| Brander Matthews.
1852–1929. |
Introduction: The Humor of Continental Europe |
| Rutebeuf.
fl. c. 1249–c. 1277. |
The Ass’s Testament |
| Doun de Laverne.
13th Century. |
How a Peasant Won Paradise by Wit |
| Eustache Deschamps.
1346?–1406. |
Advice to a Friend on Marriage |
| François Villon.
1431–1463? |
Ballad of Proverbs |
| All Things Except Myself I Know |
| Marguerite de Navarre.
1492–1549. |
One Ducat for a Horse |
| A Lady’s Passion for a Cordelier Cured with a Stick |
| The Miracle of the Lighted Candle |
| Jehan du Pontalais.
15th Century. |
Money |
| Anonymous.
15th Century. |
The Usurer’s Paternoster |
| François Rabelais.
c. 1490–1553. |
The Lost Hatchet |
| Prognostications |
| Lending and Borrowing |
| Concerning Diogenes and Drink |
| Vincent Voiture.
1597–1648. |
On Being Tossed in a Blanket |
| On Sending Some Lions of Red Wax |
| Cyrano de Bergerac.
1619–1655. |
The Soul of the Cabbage |
| Molière (Jean Baptiste Poquelin).
1622–1673. |
A Language Lesson |
| Harpagon’s Method of Money-Lending |
| An Interview with Trissotin |
| An Apothecary’s Bill |
| Monsieur Purgon |
| The Jealousy of Le Barbouillé |
| Paul Scarron.
1610–1660. |
Ragotin’s Civility |
| Strolling Players |
| François, duc de La Rochefoucauld.
1613–1680. |
Maxims and Sentences |
| Blaise Pascal.
1623–1662. |
On Fasting |
| On Usury |
| On Mental Reservations |
| Jean de La Fontaine.
1621–1695. |
The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse |
| The Council of the Rats |
| The Crow and the Fox |
| The Peasant’s Choice of Punishment |
| Philippe Quinault.
1635–1688. |
Two Imaginative Innkeepers |
| Edmé Boursault.
1638–1701. |
The Quack Practises |
| Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux.
1636–1711. |
Annoyances of Paris |
| To Perrault |
| On Cotin |
| David Augustin de Brueys and Jean Palaprat. |
The Trial for Sheep-Stealing |
| Alain René Lesage.
1688–1747. |
The Archbishop’s Veracious Secretary |
| The Universal Fire Cure |
| Dialogue Between Two Chimneys |
| Asmodeus Emerges from the Bottle |
| Jean-François Regnard.
1655–1709. |
The Cowardly Marquis |
| Jean de La Bruyère.
1645–1696. |
Menippus |
| Nicander |
| Iphis |
| Thoughts |
| Alexis Piron.
1689–1773. |
Three Epitaphs on Himself |
| Lines on the French Academy |
| Pierre de Marivaux.
1688–1763. |
Paying One’s Debts |
| Voltaire.
1694–1778. |
The Philosophy of Dr. Pangloss |
| The Martial Bulgarians |
| How to Encourage Admirals |
| The Church of England |
| The Presbyterians |
| Memnon, or Human Wisdom |
| The Pike’s Roe |
| The Liberty of the Will |
| First Day in France of a Huron |
| Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset.
1709–1777. |
Ver-Vert |
| Marquis de Vauvenargues.
1715–1747. |
The Conceited Fool |
| The Man of the World |
| Reflections |
| Denis Diderot.
1713–1784. |
Beware of Genius! |
| Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais.
1732–1799. |
The Barber’s Soliloquy on His Career |
| Varieties of Truth |
| Jacques Delille.
1738–1813. |
Hail, Coffee! |
| Marc-Antoine Désaugiers.
17728–1827. |
The Eternal Yawner |
| Pierre Jean de Béranger.
1780–1857. |
The Dead Alive |
| The King of Yvetot |
| Lizzy’s Peccadilloes |
| The Education of Young Ladies |
| The Little Man in Gray |
| The Boxers |
| Honoré de Balzac.
1799–1850. |
The Suffix ‘Rama’ |
| Madame Firmiani’s Reputations |
| Useful Stuttering |
| A Slight Misunderstanding |
| Innocence |
| The Government of the Shrewmouse |
| Alfred de Musset.
1810–1857. |
The Deluded Avian Husband |
| The Supper-Party of the Three Cavaliers |
| Charles Paul de Kock.
1793–1871. |
Théophile’s Mother-in-Law |
| Alexandre Dumas.
1802–1870. |
Chapter Touching the Olfactory Organ |
| The German Student |
| E. Arnal.
c. 1850. |
Doctor Benserade |
| Théophile Gautier.
1811–1872. |
Under the Table |
| Fanfreluche |
| The Duke’s Perversion |
| Émile Augier and Jules Sandeau. |
Political Ambition |
| Henri Murger.
1822–1861. |
The Founding of the Brotherhood |
| An Evening Reception |
| ‘The Passage of the Red Sea’ |
| Victor Hugo.
1802–1885. |
The Bourgeois |
| The Good Flea and the Wicked King |
| Eugène Labiche.
1815–1888. |
Scenes from ‘Grammar’ |
| Eugène Labiche and Édouard Martin. |
Catching a Train |
| Saved from the Precipice! |
| Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian. |
The Comet |
| Edmond About.
1828–1885. |
The Hungry Englishwoman |
| Auguste comte de Villiers de L’Isle Adam.
1838–1889. |
The Love of the Natural |
| Gustave Droz.
1832–1895. |
My Wife Goes to the Ball |
| Édouard Pailleron.
1834–1899. |
Platonic Love in a Greenhouse |
| Alphonse Daudet.
1840–1897. |
Father Gaucher’s Elixir |
| William Tell |
| Delobelle, the Great Actor |
| The Tartlets |
| The Cap-Hunters |
| The Art of Song |
| Interview with a Caged Lion |
| Émile Zola.
1840–1902. |
Adam’s Color |
| Benefits of War |
| Guy de Maupassant.
1850–1893. |
‘Waiter, a Glass of Beer!’ |
| Max O’Rell.
Paul Blouet).
1848–1903. |
John Bull’s Cookery and Tea |
| Ludovic Halévy.
1834–1908. |
Americans in Paris |
| Storms Behind the Curtain |
| Noiraud |
| Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac. |
Private Theatricals |
| Catulle Mendès.
1841–1909. |
The Modern Literary Man |
| François Coppée.
1842–1908. |
A Great Hero |
| The Villain |
| The Street Organ |
| Anatole France.
1844–1924. |
Finding an Apartment |
| Gyp (Madame de Martel).
1849–1932. |
Civil Marriage: Dialogue |
| Richard O’Monroy (J. de Saint Geniès).
1850–1916. |
The Fugue |
| Edmond Rostand.
1868–1918. |
A Duel in Rime |
