Maupassant

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Mr. Lang Dan has fallen in love with this young woman since he met her at the party of the deputy section chief's house.

That's the daughter of the provincial tax director who died a few years ago. After her father died, she went to Paris with her mother, who often visited several bourgeois families in this area in order to find a spouse for her young daughter.

Both mother and daughter are poor and respectable, quiet and gentle. A young daughter is like a model of a good wife and mother. A smart young man dreams of entrusting his life to this typical figure. Her beauty with a sense of shame has the pure charm of an angel, and the imperceptible smile that never leaves her mouth is like a reflection that touches a chord.

Everyone praised her. People who know her keep repeating, "the person who will marry her in the future is really blessed." We can't find a better one. "

At that time, Mr. Lang Dan was the chief clerk of the Ministry of the Interior, with an annual salary of 3,500 gold francs. He proposed to her and married her.

At first, he lived a very happy life with her. She manages the family with such clever economic skills that the two of them look rich. Her attention, care and consideration for her husband are really hard to get; And her own attraction is so great that after they met for six years, he loves her even more than before.

He only blames her for two shortcomings: her love of drama and her love of fake jewelry.

Her girlfriend (the wives of three or five fairies she knows) can always find a box for her to watch popular dramas or even the first performances; As for her, for better or worse, she always takes her husband to play together, but after he works all day, this kind of fun makes him feel terrible and tired. So he begged her to go to the theater with his familiar wife, and they would take her home. She thought this method was inappropriate and refused to give in after a long time. Finally, she agreed with him, because she was sympathetic, so he was very grateful to her.

Who knows, this interest in going to the theater soon created a need for decoration on her. Of course, her clothes are always simple and really interesting, but they are simple after all; Her delicate coquetry, irresistible, humble and smiling coquetry, seems to have gained new charm because of the simplicity of her dress, but she has developed the habit of hanging a pair of earrings pretending to be Jin Gangzuan's big rhinestones, wearing an artificial pearl collar, an artificial gold bracelet and a round comb with colored glass pieces of precious stones.

This frivolous hobby aroused her husband's dissatisfaction. He often said, "Dear, when a person can't buy all kinds of real jewelry for himself, he can only decorate it by his beauty and coquetry. This is a unique treasure. "

But she smiled indifferently and said, "How about you teach me? What I like is this. This is my fault. I know you have a point, but people can't change their nature. Of course I love real jewelry more, me! "

So she took the pearl soft collar and turned it between her fingers. While teaching the small section between the corners of the gem to shoot back the light, she kept saying, "Look at it, it's really good. Just like it's true. "

He laughed and said loudly, "You are really funny as a bohemian woman."

Occasionally, in the evening, when they are sitting in the corner of the stove, she will take out her sheepskin box for collecting what Mr. Langdan calls "inferior products" on their tea table; Then she began to look at those artificial jewels with a warm and focused attitude, as if thinking about some secret and profound enjoyment; Finally, she stubbornly put a soft neck around her husband's neck, and immediately burst out laughing and shouted, "You look so funny!" " "Then I threw myself into his arms and kissed him with great excitement.

One winter night, she went to the Grand Opera House and came home shivering with cold.

The next day, she coughed. Eight days later, she died of pneumonia.

Langdan almost followed her to the grave. His disappointment was so amazing that his hair turned white in a month. He cried all day from morning till night, and his heart was torn by an unbearable pain. The memory, smile, voice and all stupid gestures of his dead wife always haunt him.

Time has never eased his sadness. Often during working hours, colleagues talk about some things of the day and suddenly see his cheeks bulging, his nose shrinking and his eyes full of tears; He made a bitter face and immediately began to cry.

He keeps his partner's bedroom intact, and in order to miss her, he shuts himself in the bedroom every day; All the furniture, even her clothes, were left where she died.

But life is hard for him. His salary, once in the hands of his wife, was enough to meet the needs of a family, but now it is not enough to meet his own needs. Later, he asked himself in a daze: what clever way did she use to teach him to drink first-class wine and eat delicious food, but now he can't prepare his previous diet with his meager financial resources.

