Farewell

Guy de Maupassant

The two friends were getting near the end of their dinner. Through the cafe

windows they could see the Boulevard, crowded with people. They could feel

the gentle breezes which are wafted over Paris on warm summer evenings and

make you feel like going out somewhere, you care not where, under the trees,

and make you dream of moonlit rivers, of fireflies and of larks.

One of the two, Henri Simon, heaved a deep sigh and said:

"Ah! I am growing old. It's sad. Formerly, on evenings like this, I felt full of life. Now, I

only feel regrets. Life is short!"

two or three years of excitement. For we cannot understand the alterations which time

produces. In order to appreciate them one would have to remain six months without seeing

one's own face-- then, oh, what a shock!

"And the women, my friend, how I pity the poor beings! All their joy, all their power, all

their life, lies in their beauty, which lasts ten years.

"As I said, I aged without noticing it; I thought myself practically a youth, when I was

almost fifty years old. Not feeling the slightest infirmity, I went about, happy and peaceful.

"The revelation of my decline came to me in a simple and terrible manner, which

overwhelmed me for almost six months--then I became resigned.

"Like all men, I have often been in love, but most especially once.

multicolored parasols, on the blue-green sea; and all is gay, delightful, smiling. You sit

down at the edge of the water and you watch the bathers. The women come down, wrapped

in long bath robes, which they throw off daintily when they reach the foamy edge of the

rippling waves; and they run into the water with a rapid little step, stopping from time to

time for a delightful little thrill from the cold water, a short gasp.

"Very few stand the test of the bath. It is there that they can be judged, from the ankle to the

throat. Especially on leaving the water are the defects revealed, although water is a

powerful aid to flabby skin.

"The first time that I saw this young woman in the water, I was delighted, entranced. She

stood the test well. There are faces whose charms appeal to you at first glance and delight

you instantly. You seem to have found the woman whom you were born to love. I had that

feeling and that shock.

"I was introduced, and was soon smitten worse than I had ever been before. My heart

longed for her. It is a terrible yet delightful thing thus to be dominated by a young woman.

"She was married, but her husband came only on Saturday, and left on Monday. I didn't

cencern myself about him, anyhow. I wasn't jealous of him, I don't know why; never did a

creature seem to me to be of less importance in life, to attract my attention less than this

man.

"But she! how I loved her! How beautiful, graceful and young she was! She was youth,

elegance, freshness itself! Never before had I felt so strongly what a pretty, distinguished,

delicate, charming, graceful being woman is. Never before had I appreciated the seductive

beauty to be found in the curve of a cheek, the movement of a lip, the pinkness of an ear,

the shape of that foolish organ called the nose.

"This lasted three months; then I left for America, overwhelmed with sadness. But her

each other gently and quickly, slowly yet rapidly, each one is long and yet so soon over!

They add up so rapidly, they leave so few traces behind them, they disappear so completely,

that, when one turns round to look back over bygone years, one sees nothing and yet one

does not understand how one happens to be so old. It seemed to me, really, that hardly a

few months separated me from that charming season on the sands of Etretat.

"Last spring I went to dine with some friends at Maisons-Laffitte.

"Just as the train was leaving, a big, fat lady, escorted by four little girls, got into my car. I

hardly looked at this mother hen, very big, very round, with a face as full as the moon

framed in an enormous, beribboned hat.

"She was puffing, out of breath from having been forced to walk quickly. The children

began to chatter. I unfolded my paper and began to read.

"We had just passed Asnieres, when my neighbor suddenly turned to me and said:

"'Excuse me, sir, but are you not Monsieur Garnier?'

"She blushed a little:

"'Madame Julie Lefevre.'

"Never had I received such a shock. In a second it seemed to me as though it were all over

with me! I felt that a veil had been torn from my eyes and that I was going to make a

horrible and heartrending discovery.

"So that was she! That big, fat, common woman, she! She had become the mother of these

four girls since I had last her. And these little beings surprised me as much as their mother.

They were part of her; they were big girls, and already had a place in life. Whereas she no

longer counted, she, that marvel of dainty and charming gracefulness. It seemed to me that I

had seen her but yesterday, and this is how I found her again! Was it possible? A poignant

have become a mother, nothing but a good mother. Farewell to the rest, that is over. Oh! I

never expected you to recognize me if we met. You, too, have changed. It took me quite a

while to be sure that I was not mistaken. Your hair is all white. Just think! Twelve years

ago! Twelve years! My oldest girl is already ten.'

"I looked at the child. And I recognized in her something of her mother's old charm, but

something as yet unformed, something which promised for the future. And life seemed to

me as swift as a passing train.

"We had reached. Maisons-Laffitte. I kissed my old friend's hand. I had found nothing utter

but the most commonplace remarks. I was too much upset to talk.

"At night, alone, at home, I stood in front of the mirror for a long time, a very long time.

And I finally remembered what I had been, finally saw in my mind's eye my brown

mustache, my black hair and the youthful expression of my face. Now I was old. Farewell!"

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