French literature is perhaps more abundant than any other in those
short works of imagination that are called in France _contes_ or
_nouvelles_, in order to contrast them with those extended narratives
for which the name of _romans_ is reserved. As far back as the Middle
Ages, during the period of the interminable _chansons de geste_,
then of the romances of chivalry, not less diffuse, which succeeded
them, the French took pleasure in telling short stories, of which
some, such as _Aucassin and Nicolette_, still retain, for those whom
their antiquated language does not repel, much interest and charm. In
like manner, when the Renaissance ends, in the period of the ample
burlesque epic of Rabelais, the Queen of Navarre, in the tales of her
_Heptameron_, vies with the _novellieri_ of Italy. In the following
century, during which Spanish influence prevailed, we hardly find
any more short stories appearing in separate form, but novelists, in
the manner of Cervantes in his _Don Quixote_, interpolate some here
and there in the plot of their main works of fiction, as halts and
resting-places for the mind of the reader: like D’Urfé in his _Astrea_,
or Madame De La Fayette in _Zaïde_; like, again, Le Sage in his _Gil
Blas_ at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Later on, the
eighteenth century will come to restore the _genre_ to its sway, and
Voltaire will be a master in it; nevertheless he will hardly cultivate
it without making it serve philosophical purposes. Along with him,
more than one minor story-teller of merit, such as the Chevalier De
Boufflers, could be named, but not without regret that their wit and
elegance should be employed in the service of a somewhat libertine
morality.
From the rapid sketch which precedes, the reasons, whether of substance
or of form, which prevent us from including in our selection any of the
short stories which were written before the nineteenth century, will
easily be deduced. Besides, it is only then that the _genre_ flourishes
in all directions, and that the writers who cultivate it produce the
most numerous, finished and varied _nouvelles_ and _contes_. The names
of the twelve authors selected were obviously all imposed upon us; but
our embarrassment commenced when it was necessary to choose one single
tale from their works. It is certain, for instance, that we might
have preferred, in the case of Alphonse Daudet, a page in which his
trembling sensibility was expressed, and not one of those into which he
has rather put his witty Provençal gaiety; and some people may regret
that Guy de Maupassant is represented here by a sentimental tale rather
than one of those stories into which he has poured his bitter realism
and his black pessimism. To those who might be inclined to reproach
us, we would answer that we have been guided, not only by the wish to
present always the most characteristic work of each author, but by
that of giving to our selection the greatest variety of tone among the
narratives thus placed in juxtaposition, and also by the desire never
to lose sight of any moral proprieties. We have only imposed upon
ourselves one absolute rule: only to offer here perfect, indisputable
masterpieces. We hope that no one will question our success in this.