{"id":6098,"date":"2026-04-17T00:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6098"},"modified":"2026-04-17T00:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:11:13","slug":"the-storm-by-kate-chopin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6098","title":{"rendered":"The Storm by Kate Chopin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Storm by <a href=\"https:\/\/quizlit.org\/the-blind-man-by-kate-chopin\">Kate Chopin<\/a> was written  in 1898 but not published during her lifetime.  The story takes place during a huge storm in the Southern  United States <\/p>\n<p><em>This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">The Storm by Kate Chopin<\/h2>\n<div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"__youtube_prefs__ epyt-facade no-lazyload\"><button class=\"epyt-facade-play\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">The Storm by Kate Chopin<\/h3>\n\n<p>I<\/p>\n<p>The leaves were so still that even Bibi thought it was going to rain. Bobin\u00f4t, who was accustomed to converse on terms of perfect equality with his little son, called the child\u2019s attention to certain sombre clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west, accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar. They were at Friedheimer\u2019s store and decided to remain there till the storm had passed. They sat within the door on two empty kegs. Bibi was four years old and looked very wise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMama\u2019ll be \u2018fraid, yes, he suggested with blinking eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019ll shut the house. Maybe she got Sylvie helpin\u2019 her this evenin\u2019,\u201d Bobin\u00f4t responded reassuringly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo; she ent got Sylvie. Sylvie was helpin\u2019 her yistiday,\u2019 piped Bibi.<\/p>\n<p>Bobin\u00f4t arose and going across to the counter purchased a can of shrimps, of which Calixta was very fond. Then he retumed to his perch on the keg and sat stolidly holding the can of shrimps while the storm burst. It shook the wooden store and seemed to be ripping great furrows in the distant field. Bibi laid his little hand on his father\u2019s knee and was not afraid.<\/p>\n<p>II<\/p>\n<p>Calixta, at home, felt no uneasiness for their safety. She sat at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. She was greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm. But she felt very warm and often stopped to mop her face on which the perspiration gathered in beads. She unfastened her white sacque at the throat. It began to grow dark, and suddenly realizing the situation she got up hurriedly and went about closing windows and doors.<\/p>\n<p>Out on the small front gallery she had hung Bobin\u00f4t\u2019s Sunday clothes to dry and she hastened out to gather them before the rain fell. As she stepped outside, Alc\u00e9e Laballi\u00e8re rode in at the gate. She had not seen him very often since her marriage, and never alone. She stood there with Bobin\u00f4t\u2019s coat in her hands, and the big rain drops began to fall. Alc\u00e9e rode his horse under the shelter of a side projection where the chickens had huddled and there were plows and a harrow piled up in the corner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMay I come and wait on your gallery till the storm is over, Calixta?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>Come \u2018long in, M\u2019sieur Alc\u00e9e.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice and her own startled her as if from a trance, and she seized Bobin\u00f4t\u2019s vest. Alc\u00e9e, mounting to the porch, grabbed the trousers and snatched Bibi\u2019s braided jacket that was about to be carried away by a sudden gust of wind. He expressed an intention to remain outside, but it was soon apparent that he might as well have been out in the open: the water beat in upon the boards in driving sheets, and he went inside, closing the door after him. It was even necessary to put something beneath the door to keep the water out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy! what a rain! It\u2019s good two years sence it rain\u2019 like that,\u201d exclaimed Calixta as she rolled up a piece of bagging and Alc\u00e9e helped her to thrust it beneath the crack.<\/p>\n<p>She was a little fuller of figure than five years before when she married; but she had lost nothing of her vivacity. Her blue eyes still retained their melting quality; and her yellow hair, dishevelled by the wind and rain, kinked more stubbornly than ever about her ears and temples.<\/p>\n<p>The rain beat upon the low, shingled roof with a force and clatter that threatened to break an entrance and deluge them there. They were in the dining room the sitting room the general utility room. Adjoining was her bed room, with Bibi\u2019s couch along side her own. The door stood open, and the room with its white, monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious.<\/p>\n<p>Alc\u00e9e flung himself into a rocker and Calixta nervously began to gather up from the floor the lengths of a cotton sheet which she had been sewing.<\/p>\n<p>lf this keeps up, Dieu sait if the levees goin\u2019 to stan it!\u201d she exclaimed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat have you got to do with the levees?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got enough to do! An\u2019 there\u2019s Bobin\u00f4t with Bibi out in that storm if he only didn\u2019 left Friedheimer\u2019s!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet us hope, Calixta, that Bobin\u00f4t\u2019s got sense enough to come in out of a cyclone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She went and stood at the window with a greatly disturbed look on her face. She wiped the frame that was clouded with moisture. It was stiflingly hot. Alc\u00e9e got up and joined her at the window, looking over her shoulder. The rain was coming down in sheets obscuring the view of far-off cabins and enveloping the distant wood in a gray mist. The playing of the lightning was incessant. A bolt struck a tall chinaberry tree at the edge of the field. It filled all visible space with a blinding glare and the crash seemed to invade the very boards they stood upon.<\/p>\n<p>Calixta put her hands to her eyes, and with a cry, staggered backward. Alc\u00e9e\u2019s arm encircled her, and for an instant he drew her close and spasmodically to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBont!\u201d she cried, releasing herself from his encircling arm and retreating from the window, the house\u2019ll go next! If I only knew w\u2019ere Bibi was!