Set in the nouveau riche Paris of society women, prostitutes, and playboys; in the Normandy countryside; and on the French Riviera where Maupassant had lived, the thirty-four short stories in this volume are among the most darkly humorous and brilliant in French literature. They focus on the complexity of close relationships: between lovers, as in the poignant fantasy 'A Parisian Affair' or the touchingly ironical 'The Jewels'; between siblings, as in 'At Sea'; and between former partners, as in 'Encounter.' They reveal two sides of human nature: its grace and generosity, and also, as in 'Boule de Suif,' its greed and hypocrisy. Piquant and varied, Maupassant's stories lay humanity bare with deft wit and devastating honesty. Boule de suif—A Parisian affair—A woman's confession—Cock crow—Moonlight—At sea—Amillion—Femme fatale—Monsieur Jocaste—Two friends—Awakening—The jewels—Train story—Regret—Minor tragedy—The christening—Coward—Rose—Idyll—Mother Sauvage—Madame Husson's rose king—Encounter—Happiness—A bit of the other—Love—Hautot & son—New year's gift—The Horla—Duchoux—The lull-a-bye—Mother of invention—Who knows? — Laid to rest—The necklace.