Francois the Foundling / Francois le Champ

«Francois the Foundling» — this is a story from the life of a French village in the nineteenth century. Many critics of that time reproached Georges Sand for idealizing peasants, but the writer insisted that civilization had not yet spoiled the morals of rural inhabitants; they are full of nobility and selflessness and capable of unconditional love. Francois's childhood would have been quite joyless if not for the meeting with Madeleine Blanche, who became a second mother to the orphan. The boy grows up, and now he dedicates his life to Madeleine and her loved ones…
We present to the readers the unadapted text of the story, accompanied by questions on the content of each chapter and a glossary.