Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), a
French author, regarded as one of the
world's greatest
short-story writers.
De Maupassant was the author of the well-known story "The Piece of String," which tells of a farmer who, while
walking to the
market, picks up a piece of string and puts it in his pocket. A rival sees him doing this, and when it is later reported that another
man's wallet was lost on the road, the rival accuses the farmer of
having taken it. Protesting the accusation, the farmer claims to have only picked up a piece of string, and although the wallet is later found, nobody believes his story. He thus spends the rest of his
life trying to correct this unjust suspicion and convince people of his innocence.