The necklace

One day a jeweller was watching people peeking into his shop-window to look at the jewellery displayed. A young girl was among them and had her eyes on a blue necklace, as she checked it out for a long time. After a while, she entered the shop and told the jeweller that she wanted that blue necklace and asked him to wrap it in a golden paper, as this was a gift.

‘How much money you’ve got?’ asked curiously the jeweller. The girls placed a small metal box on the counter and opened it up. ‘I’ll give you everything I have, even the box, if you want,’ the girl replied. The jeweller noticed a few coins in the box, besides a few pebbles and beads. ‘Do you think I have enough?’ said sheepishly the little girl. ‘I want to give it as a present to my sister. Today is her birthday. When our mother died, she took care of me and made sure we had everything we needed. The color of this necklace are the colors of her eyes, and I’m sure she’ll be delighted to have them and wear them.’ The jeweller quickly packed the necklace in its box and wrapped it in a golden paper with a silver ribbon, and gave it to her.

An hour later, an older girl appeared at the shop with the box in golden paper. ‘Please, could you tell me if this necklace was bought from here?’ ‘Yes it was,’ the jeweller replied.

‘How much did it cost?’ ‘I’m sorry young lady but the prices in my shop are all confidential.’

‘But sir, my sister certainly did not have enough money to buy such an expensive necklace.’

‘But she did pay for it. She paid the highest price she could afford. She gave everything she had!’