The Funniest Stories / Les Histoires Droles. Level 1

This edition presents novellas by the classic of French literature Alphonse Daudet (1840 – 1897) from his collection "Letters from My Mill". These include "The Goat of Monsieur Seguin", "The Papal Mule", "The Curé of Cucugnan", "The Legend of the... Man with Golden Brains", and "The Elixir of His Reverence Father Goshé". They tell stories from the lives of the inhabitants of southern France, specifically Provence, with good humor and at times biting irony. The novellas are based on folk tales, reworked and largely transformed by the author's imagination. The beautiful French language, rich yet not overly complex, amusing plot twists, and unobtrusive morals (most clearly evident in "The Legend of the Man with Golden Brains", perhaps the only novella where sadness "prevails" over humor) make this book quite valuable for those starting to learn French. The text of the novellas is slightly shortened, and lexical-grammatical difficulties are explained. Exercises and a French-Russian dictionary at the end of the book help to better understand and grasp the content.