英文短篇小說項鏈
㈠ 《項鏈》莫泊桑 英語簡介
This is a one-act play, which is based on Maupassant』s best-known story The Diamond Necklace.
There are three characters in the play:
Mathilde Loisel, a young woman;
Pierre Loisel, Mathilde』s husband, a government worker;
Jeanne, Mathilde's good friend.
中文介紹：
女主人公是一個小公務員的妻子。一次，接受了部長舉辦的晚會的邀請。羅瓦賽爾太太由於虛榮心作祟，向一個貴婦人借了一條項鏈。後來這條項鏈不慎在舞會上丟失，羅瓦賽爾太太為了賠給朋友一模一樣的項鏈，落入高利貸的陷阱，就此開始了艱辛的生活，葬送了十年的青春。最後，當她在還清欠款後，偶遇那位貴婦人時，婦人卻告訴她那條項鏈其實是假的。
英文介紹：The story takes place in Paris. One day, Pierre gets an invitation to a palace ball. He thinks it important to him, and decides to go to the party with his wife Mathilde. But Mathilde is worried, because she has no new dress and no jewellwey to wear. Her husband spends 400 francs on a new dress and she herself borrows a diamond necklace from her good friend Jeanne. The young couple go to the ball and has a very good time here. On their way back after the ball, Mathilde finds that the necklace is no longer around her neck. They rush back to the palace and look for it. But they can』t find it; it is lost.The young couple borrow a great deal of money and buy a necklace that is exactly like Jeanne』s. It costs them 36000 francs. So they have to work day and night to pay back the money they have borrowed. After ten years of hard work, they at last pay back all the money, but now Mathilde looks so old that Jeanne even can』t recognize her when they meet.When Jeanne hears the story, she tells Mathilde that the necklace she has borrowed isn』t a real diamond necklace. It isn』t valuable at all. It is worth 500 francs at the most.
㈡ 求莫泊桑《項鏈》 英文原版（急用）！！！
Necklace
The girl was one of those pretty and charming young creatures who sometimes are born, as if by a slip of fate, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no expectations, no way of being known, understood, loved, married by any rich and distinguished man; so she let herself be married to a little clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction.
She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was unhappy as if she had really fallen from a higher station; since with women there is neither caste nor rank, for beauty, grace and charm take the place of family and birth. Natural ingenuity, instinct for what is elegant, a supple mind are their sole hierarchy, and often make of women of the people the equals of the very greatest ladies.
Mathilde suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born to enjoy all delicacies and all luxuries. She was distressed at the poverty of her dwelling, at the bareness of the walls, at the shabby chairs, the ugliness of the curtains. All those things, of which another woman of her rank would never even have been conscious, tortured her and made her angry. The sight of the little Breton peasant who did her humble housework aroused in her despairing regrets and bewildering dreams. She thought of silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, illumined by tall bronze candelabra, and of two great footmen in knee breeches who sleep in the big armchairs, made drowsy by the oppressive heat of the stove. She thought of long reception halls hung with ancient silk, of the dainty cabinets containing priceless curiosities and of the little coquettish perfumed reception rooms made for chatting at five o'clock with intimate friends, with men famous and sought after, whom all women envy and whose attention they all desire.
When she sat down to dinner, before the round table covered with a tablecloth in use three days, opposite her husband, who uncovered the soup tureen and declared with a delighted air, "Ah, the good soup! I don't know anything better than that," she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry that peopled the walls with ancient personages and with strange birds flying in the midst of a fairy forest; and she thought of delicious dishes served on marvellous plates and of the whispered gallantries to which you listen with a sphinxlike smile while you are eating the pink meat of a trout or the wings of a quail.
She had no gowns, no jewels, nothing. And she loved nothing but that. She felt made for that. She would have liked so much to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be sought after.
She had a friend, a former schoolmate at the convent, who was rich, and whom she did not like to go to see any more because she felt so sad when she came home.
But one evening her husband reached home with a triumphant air and holding a large envelope in his hand.
"There," said he, "there is something for you."
She tore the paper quickly and drew out a printed card which bore these words:
The Minister of Public Instruction and Madame Georges Ramponneau
request the honor of M. and Madame Loisel's company at the palace of
the Ministry on Monday evening, January 18th.
Instead of being delighted, as her husband had hoped, she threw the invitation on the table crossly, muttering:
"What do you wish me to do with that?"
"Why, my dear, I thought you would be glad. You never go out, and this is such a fine opportunity. I had great trouble to get it. Every one wants to go; it is very select, and they are not giving many invitations to clerks. The whole official world will be there."
She looked at him with an irritated glance and said impatiently:
"And what do you wish me to put on my back?"
He had not thought of that. He stammered:
"Why, the gown you go to the theatre in. It looks very well to me."
He stopped, distracted, seeing that his wife was weeping. Two great tears ran slowly from the corners of her eyes toward the corners of her mouth.
"What's the matter? What's the matter?" he answered.
By a violent effort she conquered her grief and replied in a calm voice, while she wiped her wet cheeks:
"Nothing. Only I have no gown, and, therefore, I can't go to this ball. Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better equipped than I am."
He was in despair. He resumed:
"Come, let us see, Mathilde. How much would it cost, a suitable gown, which you could use on other occasions--something very simple?"
She reflected several seconds, making her calculations and wondering also what sum she could ask without drawing on herself an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the economical clerk.
Finally she replied hesitating:
"I don't know exactly, but I think I could manage it with four hundred francs."
He grew a little pale, because he was laying aside just that amount to buy a gun and treat himself to a little shooting next summer on the plain of Nanterre, with several friends who went to shoot larks there of a Sunday.
But he said:
"Very well. I will give you four hundred francs. And try to have a pretty gown."
The day of the ball drew near and Madame Loisel seemed sad, uneasy, anxious. Her frock was ready, however. Her husband said to her one evening:
"What is the matter? Come, you have seemed very queer these last three days."
And she answered:
"It annoys me not to have a single piece of jewelry, not a single ornament, nothing to put on. I shall look poverty-stricken. I would almost rather not go at all."
"You might wear natural flowers," said her husband. "They're very stylish at this time of year. For ten francs you can get two or three magnificent roses."
She was not convinced.
"No; there's nothing more humiliating than to look poor among other women who are rich."
"How stupid you are!" her husband cried. "Go look up your friend, Madame Forestier, and ask her to lend you some jewels. You're intimate enough with her to do that."
