Mathilde is smart, beautiful and flexible, but her family background as a clerk failed to make her live the life she thought worthy of her. When it comes to marriage, she has no choice but to marry Lu Oizel, who is also a clerk. The lack of money makes her miserable, but this does not affect her fantasy of living an extraordinary life. By chance, the husband tried to win the invitation of the Minister of Education for his wife and hold a dance at home. For this dance, the husband sacrificed a chance to hunt and have fun and bought a beautiful robe for his wife. Mathilde also borrowed a "diamond necklace" from her friend Mrs Foretstier. At the ball, Mathilde got the "supreme" position at the ball as she wished, and made several satisfactory achievements in her life. But just after the dance, bad luck came: the borrowed necklace was lost! They borrowed everything, bought an expensive necklace that looked exactly like the one they lost, and then returned it to Mrs. Forrest. Mathilde went through many hardships to pay her debts, so she became strong. Ten years later, Mathilde met Mrs. Foretstier and realized that the lost diamond necklace turned out to be fake.

selected works

There are some beautiful women in the world who are full of charm, but they were wrongly arranged by nature and grew up in the family of a small clerk. She is one of them. She has no dowry property, no legacy to look forward to, and there is no way for a rich and powerful man to know her, understand her, love her and marry her; She had to marry a small clerk in the Ministry of Education.

She has no money to dress up, so it is very simple; But my heart is very painful, just like the situation of a noble marrying; This is because women do not have a certain class or race. Their beauty, their charm and their charm can all be regarded as their origins and family background. There is a hierarchy between them only because of their natural intelligence, aesthetic instinct and flexible brains, which can make the people's girls keep pace with the noblest married women.

She always feels that she was born to enjoy all kinds of luxurious life, so she feels endless pain. The living room is so simple, the walls are unadorned, the chairs and stools are so shabby, and the clothes are so ugly that she looks very painful. These situations, if not her but another woman in the class, may not even pay attention, but they have caused her great pain and made her angry. When she sees Brittany, the little woman who does housework for her, there will be many sad feelings and fantasies in her heart. She will think of the quiet reception room, with oriental silk and bronze stilts shining on the walls; She will remember how two tall footmen in shorts and stockings in the reception room were awakened by the sultry heat of the heating pipe and then fell asleep in the spacious armchair. She will think of the antique silk-walled living room, with exquisite furniture of precious antiques, and those exquisite and fragrant inner living rooms, which are specially used to talk with her closest boyfriend at five o'clock in the afternoon. Those friends, of course, are celebrities coveted by all women, eager to be favored and wooed by many parties.

Every time she sat at the round table where the tablecloth had not been washed for three days, the husband sitting opposite opened the lid and said with satisfaction, "Ah! What a delicious stew! There is nothing better in the world ... ",she thought of those exquisite banquets, shiny silver tableware, tapestries hanging on the wall, with ancient figures and rare birds woven on them in the fairyland forest; She also thought of delicious food on expensive plates; She also thought about eating pink bass meat or grouse wings while listening to her boyfriend whispering sweet words with an unfathomable smile.

She has no beautiful clothes, no jewelry, in short, nothing. However, she likes these things; She feels that she was born to enjoy these things. What she wants most is to please men, arouse women's admiration, be romantic and be popular everywhere.

She has a rich girlfriend who is a classmate at school. Now, she doesn't want to visit her again, because she always feels very painful when she comes back. She would cry for days with sadness, regret, despair and pain.

But one night, her husband came home with a big envelope in his hand and a smug face.

"Take it!" He said, "This is something specially prepared for you."

She quickly opened the envelope and pulled out an invitation from the inside, which read:

A party will be held in our building on Monday 1 month 18. Please come on time.

Lu wasser

Minister of Education George Long Bono and his wife hereby order.

Instead of being as happy as her husband hoped, she angrily threw the invitation on the table and muttered:

"I want this? Think about it for me. "

"But, my dear, I thought you would be very happy. You never go out to be a guest, this is an opportunity, and it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I managed to get this invitation. Everyone wants it, it's hard to get it, and generally they don't want to give it to small staff. You can see all those officials there. "

Her eyes glared at him angrily and finally said impatiently:

"Can you tell me what to wear to go there?"

