Three Tales (Penguin Classics)
Gustave Flaubert
Language: English
Pages: 144
ISBN: 0140448004
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Three stories by a French master
First published in 1877, these three stories are dominated by questions of doubt, love, loneliness, and religious experience—together they confirm Flaubert as a master of the short story. “A Simple Heart” relates the story of Félicité, an uneducated serving-woman who retains her Catholic faith despite a life of desolation and loss. “The Legend of Saint Julian Hospitator,” inspired by a stained-glass window in Rouen cathedral, describes the fate of a sadistic hunter destined to murder his own parents. The blend of faith and cruelty that dominates this story may also be found in “Herodias,” a reworking of the tale of Salome and John the Baptist.
This new edition is a completely new translation with a new introduction by Geoffrey Wall, Flaubert's acclaimed biographer. It features a chronology, further reading, and explanantory notes.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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they announced that they had come to bring Julian news of his parents. She leant forward to hear what they had to say. They quickly exchanged glances and then asked whether Julian still loved his parents and whether he still spoke of them. ‘Oh, yes,’ she said. ‘Well, we are they!’ they cried and they sat down out of sheer weariness and exhaustion. The young wife was far from convinced that her husband really was their son but they gave her proof by describing certain distinguishing marks on
the boat with bits of wreckage and built himself a little hut out of tree-trunks and clay. Once the ferry was known about, travellers came to use it. They hailed him from the opposite bank of the river by waving flags and Julian would straight away jump into his boat. The boat was very heavy and was further weighed down with all manner of bags and bundles, not to mention the packhorses who were frightened of the water and difficult to keep under control, which further added to the confusion.
preyed upon Flaubert's mind ever since a singular episode that took place one evening in his student days. The story of that evening explains much of Flaubert's persistent interest in other worlds of experience, and it is offered here, as a biographical preface to his Three Tales. One January evening (let the year be 1844) two young men were driving along a French country road in a lightweight two-wheeled cabriolet. Gustave Flaubert, the younger and the sturdier of the pair, was holding the
taken his side. There was one thing that Antipas could take comfort from. Jokanaan was no longer his responsibility; the Romans would deal with him. And that was a great relief! Phanuel happened to be walking along the battlements. Antipas called him over and pointed at the soldiers. ‘They are stronger than I am,’ he said. ‘I cannot set him free. There is nothing I can do about it!’ The courtyard was now empty. The slaves were taking their rest. A fiery red glow lit up the sky on the horizon.
the story or in Flaubert's sources that Julian ever becomes a member of a religious order. Thus the title ‘Hospitator' is unique to him and his chosen mode of penance. 1. mall: Sometimes referred to as ‘pall-mall’, a game in which players, using a mallet, attempt to strike a wooden ball through a suspended iron ring. 2. his vassals: His feudal inferiors, tenants who owed him their allegiance. 3. scallop-shells: The scallop-shell was worn as the badge of a Christian pilgrim who had been to the
