III explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Love and Desire

  Labarbe's passionate pursuit of Henriette and the romantic encounter under moonlight.

• Cruelty and Suffering

  Morin's enduring humiliation and death from the social stigma of being called 'that pig, Morin'.

• Social Class and Money

  The resolution of Morin's legal trouble through a payment of five hundred francs to the poor.

Characters to notice

• Mademoiselle Henriette

  Henriette Bonnel, the young woman Labarbe seduces during the visit to her uncle's house.

• Morin

  The 'pig Morin' whose legal trouble is resolved; he dies two years later, haunted by the epithet.

• Paul Limousin

  Labarbe, the narrator, who recounts his seduction of Henriette and his role in settling Morin's affair.

• Joseph Rivet

  Labarbe's companion who grows impatient with the affair and insists on leaving.

Key passages

• “Dinner made me lose my head altogether. I sat beside her, and my hand continually met hers under the tablecloth, my foot touched hers, and our glances met and melted together.”

  During dinner, I became completely infatuated, sitting next to her and feeling our hands and feet touch under the table while our eyes locked.

  Labarbe describes the onset of his romantic obsession with Henriette.

• “I have never drunk anything like it, soft, velvety, perfumed, intoxicating, a chocolate to make one swoon with pleasure.”

  The chocolate she brought me was unlike any I had ever tasted—smooth, fragrant, and utterly delightful.

  Labarbe's sensual memory of the morning after his night with Henriette.

• “He died two years later.”

  Morin passed away two years after the incident.

  The final consequence of Morin's public shame.