What imagery and symbols are in "The Piece of String"?"The Piece of String"

Having an abhorrence for the peasants of Nomandy, whom he
felt were petty, Guy de Maupassant's "The Piece of String" portrays a hypocritical and
stingy Maitre Hauchecorne, of Breute, Normandy, as he reaches the village of
Goderville.  "Thrifty like the true Norman he was," Hauchecorne stoops to pick up a
think piece of year and begins to wind it carefully when he espies Maitre Malandain, the
harness makeser, for whom he holds a grudge.  Because Maitre Malandain watches him,
Maitre Hauchecorne, embarrassed that he has stooped for only such a thing as the piece
of string, quickly thrusts it into his pocket.

Later, when
a wallet has been stolen, Hauchecorne denies anything.  But, when the mayor tells him
that Monsieur Malandain, the harness maker saw him bend down and put something up,
Hauchecorne  laughs in a deprecatory manner,

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"Hah! He saw me, that old good-for-nothing!  He
saw me pick up this bit of yarn.  Look Mr.
Mayor."

Because Hauchecorne,
an outsider, has shown his petty dislike for Malandain, and because the mayor cannot
believe that Hauchecorne picked up a mere piece of string, or that M. Malandain, "a
trustworthy man" mistook the yarn for a wallet, he continues his accusation.  And,
Hauchecorne becomes indignant.

Finally, Hauchecorne is
vindicated when an illiterate peasant returns the wallet he found on the highway. 
Hearing the news, Hauchecorne immediately castigates his enemy, M.
Malandain.

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"Nothing burns you up as much as being hauled
into court on the word of a
liar."

He continues to talk
of the incident all day, retelling it to people everywhere.  But, he senses that people
are making comments behind his back.  One man punches him in the stomach.  Another
shouts, "Oh come off it!  I'm wise to that old trick.  We know all about your
yarn!"

Interestingly, the word yarn
here is a pun.  For it means both the string and a tall tale. Moreover, this piece of
yarn is symbolic of the multitudinous petty protestations that Hauchecorne has made. 
This trivial piece of yarn represents the pettiness and trivial rivalriy that exists
between the two Normans from different villages.

With
respect to the imagery of this story, much like his action of winding the string upon
his hand, the yarn that Hauchecorne tells repeatedly, albeit true, has the image of
being spun, wound over and over just as Maitre Hauchecorne wound the piece of yarn over
and over upon his hand.