She uttered a cry of joy:
"True! I never thought of it."
The next day she went to her friend and told her of her distress.
Madame Forestier went to a wardrobe with a mirror, took out a large jewel box, brought it back, opened it and said to Madame Loisel:
"Choose, my dear."
She saw first some bracelets, then a pearl necklace, then a Venetian gold cross set with precious stones, of admirable workmanship. She tried on the ornaments before the mirror, hesitated and could not make up her mind to part with them, to give them back. She kept asking:
"Haven't you any more?"
"Why, yes. Look further; I don't know what you like."
Suddenly she discovered, in a black satin box, a superb diamond necklace, and her heart throbbed with an immoderate desire. Her hands trembled as she took it. She fastened it round her throat, outside her high-necked waist, and was lost in ecstasy at her reflection in the mirror.
Then she asked, hesitating, filled with anxious doubt:
"Will you lend me this, only this?"
"Why, yes, certainly."
She threw her arms round her friend's neck, kissed her passionately, then fled with her treasure.
The night of the ball arrived. Madame Loisel was a great success. She was prettier than any other woman present, elegant, graceful, smiling and wild with joy. All the men looked at her, asked her name, sought to be introced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wished to waltz with her. She was remarked by the minister himself.
She danced with rapture, with passion, intoxicated by pleasure, forgetting all in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness comprised of all this homage, admiration, these awakened desires and of that sense of triumph which is so sweet to woman's heart.
She left the ball about four o'clock in the morning. Her husband had been sleeping since midnight in a little deserted anteroom with three other gentlemen whose wives were enjoying the ball.
He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought, the modest wraps of common life, the poverty of which contrasted with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this and wished to escape so as not to be remarked by the other women, who were enveloping themselves in costly furs.
Loisel held her back, saying: "Wait a bit. You will catch cold outside. I will call a cab."
But she did not listen to him and rapidly descended the stairs. When they reached the street they could not find a carriage and began to look for one, shouting after the cabmen passing at a distance.
They went toward the Seine in despair, shivering with cold. At last they found on the quay one of those ancient night cabs which, as though they were ashamed to show their shabbiness ring the day, are never seen round Paris until after dark.
It took them to their dwelling in the Rue des Martyrs, and sadly they mounted the stairs to their flat. All was ended for her. As to him, he reflected that he must be at the ministry at ten o'clock that morning.
She removed her wraps before the glass so as to see herself once more in all her glory. But suddenly she uttered a cry. She no longer had the necklace around her neck!
"What is the matter with you?" demanded her husband, already half undressed.
She turned distractedly toward him.
"I have--I have--I've lost Madame Forestier's necklace," she cried.
He stood up, bewildered.
"What!--how? Impossible!"
They looked among the folds of her skirt, of her cloak, in her pockets, everywhere, but did not find it.
"You're sure you had it on when you left the ball?" he asked.
"Yes, I felt it in the vestibule of the minister's house."
"But if you had lost it in the street we should have heard it fall. It must be in the cab."
"Yes, probably. Did you take his number?"
"No. And you--didn't you notice it?"
"No."
They looked, thunderstruck, at each other. At last Loisel put on his clothes.
"I shall go back on foot," said he, "over the whole route, to see whether I can find it."
He went out. She sat waiting on a chair in her ball dress, without strength to go to bed, overwhelmed, without any fire, without a thought.
Her husband returned about seven o'clock. He had found nothing.
He went to police headquarters, to the newspaper offices to offer a reward; he went to the cab companies--everywhere, in fact, whither he was urged by the least spark of hope.
She waited all day, in the same condition of mad fear before this terrible calamity.
Loisel returned at night with a hollow, pale face. He had discovered nothing.
"You must write to your friend," said he, "that you have broken the clasp of her necklace and that you are having it mended. That will give us time to turn round."
She wrote at his dictation.
At the end of a week they had lost all hope. Loisel, who had aged five years, declared:
"We must consider how to replace that ornament."
The next day they took the box that had contained it and went to the jeweler whose name was found within. He consulted his books.
"It was not I, madame, who sold that necklace; I must simply have furnished the case."
Then they went from jeweler to jeweler, searching for a necklace like the other, trying to recall it, both sick with chagrin and grief.
They found, in a shop at the Palais Royal, a string of diamonds that seemed to them exactly like the one they had lost. It was worth forty thousand francs. They could have it for thirty-six.
So they begged the jeweler not to sell it for three days yet. And they made a bargain that he should buy it back for thirty-four thousand francs, in case they should find the lost necklace before the end of February.
Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs which his father had left him. He would borrow the rest.
He did borrow, asking a thousand francs of one, five hundred of another, five louis here, three louis there. He gave notes, took up ruinous obligations, dealt with usurers and all the race of lenders. He compromised all the rest of his life, risked signing a note without even knowing whether he could meet it; and, frightened by the trouble yet to come, by the black misery that was about to fall upon him, by the prospect of all the physical privations and moral tortures that he was to suffer, he went to get the new necklace, laying upon the jeweler's counter thirty-six thousand francs.
When Madame Loisel took back the necklace Madame Forestier said to her with a chilly manner:
"You should have returned it sooner; I might have needed it."
She did not open the case, as her friend had so much feared. If she had detected the substitution, what would she have thought, what would she have said? Would she not have taken Madame Loisel for a thief?
Thereafter Madame Loisel knew the horrible existence of the needy. She bore her part, however, with sudden heroism. That dreadful debt must be paid. She would pay it. They dismissed their servant; they changed their lodgings; they rented a garret under the roof.
She came to know what heavy housework meant and the odious cares of the kitchen. She washed the dishes, using her dainty fingers and rosy nails on greasy pots and pans. She washed the soiled linen, the shirts and the dishcloths, which she dried upon a line; she carried the slops down to the street every morning and carried up the water, stopping for breath at every landing. And dressed like a woman of the people, she went to the fruiterer, the grocer, the butcher, a basket on her arm, bargaining, meeting with impertinence, defending her miserable money, sou by sou.
Every month they had to meet some notes, renew others, obtain more time.
Her husband worked evenings, making up a tradesman's accounts, and late at night he often copied manuscript for five sous a page.
This life lasted ten years.
At the end of ten years they had paid everything, everything, with the rates of usury and the accumulations of the compound interest.
Madame Loisel looked old now. She had become the woman of impoverished households--strong and hard and rough. With frowsy hair, skirts askew and red hands, she talked loud while washing the floor with great swishes of water. But sometimes, when her husband was at the office, she sat down near the window and she thought of that gay evening of long ago, of that ball where she had been so beautiful and so admired.
