Gustave Flaubert 
Textes de jeunesse II 

Agonies, Angoisses, Mémoires d’un fou, Les funérailles du Docteur Mathurin, Novembre. Extrait : Du Nord au Sud, de l’Est à l’Ouest, partout où vous irez, vous ne pouvez faire un pas sans que la tyrannie, l’injustice, l’avarice, la cupidité ne vous repoussent avec égoïsme.

Partout, vous dis-je, vous trouverez des hommes qui vous diront : retire-toi de devant mon soleil, retire-toi tu marches sur le sable que j’ai étalé sur la terre, retire-toi tu marches sur mon bien, retire-toi tu aspires l’air qui m’appartient. Ô oui l’homme est un voyageur qui a soif, il demande de l’eau pour boire. On la lui refuse. Et il meurt.

About the author

Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He was born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, in the Haute-Normandie Region of France.

Flaubert’s curious modes of composition favored and were emphasized by these peculiarities. He worked in sullen solitude, sometimes occupying a week in the completion of one page, never satisfied with what he had composed, violently tormenting his brain for the best turn of a phrase, the most absolutely final adjective. It cannot be said that his incessant labors were not rewarded. His private letters show that he was not one of those to whom easy and correct language is naturally given; he gained his extraordinary perfection with the unceasing sweat of his brow. One of the most severe of academic critics admits that in all his works, and in every page of his works, Flaubert may be considered a model of style.