Bed No. 29 (Maupassant)
Short summary
France, 1868. Captain Épivent was a handsome hussar officer who attracted attention wherever he went.
He was vain and arrogant, particularly successful with women. In Rouen, he began an affair with Irma, a beautiful young woman who was the mistress of a wealthy manufacturer.
Their relationship became the talk of the town. When war broke out, the Captain's regiment was sent to the front. After the war ended, he returned to find Irma had disappeared. He received a letter from her asking him to visit her in the hospital. There he discovered she was in the syphilis ward. Irma told him Prussian soldiers had taken her by force and infected her, but she had deliberately spread the disease to them as revenge. The Captain was humiliated when his comrades learned about Irma's condition and mocked him. When Irma wrote again asking to see him, he refused until a chaplain summoned him to her deathbed. He visited reluctantly and accused her of shaming him. Irma angrily defended herself, shouting:
I have killed more Prussians than you!...I have done more harm than you, I, yes, more harm to them than you, and I am going to die for it, while you are singing songs
The Captain fled the hospital in shame. The next day, he learned that Irma had died.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Captain Épivent: the perfect hussar officer
Captain Épivent was the epitome of a handsome hussar officer who commanded attention whenever he walked through the streets of any French town. Ladies invariably turned to admire him as he passed.
He was always on parade, always strutted a little...He had superb ones, it is true, a superb moustache, figure and leg...His waist was thin as if he wore a corset
His physical appearance was striking: a heavy blond moustache that fell in sweeping curves, a muscular chest that bulged above his corseted waist, and admirable legs that displayed every movement beneath his red trousers. He walked with a distinctive gait that showcased his military bearing, though he appeared commonplace when dressed in civilian clothes. His face was handsome with a thin, curved nose, blue eyes, and a good forehead, though he was bald and never understood why his hair had fallen out.
The Captain scorned everyone with varying degrees of contempt. For him, the middle class did not exist—he looked at them as he would at animals. Only officers counted in his world, though even among them he maintained distinctions.
The conquest of beautiful Irma
In 1868, Captain Épivent's regiment, the One Hundred and Second Hussars, came into garrison at Rouen. He quickly became known in the town, appearing every evening around five o'clock at Boïeldieu Mall to take his absinthe and coffee at the Comedy café. Before entering, he always took a turn upon the promenade to display his figure. The merchants of Rouen would remark upon seeing him that he was a handsome fellow, though they knew of his reputation.
Among the kept ladies of the town, there was a race to see who would capture him. One evening, the beautiful Irma, mistress of the rich manufacturer, stopped her carriage in front of the Comedy.
She made a pretence of shopping to pass before the officers' tables and cast a look at Captain Épivent that seemed to say clearly: 'When you will.' Even the Colonel noticed and muttered about the Captain's luck. The next day, Captain Épivent passed under her windows in full uniform, and that same evening he became her lover. They attracted attention and mutually compromised themselves, both proud of their adventure.
For a whole year they walked about and displayed in Rouen this love like a flag taken from the enemy...more sure of the decoration so much desired, for the eyes of all were upon him
War, separation, and return
When war was declared, the Captain's regiment was among the first sent to the front. Their farewells lasted the whole night, with the room in complete disarray. Irma was wild with despair, throwing herself on the floor and overturning furniture while the Captain, much moved but unskilled at consolation, could only repeat that it was necessary. At daybreak, she followed him in her carriage to the first stopping-place and kissed him before the whole regiment. His comrades found this very romantic and patriotic.
The regiment was sorely tested during the campaign. The Captain conducted himself heroically and finally received the cross of honour. When the war ended and he returned to Rouen and the garrison, he immediately asked for news of Irma, but no one could give him anything exact. Some said she had married a Prussian major, others that she had gone to her parents who were farmers near Yvetot. He even sent someone to check the death registry, but her name was not found. He took the enemy to task for his unhappiness, declaring that in the next war, the Prussians would pay for it.
The terrible discovery at the hospital
One morning at lunch time, a porter gave the Captain a letter from Irma saying she was in hospital, very ill, and asking him to visit. The Captain grew pale and declared he would go immediately after lunch. He told his fellow officers that Irma was in hospital and that it must be the fault of those unspeakable Prussians. After lunch, he set out with hurried step to the city hospital, but entrance was sharply refused until he obtained authorization from his Colonel and then from the hospital director, who gave him a cold and disapproving greeting.
Inside the hospital, a boy in service showed him the way through long corridors. His guide stopped before a corridor and the Captain read on the door in large letters: 'Syphilis.' He started and felt himself blushing. An attendant preparing medicine at the door showed him to bed 29, saying 'There it is.'
There was nothing to be seen but bedclothes covering even the head. When the Captain murmured 'Irma,' a face appeared, so changed and thin he would scarcely have known it. She gasped with emotion, tears running down her cheeks, overjoyed to see him. When he asked what was the matter, she replied that it was written on the door. She explained that the Prussians had taken her almost by force and poisoned her, but that she had deliberately not cured herself because she wanted to poison them in return.
It was those beasts of Prussians. They took me almost by force and then poisoned me...the desire to avenge myself came to me...I poisoned them too, all, all that I could
Final confrontation and Irmas death
The Captain, feeling disgust and fear, made excuses to leave quickly, claiming he had an appointment with the Colonel. Irma begged him to return on Thursday, and he promised, though he had no intention of keeping his word. When his comrades asked about Irma that evening, he said she had a lung trouble. However, a perceptive lieutenant discovered the truth, and soon the Captain became the victim of jokes throughout the regiment. It was learned that Irma had been with the Prussian General Staff and was called 'the Prussians' woman.' The Colonel sent his sarcastic compliments.
The Captain tore up Irma's subsequent letters in rage. After some days, he received a note from a hospital chaplain saying Irma was on her deathbed and begging him to come.
He dared not refuse to follow the chaplain, but he entered the hospital with a heart swelling with wicked anger, with wounded vanity, and humiliation.
He found Irma scarcely changed and thought she had deceived him. When he said he could not continue to see her because her conduct with the Prussians had been the shame of the town, she fell back in bed and passionately defended herself. She insisted she had deliberately infected the Prussians to kill them, and that she deserved more merit than he did because she had killed more of them than his entire regiment. As she grew more agitated, declaring she had done more harm to the enemy than he ever had, the other patients in the ward became excited.
The Captain fled, tumbling down the staircase four steps at a time and shutting himself in his room. The next day he heard that Irma was dead.