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短篇小说：项链

necklace 项链

Mathilde Loisel was one of those poor girls， pretty，charming and romantic，who，in spite of their romantic dreams，are married to a mediocrity．Her husband was a clerk in the Ministry of Education．

One evening her husband came home with an air of triumph．

“I have something nice for you，”he said，giving her a large envelope．

She tore open the envelope，which contained the following printed card：

“The Minister of Education and Madame Georges Ramponneau have the honour to request the company of Monsieur and Madame Loisel at the office of the Ministry on Monday evening，January 18th．”

She did not seem delighted．On the contrary，she flung the invitation card on the table，and said spitefully：

“What's that to me？”

“Why，my dear，I thought you'd be pleased．You like a dance，don't you？You hardly ever go out，and this is really a good chance for you．I had no end of trouble to get it．Every one wants it，you know．All the officials will be there，but only a few clerks are invited．”

She looked at him ruefully and exclaimed：

“What do you expect me to wear at a party like that？”

It never occurred to him that she had no pretty dresses nor jewels．He replied hesitatingly：

“Why，the dress you wear when you go to the theatre looks very nice to me．”

She burst into tears．Why did she marry such a dull，stupid fellow？Only because she was born into a poor family．Oh，cruel trick of destiny！

“What's the matter？”he asked anxiously．

“Nothing，”she answered with an effort．“It's only that I haven't a suitable dress，and so I can't go to the ball．Give this card to a friend of yours whose wife has a better wardrobe than I．”

It was a heart-breaking confession．

“Come，Mathilde，my dearest，”the distressed husband said，“how much do you think it would cost to have a proper dress，something rather simple which would be useful for other occasions after- wards？”

She thought for a moment，busy with her calculations．How much could she ask without shocking the thrifty husband and provoking a flat refusal？

“I'm not sure， but I think I could manage with four hundred francs．”

The husband turned a little pale．She had named the exact sum he had saved to buy a gun to enjoy shooting on the plain of Nanterre next summer with a few friends．

But he replied：

“All right．You shall have four hundred francs．Mind you get a really nice dress．”

The day of the ball drew near．Although Madame Loisel had got her coveted dress， she seemed far from pleased．

“What is the matter？”her husband asked．

“You look out of sorts these days．”

“It's quite annoying to think that I haven't a single piece of jewellery to wear．I might as well stay at home as cut a miserable figure at the party，”she answered．

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