I need to find the name of a specific short story by Guy de
Maupassant: The name should be provided in English and in French: The
theme of the short story is described below.
A captain in the army is seriously injured. He is assumed dead and is
buried. He awakens and manages to dig himself out. However, he is
disheveled and confused. He travels to his home village, but no one
will believe is story, they say the captain died. Desperate he goes to
his wife, thinking she will of course recognize him. She does, but she
has become a rich widow. She denounces him as a fraud and he spends
the rest of his life half crazy and begging. |
Request for Question Clarification by
pinkfreud-ga
on
04 Apr 2004 15:29 PDT
Are you certain that this is a story by Guy de Maupassant? The plot
you've described sounds very much like "Colonel Chabert," by Honoré de
Balzac:
"Colonel Chabert is a man disfigured in the Napoleonic Wars who was
left for dead on a battlefield. After digging his way out of a mass
grave, he finds that he has no legal right to his title or his massive
estate. Nobody will believe his true identity. For ten long years he
goes about trying to communicate his plight to anyone who will listen.
They only see a crazy bum, and his wife rebuffs his letters. She
already has a new husband and kids. Finally Chabert is able to
convince a lawyer named Dervilles to accept his case, namely that of
reclaiming his title, lands, and wife. The problem is that noone is
really interested in his life being resurrected. Most people would
rather that he remained dead. So begins the ludicrous battle of a man
against the law to prove his own existence."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0811213595/104-9339224-8908742?v=glance
|
Clarification of Question by
lzz-ga
on
05 Apr 2004 13:37 PDT
Your clarification answered the question. I don't know what to do about that.
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Request for Question Clarification by
pinkfreud-ga
on
05 Apr 2004 13:39 PDT
If you are fully satisfied by my suggestion of the Balzac work, I'll
be glad to repost it as the answer to your question. Are you needing
any additional information?
|
Clarification of Question by
lzz-ga
on
05 Apr 2004 14:10 PDT
Yes, I need additional information, but, I have just posted it as
another question (where can I buy a nice version of this book).
However, I am satisfied with your original answer, so you can post it
as "fulfilled" or whatever.
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