This, but he never thought of; Then he hesitated to say:

"That you wear that dress in the theater? In my opinion, it seems very good ... "

He can't go on. He was surprised and flustered when he saw that his wife had cried. Two big tears slowly flow from the corner of his wife's eye to the corner of his mouth; He stammered:

"What's the matter with you? How do you pull? "

She was determined to suppress the pain, then wiped her cheeks wet with tears and said in a calm voice:

"Nothing happened. But since I have no clothes, of course I can't go to the party. If a colleague's wife can have better clothes than mine, please send him an invitation. "

He embarrassed said:

"Mathilde, let's discuss it. How much does it cost to wear a decent suit and a simple suit that can be worn on other occasions? "

She thought for a few seconds, calculated the money in her mind, and considered how to come up with a figure that would not be rejected on the spot by the thrifty clerk and would not scare him out.

She finally said hesitantly:

"I can't say how much it will cost; But with 400 francs, you can probably do it. "

His face turned a little pale, because he happened to save such a sum of money to buy a gun, so that he could hunt with some friends in summer and shoot larks in Nanterre Plain on Sunday.

But he still said this:

"All right. I'll give you four hundred francs. But you must try to make a beautiful dress. "

The day of the party is coming, but Mrs. Loisel seems very sad, uneasy and worried. Her clothes are all ready. One night, her husband asked her:

"What's the matter with you? Your temper has been so strange for three days. "

"I am very upset. I have neither jewelry nor jewelry, and I can't wear anything. It's really shabby. I don't want to attend this party at all. "

He said:

"You can wear some flowers. This season is very beautiful. For ten francs, you can have two or three very beautiful roses. "

This method didn't convince her at all.

"Nothing ... nothing is more humiliating than showing a poor face among those rich women."

Her husband suddenly shouted:

"You are so confused! Why not go to your friend Mrs. Forrest and borrow some jewels from her? Take your friendship with her. "

She shouted happily:

"That's true. I didn't expect it. "

The next day she went to a friend's house and told her about her troubles.

Mrs. Foretstier immediately went to her wardrobe with a mirror, took out a big jewelry box, brought it here and opened it, and said to Mrs. Loisel:

"Pick it! Dear. "

The first thing she saw was several bracelets, then a pearl necklace, a gold cross inlaid with jewels made in Venice, which was extremely fine in workmanship. Wearing these jewels, she tried them in the mirror, hesitating to take them off and return them to her master. Her mouth is always asking:

"Nothing else?"

"yes. Find it yourself. I don't know what you like? "

Suddenly, she found a beautiful diamond necklace in a black satin box. An excessive desire made her heart beat violently. Her hand was shaking when she took it. She put it around her neck, wore it outside her clothes, looked at herself in the mirror and saw God.

Then she was very anxious and asked hesitantly:

"Can you lend this to me? I only borrow this one. "

"Of course."

She put her arm around her friend's neck, kissed her warmly, and then ran away quickly with the child.

It's time for the party. Mrs Leusser is very successful. She is more beautiful and charming than all women. She always smiles and is almost crazy with happiness. All the men stared at her, asking her name and asking for introductions. Everyone in the minister's office will dance with her. The minister is also very concerned about her.

She has been intoxicated with joy and wants nothing but dancing wildly with excitement. Her beauty triumphs over everything, and her success is full of brilliance. All these people are attentive to themselves, flattering and salivating. A woman thinks that the sweetest victory is entirely in her own hands, and she dances in this happy cloud.

She didn't leave until four in the morning. Her husband has been asleep in an abandoned small living room since twelve o'clock. There are three other gentlemen in the living room, and their wives are enjoying themselves.

He was afraid that she would catch cold when she went out, so he put the clothes he had brought on her shoulders. They are everyday household clothes, and the dirty and beautiful dance clothes are very out of proportion. She felt this at once, and in order not to attract the attention of the ladies wrapped in luxurious leather clothes next to her, she rushed out of the door.

Loisel also took her not to let go:

"You wait a moment. You will catch cold outside. I'll call a carriage. "

But she didn't listen to him and walked down the stairs quickly. When they got to the street, there were no taxis. So they got up and saw the carriage passing in the distance, so they chased it and shouted at the driver.

