The Red Inn

L’Auberge rouge [The Red Inn] by Honoré de Balzac

You spend the night at an inn sleeping next to a man who has a lot of gold. When you next wake up, the man is murdered, you are covered in blood, and the gold is gone. Is a man capable of committing a crime in his sleep? Balzac’s chilling tale explores the relationship between “l’idée” (the idea) and “le fait” (the deed).

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Check out a print version:

(English) Balzac, Honoré de. Juana, and the Red Inn. Trans. Katharine Prescott Wormeley. Dodo Press, 2006.

(French) Balzac, Honoré de. L’Auberge rouge. Gallimard, 2005.