都德在法国文学史上，除长篇小说外，在短篇小说创作方面也是取得很高成就的作家之一。如果说莫泊桑是叙述性短篇小说的大师，那都德则是散文化短篇小说的开拓者，他赋予短篇小说更多的诗情和韵味。主要的短篇小说集有《磨坊书简》和《星期一的故事》。本书精选了《最后一课》等14篇中短篇小说佳作和半自传体长篇小说《小东西》，让读者能在作者那淡雅的风格和深远的韵味中得到美的享受。特别是其中的《最后一课》被收录中学语文课本，影响了一代又一代的学生。作者(Alphonse Daudet is among the best writers in French literature whose short stories, apart from novels, are of remarkable achievements. If Maupassant is the master of narrative short stories, Daudet is the pioneer of the prose-style short stories for he has endowed short stories with poetic charms. The main collections of his short stories are The Mill Letters and Tales On Monday. This book handpicks 14 short and medium stories like The Last Class and a semi-autobiographical novel A Pinhead, allowing readers to enjoy the beauty of writer's elegant style and profound meanings. The Last Class in particular, has been selected into the secondary school textbooks, affecting generations of students.)