The Gamekeeper by Guy de Maupassant - Audiobook - Short Story - video Dailymotion

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🔥  ➡️   The Gamekeeper by Guy de Maupassant - Audiobook - Short Story  Originally published in 1884, The Gamekeeper by Guy de Maupassant is a tale of love and betrayal set in the French countryside.  https://quizlit.org/the-gamekeeper-by-guy-de-maupassant   🔔 Subscribe for more just like this:     BOOKS FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO  Selected Stories https://amzn.to/4eVLHqZ   ↑ Links listed above are amazon affiliate links ↑  CHAT WITH QUIZLIT! =============================== 🛠️ - QUIZLIT CUSTOMER SUPPORT: support@quizlit.org FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/quizlitbooks X  https://twitter.com/Stephen48437445 IG: https://www.instagram.com/quizlitbooks/ PIN - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/QuizlitBooks/ SUBSTACK https://substack.com/@quizlitbooks THREADS @quizlitbooks  #podcast #guydemaupassant #shortstory #audiobook #booktok #read #books #booktube  #bookrecs #bookhaul #TBR #book #fiction #literature  Narrated by Peter Thomlinson, courtesy of Librivox

Transcript

00:00The Game Keeper by Guy de Maupassant

00:03It was after dinner, and we were talking about adventures and accidents which happened while out shooting.

00:12An old friend known to all of us, Mr. Boniface, a great sportsman and a connoisseur of wine,

00:20a man of wonderful physique, witty and gay,

00:24and endowed with an ironical and resigned philosophy which manifested itself in caustic humour,

00:32and never in melancholy, suddenly exclaimed,

00:36I know a story, or rather a tragedy, which is somewhat peculiar.

00:43It is not at all like those which one hears of usually,

00:47and I have never told it, thinking that it would interest no one.

00:51It is not at all sympathetic.

00:53I mean by that that it does not arouse the kind of interest which pleases or which moves one agreeably.

01:01Here is the story.

01:03I was then about thirty-five years of age, and a most enthusiastic sportsman.

01:10In those days I owned a lonely bit of property in the neighbourhood of Jumege,

01:16surrounded by forests and abounding in hares and rabbits.

01:20I was accustomed to spending four or five days alone there each year,

01:25there not being room enough to allow of my bringing a friend with me.

01:30I had placed there as gamekeeper an old retired gendarme,

01:35a good man, hot-tempered, a severe disciplinarian,

01:40a terror to poachers and fearing nothing.

01:43He lived all alone, far from the village, in a little house, or rather hut,

01:49consisting of two rooms downstairs, with kitchen and storeroom, and two upstairs.

01:55One of them, a kind of box, just large enough to accommodate a bed, a cupboard and a chair,

02:02was reserved for my use.

02:05Old man Cavalier lived in the other one.

02:08When I said that he was alone in this place, I was wrong.

02:13He had taken his nephew with him, a young scamp about fourteen years old,

02:18who used to go to the village and run errands for the old man.

02:22This young scapegrace was long and lanky, with yellow hair,

02:27so light that it resembled the fluff of a plucked chicken,

02:31so thin that he seemed bald.

02:33Besides this, he had enormous feet and the hands of a giant.

02:39He was cross-eyed and never looked at anyone.

02:42He struck me as being in the same relation to the human race

02:46as ill-smelling beasts are to the animal race.

02:50He reminded me of a polecat.

02:53He slept in a kind of hole at the top of the stairs,

02:57which led to the two rooms.

02:59But during my short sojourns at the pavilion, so I called the hut,

03:04Marius would give up his nook to an old woman from Icosherville,

03:09called Celeste, who used to come and cook for me,

03:13as old man Cavalier's stews were not sufficient for my healthy appetite.

03:18You know now the characters and the locality.

03:21Here is the story.

03:23It was on the 15th of October, 1854.

03:28I shall remember that date as long as I live.

03:31I left Rouen on horseback, followed by my dog, Boc,

03:35a big Dalmatian hound from Poitou, full-chested and with a heavy jaw,

03:41which could retrieve among the bushes like a pont and a mere spaniel.

