Alphonse Daudet and the year’s conclusion

According to the textbook, Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897) was born on 13 May 1840 in Nîmes, France; in his youth he was a school teacher; at seventeen he moved to Paris with his brother Ernest and worked in journalism. In the story collection “Tegirmonimdan xatlar” (“Letters from My Mill”, 1869) the life of ordinary people in harmony with nature is told in a manner similar to folk tales; “Kichkintoy” (1868) is an autobiographical novel. He was close to Flaubert, Zola and Turgenev; in 1867 he married and had three children; he died in Paris in December 1897 (the textbook gives 17 December, most sources 16 December). The story “So‘nggi saboq” is told by a small schoolboy, Frans. One morning he is late for school and fears a scolding; on the way he sees a notice at the town hall. In the class there is silence; the teacher Monsieur Amel is dressed festively, and village elders sit at the back. The teacher says an order has come from Berlin that in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine only German will be taught, and that this is the last French lesson. Frans regrets his carelessness. The teacher blames himself and the parents, calls French the most beautiful language in the world and says it must be guarded. At the end of the lesson, when the church clock strikes, he writes “Long live France!” and signals to the pupils to go.