What would have happened if she had not lost that necklace? Who knows? who knows? How strange and changeful is life! How small a thing is needed to make or ruin us!
But one Sunday, having gone to take a walk in the Champs Elysees to refresh herself after the labors of the week, she suddenly perceived a woman who was leading a child. It was Madame Forestier, still young, still beautiful, still charming.
Madame Loisel felt moved. Should she speak to her? Yes, certainly. And now that she had paid, she would tell her all about it. Why not?
She went up.
"Good-day, Jeanne."
The other, astonished to be familiarly addressed by this plain good-wife, did not recognize her at all and stammered:
"But--madame!--I do not know--You must have mistaken."
"No. I am Mathilde Loisel."
Her friend uttered a cry.
"Oh, my poor Mathilde! How you are changed!"
"Yes, I have had a pretty hard life, since I last saw you, and great poverty--and that because of you!"
"Of me! How so?"
"Do you remember that diamond necklace you lent me to wear at the ministerial ball?"
"Yes. Well?"
"Well, I lost it."
"What do you mean? You brought it back."
"I brought you back another exactly like it. And it has taken us ten years to pay for it. You can understand that it was not easy for us, for us who had nothing. At last it is ended, and I am very glad."
Madame Forestier had stopped.
"You say that you bought a necklace of diamonds to replace mine?"
"Yes. You never noticed it, then! They were very similar."
And she smiled with a joy that was at once proud and ingenuous.
Madame Forestier, deeply moved, took her hands.
"Oh, my poor Mathilde! Why, my necklace was paste! It was worth at most only five hundred francs!"
㈢ 莫伯桑小說《項鏈》簡介。
內容簡介：
《項鏈》講述的是這樣一個故事：瑪蒂爾德是一位漂亮的女子，她的丈夫是一個普通的小職員。她雖然地位低下，卻迷戀豪華的貴族生活，為了出席一次盛大的晚會，她用丈夫積攢下的400法郎做了一件禮服，還從好友那裡借來一串美麗的項鏈。在部長家的晚會上，瑪蒂爾德以她超群的風姿出盡了風頭，她的虛榮心由此得到了充分的滿足，可她竟然把借來的項鏈丟失了，在這種情況下，她只有隱瞞著好友，慢慢來賠償。從此，夫婦倆度過了10年節衣縮食的生活。在這艱難的積攢過程中，瑪蒂爾德的手變得粗糙了，容顏也衰老了。後來，她偶然得知了她丟失的那條項鏈不過是一條價格低廉的人造鑽石項鏈，而她賠償的卻是一掛真鑽石項鏈。就這樣瑪蒂爾德白白辛苦了10年。
項鏈是一篇短篇小說，由法國名作家莫泊桑作於1884年。
創作背景：
在19世紀80年代的法國，資本主義惡性發展，大資產階級當權，對人民巧取豪奪，政府中貪污風行，社會上道德淪喪，資產階級驕奢淫逸的糜爛生活和惟利是圖的道德觀念影響到整個社會，追求享樂追求虛榮，成為一種惡劣的社會風氣。這種社會風氣在小資產階級當中同樣盛行。由於這個階級在資本主義社會中地位極不穩定，他們總想擺脫這種處境，躋身於上流行列。但是，只有少數人獲得成功，而大多數在資本主義的競爭中落入更悲慘的遭遇。
㈣ 經典短篇英文小說
經典短篇小說好多呢！用詞比較簡單，但意義深刻！更重要的是每一篇都短小精悍！（符合你的要求哦）
1.《生火》傑克.倫敦 To Build a Fire (Jack LondonP
2.《厄謝爾府的倒塌》 愛倫.坡
The Fall of the House of Usher (Edgar Allan Poe)
3.《項鏈》莫泊桑 The Necklace (Guy de Maupassant)
4.《警察與贊美詩》歐.亨利 The Cop and the Anthem
(O Henry)
5.《麥琪的禮物》歐.亨利 Magi's gift (O Henry)
6.《最後一片藤葉》歐.亨利 The Last Leaf (O Henry)
7.《加利維拉縣有名的跳蛙》馬克.吐溫 The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
（Mark Twain)
8.《人生的五種恩賜》馬克.吐溫
The Five Boons of Life （Mark Twain)
9.《三生客》 托馬斯.哈代 The Three Strangers
(Thomas Hardy)
10.《敞開的落地窗》薩基 The Open Window (Saki)
11.《末代佳人》菲茨傑拉德 The Last of the Belles
(F.S.Fitzgerald)
12.《手》舍伍德.安德森 Hands
13.《伊芙琳》詹姆斯.喬伊斯 Eveline
14.《教長的黑色面紗》納撒尼爾.霍桑
㈤ 《項鏈》的寫作背景
法國名作家莫泊桑作於1884年。
《項鏈》在揭露上層統治者及其毒化下的社會風氣盼同時，對被侮辱被損害的小人物寄予深切同情.是諷刺虛榮心和拜金主義。
文章寫於1884年，法國正值經濟危機之際，法國社會正處在完成由資本主義社會到帝國主義原始積累的過渡階段，在這個變遷中，少數人成為擁有巨額資產的資本家，而大多數人淪為貧民。此時的莫泊桑丟掉了海軍部職員的工作，又丟掉了福樓拜介紹的職位，以至淪為貧民，在這種狀況之下，創作了本文。
莫泊桑生於法國資本主義走向帝國主義發展階段的時代，在這個時代里，他目睹了資本主義社會的急劇腐敗，深切痛恨卑鄙、齷齪的資產階級，憐憫同情被欺辱與被損害的下層人民。這一社會觀決定了他創作的基本思想。在他的作品中，如果說他的長篇小說揭露和批判的是資本主義社會上層的丑惡內幕，那麼他的短篇小說反映的卻主要是資本主義的下層生活。
有的是諷刺小市民貪圖虛榮、追求享樂而造成的種種悲劇的；有的是揭示資本主義制度給愛情和婚姻所造成的種種悲劇和丑劇的；另外還有一些是描畫資本主義社會的世態炎涼和勞動人民的生活苦難的。
莫泊桑善於用短小精悍的小說寫小人物。這些作品的題材豐富多樣，幾乎涉及當時社會生活的各個方面，雖然大都是一些日常題材，寫的都是凡人小事，但它卻是一幅資本主義下層社會的真實寫照，故而能獲得深廣的社會意義，再加上小說的風格自然朴實，語言生動簡練，在藝術構思和描寫手法上新穎獨到，不落俗套，因此在一個世紀後的今天，仍然充滿著藝術和思想的活力。
莫泊桑的短篇小說《項鏈》，這篇作品約摸在五四時期就介紹到我國來了。最初是從英文或其它外國文轉譯的，後來陸續出現了幾種從法文直接翻譯的譯文。這表明大家對於它是頗感興趣的
㈥ 項鏈 莫泊桑 英文讀後感
項鏈》讀後感
《項鏈》這篇文章出於《莫泊桑短篇小說精選》，它是由法國著名作家莫泊桑撰寫的。作者出生於諾曼底地區濱海地區一個沒落的貴族家庭。因為從小受到富有母親浪漫氣質的母親的影響，使他無法忍受貴族學校的氣氛，轉致一所公立學校讀書。莫泊桑的文章都充滿了悲觀色彩，這與他的健康狀況和歷史背景有著密切的關系。
