mobilized spares, peace-loving people, calm rentiers, now bending under the weight of a gun; there were still young soldiers of the mobile guard, easily inspired, but also easily succumbing to fear, equally ready for attack and flight. Among them came across groups of soldiers in red trousers - the remnants of some division, defeated in a big battle; gunners in dark uniforms, lost in a mass of variegated foot soldiers; and in some places the helmet of a heavy-stepping dragoon gleamed, hurried with difficulty after the lighter step of the infantry.
Squads of bandit-like free shooters passed by, bearing heroic nicknames: "Avengers for Defeat", "Citizens of the Grave", "Allies in Death".
Their commanders - former traders in cloth, grain, tallow or soap, random warriors who received the rank of officers either for money or for long mustaches - people hung with weapons, dressed in fine cloth embroidered with galloons, spoke in thunderous voices, discussed the campaign plan and boastfully asserted that they alone were holding perishing France on their shoulders; meanwhile, they were sometimes even afraid of their own soldiers, vagabonds and robbers, often desperately brave, and inveterate mazuriks.
There were rumors that not today or tomorrow the Prussians would enter Rouen.
The National Guard, who for two months had scouted the surrounding woods with great care, occasionally shooting down their own sentries, and preparing for battle whenever a rabbit stirred somewhere in the bushes, now went home. Weapons, uniforms, all the deadly paraphernalia that until recently inspired fear on boundary posts along the main roads for three miles around disappeared immediately.
Finally, the last French soldiers crossed the Seine, heading through Saint-Sever and Bourg-Achard to Pont-Audemer. Behind everyone, between the two adjutants, walked the general, who had fallen into complete despair. He could not do anything with these miserable scattered remnants of the army, and he himself lost his head in the midst of the complete defeat of a nation that was used to winning, and now, despite its legendary courage, suffered such a catastrophic defeat.
A deep silence hung over the city, a silent, terrified expectation. Many of the obese bourgeois, huddled behind their counters, awaited the winners with dreary anxiety, trembling with fear, fearful that their skewers and large kitchen knives might be mistaken for weapons.
Life seemed to have stopped: the shops were closed, the street was mute and deserted. Only occasionally did some inhabitant, frightened by this silence, hurriedly make his way along the walls.
The wait was so tedious that many wished for the speedy arrival of the enemy.
The day after the departure of the French troops, a small detachment of lancers, who had come from nowhere, quickly rushed through the city. A short time later, a black avalanche rolled down from the slopes of Sainte-Catherine, and two other streams of conquerors appeared from the direction of Darnetal and Boisguillaume. The vanguards of all three corps simultaneously converged on the square near the city hall, and from all the neighboring streets the German army was advancing, deploying its battalions, under whose heavy and peaceful step the pavement hummed.
A command in an unfamiliar guttural language carried along the houses, which seemed abandoned, extinct; but because of the closed shutters, many eyes followed these victors, who, by the "right of war," now received power over the city, over the property and life of citizens. The inhabitants in the darkness of their rooms were seized with that panic horror that accompanies natural disasters that bring death, great cataclysms, before which all human wisdom and power are powerless. Such a feeling always appears when the established order of things is overthrown, when security no longer exists, when everything that was protected by the laws of people or nature is left to the mercy of senseless, cruel and brute force. An earthquake that buries an entire population under collapsed houses; a river overflowing its banks, carrying away the corpses of people along with the carcasses of bulls and beams torn from the roofs; or a glorious army that slaughters those who defend themselves and carries off the rest into captivity, which plunders in the name of the sword and praises God amid the roar of guns - all these are equally terrible disasters that undermine all faith in eternal justice, all the faith that they inspire us with the patronage of heaven and the power of the human mind.
In the meantime, small detachments were knocking on every house and then entering. After the invasion, the occupation began. It was now the duty of the vanquished to please the victors.
After a while, the first fear passed and calmness was restored. In many houses the Prussian officer dined at the same table as the hosts. Sometimes he turned out to be a well-mannered person and, out of politeness, expressed sympathy for France, assuring him that it was hard for him to participate in this war. Such feelings evoked gratitude. Besides, if not today or tomorrow, his patronage might be needed. By caring for him, it was possible, perhaps, to get rid of a few extra soldier's mouths. And why insult those on whom our fate entirely depends? It would be not so much courage as recklessness. And reckless courage is no longer a shortcoming of the Rouen bourgeois, as it once was, during the time of the heroic defense that glorified their city. Finally, the most convincing argument, dictated by French courtesy, was given: it is perfectly permissible to be polite to a foreign soldier at home, so long as not to show friendly intimacy towards him in public. On the street they pretended to be unfamiliar with the guest, but at home they willingly talked with him, and every evening the German stayed longer, warming himself by the common hearth.