03:46I was carrying my satchel slung across my back

03:48and my gun diagonally across my chest.

03:51It was a cold, windy, gloomy day, with clouds scurrying across the sky.

03:58As I went up the hill at Cantalou, I looked over the broad valley of the Seine,

04:03the river winding in and out along its course as far as the eye could see.

04:08To the right the towers of ruin stood out against the sky,

04:12and to the left the landscape was bounded by the distant slopes,

04:15covered with trees.

04:16Then I crossed the forest of Rumaire, and, towards five o'clock, reached the pavilion,

04:24where Cavalier and Celeste were expecting me.

04:27For ten years I had appeared there at the same time, in the same manner,

04:32and for ten years the same faces had greeted me with the same words.

04:38Welcome, Master. We hope your health is good.

04:43Cavalier had hardly changed.

04:45He withstood time like an old tree,

04:47but Celeste, especially in the past four years,

04:50had become unrecognisable.

04:53She was bent almost double,

04:55and, although still active,

04:56when she walked her body was almost at right angles to her legs.

05:00The old woman, who was very devoted to me,

05:04always seemed affected at seeing me again,

05:07and each time as I left she would say,

05:10This may be the last time, Master.

05:14The sad, timid farewell of this old servant,

05:18this hopeless resignation to the inevitable fate,

05:21which was not far off for her,

05:23moved me strangely each year.

05:25I dismounted,

05:28and while Cavalier, whom I had greeted,

05:30was leading my horse to the little shed,

05:33which served as a stable,

05:34I entered the kitchen,

05:36which also served as dining-room,

05:38followed by Celeste.

05:40Here the gamekeeper joined us.

05:42I saw at first glance that something was the matter.

05:46He seemed preoccupied, ill at ease, worried.

05:49I said to him,

05:50Well, Cavalier, is everything all right?

05:53He muttered,

05:55Yes and no,

05:56there are things I don't like.

05:58I asked,

06:00What?

06:01Tell me about it.

06:02But he shook his head.

06:04Oh, not yet, monsieur.

06:06I do not wish to bother you with my little troubles

06:08so soon after your arrival.

06:12I insisted,

06:13but he absolutely refused to give me any information before dinner.

06:18From his expression,

06:19I could tell that it was something very serious.

06:21Not knowing what to say to him,

06:23I asked,

06:24How about game?

06:26Much of it this year?

06:28Oh, yes.

06:29You'll find all you want.

06:31Thank heaven.

06:32I looked out for that.

06:34He said this with so much seriousness,

06:36with such sad solemnity,

06:38that it was really almost funny.

06:41His big grey moustache seemed almost ready to drop from his lips.

06:46Suddenly I remembered that I had not yet seen his nephew.

06:48Where is Marius?

06:50Why does he not show himself?

06:52The gamekeeper started,

06:54looking me suddenly in the face.

06:57Well, monsieur,

06:58I'd rather tell you the whole business right away.

07:01It's on account of him that I am worrying.

07:04Oh, well, where is he?

07:07Over in the stable, monsieur.

07:09I was waiting for the right time to bring him out.

07:12What has he done?

07:15Well, monsieur.

07:17The gamekeeper, however, hesitated,

07:19his voice altered and shaky,

07:21his face suddenly furrowed by the deep lines of an old man.

07:26He continued slowly.

07:28Well, I found out last winter

07:30that someone was poaching in the woods of Rosaires,

07:33but I could not seem to catch the man.

07:36I spent night after night on the lookout for him,

07:39in vain.

07:41During that time they began poaching over by Ecosheville.

07:45I was growing thin from vexation,

07:48but as for catching the trespasser,

07:50impossible.

07:51One might have thought that the rascal

07:53was forewarned of my plans.

07:55But one day while I was brushing Marius's Sunday trousers,

07:58I found forty cents in his pocket.

08:02Where did he get it?

08:04I thought the matter over for about a week,

08:07and I noticed that he used to go out.

08:09He would leave the house just as I was coming home to go to bed.

