Three Tales

Three stories (Trois Contes, 1877) is an author’s collection by French classic writer Gustave Flaubert, including unusual and vivid narrative plots.

A Simple Heart — written by Flaubert based on some events from his own life—he also loved a country house in Normandy, and he pursued knowledge in the same way as Paul. And even more importantly, he suffered from epilepsy just like Félicité. “A Simple Heart” tells the story of the life of an unhappy maid, pursued all her life only by suffering and losses. In the end, at the dusk of her life, the most valuable thing she has left is a stuffed parrot. Step by step, without even noticing it herself, the woman begins to identify it with the divine Holy Spirit.

The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitable — was written by Flaubert inspired by a large stained-glass window in Rouen Cathedral, which he often visited. However, contrary to the stained glass, Flaubert noticeably changed the plot of the legend. It says that in the lives of most righteous people there is always something they can come to confession with. And so, one day, the hero of this story—having sincerely repented of all the sins of his youth—by the will of fate found himself at the threshold of a fateful trial: the leper asked Julian for a kiss. With a pure soul accepting the request of the poor, Julian suddenly found himself in the arms of Jesus, who lifted him to heaven.

Herodias — a tale about how Herodias decided to behead John the Baptist through a secret plot with her daughter Salome, who charmed the ruler Herod Antipas with her dance to such an extent that he swore to grant any of her wishes. Flaubert was inspired to write this tale by Oscar Wilde’s “Salome,” as well as Jules Massenet’s opera “Herodias,” based on the same story about Julian the Hospitable.