This is a collection of six short stories including Always Lock the Door!, An Adventure in Paris, The Double Pins, The Maison Tellier, The Snipe and The Son. The Maison Tellier is an elegy of the prostitutes as well as a satire on the hypocrites. In the Maison Tellier, they are girls popular with men. One day, they are led by Madame Tellier, the owner of this brothel, to Virville for the Confirmation at the invitation of Joseph Rivet. During the Confirmation, Rosa, one of the five prostitutes, recalls her first communion and sheds tears for her lost youth. Her emotion arouses sympathy in all the men and women in the church. The priest extols their evident faith and ardent piety, adding that "your emotion has warmed all hearts; without you, this great day would not, perhaps, have had this really divine character." Back to the brothel, however, these girls return to their original life. Deep in their minds, will they remember the Confirmation and Béranger's song—"The Grandmother" ever sung in memory of their vanished youth?

一群风尘女子随公馆主人泰利耶夫人参加其弟弟里韦女儿的坚信礼。祭礼进行时，罗莎突然想起自己的首次领受圣餐仪式，年少的回忆让她潸然泪下，同样悲伤难抑的还有她的姐妹们；她们的眼泪感染了教堂的男女老少，被牧师大加颂扬。两相对比之下，那些道貌岸然的"绅士"在人后互相叫骂、举止轻浮粗俗，真正是金玉其外败絮其中。莫泊桑笔下的烟花女子亦有真性情，然而饶是率真如她们，祭礼之后也不得不重归风尘。这些感情真挚的弱女子，怕是只能用歌声和眼泪祭奠她们逝去的青春和纯洁了......