He borrowed money and tried his best to get it. Finally, one morning, he didn't even have a penny, and there was still a whole week before the salary was paid at the end of the month. He remembered to sell something. Then he immediately decided to sell his wife's "inferior products" a little, because deep down, he had already hated the fakes that made him angry. Even the shadows of those things have damaged his daily memory of his beloved dead wife.

He searched for a long time among the fakes she left behind, because she stubbornly bought a lot until the last day. Almost every night, she has to bring back a new thing. Now, he decided to sell the big collar that she seemed to like best. He thought it was worth six or eight francs. It's a fake thing, but it's really a very meticulous effort. He put it in his pocket and walked along Ji Cheng Street to his department, looking for a small jewelry store that he felt credible.

Finally, he saw a family and went in. Because he expresses his poverty too much, trying to sell a very worthless thing is inevitably a bit embarrassing. "Sir," he said to the businessman, "I want to know what you think of this little thing."

The man took something, looked around for a long time, weighed it, picked up a magnifying glass, taught his shop assistant to come over and whispered a few words to him. He put his collar on the counter and looked at it from a distance to make sure of its impression.

Mr. Lang Dan was embarrassed by this set of procedures and was about to say, "Alas! I know very well that this thing is worthless. " However, the jeweler spoke first: "sir, this is worth 12 thousand to 15 thousand gold francs;" However, if you can teach me the source of this thing correctly, I can buy it. "

The widowed man has big eyes and keeps his mouth open. He can't figure it out. Finally, he smiled and asked, "What do you say? ..... Are you sure? " The other misunderstood his surprise. Later, he simply said, "You can go to a nearby place and ask if you want to pay more. In my opinion, it's worth 15 thousand at most If you can't find a better buyer, you can come to me again later. "

Mr. Landan is a fool. He took back his collar and left. He just vaguely felt that he should think about it himself.

However, as soon as he walked out of the shop, he couldn't help laughing. He said to himself, "Idiot! Alas! Idiot! If I really do what he says! It can be seen that the jeweler can't tell the difference between true and false! "

Later, he went to another jewelry store at the intersection of Heping Street. As soon as the merchant saw the jewels, he loudly said:

"ha! Needless to say, I know very well that this collar; It is sold in my store. "

Mr. Langdan was puzzled. He asked:

"How much is it worth?"

"Sir, once upon a time I sold twenty-five thousand gold francs. If you can tell me how this thing got into your hands in order to obey the government's orders, I can get it back at once with 18 thousand gold francs. "

This time, Mr. Langdan sat down in surprise. He went on to say, "but ... but please look at this thing carefully, sir." Until now, I always thought it was ... fake. "

The jeweler asked:

"May I know your name, sir?"

"Yes, my name is Langdan. I am from the Ministry of the Interior and live at Sheshen Street 16. "

The merchant opened many of his books, searched for a while, and loudly said:

"This collar was indeed1delivered to Mrs. Langdan's house in Sheshen Street on July 20th, 876."

Later, when they looked at each other, the clerk was dumbfounded with surprise. The boss thinks he met a pickpocket.

The latter went on to say:

"Would you like to temporarily put this thing in my shop at 24 o'clock? I'll give you a receipt right away. "

Langdan took a bite and said:

"Why not? Of course. "

Later, he folded the receipt, put it in his pocket and walked out of the shop. Then he crossed the street and walked up the hill. He found himself going the wrong way, so he went to Dulles Palace. After crossing the Seine, he realized that he had gone the wrong way again and returned to the Champs Elysé es. He doesn't even have an idea in his mind. He tried his best to guess and understand. His wife couldn't afford such an expensive thing before. -No, it's natural. But in that case, it's a gift! A gift! Who gave the gift? For what?

He stopped and stood motionless in the middle of the street. He felt a little terrible doubt. She? -Then all the other jewels are gifts! He felt that everything was spinning; I felt a big tree fall on his face; He stretched out his arms and was unconscious.

I was carried to a drugstore by passers-by before I woke up. He asked someone to take him home, and then he hid behind the closed door.

Until late at night, he cried wildly, biting a handkerchief in his mouth, for fear of crying himself. Then, tired and sad, he went to bed and finally fell asleep.

A ray of morning light woke him up, and then he got up slowly, thinking about going to the Ministry. It's hard to go to work after such a mental shock. So he considered asking for forgiveness in front of the section chief; Then write to him. Then he remembered that he should go to the jewelry store again; However, a burst of shame taught him to blush. He pondered for a long time. But he can't leave the collar with that man. He got dressed and went out into the street.

