Vingt Et Un Contes

The purpose of this collection is to bring together in one volume a large number of the best French short stories. The stories selected will introduce the student to some of the outstanding authors of nineteenth-century French literature and at the same time have sufficient plot to hold the interest of students in second year language courses. In determining the order in which the stories are to be read, an effort was made to arrange them according to the difficulties of style and vocabulary. Oral and written exercises, providing drill in vocabulary, idioms, grammar, and pronunciation, have been prepared for use in classes where such drill is desirable. Comprehension questions and vocabulary tests accompany certain stories intended for collateral reading; these stories are brought together at the end of the collection. For this third edition, a portrait and a short biography of each author have been provided. Also added is a brief critical and historical commentary on the work of the writers. [From the Preface to the Third Edition]