The First Snowfall (Maupassant)
Short Summary
Cannes, southern France, approximately late 19th century. On a calm, warm winter day, a young woman sat on a bench along La Croisette, gazing serenely at the blue sea. Deeply ill, she knew she was dying of tuberculosis and would not see spring again.
Married four years earlier to Henry de Parville, she had moved from lively Paris to his isolated Norman chateau. Initially content, she gradually grew intensely unhappy, bored, and tormented by the constant humid coldness of the mansion, yet her husband ignored her pleas for warmth.
Desperate to force her husband to install a furnace, she deliberately endangered her health one winter night: "She noiselessly left her room, descended the stairs, and opened the gate into the garden. The earth, covered with snows seemed dead. She abruptly thrust forward her bare foot, and plunged it into the icy, fleecy snow."
She noiselessly left her room, descended the stairs, and opened the gate into the garden. The earth, covered with snows seemed dead. She abruptly thrust forward her bare foot, and plunged it into the icy, fleecy snow.
As intended, she developed severe pneumonia and permanent lung damage. Her husband reluctantly installed the furnace, but her health declined further, forcing her to seek relief in the south. Now in Cannes, she received a letter from Henry, cheerfully refusing to light "her damned furnace." Reading it, she coughed painfully, yet smiled, satisfied with having insisted on her wish, despite its tragic cost.
Detailed Summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
A Dying Woman in Cannes
Along the beautiful promenade of La Croisette in Cannes, a young woman emerged from her small house. She paused briefly to observe the people walking by before making her way to an empty bench facing the sea. After walking just twenty paces, she sat down, exhausted. Her pale face resembled that of a dead woman as she coughed into her transparent fingers.
She gazed at the beautiful blue sea, the mountains of Esterel in the distance, and the sky full of sunshine. Despite her condition, she smiled and whispered to herself how happy she was.
Contemplating Death
The young woman was fully aware of her impending death. She knew she would never see another spring and that her body would soon decompose in an oak coffin while others continued to enjoy life along the same promenade. Yet this knowledge did not disturb her peace.
She knows, however, that she is going to die, that she will never see the springtime, that in a year, along the same promenade, these same people who pass before her now will come again to breathe the warm air...
As she sat on the bench, she fell into a reverie, recalling the past and the circumstances that had led her to this point. She remembered her marriage four years earlier and the life that had followed.
Life in the Cold Norman Chateau
The young woman had been married to a Norman gentleman for financial reasons arranged by her parents. Though she would have preferred to refuse, she had agreed with a simple nod to avoid disappointing her father and mother. She was a Parisian, full of joy and life, while her husband was a man of the countryside.
Her husband had brought her to his Norman chateau, a huge stone building surrounded by ancient trees. When she first arrived, she had commented that it didn't look cheerful, but Henry had laughed and assured her she would get used to it. Their first month passed in embraces, but soon the young woman began to learn about the small concerns of country life.
Summer came, and she went to the fields to watch the harvesting. Autumn followed, and her husband began to spend his days hunting with his two dogs, Medor and Mirza. The young woman grew fond of the dogs, lavishing affection on them that she did not show to her husband. Henry would return from hunting and tell her about his day, describing where he had found partridges or complaining about neighbors who hunted on his land.
She was cold all day long, everywhere, in the drawing-room, at meals, in her own apartment. It seemed to her she was cold to the marrow of her bones. Her husband only came in to dinner; he was always out shooting...
Winter arrived, bringing endless rain and mud. The young woman felt perpetually cold in the spacious, humid rooms of the chateau. Her husband, always out hunting or supervising farm work, would return only for dinner, jovial and covered in mud. He seemed perfectly content with their simple country life.
By December, the cold had become unbearable, and she asked Henry to install a furnace. He was shocked by this extravagant idea, laughing at the suggestion and insisting she would eventually adapt to the cold, which he claimed was good for her health. In January, tragedy struck when her parents died in a carriage accident. She went to Paris for the funeral, and her grief consumed her for six months.
The Fatal Decision
When winter returned, the cold seemed even more penetrating than before. The young woman again mentioned a furnace, but her husband dismissed the idea as impossible. Instead, he brought her a small copper foot warmer, jokingly calling it a "portable furnace." By December, she felt she could not continue living this way and timidly suggested they spend some time in Paris. Henry was bewildered by the idea, seeing no reason to leave their home.
One evening in January, as she watched the crows dispersing among the trees, she began to weep. When her husband asked what was wrong, she admitted to feeling sad and bored, quickly adding that she was also cold. This last complaint angered him, as he insisted she had never caught a cold since arriving at the chateau.
She got out of bed, her legs and her feet bare, and a childish idea made her smile: "I want a furnace, and I must have it. I shall cough so much that he'll have to put one in the house."
That night, she made a desperate decision. She left her room, went outside, and plunged her bare feet into the snow. She walked as far as the pine trees, even sitting in the snow and rubbing it on her chest before returning to bed. By morning, she was coughing and unable to get up. She had developed inflammation of the lungs and became delirious, repeatedly asking for a furnace.
Acceptance and Peace
The doctor insisted on installing a furnace, and Henry reluctantly agreed. However, the young woman's condition was incurable. Her lungs were severely affected, and the doctor warned that she would not survive another winter in Normandy. She was sent to Cannes, where she came to love the sun, the sea, and the scent of orange blossoms.
Now, as she sat on the bench in Cannes, she knew she was going to die and was at peace with this knowledge. She opened a newspaper and read the headline: "The first snow in Paris." She shivered, then smiled. After looking at the Esterel mountains glowing in the sunset, she returned to her house, stopping occasionally to cough.
She finds a letter from her husband. She opens it, still smiling, and she reads: "MY DEAR LOVE: I hope you are well... For some days last we have had a good frost, which presages snow... I do not light your damned furnace."
She stopped reading, happy at the thought that she had her furnace installed. As her right hand holding the letter fell to her lap, she raised her left hand to her mouth to calm the persistent cough that was racking her chest.