At the age of twenty-five, Guy de Maupassant experienced the first signs of an inherited syphilitic condition. The horror of the inevitable end would never leave him; it not only drove him to a seemingly reckless lifestyle but also formed the foundation from which he drew the material for some of his most impressive stories. This volume includes not only cabinet pieces of madness from Maupassant's pen but also the German premiere of his early burlesque "Dr. Gloss and the Soul Migration," in which the horrific is still humorously softened, yet its dark shadow is already noticeably unfolding. A true discovery!.