The city gradually assumed its usual form. The French still hardly showed up, but the streets were full of Prussian soldiers. After all, the commanders of the blue hussars, arrogantly dragging their long weapons of death along the pavement, showed little more contempt for ordinary citizens than the commanders of the French riflemen who visited the same cafes a year ago.
And yet there was something elusive, unknown in the air, some unbearably alien atmosphere was felt, like some kind of smell, the smell of an invasion spreading everywhere. It filled public places and dwellings, gave some flavor to food, created the impression that you were traveling somewhere far away, among wild and dangerous tribes.
Dumpling Novella Puffy is the nickname of the Rouen maiden of easy virtue Elisabeth Rousset, given to her for her fullness. She is "small, round, swollen with fat." The story takes place during the Franco-Prussian War. P., initially ready to receive the Prussians in her house full of supplies, could not control her anger and put the German who came to her to wait, so she was forced to hide. She leaves Rouen for Le Havre by stagecoach, where her fellow travelers were the wholesale wine merchants of the Loizeau wife, the manufacturer Carré-Lamadon and Count Hubert de Breville with their spouses, the Democrat Cornudet, and two nuns. No one took supplies with them on the road, and everyone is fed by P.
Bibliography
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In a huge, hot, beautiful world, performed great feats, achieving it. And here he is with her, he owns her, embraces her, drags her into the realm of his dreams. "Telling about the first meeting of Martin and Ruth, Jack London gives a portrait of the heroine through Martin's enthusiastic perception, and the reader sees him through the eyes of" ... pale, an airy creature with big soulful blue eyes." So...
The remnants of a defeated army march through the city. Tired, exhausted soldiers are a heterogeneous society, within which you can meet both the gallows and respectable citizens - merchants or rentiers. Inside the retreating army there are rumors that the Prussians have occupied Rouen. After the National Guard leaves the city, there is a painful silence in the latter. People are closing in their houses, the streets are empty.
The next day after the departure of the French army, the Germans come to the city. The townspeople are terribly afraid of them, but are forced to show courtesy to the winners and let them wait.
After a while, the Rouans get used to the German soldiers. They communicate nicely with them at home, but on the streets they try not to notice, as well as not to go out into the streets themselves. From time to time, corpses in Prussian uniforms are fished out of the river outside the city.
Trade begins to revive in the city. Merchants receive permission to travel to Dieppe, but in fact they are fleeing with their wives from the snowy, winter Rouen. Among the passengers of the stagecoach: wholesale wine merchants - the Loizeau spouses; a manufacturer employed in the cotton industry, Mr. Carré-Lamadon and his young wife; Count and Countess Hubert de Breville; two nuns; democrat Korniudet and a person of "easy virtue" nicknamed "Dumb". The woman received her middle name for the excessive plumpness of the body, which, however, makes her quite charming. Stagecoach passengers look with disapproval at the Pyshka. The carriage moves slowly along the road and now and then sinks into the snowdrifts.
People are starting to get hungry. Cornudet offers rum to everyone, but only Loizeau agrees to it. At three o'clock in the afternoon, when everyone's stomachs begin to cramp from hunger, Pyshka takes out a basket with a huge amount of provisions. She begins to carefully eat the chicken from the faience plate. Well-bred ladies devour her with their eyes and are furious at such foresight. Loizeau praises Puffy and she invites him to join the meal. The girl also treats the nuns, who immediately agree and begin to greedily consume food. Cornude also does not refuse food. Passengers drink wine from one glass - a glass of Pyshka.
The young wife of a manufacturer cannot stand the smell and faints. The nuns force her to drink wine, after which Puffy, with all possible respect, offers her food to noble passengers. Small talk begins in the carriage. Pyshka says that she left Rouen because, in a fit of patriotic anger, she almost strangled a German soldier. Passengers talk about politics. Pyshka is a Bonapartist. She argues with Cornudet. The Count tries to reassure everyone by saying that everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
When it starts to get colder, the women lend Pyshka a heating pad. At night the carriage arrives at Thoth. At the "Trading Hotel" travelers are met by a German officer. Noble society is afraid of him, and only Pyshka and Cornudet behave with dignity.
The owner of the Folanvie inn gives Pyshka an order from a Prussian officer to come to him. It turns out that the girl's name is Elisabeth Rousset. Pyshka does not want to go, but does so, succumbing to the persuasion of society. Ten minutes later she comes back very angry. Everyone sits down for dinner. Folanvie's wife scolds the German soldiers and the war. She believes that the latter is the work of kings. Without them, there would be no wars on earth.
