Toine Page #3

"Toine" is a short story by Guy de Maupassant that explores themes of social class, ambition, and the complexities of human relationships. The narrative revolves around Toine, a poor peasant, and his dreams for a better life. Through Toine's interactions with wealthier characters, Maupassant delves into the struggles and aspirations of the lower class, highlighting the deep-seated social divides of his time. The story captures Maupassant's signature style of realism and irony, ultimately revealing the harsh realities that often accompany the pursuit of wealth and status.

								


Nothing else was talked about in the neighboring cottages. Inquirers asked one another for news as they stood at their doors.

About three o'clock Toine fell asleep. He slumbered half his time nowadays. He was suddenly awakened by an unaccustomed tickling under his right arm. He put his left hand on the spot, and seized a little creature covered with yellow down, which fluttered in his hand.

His emotion was so great that he cried out, and let go his hold of the chicken, which ran over his chest. The bar was full of people at the time. The customers rushed to Toine's room, and made a circle round him as they would round a travelling showman; while Madame Toine picked up the chicken, which had taken refuge under her husband's beard.

No one spoke, so great was the tension. It was a warm April day. Outside the window the yellow hen could be heard calling to her newly-fledged brood.

Toine, who was perspiring with emotion and anxiety, murmured:

“I have another now—under the left arm.”

His' wife plunged her great bony hand into the bed, and pulled out a second chicken with all the care of a midwife.

The neighbors wanted to see it. It was passed from one to another, and examined as if it were a phenomenon.

For twenty minutes no more hatched out, then four emerged at the same moment from their shells.

There was a great commotion among the lookers-on. And Toine smiled with satisfaction, beginning to take pride in this unusual sort of paternity. There were not many like him! Truly, he was a remarkable specimen of humanity!

“That makes six!” he declared. “Great heavens, what a christening we'll have!”

And a loud laugh rose from all present. Newcomers filled the bar. They asked one another:

“How many are there?”

“Six.”

Toine's wife took this new family to the hen, who clucked loudly, bristled her feathers, and spread her wings wide to shelter her growing brood of little ones.

“There's one more!” cried Toine.

He was mistaken. There were three! It was an unalloyed triumph! The last chicken broke through its shell at seven o'clock in the evening. All the eggs were good! And Toine, beside himself with joy, his brood hatched out, exultant, kissed the tiny creature on the back, almost suffocating it. He wanted to keep it in his bed until morning, moved by a mother's tenderness toward the tiny being which he had brought to life, but the old woman carried it away like the others, turning a deaf ear to her husband's entreaties.

The delighted spectators went off to spread the news of the event, and Horslaville, who was the last to go, asked:

“You'll invite me when the first is cooked, won't you, Toine?”

At this idea a smile overspread the fat man's face, and he answered:

“Certainly I'll invite you, my son-in-law.”
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