La Bête à Maît' Belhomme

"La Bête à Maît' Belhomme" is a short story by French author Guy de Maupassant, published in 1885.

"La Bête à Maît' Belhomme"
Short story by Guy de Maupassant
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Publication
Published inGil Blas
Publication date1885
Chronology
 
Monsieur Parent
 
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History

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La Bête à Maît' Belhomme is a short story written by Guy de Maupassant. It was first published in the newspaper Gil Blas on September 22, 1885, before being reprised in the Monsieur Parent collection.[1]

Synopsis

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When one is a Norman peasant, it is an adventure to go to town by stagecoach.

That day, in the Le Havre stagecoach, there is the schoolmaster, the priest, Maître Rabot, Maître Caniveau and Maître Belhomme, a tall skinny man who moans while putting a handkerchief on his ear.

Soon, his travel companions will learn that Belhomme is convinced that a beast has entered through his ear and is eating his brain. The trip will be poisoned by this old whiner who makes more and more horrible cries.

But what is this mysterious beast that is gnawing at poor Belhomme, and how will their trip end?

Editions

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References

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  1. ^ Maupassant, Contes et nouvelles, II, Éditions Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, 1979, (ISBN 978-2-07-010805-3)
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