08:13Yes, monsieur.

08:14Then I started to watch him,

08:16without the slightest suspicion of the real facts.

08:19One morning, just after I had gone to bed before him,

08:22I got right up again and followed him.

08:26Preshadowing a man,

08:27there is nobody like me.

08:29Monsieur.

08:30And I caught him, Marius,

08:32poaching on your land, monsieur.

08:34He my nephew.

08:36I your keeper.

08:37The blood rushed to my head,

08:39and I almost killed him on the spot.

08:41I hit him so hard.

08:43Oh, yes, I thrashed him all right,

08:46and I promised him that he would get another beating from my hand

08:49in your presence as an example.

08:53There, I have grown thin from sorrow.

08:55You know how it is when one is worried like that.

08:58But tell me, what would you have done?

09:01The boy has no father or mother,

09:03and I am the last one of his blood.

09:05I kept him.

09:06I couldn't drive him out, could I?

09:08I told him that if it happened again,

09:11I'd have no more pity for him.

09:12All would be over.

09:14There, did I do right, monsieur?

09:17I answered, holding out my hand.

09:21You did well, cavalier.

09:23You are an honest man.

09:26He rose.

09:27Thank you, monsieur.

09:29Now I am going to fetch him.

09:30I must give him his thrashing as an example.

09:34I knew that it was hopeless to try and turn the old man from his idea.

09:39I therefore let him have his own way.

09:42He got the rascal and brought him back by the ear.

09:45I was seated on a cane chair with the solemn expression of a judge.

09:51Maria seemed to have grown.

09:52He was homelier even than the year before, with his evil, sneaking expression.

09:57His big hands seemed gigantic.

10:00His uncle pushed him up to me and, in his soldierly voice, said,

10:05Beg the gentleman's pardon.

10:08The boy didn't say a word.

10:10Then, putting one arm round him,

10:12the former gendarme lifted him right off the ground

10:15and began to whack him with such force that I rose to stop the blows.

10:20The boy was now howling.

10:22Mercy, mercy, mercy, I promise.

10:24Cavalier put him back on the ground and forced him to his knees.

10:29Beg for pardon, he said.

10:32With eyes lowered, the scamp murmured,

10:35I ask for pardon.

10:37Then his uncle lifted him to his feet

10:38and dismissed him with a cuff which almost knocked him down again.

10:43He made his escape, and I did not see him again that evening.

10:47Cavalier appeared overwhelmed.

10:50He is a bad egg, he said.

10:53And throughout the whole dinner he kept repeating,

10:56Oh, that worries me, monsieur, that worries me.

10:59I tried to comfort him, but in vain.

11:02I went to bed early, so that I might start out at daybreak.

11:07My dog was already asleep on the floor at the foot of my bed when I put out the light.

11:12I was awakened toward midnight by the furious barking of my dog, Bok.

11:17I immediately noticed that my room was full of smoke.

11:20I jumped out of bed, struck a light, ran to the door and opened it.

11:24A cloud of flames burst in.

11:26The house was on fire.

11:28I quickly closed the heavy oak door, and, drawing on my trousers,

11:32I first lowered the dog through the window, by means of a rope made of my sheets.

11:37Then, having thrown out the rest of my clothes, my game-bag and my gun,

11:42I in turn escaped the same way.

11:45I began to shout with all my might,

11:47Cavalier! Cavalier! Cavalier!

11:49But the game-keeper did not wake up.

11:53He slept soundly like an old gendarme.

11:56However, I could see through the lower windows that the whole ground floor was nothing but a roaring furnace.

12:02I also noticed that it had been filled with straw to make it burn readily.

12:06Somebody must have purposely set fire to the place.

12:09I continued, shrieking wildly,

12:12Cavalier!

12:13Then the thought struck me that the smoke might be suffocating him.

12:18An idea came to me.

12:19I slipped two cartridges into my gun and shot straight at his window.

12:24The six panes of glass shattered into the room in a cloud of glass.

12:28This time the old man had heard me,

12:31and he appeared, dazed, in his night-shirt,

12:33bewildered by the glare which illuminated the whole front of his house.

