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{{Infobox short story <!--See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]]-->
| name              = The Mummy's Foot
| title_orig        = Le Pied de momie
| translator        = [[Lafcadio Hearn]]
| author            = [[Théophile Gautier]]
| country           = France
| language          = French
| genre             = [[Gothic fiction]]
| published_in      = ''[[Le Musée des familles]]''
| publication_type  = periodical
| publisher         =
| media_type        =
| pub_date          = September 1840
| english_pub_date  =
}}{{Inline citations|date=June 2021}}
'''''The Mummy's Foot''''' ({{langx|fr|Le Pied de momie}}) is a [[Horror fiction|horror]] short story by the French writer [[Théophile Gautier]], first published in [[1840 in literature|1840]].  It relates the fantastical tale of a contemporary man and the adventures which befall him when he ventures into a Parisian curiosity shop and buys the four-thousand-year-old foot of Princess Hermonthis.

==Plot summary==
A man enters an [[Antique shop|antiques shop]] and buys a [[Mummy|mummified]] foot which supposedly belonged to an Egyptian princess, Hermonthis. He intends to use the foot as a [[paperweight]]. In the night, he sees a vision of the princess, who explains her foot has been stolen, and he agrees to return her foot in exchange for a small [[Figurine|statuette]]. The princess steals him away to [[Egypt]] where he meets her father and several other ancient [[Pharaoh|pharaohs]]. Hermonthis' father, [[Xixouthros]], is appropriately pleased that his daughter's foot is returned to the rest of her. Xixouthros asks what he can do in appreciation. The [[protagonist]] asks Hermonthis' hand in marriage, which is refused, as he is only 27 and Hermonthis is over 30 centuries, and deserves someone who is equally durable. The protagonist is abruptly woken from this potential dream by the arrival of a friend. Now awake, he observes that the mummified foot that was on his desk has indeed been replaced by the statuette.

==Adaptations==
The story was adapted for television as part of the [[NBC television|NBC Television]] anthology series ''[[Your Show Time]]'', airing February 11, 1949.

==External links==
* {{Gutenberg|no=22662|name=The Mummy's Foot}}
* {{librivox book | title=The Mummy's Foot | author=Théophile Gautier}}
* {{imdb title|title=Your Show Time: The Mummy's Foot|qid=Q129104449}}

{{Théophile Gautier}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mummys Foot}}
[[Category:1840 short stories]]
[[Category:Fiction about human–mummy romance]]
[[Category:Fiction about mummies]]
[[Category:Short stories by Théophile Gautier]]
[[Category:Gothic short stories]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Musée des familles]]


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