本文講述的是羅塞瓦德夫人虛榮心十足，她為了在一次宴會上出風頭，特意從女友那裡借來一根金剛石項鏈。當她戴著項鏈在宴會上出現的時候，引起了全場人的贊嘆與奉承，她的虛榮心得到了極大的滿足。不幸的是，在回家的路上，這條項鏈丟失了。為了賠償這價值三萬六千法郎的金項鏈，她負了重債。之後，她事整整十年節衣縮食才還清了債務。而頗具諷刺意味的是這時對方告訴她丟失的項鏈是假的。羅塞瓦德夫人通過「打腫臉充胖子」的方式來顯示自我，面子觀念的驅動，使她吃盡了苦頭。
「哦，可憐的羅瓦塞爾夫婦！命運真會捉弄人。」那是我看完文章後的第一。當再次回味起那篇文章時，我不禁回想：如果他們不為了虛榮，會耗費如此大的代價嗎？虛榮心，一個可怕但無形的惡魔，是為了取得榮譽和引起普遍注意而表現出來的一種不正常的社會情感，是爭名逐利的一種不良品質。虛榮會使坦誠的人走向虛偽。虛榮心強的人常常表現為一種自誇炫耀的行為，通過吹牛、隱匿等欺騙手段來表現自已。虛榮心強的人，常常有嫉妒沖動，看到別人的能力比自己強，地位比自己高，命運比自己好，外表比自己美，就感到不舒服、不痛快。甚至排斥、挖苦、打擊、疏遠、為難比自自強的人，有意或無意地做出損害這些人的事情來。還有，虛榮心強的人，特別喜歡聽奉承的話、恭維的話，最不能接受的是他人當眾頂撞或當面提意見，最不能容忍的是揭他的老底。因此，與他結交的可能是一些溜須拍馬的「小人」。
法國哲學家柏格森說過：「虛榮心很難說是一種惡行，然而一切惡行都圍繞虛榮心而生，都不過是滿足虛榮心的手段。」虛假的榮譽是一個轉瞬即破的肥皂泡，我們不應該追求這種並不屬於自已的虛假的東西；而要腳踏實地地去干一番事業，通過奮斗，創造出屬於自己的榮譽來。
Necklace "讀後感
"The Necklace" the article for "Featured Maupassant short story", it is by the famous French writer Maupassant wrote. The author was born in the coastal region of Normandy region of a decline of a noble family. Since an early age by the wealthy mother of a romantic temperament her mother's influence, so that he could not enre the aristocratic atmosphere of the school, addressed to a public school reading. Maupassant's article are very pessimistic about the color, which with his health status and historical background are closely related.
Described in this article are his wife羅塞瓦德full vanity, her first time at the banquet in order to enjoy the limelight, deliberately borrowed from his girlfriend a diamond necklace. Wearing a necklace when she appeared at the banquet on time, causing the audience to praise and flattery of the people, her vanity has been greatly satisfied. Unfortunately, the way home, this necklace is missing. This compensation for the value of 36,000 francs gold necklace, she has been heavily indebted negative. After a decade of her things to scrimp and save to pay off the debt. The ironic part is when she told the other side of the necklace is missing is false.羅塞瓦德his wife through "打腫臉充胖子" approach to show the self-concept of the driver face, so that she suffered.
"Oh, poor couples羅瓦塞爾! Destiny really make fun of people." That was my first after reading the article. When the aftertaste from the article again, I can not help but think: If they do not for vanity, would be so much cost? Vanity, a terrible but invisible demon, are made in order to honor and caused widespread attention shown by an abnormal social emotions, are an indisputable gain of a bad quality. Vanity candid people will move toward hypocrisy. Vanity strong regular people usually boast a showing off of conct, through the bragging, occult, etc. to express their own deception. Vanity strong person, there is usually jealous impulse, the ability to see others than themselves, and status than their higher destiny than its own good, the appearance of the United States than their own, they feel uncomfortable and not fun. And even exclusion, ridicule, attack, alienation, self-resilient than embarrass people, intentionally or unintentionally, to make the damage done to these people. Have, vanity strong person, in particular, likes to listen to the words of flattery, compliment, it is most unacceptable and others are publicly contradict or face-to-face advice, the most intolerable of老底are exposing him. As a result, making him probably are some narrow circle of the "villains."
French philosopher Bergson said: "It is hard to say vanity is an evil, but all the evil all around the vanity and Health, is but a means to satisfy the vanity." False Honor is a flash that is broken bubble, we should not pursue that do not belong to their own false things; and want to go down-to-earth干一番事業, through the struggle to create their own honor to belong to.
