The Necklace

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  “SHE WAS one of those pretty, charming 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, appreciated, 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 had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things. She felt that she was made for them. She had such a desire to please, to be sought after, to be clever, and courted.” —THE NECKLACE Guy de Maupassant    France, 1884 (pic by Grok) Read this short story here:  https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace

Finished Reading: “The Alchemist”

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“Take three drops of vinegar in at your nose, two at your mouth, and one at either ear; then bathe your fingers’ ends and wash your eyes, to sharpen your five senses.” 


(Ben Jonson (1572–1637).  “The Alchemist.” A satire on the foolishness of humanity and people who take advantage of others. Painting by Johann Zoffany (c. 1770))

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