The pendant

Meena and Shelly were two teenagers who loved to wear jewellery so much that they sometimes competed with each other to find the best in the market. As they were good friends, they didn't mind exchanging their jewellery. It was indeed a good habit the two girls had.

One day, Meena's eye caught a beautiful pendant worn by Shelly. Meena said, "Oh... what a beautiful pendant you are wearing. I'm sure it's a gold one. Oh.... how brilliant is the stone studded to it; the shape of the stone perfectly matches the shape of the pendant.

Surely, it must be very expensive?" Shelly listened to all that Meena said and smiled, but didn't say a word about the pendant.

So Meena thought, "Shelly has a nice pendant, but I don't have one like that. I too love to have a similar pendant. If I ask Shelly, she might give it to me for a day or two."

But later, she changed her mind and thought, "Probably, she might be reluctant to give it to me as it is made of gold."

Meena went home and described Shelly's pendant to her mother. Meena said, "Amma, though we are exchanging our jewellery, she may not give me that pendant, because it's a gold one.

Amma, I too love to have a pendant like that." Her mother said, "Oh child... that must be a very expensive pendant. Do we have so much money to buy such stuff? Don't forget that you have many pendants with you." Meena's mother used to say, "Don't be silly, my child. All that glitters is not gold," whenever she wanted to discourage Meena from asking for fancy things.

One day, while Meena and her mother were shopping in the town, Meena suddenly saw a pendant similar to Shelly's, kept in a showcase in a jewellery shop. Meena stopped and said to her mother, "Amma, look at that pendant. That is exactly what Shelly was wearing that day. Please, buy it for me Amma."

Her mother said, "I am very unhappy that you don't think of our income before buying something." Meena kept appealing to her mother to buy it. At last, she gave up and said, "Ok Amma.... we may not be able to buy it now, but why not know its price?"

Her mother said, "Ok.... let's go in and see."

They both went to the shop and asked the price of the pendant displayed in the showcase. The shopkeeper said, "Madam it's not that expensive, only hundred rupees." Meena was shocked to hear that. She asked, "How come you sell such a nice gold pendant for a very low price like that?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Oh child.... who told you that it's gold? It's imitation. Its crystal-like part is plastic. That's why it is so cheap. Recently, another girl came and bought one like this."

Meena was very much ashamed about her ignorance in jewellery. She was very angry with Shelly for not telling her that the pendant was an imitation. She was very sad too.

Seeing that, her mother said, "Child... now look here, I always tell you that all that glitters is not gold. Am I not correct?" Meena realised how correct her mother was and took a deep breath to console herself.

Sent by
Duwani Kanchana
de Silva,
Katana.