The weather is warm and the blue sky is spreading at the top of this smiling city. Many loafers walked forward with their hands in their pockets.

Lang Dan watched them pass by and said to himself, "It's really comfortable for a person to have some property! With money, you can clean up all the sad things, go wherever you want, and travel to relax, all of which can be done! Ha! If I were a rich man! "

He found himself very hungry and hadn't eaten since the night before yesterday. But his pocket was empty, so he remembered the collar again. Eighteen thousand gold francs! Eighteen thousand gold francs! That's a lot of money, that sum!

He came to Heping Street and began to walk one by one on the sidewalk opposite the jewelry store. Eighteen thousand gold francs! He walked into the shop almost ten or twenty times, but shame always stopped him.

However, he is hungry, very hungry, and he has no money. He suddenly made up his mind, ran across the street, taught himself to think without thinking, and then jumped into the jewelry store.

As soon as I saw him, the jeweler got busy. He smiled and offered his seat politely. The shop assistants who have been looking at Lang Dan are now coming automatically, with happy expressions on their eyes and lips. Manned loudly say:

"I have found out, sir, so if you still don't change your mind, I can exchange the price at once according to the amount I told you before."

The clerk said falteringly:

"Of course."

The shopkeeper took out eighteen big bills from the drawer, counted them and handed them to Lang Dan. Lang Dan signed a receipt and put the money in his pocket with trembling hands.

Then, just as he was about to go out, he turned to the businessman who was always smiling and said to him with his eyes down:

"I have ... I have ... many jewels ... all from ... all from ... the same inheritance. Do you want to buy those things from me too? "

The shopkeeper owed a body and said:

"Certainly, sir."

But a clerk ran out of the store door and laughed loudly; The other tried to blow his nose with a handkerchief.

Calm Langdan blushed, but his face was calm. He loudly said to him:

"I'll bring those things to you."

So he called a carriage and went back to get those precious jewels. When he arrived at the jewelry store an hour later, he had not had lunch.

They began to check these things one by one and evaluate the value of each one. Almost all of them were sold in that store.

Lang Dan, now arguing over the estimated value, lost his temper and resolutely taught the store to turn over the sales account book to him. The number is increasing and the voice is getting louder and louder.

The big Jin Gangzuan on the earrings is worth 20 thousand gold francs, the bracelet is worth 35 thousand, the pin, ring and brand are worth 16 thousand, and there are 14 thousand emeralds and sapphires. Jin Gangzuan, single head, hung under a gold necklace as a pendant, worth 40,000 yuan; The total amount of one * * * reached one hundred and ninety-six thousand gold francs.

The shopkeeper said loudly with a serious teasing attitude, "This was left by a man who put all his savings on jewelry."

Langdan solemnly spoke:

"This is a way to save money, just like other methods."

Later, he and the buyer decided to re-examine it tomorrow, and then left.

When he got to the street, he looked at the Vendom Memorial Column and regarded it as the mast of the climbing competition, trying to climb to its tip. He felt relaxed and could cross the top of the bronze statue of the Great Emperor high in the clouds and play the game of "jumping sheep" with it.

He went to Fuwashan Hotel for lunch and drank a bottle of wine worth twenty gold francs.

Later, he called a carriage and took a ride in the forest park. He looked at the gorgeous private carriage in the park with a rather contemptuous attitude and eagerly called to the tourists: "I am also a rich man now." I have two hundred thousand gold francs now! "

He thought of his own Ministry, so he taught the coach to take him to the Ministry, resolutely walked into his section chief's office and said:

"I'm here to resign from you, Sir. I have now received an inheritance of 300,000 gold francs. "

He shook hands with his old colleagues and told them his new life plan. Then he had dinner in an English cafe.

A gentleman who he thought was outstanding sat next to him. Lang Dan couldn't help itching and wanted to say something to him, so he said quite ostentatiously that he had recently inherited four hundred thousand gold francs.

He was not bored at the theater for the first time, and then spent the night with the girls.

Six months later, he remarried. His second wife is decent, but she has a bad temper. She caused him great pain.

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