Theophile Gautier 
King Candaules 

King Candaules’ is a novella written by Theophile Gautier in 1844. It tells the story of King Candaules and his beautiful wife, Nyssia. Although she is amazingly beautiful, Nyssia is extremely modest and refuses to let anyone see her face except for the king and her maids. The King does not understand this modesty and is eager to show her beauty to the world. To fulfil this desire he hatches a plan which involves hiding his bodyguard, Gyges, in Nyssia’s bedchamber so that he can watch her undress. The king’s plan falls apart when Nyssia discovers Gyges and decides to take revenge. We are republishing this book with a brand new introductory biography of the translator of the work, Lafcadio Hearn.