Learning English by a short story :
The Necklace
by Guy De Maupassant
The short story "The Necklace" took place in France several
hundred years ago. Mathilde Loisel lived in a flat with her husband, who worked
as a clerk for the Minister of Education. Their live were not luxurious, but
they were not poor, merely simple. Mathilde, however, longs to be rich. She
envied her friend Jeanne who had a large house and lots of jewels.
One day her husband brought home an invitation to a ball. He thought his
wife would be excited to attend such a fancy party, but instead she was upset.
She complained that she had nothing suitable to wear to such an extravagant
occasion. Her kind husband agreed to give her the four hundred francs that he
had been saving to buy a new rifle to get herself a gown. The week of the
party, Mathilde seemed anxious again. When her husband asked her why, she said
that she has no jewels to wear with her dress. He suggested that perhaps she
could borrow something from her friend Jeanne Forestier. Mathilde went to
Jeanne's house and picked out a sparkling diamond necklace to borrow.
She and her husband attended the gala and had a fabulous time. She loved
amazing and dance all night. Finally, they head home in the wee hours of the
morning. When they arrived home, Mathilde realized that the necklace was
missing. They wondered if it fell off in the carriage that they took home, but
neither of them noticed the number. Her husband got out to search the streets
but returned empty handed. Then, Mathilde wrote her friend that she was broke
the clasp and was having it repaired. In the meantime, they found another
necklace that matched the missing one, but it cost thirty-six thousand francs.
Her husband fortunately inherited eighteen thousand francs from his father, but
they needed to borrow the rest of the money. Finally, they had enough to
purchase the replacement necklace and Mathilde gave it to Jeanne who didn’t
even look at it.
The next ten years Mathilde's life changed dramatically. They moved to a
smaller apartment where she had to cook and cleaned for herself. She also did
work on the side while her husband was working multiple jobs to pay back all
the money they borrowed. After the ten years, the money was all paid back, but
Mathilde has aged a great deal.
One day she saw Jeanne Forestier on the street. She decided to tell her
the truth about the necklace. Jeanne was stunned by Mathilde's rough
appearance. Mathilde explained that it was indirectly because of Jeanne since
she lost the necklace she borrowed from her and had to pay for a replacement.
Shocked, Jeanne confessed that the necklace Mathilde borrowed was a fake, made
of paste, worth no more than five hundred francs.
Clearly, the lesson of the story was that honesty was the best policy. If Mathilde had been honest with her friend from the start, she would have learned that the necklace wasn't made of real diamonds and would not have wasted ten years paying for a replacement.
I. Answer the questions use Yes she/he
did or
No she/he did n’t
1. 1. Did Mathilde Loisel live in a flat
with her husband?
2. Did
Mathilde Loisel’s husband work at the Minister of Education?
3.
Did
Mathilde Loisel bring home a ball invitation letter?
4.
Did Jeanne lend Mathilde a necklace?
5.
Did
Mathilde move to the smaller apartment?
6.
Did
Mathilde Loisel’s husband tell the truth about the necklace?
II. Choose the correct moral values of the story
1. Don’t be greedy.
2. Respect different cultures.
3. Don’t borrow money for unnecessary things.
4. It is not wise to live a pretentious life.