They walked all the way to the Seine, shivering and very disappointed. Finally, I found an old carriage by the river for business at night. This kind of carriage can only be seen after dark in Paris. They are in rags and seem shy when they come out during the day.

This car took them all the way to Martyrs Street, right in front of their house, and they climbed the stairs and went home. It's all over for her. As for him, what he thinks is that he should go to the Ministry at ten o'clock.

She took off the clothes over her shoulders, which she took off in front of the big mirror in order to see herself in glory again. But she suddenly let out a cry. The necklace around her neck is missing.

Her husband had already taken off half his clothes and asked:

"What's the matter with you?"

She has scared panic, turned to her husband and said:

"I ... I ... I lost Mrs. Foretstier's necklace."

He stood up in panic:

"what! ..... what! ..... This is impossible! "

So they searched everywhere in the folds of skirts, coats and pockets. I can't find it anywhere.

He asked:

"Do you really remember wearing it when you left the dance?"

"Yes, I touched it in the front hall of the Ministry."

"But if it is lost in the street, we should always hear the noise when it falls. Probably fell in the car. "

"Yes, very likely. Did you write down the car number? "

"No, what about you? You didn't pay attention to the numbers either? "

"No."

They look at me, and I look at you. It's embarrassing. Finally, Loisel got dressed again. He said:

"I'll walk the road we just walked again and see if I can find it."

Then he left. As for her, she didn't even have the strength to go to bed, so she fell on the chair in her new clothes for the party, didn't make a fire, and didn't think about anything.

At seven o'clock, my husband came back He found nothing.

He immediately went to the police station and newspaper office and asked them to offer a reward for his arrest. He also went to the car shop that rented a small carriage. In short, he went to a place where there was a little hope.

As for her, she waited all day: in the face of this terrible disaster, she was always in a state of surprise and fear.

Loisel didn't come back until evening, his face was thin and melancholy; There is no result. He said:

"I have to write a letter to your friend and tell her that you broke the clasp of the chain and are looking for someone to repair it now. So that we have time to deal with it. "

He said yes, she wrote the letter.

A week later, they had no hope at all.

Loisel suddenly five years old, he said:

"I have to find a way to buy a thread to compensate her."

The next day, they took the box containing the necklace and went to the jewelry store according to the font size printed on the box. The jeweler checked the audit report and said:

"Madam, I didn't buy this necklace here, but the box belongs here."

So they went to the jewelry store one by one to find a necklace that was the same as that one by memory; The two men were worried about getting sick.

In a shop near the palace, they found a diamond necklace, which looked exactly like what they were looking for. This jewelry was originally worth 40 thousand francs, but if they want it, the shop can reduce the price and sell it for 36 thousand pounds.

They asked the shopkeeper not to sell it for three days. They also agreed that if the original necklace was found before the end of February, it would be taken back by the owner at a price of 34,000 francs.

Loisel's father left him eighteen thousand francs. The rest will have to be borrowed.

So he borrowed one thousand francs from this man, five hundred francs from that man, five Louis here and three Louis there. He signed many loan agreements, accepted many conditions that were enough to break the bank, and dealt with usurers and various money lenders for the benefit. He ruined the rest of his life, and whether he could repay it or not, he risked signing an IOU. He is afraid of the worries of the future, the extreme poverty that will soon press on him, and the prospect of all kinds of material deprivation and all kinds of mental pain; Full of fear, he put 36,000 francs on the merchant's counter and got the new necklace.

When Mrs. Loisel returned the jewels to Mrs. Foretstier, the lady said to her with an unhappy look:

"You should return it to me earlier, because I may have to wear it."

She didn't open the box to look. What her friends are afraid of is that she opens it in front of her. Because what would she think if she found the switch? What would you say? Won't she be considered a thief?

Mrs Loisel tasted the terrible life of the poor. Fortunately, she made up her mind bravely at once. This appalling debt must be paid off. So, she must pay it off. They dismissed the maid, moved and rented a top floor next to the roof.

She tasted the heavy work at home and the boring work in the kitchen. She had to wash dishes and pots and pans by herself, and she grinded rose nails on greasy pots and bottoms. Wash dirty clothes, shirts and rags by yourself and hang them on the rope. Every morning, she takes the garbage to the street and carries the water upstairs. Every time she goes upstairs, she stops to catch her breath. Dressed like an ordinary woman, she went to the fruit shop, grocery store and pork shop with a basket in her hand, arguing about the price in every way. She protects her poor money one by one, and it is inevitable that she will be scolded.