㈦ 《項鏈》的原文是什麼
項鏈
【法】莫泊桑
世上的漂亮動人的女子，每每像是由於命運的差錯似地，出生在一個小職員的家庭；我們現在要說的這一個正是這樣。她沒有陪嫁的資產，沒有希望，沒有任何方法使得一個既有錢又有地位的人認識她，了解她，愛她，娶她；到末了，她將將就就和教育部的一個小科員結了婚。
不能夠講求裝飾，她是樸素的，但是不幸得像是一個降了等的女人；因為婦女們本沒有階級，沒有門第之分，她們的美，她們的豐韻和她們的誘惑力就是供她們做出身和家世之用的。她們的天生的機警，出眾的本能，柔順的心靈，構成了她們唯一的等級，而且可以把民間的女子提得和最高的貴婦人一樣高。
她覺得自己本是為了一切精美的和一切豪華的事物而生的，因此不住地感到痛苦。由於自己房屋的寒傖，牆壁的粗糙，傢具的陳舊，衣料的庸俗，她非常難過。這一切，在另一個和她同等的婦人心上，也許是不會注意的，然而她卻因此傷心，又因此懊惱，那個替她照料瑣碎家務的布列塔尼省的小女傭人的樣子，使她產生了種種憂苦的遺憾和胡思亂想。她夢想著那些靜悄悄的接待室，如何蒙著東方的幃幕，如何點著青銅的高腳燈檠，如何派著兩個身穿短褲子的高個兒侍應生聽候指使，而熱烘烘的空氣暖爐使得兩個侍應生都在大型的圈椅上打盹。她夢想那些披著古代壁衣的大客廳，那些擺著無從估價的瓷瓶的精美傢具；她夢想那些精緻而且芬芳的小客廳，自己到了午後五點光景，就可以和親切的男朋友在那兒閑談，和那些被婦女界羨慕的並且渴望一顧的知名男子在那兒閑談。
然而事實上，她每天吃晚飯的時候，就在那張小圓桌跟前和她的丈夫對面坐下了，桌上蓋的白布要三天才換一回，丈夫把那隻湯池的蓋子一揭開，就用一種高興的神氣說道：「哈！好肉湯！世上沒有比它更好的……」因此她又夢想那些豐盛精美的筵席了，夢想那些光輝燦爛的銀器皿了，夢想那些滿綉著仙境般的園林和其間的古裝仕女以及古怪飛禽的壁衣了；她夢想那些用名貴的盤子盛著的佳餚美味了，夢想那些在吃著一份肉色粉紅的鱸魚或者一份松雞翅膀的時候帶著朗爽的微笑去細聽的情話了。
而且她沒有像樣的服裝，沒有珠寶首飾，什麼都沒有。可是她偏偏只歡喜這一套，覺得自己是為了這一套而生的。她早就指望自己能夠取悅於人，能夠被人羨慕，能夠有誘惑力而且被人追求。
她有一個有錢的女朋友，一個在教會女學里的女同學，可是現在已經不再想去看她，因為看了之後回來，她總會感到痛苦。於是她由於傷心，由於遺憾，由於失望並且由於憂慮，接連她要不料某一天傍晚，她丈夫帶著得意揚揚的神氣回來了，手裡拿著一個大信封。
「瞧吧，」他說：「這兒有點兒東西是專門為了你的。」她趕忙拆開了信封，從裡面抽了一張印著這樣語句的請帖：
「教育部長若爾日•郎波諾暨夫人榮幸地邀請駱塞爾先生和駱塞爾太太參加一月十八日星期一在本部大樓舉辦的晚會。」
她丈夫希望她一定快活得很，誰知她竟帶著傷心而且生氣的樣子把請帖扔到桌上，冷冰冰地說：
「你叫我拿著這東西怎麼辦？」
「不過，親人兒，我原以為你大概是滿意的。你素來不出門，並且這是一個機會，這東西，一個好機會！我費了多少力才弄到手。大家都想要請帖，它是很難弄到手的，卻又沒有
多少份發給同事們。將來在晚會上看得見政界的全部人物。」
她用一種暴怒的眼光瞧著他，後來她不耐煩地高聲說：
「你叫我身上穿著什麼到那兒去？」
他以前原沒有想到這一層；支吾地說：
「不過，你穿了去看戲的那件裙袍。我覺得它很好，我……」
瞧見他妻子流著眼淚，他不說話了，吃驚了，心裡糊塗了。兩大滴眼淚慢慢地從她的眼角向著口角流下來；他吃著嘴說：
「你有點怎樣？你有點怎樣？」
但是她用一種堅強的忍耐心鎮住了自己的痛苦，擦著自己那副潤濕了的臉蛋兒，一面用
一道寧靜的聲音回答：
「沒有什麼。不過我沒有衣裳，所以我不能夠去赴這個晚會。你倘若有一個同事，他的妻子能夠比我打扮得好些，你就把這份請帖送給他。」
他發愁了，接著說道：
「這么著吧，瑪蒂爾蒂。要花多少錢，一套像樣的衣裳，以後遇著機會你還可以再穿的，簡單一些的？」
她思索了好幾秒鍾，確定她的盤算，並且也考慮到這個數目務必可以由她要求，不至於引起這個節儉科員的一種吃驚的叫喚和一個乾脆的拒絕。
末了她遲遲疑疑地回答：
「細數呢，我不曉得，不過我估計，有四百金法郎，總可以辦得到。」
他的臉色有點兒發青了，因為他手裡正存著這樣一個數目預備去買一枝槍，使得自己在今年夏天的星期日里，可以和幾個打獵的朋友們到南兌爾那一帶平原地方去打鳥。
然而他卻回答道：
「就是這樣吧。我給你四百金法郎。不過你要想法子去做一套漂亮的裙袍。」
晚會的日期已經近了，駱塞爾太太好像在發愁，不放心，心裡有些焦躁不安。然而她的新裙袍卻辦好了。她丈夫某一天傍晚問她：
「你有點怎樣？想想吧，這三天以來，你是很異樣的。」於是她說：
「沒有一件首飾，沒有一粒寶石，插的和戴的，一點兒也沒有，這件事真教我心煩。簡直太窮酸了。現在我寧可不去赴這個晚會。」
他接著說道：
「你將來可以插戴幾朵鮮花。在現在的時令里，那是很出色的。花十個金法郎，你可以買得到兩三朵很好看的玫瑰花。」她一點也聽不進去。
「不成……世上最教人丟臉的，就是在許多有錢的女人堆里露窮相。」
但是她丈夫高聲叫喚起來：
「你真糊塗！去找你的朋友伏來士潔太太，問她借點首飾。你和她的交情，是可以開口的。」
她迸出了一道快活的叫喚：
「這是真的。這一層我當初簡直沒有想過。」
第二天，她到她這位朋友家裡去了，向她談起了自己的煩悶。
伏來士潔太太向著她那座嵌著鏡子的大衣櫃跟前走過去，取出一個大的盒子，帶過來打開向駱塞爾太太說：
「你自己選吧，親愛的。」
她最初看見許多手鐲，隨後一個用珍珠鑲成的項圈，隨後一個威尼斯款式的金十字架，鑲著寶石的，做工非常精巧。她在鏡子跟前試著這些首飾，遲疑不決，捨不得丟開這些東西，歸還這些東西。她老問著。
「你還有沒有一點什麼別的？」
「有的是，你自己找吧。我不曉得哪件合得上你的意思。」她忽然在一隻黑緞子做的小盒子里，發現了一串用金剛鑽鑲成的項鏈，那東西真地壓得倒一切；於是她的心房因為一種奢望漸漸跳起來。她雙手拿著那東西發抖，她把它壓著自己裙袍的領子繞在自己的頸項上面了，對著自己在鏡子里的影子出了半天的神。
後來，她帶看滿腔的顧慮遲疑地問道：
「你能夠借這東西給我嗎，我只借這一件？」
「當然可以，當然可以。」
她跳起來抱著她朋友的頸項，熱烈地吻了又吻，末後，她帶著這件寶貝溜也似地走了。
晚會的日子到了，駱塞爾太太得到極大的成功，她比一般女賓都要漂亮，時髦，迷人，不斷地微笑，並且樂得發狂。一般男賓都望著她出神，探聽她的姓名，設法使人把自己引到她跟前作介紹。本部機要處的人員都想和她跳舞，部長也注意她。
她用陶醉的姿態舞著，用興奮的動作舞著，她沉醉在歡樂里，她滿意於自己的容貌的勝利，滿意於自己的成績的光榮；滿意於那一切阿諛贊嘆和那場使得女性認為異常完備而且甜美的凱歌，一種幸福的祥雲包圍著她。所以她什麼都不思慮了。
她是清晨四點鍾光景離開的。她丈夫自從半夜十二點鍾光景，就同著另外三位男賓在一間無人理會的小客廳里睡著了；這三位男賓的妻子也正舞得很快活。
他對她的肩頭上披上了那些為了上街而帶來的衣裳，家常用的儉朴的衣裳，這些東西的寒傖意味是和跳舞會里的服裝的豪華氣派不相稱的。她感到了這一層，於是為了避免另外那些裹著珍貴皮衣的太太們注意，她竟想逃遁了。
駱塞爾牽住了她：
「等著吧。你到外面會受寒。我去找一輛出租的街車來吧。」
不過她絕不聽從他，匆匆忙忙下了台階兒。等到他倆走到街上竟找不著車了；於是他倆開始去尋覓，追著那些他們遠遠地望得見的車子。
他倆向著塞納河的河沿走下去，兩個人感到失望，渾身冷得發抖。末了，他倆在河沿上竟找著了一輛像是夜遊病者一樣的舊式轎車——這樣的車子白天在巴黎如同感到自慚形穢，所以要到天黑以後才看得見它們。
