French literature summaries - 2021

Short summary - The Vendetta
Guy de Maupassant

The widow Soverini lived together with her son Antonio near the city of Bonifaccio, by the strait, beyond which was the island of Sardinia. Their living conditions were harsh: winds, storms, rocks. They had a dog called Semillant.

One night after a quarrel, Antonio was killed by a neighbor of Ravalatti. He immediately fled to Sardinia. The old woman did not cry over the corpse of her son, but promised to avenge him. The dog howled all night. When the mother spoke to her son, the dog fell silent.

Nothing ... I will avenge you, my boy. My poor child ... It is your mother who promises you, and your mother, you know, always keeps her word.

After Antonio's funeral, everyone soon forgot about him, and only his mother looked for a long time across the strait towards Sardinia, where the killer settled in the village of Langosardo. The widow of Soverni thought for a long time how she could carry out a vendetta, she is old and lonely. She did not sleep and lost her peace. The dog at her feet often began to howl, as if not letting her forget her promise.

And then one night a wild thought occurred to her. In the morning she went to church and prayed for a long time, asking God to help and support her. After that, she seemed to have strength.

The widow tied the dog up and stopped feeding it. I made a stuffed animal of a man out of straw, tied a sausage to his neck and set the dog on him, releasing him from the chain every 2-3 days. A hungry dog, with shining eyes and tousled fur, rushed furiously around the stuffed animal's neck and gnawed at it.

For three months, she trained the dog to this fight: to feeding, conquered by its own fangs.

She no longer even tied the dog and did not cling the sausage to the stuffed animal, but set it on the stuffed animal with her hand, and she tore it with her teeth, and received food as a reward.

When the widow of Soverny decided it was time, she confessed. Then she changed into men's clothes and arranged with the fisherman to take her along with the hungry dog to Sardinia. In Langosardo, she found out where Ravalatti lived and went to him.

Quietly entering his workshop, the widow called out to him and let the dog down with the words “Take it! Rip! " She bit the culprit. Just as imperceptibly, the mother returned home and slept peacefully for the first time.