\u201d She would not compose herself; she would not be seated. Alc\u00e9e clasped her shoulders and looked into her face. The contact of her warm, palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms, had aroused all the old-time infatuation and desire for her flesh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCalixta,\u201d he said, \u201cdon\u2019t be frightened. Nothing can happen. The house is too low to be struck, with so many tall trees standing about. There! aren\u2019t you going to be quiet? say, aren\u2019t you?\u201d He pushed her hair back from her face that was warm and steaming. Her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate seed. Her white neck and a glimpse of her full, firm bosom disturbed him powerfully. As she glanced up at him the fear in her liquid blue eyes had given place to a drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed a sensuous desire. He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss. It reminded him of Assumption.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you rememberin Assumption, Calixta?\u201d he asked in a low voice broken by passion. Oh! she remembered; for in Assumption he had kissed her and kissed and kissed her; until his senses would well nigh fail, and to save her he would resort to a desperate flight. If she was not an immaculate dove in those days, she was still inviolate; a passionate creature whose very defenselessness had made her defense, against which his honor forbade him to prevail. Now well, now her lips seemed in a manner free to be tasted, as well as her round, white throat and her whiter breasts.<\/p>\n<p>They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms. She was a revelation in that dim, mysterious chamber; as white as the couch she lay upon. Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world.<\/p>\n<p>The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.<\/p>\n<p>When he touched her breasts they gave themselves up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a fountain of delight. And when he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together at the very borderland of life\u2019s mystery.<\/p>\n<p>He stayed cushioned upon her, breathless, dazed, enervated, with his heart beating like a hammer upon her. With one hand she clasped his head, her lips lightly touching his forehead. The other hand stroked with a soothing rhythm his muscular shoulders.<\/p>\n<p>The growl of the thunder was distant and passing away. The rain beat softly upon the shingles, inviting them to drowsiness and sleep. But they dared not yield.<\/p>\n<p>III<\/p>\n<p>The rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green world into a palace of gems. Calixta, on the gallery, watched Alc\u00e9e ride away. He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; and she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud.<\/p>\n<p>Bobin\u00f4t and Bibi, trudging home, stopped without at the cistern to make themselves presentable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy! Bibi, w\u2019at will yo\u2019 mama say! You ought to be ashame\u2019. You oughta\u2019 put on those good pants. Look at \u2019em! An\u2019 that mud on yo\u2019 collar! How you got that mud on yo\u2019 collar, Bibi? I never saw such a boy!\u201d Bibi was the picture of pathetic resignation. Bobin\u00f4t was the embodiment of serious solicitude as he strove to remove from his own person and his son\u2019s the signs of their tramp over heavy roads and through wet fields. He scraped the mud off Bibi\u2019s bare legs and feet with a stick and carefully removed all traces from his heavy brogans. Then, prepared for the worst the meeting with an over-scrupulous housewife, they entered cautiously at the back door.<\/p>\n<p>Calixta was preparing supper. She had set the table and was dripping coffee at the hearth. She sprang up as they came in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, Bobin\u00f4t! You back! My! But I was uneasy. W\u2019ere you been during the rain? An\u2019 Bibi? he ain\u2019t wet? he ain\u2019t hurt?\u201d She had clasped Bibi and was kissing him effusively. Bobin\u00f4t\u2019s explanations and apologies which he had been composing all along the way, died on his lips as Calixta felt him to see if he were dry, and seemed to express nothing but satisfaction at their safe return.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI brought you some shrimps, Calixta,\u201d offered Bobin\u00f4t, hauling the can from his ample side pocket and laying it on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShrimps! Oh, Bobin\u00f4t! you too good fo\u2019 anything!\u201d and she gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek that resounded, \u201cJ\u2019vous rponds, we\u2019ll have a feas\u2019 to-night! umph-umph!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bobin\u00f4t and Bibi began to relax and enjoy themselves, and when the three seated themselves at table they laughed much and so loud that anyone might have heard them as far away as Laballi\u00e8re\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>IV<\/p>\n<p>Alc\u00e9e Laballi\u00e8re wrote to his wife, Clarisse, that night. It was a loving letter, full of tender solicitude. He told her not to hurry back, but if she and the babies liked it at Biloxi, to stay a month longer. He was getting on nicely; and though he missed them, he was willing to bear the separation a while longerrealizing that their health and pleasure were the first things to be considered.<\/p>\n<p>V<\/p>\n<p>As for Clarisse, she was charmed upon receiving her husband\u2019s letter. She and the babies were doing well. The society was agreeable; many of her old friends and acquaintances were at the bay. And the first free breath since her marriage seemed to restore the pleasant liberty of her maiden days. Devoted as she was to her husband, their intimate conjugal life was something which she was more than willing to forego for a while.<\/p>\n<p>So the storm passed and every one was happy.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Best Kate Chopin Books to Read<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Nj298u\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4tudd5p\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/47QXTFo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/48bHNWE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><br \/>\nClick on the image to buy a copy<\/p>\n<p>If you enjoyed The Storm by Kate Chopin, check out  <a href=\"https:\/\/quizlit.org\/a-pair-of-silk-stockings-by-kate-chopin\">A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Narrated by Alan Davis Drake, courtesy of Librivox<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Storm by Kate Chopin was written in 1898 but not published during her lifetime. The story takes place during a huge storm in the Southern United States This post may contain affiliate links that earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. The Storm by Kate Chopin The Storm by Kate Chopin [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6098"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}