車子把他倆送到殉教街的寓所大門外了，他倆惆悵地上了樓。在她，這算是結束了。而他呢，卻想起了自己明天早上十點鍾應當到部。
她在鏡子跟前脫下了那些圍著肩頭的大氅之類，想再次端詳端詳無比榮耀的自己。但是陡然間她發出了一聲狂叫。她已經沒有那串圍著頸項的金剛鑽項鏈了！
她丈夫這時候已經脫了一半衣裳，連忙問：
「你有點怎樣？」
她發痴似地轉過身來向著他：
「我已經……我已經……我現在找不著伏來士潔太太那串項鏈了。」
他張皇失措地站起來：
「什麼！……怎樣！……哪兒會有這樣的事！」
於是他倆在那件裙袍的衣褶里，大氅的衣褶里，口袋裡，都尋了一個遍。到處都找不到它。
他問道：
「你能夠保證離開舞會的時候還掛著那東西嗎？」
「對呀，我在部里的過道里還摸過它。」
「不過，倘若你在路上失掉了它，我們可以聽得見它落下去的聲響。它應當在車子里。」
「對呀。這是可能的。你可曾記下車子的號碼？」
「沒有。你呢，你當初也沒有注意？」
「沒有。」
他倆口呆目瞪地互相瞧著。末了，駱塞爾重新著好了衣裳。
「我去，」他說，「我去把我倆步行經過的路線再走一遍，去看看是不是可以找得著它。」
於是他出街了。她呢，連睡覺的氣力都沒有，始終沒有換下那套參加晚會的衣裳，就靠在一把圍椅上面，屋子裡沒有生火，腦子里什麼也不想。
她丈夫在七點鍾回家。什麼也沒有找得著。
他走到警察總廳和各報館里去懸一種賞格，又走到各處出租小馬車的公司，總而言之，凡是有一線希望的地方都走了一個遍。
她對著這種駭人的大禍，在驚愕狀態中間整整地等了一天。
駱塞爾在傍晚的時候帶著瘦削灰白的臉回來了；他一點什麼也沒有發現過。
「應當，」他說，「寫信給你那個女朋友說你弄斷了那串項鏈的搭鉤，現在正叫人在那裡修理。這樣我們就可以有周轉的時間。」
她在他的口授之下寫了這封信。
一星期以後，他們任何希望都消失了。並且駱塞爾像是老了五年，高聲說道：
「現在應當設法去賠這件寶貝了。」
第二天，他們拿了盛那件寶貝的盒子，照著盒子裡面的招牌到了珠寶店裡，店裡的老闆查過了許多賬簿。
「從前，太太，這串項鏈不是我店裡賣出去的，我只做了這個盒子。」
於是他倆到一家家的首飾店去訪問了，尋覓一件和失掉的那件首飾相同的東西，憑著自己的記憶力做參考，他倆因為傷心和憂愁都快要生病了。
他們在故宮街一家小店裡找到了一串用金剛鑽鑲成的念珠，他們覺得正像他們尋覓的那一串。它值得四萬金法郎。店裡可以作三萬六千讓給他倆。
他們所以央求那小店的老闆在三天之內不要賣掉這東西。並且另外說好了條件：倘若原有的那串在二月底以前找回來，店裡就用三萬四千金當郎收買這串回去。
駱塞爾本存著他父親從前留給他的一萬八千金法郎。剩下的數目就得去借了。
他動手借錢了，向這一個借一千金法郎，向那個借五百，向這里借五枚魯意金元，向另一處又借三枚。他簽了許多借據，訂了許多破產性的契約，和那些盤剝重利的人，各種不同國籍的放款人打交道。他損害了自己後半生的前程，他不顧成敗利鈍冒險地簽上了自己的名姓，並且，想到了將來的苦惱，想到了就會壓在身上的黑暗貧窮，想到了整個物質上的匱乏和全部精神上的折磨造成的遠景，他感到恐怖了，終於走到那個珠寶商人的櫃台邊放下了三萬六千金法郎，取了那串新項鏈。
在駱塞爾太太把首飾還給伏來士潔太太的時候，這一位用一種不高興的神情向她說：
「你應當早點兒還給我，因為我也許要用它。」
她當時並沒有打開那隻盒子，這正是她的女朋友擔憂的事。倘若看破了這件代替品，她將要怎樣想？她難道不會把她當做一個賊？
駱塞爾太太嘗到了窮人的困窘生活了。此外，突然一下用英雄氣概打定了主意，那筆駭人的債是必須償還的。她預備償還它。他們辭退了女傭；搬了家；租了某處屋頂底下的一間閣樓下。
她開始做種種家務上的粗硬工作了，廚房裡可厭的日常任務了。她洗濯杯盤碗碟，在罐子鍋子的油垢底子上磨壞了那些玫瑰色的手指頭。內衣和抹布都由她親自用肥皂洗濯再晾到繩子上；每天早起，她搬運垃圾下樓，再把水提到樓上，每逢走完一層樓，就得坐在樓梯上喘口氣。並且穿著得像是一個平民婦人了，她挽著籃子走到蔬菜店裡、雜貨店裡和肉店裡去講價錢，去挨罵，極力一個銅元一個銅元地去防護她那點兒可憐的零錢。
每月都要收回好些借據，一面另外立幾張新的去展緩日期。
她丈夫在傍晚的時候替一個商人謄清賬目，時常到了深夜，他還得抄錄那種五個銅元一面的書。
末後，這種生活延長到十年之久。
十年之末，他倆居然還清了全部債務，連同高利貸者的利錢以及由利上加利滾成的數目。
駱塞爾太太像是老了。現在，她已經變成了貧苦人家的強健粗硬而且耐苦的婦人了。亂挽著頭發，歪歪地系著裙子，露著一雙發紅的手，高聲說話，大盆水洗地板。但是有時候她丈夫到辦公室里去了，她獨自坐在窗前，於是就回想從前的那個晚會，那個跳舞會，在那裡，她當時是那樣美貌，那樣快活。
倘若當時沒有失掉那件首飾，她現在會走到什麼樣的境界？誰知道？誰知道？人生真是古怪，真是變化無常啊。無論是害您或者救您，只消一點點小事。
然而，某一個星期日，她正走到香榭麗舍大街兜個圈子去調劑一周之中的日常勞作，這時候忽然看見了一個帶著孩子散步的婦人。那就是伏來士潔太太，她始終是年輕的，始終是美貌的，始終是有誘惑力的。
駱塞爾太太非常激動。要不要去和她攀談？對的，當然。並且自己現在已經還清了債務，可以徹底告訴她。為什麼不？她走近前去了。
「早安，約翰妮。」
那一位竟一點兒也不認識她了，以為自己被這個平民婦人這樣親熱地叫喚是件怪事，她支支吾吾地說：
「不過……這位太太！……我不知道……大概應當是您弄錯了。
「沒有錯。我是瑪蒂爾德•駱塞爾呀。」
她那個女朋友狂叫了一聲：
「噢！……可憐的瑪蒂爾德，你真變了樣子！……」
「對呀，我過了許多很艱苦的日子，自從我上一次見過你以後；並且種種苦楚都是為了你！……」
「為了我……這是怎樣一回事？」
「從前，你不是借了一串金剛鑽項鏈給我到部里參加晚會，現在，你可還記得？」
「記得，怎樣呢？」
「怎樣，我丟了那串東西。」
「哪兒的話，你早已還給我了。」
「我從前還給你的是另外一串完全相同的。到現在，我們花了十年工夫才付清它的代價。像我們什麼也沒有的人，你明白這件事是不容易的……現在算是還清了帳，我是結結實實滿意的了。」
伏來士潔太太停住了腳步：
「你可是說從前買了一串金剛鑽項鏈來賠償我的那一串？」
「對呀，你從前簡直沒有看出來，是嗎？那兩串東西原是完全相同的。」
說完，她用一陣自負而又天真的快樂神氣微笑了。
伏來士潔太太很受感動了，抓住了她兩只手：
「唉。可憐的瑪蒂爾德，不過我那一串本是假的，頂多值得五百金法郎！……」
㈧ 《項鏈》的故事梗概
故事講述崇尚上流社會的女子瑪蒂爾德（Mathilde），年輕時總是夢想自己擁有珠光寶氣並受人欣羨，但成年後仍舊一無所有，並嫁給了一個只會一味討她歡喜，在教育部當低階文員的洛瓦塞爾（Loisel）。
一天丈夫爭取到了供職教育部舉辦晚會的一封請柬。在機會面前，瑪蒂爾德卻因沒有服飾十分懊惱。丈夫把原本要存下來買來福槍的錢給她買了華麗的晚裝，但她還是想要珠寶首飾。
因為沒有錢，丈夫讓她找她以前的同學珍娜（Jeanne）借點兒首飾。她有幸借到了最眩目的寶石項鏈，也的確令她占盡晚會的風頭，不料隨後項鏈就丟了。
瑪蒂爾德和丈夫傾家盪產的拿出積蓄並借債湊夠三萬六千法郎買來新項鏈還給珍娜。隨後數年裡，她和丈夫勤儉節約，辛苦勞作償清債務。瑪蒂爾德在極樂公園撞見了珍娜，並告訴了她項鏈丟失後買新項鏈奉還的事情。珍娜聽完非常驚異的說，那串項鏈其實只是價值五百法郎的贗品。
(8)英文短篇小說項鏈擴展閱讀：