Several debts have to be paid every month, some of which have to be extended and the repayment period extended.

The husband copied the accounts for a businessman at night; I often copy for others at night, copying a page to earn five coppers.

I lived like this for ten years.

Ten years later, they paid off all their debts, indeed, all of them, not only the interest of usury, but also the interest of usury.

Mrs Loisel looks old now. She became a bold woman from a poor family, strong and rude. I never comb my hair, my skirt is crooked, my hands are red, I talk loudly, and I use a big basin to wash the floor. However, several times when her husband was still working in the office, when she sat by the window, she couldn't help thinking of the party that year, at which she was so beautiful and popular.

What would it be like today if she hadn't lost that necklace? Who knows? Who knows? How strange life is! How unpredictable! It only takes one little thing to destroy you or save you!

Let's talk about one Sunday. She went for a walk in the street and was tired for a week. She wants to amuse herself. Just then, she suddenly saw a woman walking with her child. This woman turned out to be Mrs. Foretstier, still so young, so beautiful and so moving.

Mrs Loisel was very excited. Go talk to her? Of course I will. Now that all the debts have been paid off, she can tell her everything. Why not?

So she walked over.

"Hello, Jenny."

The other party didn't recognize her at all, and was surprised by the intimate address of this folk woman, so she said hesitantly:

"But ... madam! ..... I don't know ... You must have misunderstood me. "

"No, I'm mathilde loisel."

Her friend cried:

"ouch! ..... Is it my poor Mathilde? You've changed! ……"

"Yes, since I met you that time, I had a hard time. I don't know how many picky and poor people I met ... it's all because of you! ……"

"Because I ... what is that?"

"Do you remember that diamond necklace you lent me to attend the Ministry party?"

"yes. So what? "

"So what! I lost it. "

"How is that possible! Didn't you send it back to me? "

"I sent you another rope that is the same as the original one. We have paid back the money for ten years. You know, it's not easy for us. We have nothing ... I am so happy that it is finally over. "

Mrs Foretstier stood still.

"Did you just say that you bought a diamond necklace to make up for mine?"

"yes. You don't realize this, do you? The two strings are exactly the same. "

As she spoke, a smile appeared on her face, because she felt a kind of innocent happiness that she could be proud of.

Mrs Foretstier seized her hands with excitement.

"ouch! My poor Mathilde! My rope is fake. Up to 500 francs! ……"

(translated by Zhao Shaohou)

Precautions:

A Louis is worth twenty francs.

Make an appreciative comment

Art comes from life. Mo Bosang is very good at intercepting typical pictures in life as the theme of creation, and has created immortal works with unique style, rigorous structure and humorous narration. Necklace is one of them. Mo Bosang lived in France in the19th century, trying to get rid of the mediocre life and become a member of the upper class, and keeping up with the joneses became a common problem of the petty bourgeoisie at that time. According to the romantic writer Mo Bosang (by henri troyat), Mo Bosang's mother Lola showed a strong vanity tendency. After her father applied for the peerage in Mo Bosang, she agreed to get married. Their family used to live in the shopping center of Linyin Street in Conocophillips. When they gave birth to their first and second children, Lola chose to rent a villa to show the nobility of her birthplace. The tempering of life inspired Mo Bosang's writing. He worked as a clerk for a while in his early twenties, and this experience gave him inexhaustible writing prototypes. Mathilde, the heroine in the necklace, was a petty bourgeoisie representative with both * * * and unique personality at that time.

Characters are the soul of novels. The Necklace can be loved by readers for a long time, which is inseparable from its distinctive and unique personality and ups and downs. Mathilde is a petty-bourgeois female image portrayed in The Necklace, who loves vanity and returns to a pragmatic and industrious character after suffering setbacks.