At night, Loizeau watches through the keyhole as Pyshka refuses Cornudet's love. She does not want to caress the man in the house where the enemy lives.
The next day, stagecoach passengers watch as soldiers in Prussian uniforms help local peasant women cook, look after children, and wash clothes. The priest explains that these soldiers are not Germans, but poor people, and the poor must help each other.
A Prussian officer forbids French travelers to leave Thoth. They try to get an explanation from him, but he does not tell them anything specific. In the evening he again sends for Pyshka. She tells the society that the officer wants to sleep with her. Everyone is outraged to the core.
During the night, people cool off a little towards Pyshka. They begin to think that in vain she refused the officer.
The next day, a plot is brewing against Pyshka, who has gone to church to look at the christening of her child. All day long, society pesters Pyshka with examples of female self-sacrifice, known to history and religion. The nuns talk about going to take care of sick soldiers and lament that the delay could cost the lives of many of them.
While Pyshka spends time with an officer, society makes frivolous jokes about this, and only Cornude looks gloomy and in the end accuses everyone of meanness.
The next day everyone leaves Thoth. Passengers turn away from Pyshka, as if they are afraid of getting dirty. They do not treat her with food, seeing that in the morning bustle she forgot to stock up on provisions. The donut cries out of anger and self-pity.
The post was inspired by the reading of Guy de Maupassant's magnificent story "Dumpling".
Reference
Author: Guy de MaupassantFull name: "Pyshka" (Guy de Maupassant "Boule de suif")
Original language: French
Genre: story, short story
Year of publication: 1880
Number of pages (A4): 25
Summary of Guy de Maupassant's story "Dumpling"
The story of Guy de Maupassant "Dumpling" takes place in France during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. The Prussians defeated the French and occupied part of France, including the city of Rouen. Local traders are seeking the right to leave the occupied territory in order to establish trade relations with non-occupied lands, and a large stagecoach is being laid. Representatives of noble and wealthy families, a family of wine merchants, two nuns, a local democrat and a prostitute nicknamed Pyshka ride in this stagecoach. All passengers ended up on the stagecoach for various reasons: noble families want to escape from the occupied city, a wine merchant wants to expand the geography of sales, nuns go to the hospital to care for the wounded, a democrat wants to help the French military in the unoccupied territories, and Pyshka is fleeing from Rouen, because does not tolerate the Prussians, which caused her serious problems.The words of the command, shouted out in unusually guttural voices, carried along the houses, which seemed to have died out and abandoned, and meanwhile, from behind the closed shutters, someone's eyes furtively examined the winners, people who became "by the right of war" the owners of the city, property and lives. The townsfolk, sitting in semi-dark rooms, were seized with the horror that natural disasters cause, great and destructive geological upheavals, before which all the wisdom and power of man are powerless. The same feeling arises whenever the established order is overthrown, when the consciousness of security is lost, when everything that was protected by the laws of people or the laws of nature, is in the power of a senseless, brutal and merciless force. An earthquake that destroys the townspeople under the ruins of buildings, a flood of a river that carries drowned peasants along with the corpses of oxen and torn roof rafters, or a victorious army that slaughters all who defend themselves, takes the rest into captivity, robs in the name of the Sword and, amid the roar of cannons, gives thanks to whom God - all these are terrible scourges that undermine faith in eternal justice and in the hope we inspire in the protection of heaven and the mind of man.
The stagecoach moved significantly less than planned due to difficult weather conditions. As it turned out, none of the passengers thought to take food with them, except Pyshka, who collected a whole basket of various food. And the passengers, who at first reacted extremely negatively to such a neighborhood, ate all her food with great pleasure and even seemed to treat her a little more cordially.
The stagecoach, meanwhile, stopped for the night at an inn. The Prussian officer refused to let him go further if Pyshka was not nice to him. She resolutely refuses, as she is a patriot of France and the Prussians are disgusting to her. Other passengers at first support her decision, but then they understand that they must at all costs persuade Pyshka to please the Prussian officer. They make advice, make a plan and begin to persuade Pyshka, saying that they need her sacrifice, that sacrificing themselves for other people is a very good thing, even from the point of view of religion. Even the nuns take part in this. A few days later Pyshka yields to persuasion and now the stagecoach can continue its journey.
Having set off, the passengers of the stagecoach completely turned away from the main character, not even offering her to share a meal with them, as she had done earlier. Insulted and humiliated, Pyshka spends the rest of the way sobbing.
Nobody looked at her, nobody thought about her. She felt herself drowning in the contempt of those honest scoundrels who first sacrificed her and then tossed her away like a dirty and useless rag.
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