In “The Necklace,” Guy DE
Maupassant tells of a poor woman who borrows a necklace from her employer. She loses it at a dance and, frantic, borrows
a huge sum of money to purchase an exact replica. She works for the rest of her life to repay
this debt. After many years, she meets
her former employer and tells her what she has done.
“Foolish woman, didn’t you
know that the jewels were imitations?”
How often we labor under
illusions! We place great importance of
things of little value while ignoring the priceless. And, then, at the end, of life we learn the
truth?
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