''Le Réquisitionnaire'' ( English "The Conscript" or "The Recruit") is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

. It was published in

1831 Events January–March * January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto estab ...

and is one of the ''Études philosophiques'' of ''

La Comédie humaine (; English: ''The Human Comedy'') is Honoré de Balzac's 1829–48 multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration (1815–30) and the July Monarchy (1830–48). ''La Com� ...

''.

Plot summary

The story is set in 1793 in

Carentan Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was m ...

, in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. A local aristocrat, Madame de Dey lives at her estate at Carentan to ensure that it is not confiscated by the government. Her son is taking part in a Royalist uprising. She refuses visitors for two days, and buys a hare at the market. This arouses suspicions that she is either sheltering a Royalist priest or hiding a lover. When visited by a local merchant, she admits that she has received a letter from her son. He has written that he was captured during a failed attack on Granville, but that he will escape, and take shelter with her. He mentions a three-day period during which he should be expected. She holds a social gathering at her home on the third night that her son is expected to arrive. She acts calmly, and all but the local prosecutor leave early. The prosecutor warns that he will have her house searched the next day. He hints that he might save her. He politely leaves when there is a knock on the door. In the meantime, a group of conscripts is expected at the city, and one reports to a local official. He is billeted to stay at Madame de Dey's home. The visitor who has knocked at Madame de Dey's door is taken to her son's room. She greets him, and is shocked to discover that it is not her son, but a Parisian conscript who has been billeted to her home. She dies that night, and on the same night her son is shot in

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

Historical background

The story is set during the French Revolution. The main character's son is involved in the Vendéen Royalist Uprising. The story takes place in November 1793, shortly after a failed Royalist attack on Granville.Sylvia Raphael, Note from translation of ''The Conscript'', ''Selected Short Stories''

Bibliography

* Raphael, Sylvia. "Introduction". ''Honoré de Balzac: Selected Short Stories''.

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English language, English, Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Korean language, Korean amon ...

, 1977.

References

External links

"The Recruit", translation (by Katharine Prescott Wormeley) at Project Gutenberg (full text)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Requisitionnaire, Le 1831 short stories French short stories Books of La Comédie humaine Short stories by Honoré de Balzac