French literature summaries - 2021

Short summary - Christmas Night - Nuit de Noël
Guy de Maupassant

Micro-retelling: Going to have a pleasant Christmas Eve, the writer finds himself in an ambiguous position.

The young writer is about to celebrate Christmas alone at his desk, but the general excitement and festive atmosphere make him change his mind. He prepares a festive dinner for two and thinks about his girlfriend for the evening. Since all his friends have already been invited somewhere, the writer decides to combine personal interest and a godly deed: to find a poor girl on the street and invite her to share a festive meal with him. And so he did.

Many of the girls he met were rejected because of their ugliness and thinness, since the writer loved plump ones. Finally, he meets a suitable BBW girl. She immediately agrees to have dinner with the writer. At the table, the girl eats and drinks with appetite, although sometimes a grimace of pain appears on her face.

From conversations, the couple quickly turns to hugs and kisses, it is time for bed. While the writer is cleaning the food, the girl undresses and lies down. And then she begins to scream and writhe in pain. The guest does not answer the questions of the writer until he guesses that she is giving birth. The fullness turned out to be pregnancy.

The hero calls for help, all the neighbors, drunk, in festive outfits come running to him. Everyone is clever, men are more than anything, and everyone wants to help the woman in childbirth without fail. The writer runs after the doctor, but when he returns, he finds the whole house. Strangers drink his wine and eat his crayfish, and a neighbor hands him a baby girl. The doctor punishes the woman in labor to lie down and sends a nurse and a wet nurse. The shocked writer falls asleep in an armchair.

For a month and a half, the writer takes care of a stranger, pays for the care of her and the child. Having recovered, the girl lost a lot of weight and fell in love with the writer, which bothered him very much. "No, I will never celebrate Christmas Eve again!" - concludes the unfortunate ladies' man.