II.
| coarse | satin | truthful | size |
| sobbed | tassels | falsehood | wrong |
| choked | weeping | confessed | coach |
Can you guess what the necklace was? It was the wonderful Necklace of Truth.
Next day Pearl went to school. When her schoolmates saw the beautiful necklace, they crowded around her.
"Oh, what a lovely necklace! Where did you get it, Pearl?"
"My father gave it to me for a Christmas present," said Pearl.
"Oh, look, look!" cried the children. "The diamond has turned dim!"
Pearl looked down at her necklace and saw that the lovely clasp was changed to coarse glass. Then she was very much afraid, and said, "I will tell you the truth: the wizard Merlin gave it to me."
At once the diamond was as bright as before.
The girls now began to laugh, because they knew that only children who told falsehoods were sent to Merlin.
"You need not laugh," said Pearl. "Merlin sent a lovely coach to bring us. It was drawn by six white horses, and was lined with satin, and had gold tassels."
She stopped, for all the children were laughing again. Then she looked at her necklace, and—what do you think? It hung down to the floor! At each false word she had spoken, the necklace had stretched out more and more.
"You are stretching the truth!" cried the little girls.
Then Pearl confessed that all she had told them was false; and at once the necklace changed to its right size.
"But what did Merlin say when he gave you the necklace?"
"He said it was a present for a truthful—"
She could not go on speaking. The necklace became so short that it nearly choked her.
"O dear, no!" sobbed Pearl. "He said I did not love the truth, nor speak the truth."
The girls did not laugh now. They were sorry for Pearl when they saw her weeping.
At last Pearl was cured. She saw how wrong and how foolish it is to tell falsehoods. "Never more will I tell a lie," said she. And she kept her word.
Before the year was ended Merlin came for his necklace. He knew that Pearl did not need it now, and he wanted it for another little girl.
Since Merlin died, no one can tell what has become of the wonderful Necklace of Truth. Would you like to wear it? Are you sure the diamond would always keep bright?
—From "Old Fairy Tales."