The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and Other Stories

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Set in Africa, it was published in the September 1936 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine concurrently with "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" . Francis Macomber and his wife Margaret (usually referred to as "Margot" ), are on a big-game safari in Africa, guided by professional hunter Robert Wilson. Earlier, Francis had panicked when a wounded lion charged him. Margot mocks Macomber for this act of cowardice, and it is implied that she sleeps with Wilson. The next day the party hunts buffalo. Macomber joins Wilson in killing two of them and no longer feels afraid. The first buffalo is only wounded and has gone into the bush. Wilson and Macomber proceed to track the wounded animal, paralleling the circumstances of the previous day's lion hunt. When they find the buffalo, it charges Macomber while he stands his ground and fires at it. His shots are too high, and Wilson fires at the beast as well, but it keeps charging. Macomber kills the buffalo at the last minute, while Margot fires a shot from the car. Her shot misses the buffalo and kills Macomber.