12:37I cried to him,

12:39Your house is on fire! Escape through the window!

12:42Quick! Quick!

12:43The flames were coming out through all the cracks downstairs,

12:47were licking along the wall,

12:48were creeping towards him and going to surround him.

12:51He jumped and landed on his feet, like a cat.

12:55It was none too soon.

12:57The thatched roof cracked in the middle, right over the staircase,

13:01which formed a kind of flue for the fire downstairs,

13:03and an immense red jet jumped up into the air,

13:06spreading like a stream of water and sprinkling a shower of sparks around the hut.

13:13In a few seconds it was nothing but a pool of flames.

13:16Cavalier, thunderstruck, asked,

13:19How did the fire start?

13:21I answered,

13:23Somebody lit it in the kitchen.

13:25He muttered,

13:26Who could have started the fire?

13:29And I, suddenly guessing, answered,

13:32Marius.

13:32The old man understood.

13:35He stammered.

13:37Oh, God!

13:38That's why he didn't return.

13:42A terrible thought flashed through my mind.

13:45I cried,

13:46And Celeste! Celeste!

13:47He did not answer.

13:49The house caved in before us,

13:51forming only an enormous, bright, blinding brassiere,

13:55an awe-inspiring funeral pile,

13:58where the poor woman could no longer be anything but a glowing ember,

14:02a glowing ember of human flesh.

14:05We had not heard a single cry.

14:09As the fire crept toward the shed,

14:11I suddenly bethought me of my horse,

14:13and Cavalier ran to free it.

14:16Hardly had he opened the door of the stable

14:18when a supple, nimble body darted between his legs

14:21and threw him on his face.

14:23It was Marius,

14:25running for all he was worth.

14:27The man was up in a second.

14:29He tried to run after the wretch,

14:31but,

14:32seeing that he could not catch him,

14:34and maddened by an irresistible anger,

14:36yielded to one of those thoughtless impulses

14:39which we cannot foresee or prevent,

14:41he picked up my gun,

14:43which was lying on the ground near him,

14:45put it to his shoulder,

14:46and before I could make a motion,

14:48he pulled the trigger without even noticing

14:50whether or not the weapon was loaded.

14:53One of the cartridges which I had put in

14:55to announce the fire was still intact,

14:58and the charge caught the fugitive right in the back,

15:02throwing him forward on the ground,

15:04bleeding profusely.

15:06He immediately began to claw the earth with his hands

15:08and with his knees,

15:10as though trying to run on all fours like a rabbit

15:12who had been mortally wounded,

15:14and sees the hunter approaching.

15:16I rushed forward to the boy,

15:19but I could already hear the death rattle.

15:22He passed away before the fire was extinguished

15:25without having said a word.

15:28Cavalier, still in his shirt, his legs bare,

15:31was standing near us, motionless, dazed.

15:34When the people from the village arrived,

15:37my gamekeeper was taken away like an insane man.

15:42I appeared at the trial as witness

15:44and related the facts in detail

15:46without changing a thing.

15:49Cavalier was acquitted.

15:50He disappeared that very day,

15:52leaving the country.

15:54I have never seen him since.

15:56There, gentlemen,

15:59that is my story.

16:02End of The Gamekeeper

16:04by Guy de Maupassant

16:05who knew this man who got a Brule.

16:07They have been looking for him since the youth war.

16:08I covered as a futour as a child,

16:11who ran with the dirish on his foe.

16:12He disappeared and contributed a littleο?

16:13Do not know.

16:14I just didn't know that I was繋upendant age atrás,

16:15do not know me when he died.

16:16Theseoux communal spirits,

16:17have been Kitaku.

16:18Take a pair of black friends,

16:19I can't see him.

16:21Take the Gillis and his knife bare.

16:22The girl of the mythology

16:22and the perpetrates

16:23were attacked from our hands

16:25and diamond people 24.

16:26Clark Vорошelman K.

The Gamekeeper by Guy de Maupassant - Audiobook - Short Story

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