Mother's Heart

A widowed mother was living with her only son; they were the best of
comrades, the most intimate of friends. But an adventuress got hold of the
young man. She took away his money, his health, his position, his
self-respect, and turned him into a vagabond. One day she told him that he
must give her a supreme example of his devotion. He must murder his mother
and bring to his mistress his mother's bleeding heart. Accordingly the young
man went to his mother, killed her, cut the heart from her body, and holding
it in his hand, hastened to the evil woman. In his haste he slipped on the
pavement and fell headlong. The heart rolled out of his hand. Then the heart 
spoke and said, "Did you hurt yourself, my dear son?"And wept...

Jean Richepin

Dedicated to my mother...