The Kiss

Braintain and Nathalie were in a room, Braintan was sitting in the shadow, nathalie was in the light of a fire. They were talking about banal things. Nathalie knew that Braintan loved her but he hadn't declared his love yet. Nathalie wasn't attracted by him but if he had declared she would have accepted him, because he was very rich. Suddenly, a man entered the room; he didn't see Braintan, and he kissed Nathalie. Braintain was chocked, so he left the room. Nathalie argued with Harvy, the man who kissed her.  She told him he should have rung before entering the house. He said he had come with her brother, and he asked her to forgive him. When Nathalie met Braintain again, she asked him to let her explain the situation of the other afteroon. She told him Harvy was an intimate friend, a kind of brother, but nothing more. After they had talked, the situation improved a lot and indeed they were going to marry soon. Harvy was among the guests and he sought Nathalie when she stood alone. He told her Braintain had sent him to kiss her. Nathalie was happy, she tought she could do everything she wanted. So she approached Harvy to kiss him, but he suddenly said he had stopped kissing women.

A Respectable woman

Mrs. Baroda was angry with her husband Gaston because he invited an old college friend to visited them for one or two weeks at their plantation. She had heard a lot about Gouvernail, Gaston's friend, who was a journalist. She never met him before, and she thought that he was a boring man but, when she met him, she undertood that she was wrong: he was a very nice man. One night she met him at the beach. They started talking and Gouvernail told her a lot about his college time. Mrs. Baroda was hypnotized by his words. She wanted to kiss him, but she couldn't do it, because she was a respectable woman. She decided to leave the house until Gouvernail was gone. After she had returned home she told her husband that she overcame her dislike for Gouvernail, and suggested having him back for the summer. Gaston was very happy about that notice and she explained him that she had overcome everything and the following time she would be very nice to him.

A Pair of Silk Stockings

One day Mrs. Sommers had fifteen dollars. For some days she thought about how to spend judiciously that money. She intended to spend the money on clothes, shoes, caps and hats for their children. She didn't think at the past or at the future; all her faculties absorbed her in present. Mrs. Sommers knew the value of bargains, and was very determined and persistent. But that day she was a little faint and tired. She realized that her hand lay upon a pile of silk stockings. A placard nearby announced that they had been reduced in price and a young clerk asked her if she wished to examine them. Mrs. Sommers seemed charmed by the stockings. She selected a black one. She was very satisfied, but she couldn't explain why. She wasn't thinking at all. She bought a pair of boots; a pair of gloves; two magazines. She went into a restaurant and ordered a moderate lunch. She enjoyed her gloves, her magazines, her lunch, her stockings and her boots. There was still money in her purse and so she decided to watch a play at the theatre. After the play, Mrs. Sommers took the cable car. A man with keen eyes, who sat opposite her, seemed to be attracted by her and tried to decipher her. She wanted the cable car not to stop anywhere, but to go on and on with her forever.

Do you speak english?

Manuel had passed one fish on his way. Next to it a boy who was nine or ten years old was fishing into a river full of rubbish. Meanwhile, two American tourists bapproached. The woman  was slim, The man was flabby. The pitied the fish. The woman decided to ask the boy why he didn't want to save the fish. But he didn't understand the English words, so she turned to Manuel and asked him if he could translate. The woman bought the fish, picked it up and threw into the river. Then she turned to her companion and went away together. The fish had not survived and was floating in the river. The boy climbed over the railings and dragged the dead fish towards him, then he clambered over the railings and grinned at Manuel. Manuel watched him while he finished his cigarette. Then he threw the butt down into the dirty water and made his way back the way he had come.