《項鏈》（法語：LaParure）是法國作家莫泊桑創作的短篇小說，也是他的代表作之一，最初刊載於1884年2月14日的《高盧報》（LesGaulois，後來被並入現在的費加洛報），以其極具莫泊桑風格的大逆轉結局而聞名。
句子解析
1、雪白雪白的浪花，嘩嘩地笑著，湧向沙灘，悄悄撒下小小的海螺和貝殼。
這是擬人句，寫出了浪花的調皮，飽含著作者對浪花的喜愛之情。
2、小娃娃嘻嘻地笑著，迎上去，撿起小小的海螺和貝殼，穿成彩色的項鏈，掛在胸前。
寫孩子們用海螺和貝殼穿成彩色的項鏈，表現了小娃娃的聰明可愛。
3、快活的腳印印在沙灘上，穿成金色的項鏈，掛在大海胸前。
指孩子在沙灘上行走時留下的一串串腳印，沙灘是黃色的，踩出的腳印也是黃色的，所以說是「金色的項鏈」。
㈨ 莫泊桑短篇小說 項鏈 英語報告
法國作家莫泊桑的短篇小說《項鏈》，在中國流傳甚廣。中國讀者對這部作品實在太熟悉了，幾乎當代中學生都在語文課本里讀到過它。許多年來，對其中女主人公的看法，也幾乎是完全一致的——她是一個被資產階級虛榮心腐蝕而導致喪失青春的悲劇形象。好像對女主人公瑪蒂爾德的認識是絕對的眾口一聲，毫無二致。但果真如此嗎?難道我們從莫泊桑的小說中就沒有讀出別的體驗嗎?對她就沒有別的看法嗎?瑪蒂爾德丟失項鏈這一故事的中心事件，對她一生構成的到底是悲劇還是喜劇?她的生活從那一時刻起到底發生了什麼轉變?她的性格從那個晚上起到底產生了哪些變化?這些我們自以為早就明白了的問題果真經得起追問和推敲嗎?這些看法的確最符合莫泊桑的創作初衷嗎?當我們向自己質疑這一系列的問題時，特別是當我們的思想觀念有了變化，更加看重文本本身的價值而不是某些權威或泰斗的蓋棺論定，更加重視接受美學在閱讀中的作用時，我們忽然發現，原來《項鏈》給我們提供的遠遠不止我們已經知道的。不僅如此，有些還是我們根本想不到或是想錯了的。於是，對這部經典小說重讀並產生新的看法，便成為了可能。
《項鏈》的故事由女主人公丟失項鏈的前前後後構成。小說以「項鏈」為線索，將瑪蒂爾德為參加晚會而借項鏈，戴著項鏈在晚會上出盡風頭，回來時丟失項鏈沿途尋找未得而焦急萬分，四處借錢買了項鏈歸還，用10年的光陰償還所借款項，直到得知那項鏈原來是條贗品為止貫穿情節，使讀者對小說中的項鏈有了至深至透的感受。而女主人公的性格也就在這一失一得中盡顯風采，使其成為外國文學史上不可多得、獨具特性的女性形象。
㈩ 急需莫泊桑《項鏈》英語全文
SHE was one of those pretty and charming girls, born by a blunder of destiny in a family of employees. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished; and she let them make a match for her with a little clerk in the Department of Ecation.
She was simple since she could not be adorned; but she was unhappy as though kept out of her own class; for women have no caste and no descent, their beauty, their grace, and their charm serving them instead of birth and fortune. Their native keenness, their instinctive elegance, their flexibility of mind, are their only hierarchy; and these make the daughters of the people the equals of the most lofty dames. 2
She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her indignant. The sight of the little girl from Brittany who did her humble housework awoke in her desolated regrets and distracted dreams. She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five o』clock chat with the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired.
When she sat down to dine, before a tablecloth three days old, in front of her husband, who lifted the cover of the tureen, declaring with an air of satisfaction, 「Ah, the good pot-au-feu. I don』t know anything better than that,」 she was thinking of delicate repasts, with glittering silver, with tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest; she was thinking of exquisite dishes, served in marvelous platters, of compliment whispered and heard with a sphinx-like smile, while she was eating the rosy flesh of a trout or the wings of a quail.
She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. And she loved nothing else; she felt herself made for that only. She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be sective and sought after.
She had a rich friend, a comrade of her convent days, whom she did not want to go and see any more, so much did she suffer as she came away. And she wept all day long, from chagrin, from regret, from despair, and from distress.
But one evening her husband came in with a proud air, holding in his hand a large envelope.
「There,」 said he, 「there』s something for you.」
She quickly tore the paper and took out of it a printed card which bore these words:
