INTRODUCTION |A
counts of his trips to Spain, Italy, the East, etc., whereïin he finds an opportunity to display his great talent as a landscapepainter. Finally, he is the author of several books of short stories from which I have selected the material of the present volume.
His Literary gifts are as much in evidence in his short stories as in his novels. They show that he sees life in a more rosycolored light than the writers of the naturalistic school. He may be called an optimistic realist while the tendencies of the other disciples of the same school are pessimistic.
These brief tales are written in a pleasant mood, generally ending in a satisfactory way, and leaving the reader under a more agreeable impression than he will usually derive from the gloomy tales of Guy de Maupassant.
His subjects are mostly chosen from rustic life, and he delights in reviving the former customs, manners, and traditions of his native province, Vendée. That is why his name is so often linked with those of the provincial writers, such as George Sand, Ferdinand Fabre, André Theuriet, Émile Pouvillon, Anatole Le Braz, etc. But he differs greatly from George Sand, the leader of that school, in that his characters are lifelike, true, while hers are too highly idealized.
His literary success is especially due to his great feeling for nature; his broad sympathy for, and tender interest in, his characters, however lowly; his optimistic view of life; his delicate and sometimes quaint style ; his fine talent as a painter of natural scenery; his fearless treatment of the social problems of the present time; his cleverness as a moralist.
In this collection, 1 have been guided by the desire to meet the needs and gratify the taste of the students for whom it is intended, by offering them stories full of interest and variety, and I hope I have succeeded.
Contes de Bonne Perrette proved to be à real mine. K+otn it were taken Za Jument bleue, Le Moulin qui ne tourne plus,
vi INTRODUCTION
La Boîte aux lettres, La Veuve du loup, and Le Grenadier de la belle neuvième. 1 have borrowed from Zes Récits de la plaine et de la montagne: Quinze billets bleus, and Le Chapeau de soie ; from Croquis de France et d'Orient: Histoires de dindons. |
The first selection, Za /ument bleue, is worthy to figure prominently among the many short stories lately inspired by the Napoleonic legend. Ze Moulin qui ne tourne plus is a rustic tale, much in Daudet’s vein and trend. Za Boîte aux lettres is a delicate little sketch of clerical life, full of gentle humor. The story of Quinze billets bleus vaguely reminds us of François Coppée’s novel, Zes vrais riches. Le Chapeau de soie is a dramatic episode of the late Franco-Prussian war. Æésfoires de dindons shows us the amusing and strange mixture of credulity and cunning to be found in French country people. La Veuve du loup is a poetical tale of a Vendean vendetta. Finally, the last and longest one, Ze Grenadier de la belle neuvième relates an act of bravery somewhat similar to that accomplished by heroic Captain Deberle in Jules Clareties Za Frontière.
YonNKERS, N. Y., May 6, 1907.
