Pearl

A nacreous formation that originates inside the shell of a mollusk which can form around irritants in the process of the mollusk protecting itself.

The Pearl, a novella by Nobel Prize winning author John Steinbeck tells the tale of Kino, a Mexican man who finds a magnificent pearl during a dive which could mean the promise of a better life for he and his impoverished family. The allure and beauty of a pearl can best be described by the great writer Steinbeck himself:

It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in a silver incandascense.

<iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="border:0px" src="http://books.google.com/books?id=BbbevPLi5usC&lpg=PP1&dq=th e%20pearl&pg=PP1&output=embed" width=500 height=500></iframe>