Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net The Works of Guy de Maupassant VOLUME VIII PIERRE ET JEAN AND OTHER STORIES _ILLUSTRATED_ NATIONAL LIBRARY COMPANY NEW YORK COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY BIGELOW, SMITH & CO. * * * * * CONTENTS PIERRE ET JEAN. DREAMS MOONLIGHT THE CORSICAN BANDIT A DEAD WOMAN'S SECRET THE CAKE A LIVELY FRIEND THE ORPHAN THE BLIND MAN A WIFE'S CONFESSION RELICS OF THE PAST THE PEDDLER THE AVENGER ALL OVER LETTER FOUND ON A DROWNED MAN MOTHER AND SON THE SPASM A DUEL THE LOVE OF LONG AGO AN UNCOMFORTABLE BED A WARNING NOTE THE HORRIBLE A NEW YEAR'S GIFT BESIDE A DEAD MAN AFTER A QUEER NIGHT IN PARIS BOITELLE * * * * * OF "THE NOVEL" I do not intend in these pages to put in a plea for this little novel. On the contrary, the ideas I shall try to set forth will rather involve a criticism of the class of psychological analysis which I have undertaken in _Pierre et Jean_. I propose to treat of novels in general. I am not the only writer who finds himself taken to task in the same terms each time he brings out a new book. Among many laudatory phrases, I invariably meet with this observation, penned by the same critics: "The greatest fault of this book is that it is not, strictly speaking, a novel." The same form might be adopted in reply: "The greatest fault of the writer who does me the honor to review me is that he is not a critic." For what are, in fact, the essential characteristics of a critic? It is necessary that, without preconceived notions, prejudices of "School," or partisanship for any class of artists, he should appreciate, distinguish, and explain the most antagonistic tendencies and the most dissimilar temperaments, recognizing and accepting the most varied efforts of art.