At the Church Door (Maupassant)

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Guy de Maupassant

At the Church Door

Summary of the Short Story

Microsummary: A couple lost their son and spent years searching for him, enduring poverty and hardship. Eventually, they found him as a successful man in a church, leading to a tearful reunion.

A wheelwright and his wife lived in a small village and were overjoyed when they finally had a child, whom they named Jean.

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Father Pierre — wheelwright; loving father; aged and weakened by sorrow and hardship.

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Mother Jeanne — loving mother; aged and weakened by sorrow and hardship.

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Jean — lost son; kidnapped by circus people; adopted by a wealthy lady; educated and successful.

When Jean was five years old, he went missing after a circus came to town. Night was falling, and a brownish mist filled the horizon, and everything retreated into the dark and gloomy distance.

Night was falling, and a brownish mist filled the horizon, and everything retreated into the dark and gloomy distance.

The couple searched for him tirelessly, but he was never found. Heartbroken, they sold their house and set out to find their son themselves. They questioned everyone they met, but nobody knew anything about their son. Eventually, they became beggars and lived in poverty. They devoured it in silence, seated on the edge of the ditches.

They devoured it in silence, seated on the edge of the ditches.

One day, an innkeeper told them that he knew someone who had found their lost daughter in Paris, so the couple decided to go there. They searched the city for their son, but they could not find him. They became friends with an old man who sprinkled holy water at a church, and they eventually took over his job when he died.

One day, a young man who resembled the wheelwright when he was young came to the church with two ladies. The couple was struck by the resemblance and asked the young man if his name was Jean. The young man, who had been kidnapped by the circus and later adopted by a wealthy woman, recognized his parents and they were reunited. He knelt down with his head on the knees of the old man and wept.

He knelt down with his head on the knees of the old man and wept.

The young man told his parents about his life and introduced them to his fiancée. The couple was overjoyed to have their son back and they lived happily together until the end of their days.