When describing Mathilde, the author uses a lot of direct or indirect expressions. At the beginning of the novel, Mathilde's living environment is explained-"growing up in a small staff family", "no dowry property, no inheritance to look forward to" and poor life. But Mathilde, who is "good-looking and full of charm", is not satisfied with this poverty. She is in great pain. She believes that "(a woman's) natural intelligence, aesthetic instinct and flexible brain" can make ordinary girls keep pace with the noblest married women ". The author uses a lot of psychological descriptions to present Mathilde's fantasy about the life of a lady: "She always feels that she was born to enjoy all kinds of luxurious life, so she feels endless pain. A series of psychological expressions are used in the novel, such as "anger fills the chest", "many sad feelings and absurd fantasies", as well as juxtaposed words such as "she will think of …" and "she will think of …". She thought of food, mansion, boyfriend, clothes and jewelry, but she just didn't have any. Through Mathilde's habitual thinking activities, we can infer that she is uneasy about the status quo, but she is helpless in psychological depression.

Then, the author further presents the readers with this humble but arrogant woman's experience in glitz. My husband, Loisel, tried his best to get an invitation to the Education Minister's ball. He wanted to please his wife again and save her dignity as a man, but she scolded me one after another: "What do you want me to wear there?" "Of course I can't go to the party because I have no clothes." "I'm upset. I have neither jewelry nor jewelry. I can't wear anything on me. It's really shabby. " "Nothing is more humiliating than showing a poor face among those rich wives." On the one hand, these words reveal that Mathilde's living conditions are very unsatisfactory, even shabby, on the other hand, they directly show Mathilde's infinite desire for beautiful clothes and jewelry, and his vanity is exposed.

The description of Mathilde's preparation for the ball also vividly reflects the gap between her hope for life and the present situation, and the poverty of life makes her vanity unsatisfied. Seeing the invitation, "she was not as happy as her husband hoped, but threw it on the table angrily"; When her husband explained to her how to get an invitation to the dance and what benefits it would bring, "her eyes glared at him angrily"; When her husband advised her to put on the dress worn in the theater, "two big tears slowly flowed from the corner of her eyes to the corner of her mouth", and then "she suppressed the pain with a malicious effort"; After the clothes were finished, "Mrs. Loisel looked very sad, uneasy and worried." When she heard her husband suggest that she borrow some jewelry from friends to attend the dance, "she cried with joy"; At a friend's house, "she wore these jewels and tried them on in front of the mirror, hesitating and reluctant to take them off and return them to her master"; When her friend finally agreed to lend her her favorite necklace, "she put her arms around her friend's neck, kissed her warmly, and then ran away quickly with the child." The description of this series of emotional changes also laid a solid foundation for dance.

For Mathilde's performance at the ball, the author describes it more directly, "Mrs. Loisel is very successful. She is more beautiful than all women, beautiful and charming, with a smile on her face and almost crazy happiness "; "She has been intoxicated with joy and thinks nothing but dancing. Her beauty triumphs over everything, and her success is full of brilliance. These people are very attentive to themselves, flattering and drooling. Women think that the sweetest victory is entirely in her hands, and she dances in this happy cloud. " The author directly describes the beauty of the heroine's appearance with adjectives such as "beautiful" and "charming", and modifies Mathilde's feelings when dancing with adverbs such as "excited" and "crazy", which is what she dreams of. Mathilde, whose vanity is extremely satisfied, can hardly restrain the joy of success, as if she were in a dreamland.

After the dance, Loisel was afraid that she would go out to catch cold and put a homely dress on her shoulder, but she didn't like its shabby appearance and was afraid that "ladies wrapped in luxurious leather clothes should pay attention, and she was in a hurry to run out of the door". The heroine's pursuit of luxury is so "tireless", and this pursuit is so "sad" in the author's view.

After the necklace was lost, the author's description of Mathilde's transformation is not as detailed as before, but only a rough summary, which is in sharp contrast with before: "She made up her mind bravely at once", "She must pay it back", "They have dismissed the maid and moved to rent a top floor next to the roof" and "She has become a courageous person in a poor family". I never comb my hair, my skirt is crooked, my hands are red, I talk loudly, and I use a big basin to wash the floor. "After losing the necklace, Mathilde seems to have completely lost the shadow of indulging in fantasy and pursuing glitz.

The author's description of Mathilde's transformation is very enlightening. It is right for a person to have fantasies, and it is not terrible to make mistakes. The key is how to deal with setbacks. Mathilde's life path is certainly self-inflicted, but her spirit of daring to bear and endure hardships is not only sympathetic, but also respectable and lovely.

(Xie Shuying)