Good morning to the honourable judges, precise timekeeper, and my dear contestants.

Today I’m going to

tell you an interesting story which you wouldn’t hear for a long time ‘The necklace’.

Once upon a time, in the beautiful country of America, there lived a gorgeous woman by the name of
Mathilde. She was a pretty, young lady. Though born to a family of clerks, she believed herself entitled to
a life of luxury.

She always cares about her looks and worried about not having pretty things. Being married to a humble
clerk, victor who worked in the Ministry of education, and earned a decent salary, she bore her worries
with effort.

‘That lady is dressed superbly. Such a lovely ribbons and jewelry. And me?? Not even a bow.’ Said,
Mathilde.

Why do you worry about such silly things? You are superbly pretty. Isn’t that enough? Said victor.

Mathilde wasn’t convinced. She believed that she was all deserving of the riches other women wore.

At night, Victor and Mathilde sat together to dine. Aahhh!!! Warm soup and freshly baked bread. Isn’t this
lovely? Ugh!! Just old soup and normal bread. I wish we could have eaten a larger course in fancier
silverware. And so Mathilde liver her days always wanting more instead of appreciating what she already
had.

One day her husband came home in a bright spirit. Mathilde! Here’s something for you. She opened the
envelope and saw the invitation. This is an invitation to a ball to be held in a weeks time at the minister
hall. Isn’t that splendid? Splendid?? Victor !! Tell me what do I wear to that ball?

Oh .. Maybe the dress you wear to the theater that day? I mean .. You looked lovely to … to me… what’s
wrong?? I.. I don’t have any ..anything worth wearing to such a ball..

Sweetheart ….don’t cry. How much would a new dress cost? Mathilde dried her tears and pondered
carefully. About… founr hundred dollars. Victor turned pale at this. He was saving exacty that much to
buy himself a fishing set.

Mmmm very well my love. I will give you the money to get yourself a very pretty dress.

But as the ball came closer, Mathilde started to get anxious. Whats wrong? Aren’t you satisfied wit the
dress? It’s beautiful!!! But I have no jewelry to get with it!

Victor told Mathilde to ask her friend, mdm forester to lend one of her jewels to her. The next day,
Mathilde visited her friend to ask for a jewel. Forester graciously opened her jewel box and asked her to
choose. Mathilde tried a few jewels but was not happy with either of them. Suddenly, Mathilde noticed a
beautiful diamond necklace in a black satin box. Mathilde was entranced by the diamond
necklace.hesitatingly, she asked her friend whether she could borrow the necklace. Forester agreed and
Mathilde went home with the necklace happily.

She was the most elegant and prettiest of all the ladies and enjoyed the attention and admiration of men.
She danced and enjoyed herself till early in the morning. At 4 o’clock they left the minister’s residence.
Not wanting the other rich ladies to see her shabby coat, Mathilde hurried down the steps despite her
husband’s protests.

Once home, Mathilde removed her coat to admire herself one last time. Once she did so, she realized that
the necklace was missing. Victor though tired, went out in the cold night to look for the necklace but
couldn’t find it.

‘We have nothing left to do but replace the necklace,’ said Victor. They found a similar necklace in a shop
which they could buy for twenty – six thousand dollars. Victor used all his savings and borrowed the rest
of the money to buy the necklace. Mathilde then returned the necklace to her friend forester.

Mathilde and victor now were in debt. They had to change home and Mathilde learned kitchen work to
help her husband repay their debt. Her husband worked days and night, taking on any work to repay the
money they had borrowed. All this work took a toll on Mathilde. She lost her good looks. She had red
hands and spoke in a loud tone.

One day, while talking a walk she saw forester with her child. She decided to approach her. Forester was
surprised by Mathilde’s appearance. Mathilde then told her the story of the necklace and how it changed
her life.

‘Oh! Mathilde! They were fake diamonds and not even worth five hundred dollars’ exclaimed forester .

The moral of the story is ‘we should be grateful for what we have rather than constantly seeking to
acquire more’