Remembered as one of France's greatest short story writers, de Maupassant penned an 1880 masterpiece titled "Boule de Suif" ("Butterball") and went on to write many other popular stories, including "La Bete a Mait Belhomme" ("Belhomme's Beast"); "La Ficelle" ("The Piece of String"); and "Pierrot" ("Sparrow"). During the Franco-Prussian War, he worked as a clerk for the French Navy. Later, he edited such Parisian journals as Le Figaro and Le Gaulois; it was during this period that he wrote his first short stories.