「The Minister of Ecation and Mme. Georges Rampouneau beg M. and Mme. Loisel to do them the honor to pass the evening with them at the palace of the Ministry, on Monday, January .」
Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she threw the invitation on the table with annoyance, murmuring
「What do you want me to do with that?」
「But, my dear, I thought you would be pleased. You never go out, and here』s a chance, a fine one. I had the hardest work to get it. Everybody is after them; they are greatly sought for and not many are given to the clerks. You will see there all the official world.」
She looked at him with an irritated eye and she declared with impatience:
「What do you want me to put on my back to go there?」
He had not thought of that; he hesitated:
「But the dress in which you go to the theater. That looks very well to me」
He shut up, astonished and distracted at seeing that his wife was weeping. Two big tears were descending slowly from the corners of the eyes to the corners of the mouth. He stuttered:
What』s the matter? What』s the matter?」
But by a violent effort she had conquered her trouble, and she replied in a calm voice as she wiped her damp cheeks:
「Nothing. Only I have no clothes, and in consequence I cannot go to this party. Give your card to some colleague whose wife has a better outfit than I.」
He was disconsolate. He began again:
「See here, Mathilde, how much would this cost, a proper dress, which would do on other occasions; something very simple?」
She reflected a few seconds, going over her calculations, and thinking also of the sum which she might ask without meeting an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the frugal clerk.
「At last, she answered hesitatingly:
「I don』t know exactly, but it seems to me that with four hundred francs I might do it.」
He grew a little pale, for he was reserving just that sum to buy a gun and treat himself to a little shooting, the next summer, on the plain of Nanterre, with some friends who used to shoot larks there on Sundays.
But he said:
「All right. I will give you four hundred francs. But take care to have a pretty dress.」
The day of the party drew near, and Mme. Loisel seemed sad, restless, anxious. Yet her dress was ready. One evening her husband said to her:
「What』s the matter? Come, now, you have been quite queer these last three days.」
And she answered:
「It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look like distress. I would almost rather not go to this party.」
He answered:
「You will wear some natural flowers. They are very stylish this time of the year. For ten francs you will have two or three magnificent roses.」
But she was not convinced.
「No; there』s nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women.」
But her husband cried:
「What a goose you are! Go find your friend, Mme. Forester, and ask her to lend you some jewelry. You know her well enough to do that.」
She gave a cry of joy
「That』s true. I had not thought of it.」
The next day she went to her friend』s and told her about her distress.
Me. Forester went to her mirrored wardrobe, took out a large casket, brought it, opened it, and said to Mme. Loisel: