The False Collar by Hans Christian Andersen

A vain shirt collar, recently laundered, tells grandiose stories of his former importance and imagined adventures while waiting to be worn again. As the days pass and he’s forgotten, he’s finally used as a rag and thrown away. The plot satirizes pride and self-delusion through the perspective of an inanimate object. Andersen’s wit and irony make the story a sly commentary on ego and social status. A humorous fable about falling from imagined grace.