Short Fiction Balzac, Honoré de: The Atheist’s Mass, v1, 25 Aug 2007.

[Patricia]

Honoré De Balzac
The Atheist’s Mass
(La messe de l’athée)
Translated by Clara Bell

A short story of about 6,700 words.

Young Doctor Bianchon repeatedly sees his chief of surgery, Desplein, attending mass. Yet Desplein is a noted freethinker and atheist. Eventually, Bianchon asks the reason for this strange behaviour and Desplein tells him a story…


Bianchon and Desplein are two characters who will turn up frequently in the Comédie Humaine. Balzac was the first person to hit on the idea of recurring characters.

I have added a picture, and restored accents and italics etc.

This work is assumed to be in the Life+70 public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. Copyright laws differ throughout the world, and it may still be under copyright in some countries. Before downloading, please check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work.

To report a copyright violation you can contact us here.