The Two Beautiful Girls. By J.B. Pick.

Once upon a time two beautiful girls went to a party.

One girl knew she was beautiful and the other did not.

The girl who knew she was beautiful spent all her time being beautiful and so attracted attention. She was therefore surrounded by admirers, while no one noticed the girl who did not know she was beautiful, except one young man who was too shy to approach her.

The girl who knew she was beautiful noticed the shy young man because he was the only one who did not join her circle of admirers. She insisted on being introduced, and made it her business to appreciate him in order that he should appreciate her. As a result they were married and lived together unhappily for a short time.

The young man could not forget the girl who did not know she was beautiful, compared everyone with her reflection in his mind and found them wanting. The time came when he wondered if it had been better if he had never seen her, and after that she began to fade from his thoughts.

Eventually the girl who knew she was beautiful ceased to be beautiful and for a long time refused to admit it, which lost her many friends. Then bitterness at the memory of the fact that she had once been beautiful and was not beautiful any more made her so unpleasant that she lost her remaining friends and became very lonely.

The girl who did not know she was beautiful married a dull man and had seven children. She never ceased to be beautiful to those capable of perceiving beauty but there were so few of these that it did not embarrass her. Her husband had never noticed that she was beautiful in the first place.

This is a very old-fashioned story and it is just possible that events could have occurred differently.

© J.B. Pick. Please do not reproduce without consent.