Guy de Maupassant was a master of the short story．This collection reflects his remarkable dliversity，with stories that vary in theme and tone．anld range from tragedy and sati re to comedy and farce．With a simplicity of style that masks complex philosophy，Maupassant can illuminate an entire cbde of values by means of a few telling details．He exposes the brutality of war and the hypocrisy it spawns，and depicts the petty Limitations，the dissimulations and the vanities inherent at different levels of society．His stories are Iinked by a trenchant ir6ny and by a preoccupation with the frailty of human nature and the futility of so many lives．