data/Class10-English-jefp107.pdf-40.csv

,Board,Class,Subject,ChunkData,Book
0,CBSE,Class10,English,"The Necklace
Matilda is invited to a grand party.
She has a beautiful dress but no jewellery.
She borrows a necklace from a friend and loses it.
What happens then?READ AND FIND OUT
• What kind of a person is Mme Loisel — why is she always unhappy?
• What kind of a person is her husband?
SHE was one of those pretty, young ladies, born as if through an error of destiny, into a family of clerks.
She had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming known, loved, and married by a man either rich or distinguished; and she allowed herself to marry a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education.
She was simple, but she was unhappy.
She suffered incessantly, feeling herself born for all delicacies and luxuries.
She suffered from the poverty of her apartment, the shabby walls and the worn chairs.
All these things tortured and angered her.
When she seated herself for dinner opposite her husband who uncovered the tureen with a delighted air, saying, “Oh!
the good potpie!
I know nothing better than that…,” she would think of elegant dinners, of shining silver; she thought of the exquisite food served in marvellous dishes.
She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing.
And she loved only those things.
She had a rich friend, a schoolmate at the convent, who she did not like to visit — she suffered so much when she returned.
She wept for whole days from despair and disappointment.
One evening her husband returned elated bearing in his hand a large envelope.
“Here,” he said, “here is something for you.”
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n d a y evening, January 18, at the Minister ’ s res idence.evening, January 18, at the Minister ’ s res idence.evening, January 18, at the Minister ’ s res idence.evening, January 18, at the Minister ’ s res idence.evening, January 18, at the Minister ’ s res idence.
Instead of being delighted, as her husband had hoped, she threw the invitation spitefully upon the table murmuring, “What do you suppose I want with that?”
“But, my dearie, I thought it would make you happy.
You never go out, and this is an occasion, and a fine one!
Everybody wishes one, and it is very select; not many are given to employees.
You will see the whole official world there.”
She looked at him with an irritated eye and declared impatiently, “What do you suppose I have to wear to such a thing as that?”
He had not thought of that; he stammered, “Why, the dress you wear when we go to the theatre.
It seems very pretty to me…” He was silent, stupefied, in dismay, at the sight of his wife weeping.
He stammered, “What is the matter?
What is the matter?”
By a violent effort, she had controlled her vexation and responded in a calm voice, wiping her moist cheeks, “Nothing.
Only I have no dress and consequently I cannot go to this affair.
Give your card to some colleague whose wife is better fitted out than I.”
He was grieved, but answered, “Let us see, Matilda.
How much would a suitable costume cost, something that would serve for other occasions, something very simple?”
She reflected for some seconds thinking of a sum that she could ask for without bringing with it an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the economical clerk.
Finally she said, in a hesitatingFootprints without Feet40
voice, “I cannot tell exactly, but it seems to me that four hundred francs ought to cover it.”
He turned a little pale, for he had saved just this sum to buy a gun that he might be able to join some hunting parties the next summer, with some friends who went to shoot larks on Sunday.
Nevertheless, he answered, “Very well.
I will give you four hundred francs.
But try to have a pretty dress.”
READ AND FIND OUT
• What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?
• How is the problem solved?READ AND FIND OUT
• What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?
• How is the problem solved?",jefp107.pdf
1,CBSE,Class10,English,"Footprints without Feet42
fell upon the neck of her friend, embraced her with passion, then went away with her treasure.
The day of the ball arrived.
Mme Loisel was a great success.
She was the prettiest of all — elegant, gracious, smiling and full of joy.
All the men noticed her, asked her name, and wanted to be presented.
She danced with enthusiasm, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing but all this admiration, this victory so complete and sweet to her heart.
She went home towards four o’clock in the morning.
Her husband had been half asleep in one of the little salons since midnight, with three other gentlemen whose wives were enjoying themselves very much.
He threw around her shoulders the modest wraps they had carried whose poverty clashed with the elegance of the ball costume.
She wished to hurry away in order not to be noticed by the other women who were wrapping themselves in rich furs.
Loisel detained her, “Wait,” said he.
“I am going to call a cab.”
But she would not listen and descended the steps rapidly.
When they were in the street, they found no carriage; and they began to seek for one, hailing the coachmen whom they saw at a distance.
They walked along toward the river, hopeless and shivering.
Finally they found one of those old carriages that one sees in Paris after nightfall.
It took them as far as their door and they went wearily up to their apartment.
It was all over for her.
And on his part, he remembered that he would have to be at the office by ten o’clock.
She removed the wraps from her shoulders before the glass, for a final view of herself in her glory.
Suddenly she uttered a cry.
Her necklace was not around her neck.
READ AND FIND OUT
• What do M. and Mme Loisel do next?
• How do they replace the necklace?
Loisel already half undressed, asked, “What is the matter?”
She turned towards him excitedly.
“I have — I have — I no longer have Mme Forestier’s necklace.”
He arose in dismay, “What!
How is that?
It is not possible.”
And they looked in the folds of the dress, in the folds of the cloak, in the pockets, everywhere.
They could not find it.
He asked, “You are sure you still had it when we left the Minister’s house?”
“Yes, I felt it as we came out.”
“But if you had lost it in the street, we should have heard it fall.
It must be in the cab.”
“Yes, it is possible.
Did you take the number?”
“No.
And you, did you notice what it was?”
“No.”
They looked at each other utterly cast down.
Finally Loisel dressed himself again.
“I am going,” he said, “over the track where we went on foot, to see if I can find it.”
And he went.
She remained in her evening gown, not having the force to go to bed.
Toward seven o’clock her husband returned.
He had found nothing.READ AND FIND OUT
• What do M. and Mme Loisel do next?
• How do they replace the necklace?
Loisel already half undressed, asked, “What is the matter?”
She turned towards him excitedly.
“I have — I have — I no longer have Mme Forestier’s necklace.”
He arose in dismay, “What!
How is that?
It is not possible.”
And they looked in the folds of the dress, in the folds of the cloak, in the pockets, everywhere.
They could not find it.
He asked, “You are sure you still had it when we left the Minister’s house?”
“Yes, I felt it as we came out.”
“But if you had lost it in the street, we should have heard it fall.
It must be in the cab.”
“Yes, it is possible.
Did you take the number?”
“No.
And you, did you notice what it was?”
“No.”
They looked at each other utterly cast down.
Finally Loisel dressed himself again.
“I am going,” he said, “over the track where we went on foot, to see if I can find it.”
And he went.
She remained in her evening gown, not having the force to go to bed.
Toward seven o’clock her husband returned.
He had found nothing.The Necklace 43
He went to the police and to the cab offices, and put an advertisement in the newspapers, offering a reward.
She waited all day in a state of bewilderment before this frightful disaster.
Loisel returned in the evening, his face pale; he had discovered nothing.
He said, “Write to your friend that you have broken the clasp of the necklace and that you will have it repaired.
That will give us time.”
She wrote as he dictated.
At the end of a week, they had lost all hope.
And Loisel, older by five years, declared, “We must replace this jewel.”
In a shop of the Palais-Royal, they found a chaplet of diamonds, which seemed to them exactly like the one they had lost.
It was valued at forty thousand francs.
They could get it for thirty-six thousand.
Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs, which his father had left him. He borrowed the rest.
He made ruinous promises, took money from usurers and the whole race of lenders.
Then he went to get the new necklace, depositing on the merchant’s counter thirty-six thousand francs.
When Mme Loisel took back the jewels to Mme Forestier, the latter said to her in a frigid tone, “You should have returned them to me sooner, for I might have needed them.”",jefp107.pdf