The Gift of the Magi
One dollar and eighty－seven cents．That was all．And sixty cents of it in the smallest pieces of money—pennies．Three times Della counted it．One dollar and eighty－seven cents．And the next day would be Christmas．There was clearly nothing to do but sit down and cry．So Della cried．This led her to the thought that life is made up of little cries and smiles，with more little cries than smiles．
Jim earned twenty dollars a week，which does not go far．Expenses had been greater than she had expected．They always are．Many a happy hour she had spent planning to buy something nice for him．Something fine and rare—something close to being worthy of the honor of belonging to Jim．
Now，Mister and Missus James Dillingham Young had two possessions which they valued．One was Jim＇s gold time piece，the watch that had been his father＇s and his grandfather＇s．The other was Delia＇s hair．Had the Queen of Sheba lived in their building，Delia would have let her hair hang out the window to dry just to reduce the value of the queen＇s jewels．
So now Della＇s beautiful hair fell about her，shining like a brown waterfall．It reached below her knees and made itself almost like a covering for her．And then quickly she put it up again．She stood still while a few tears fell on the floor．
She put on her coat and went out the door and down the street．Where she stopped the sign read，＂Madame Sofronie．Hair Goods of All Kinds．＂Della ran up the steps to the shop，out of breath．
＂Will you buy my hair？＂asked Della．
＂I buy hair，＂said Madame．＂Take your hat off and letus have a look at it．＂
Down came the beautiful brown waterfall of hair．
＂Twenty dollars，＂said Madame，lifting the hair with an experienced hand．
＂Give it to me quick，＂said Della．
The next two hours went by as if they had wings．Della looked in all the stores to choose a gift for Jim．
She found it at last．It surely had been made for Jim and no one else．It was a chain—simple round rings of silver．It was perfect for Jim＇s gold watch．As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be for him．It was like him．Quiet and with great value．She gave the shopkeeper twenty－one dollars and she hurried home with the eighty－seven cents that was left．
At seven o＇clock that night the coffee was made and the pan on the back of the stove was hot and ready to cook the meat．
Jim was never late coming home from work．Della held the silver chain in her hand and sat near the door．The door opened and Jim stepped in．He stopped inside the door，as immovable as a dog smelling a bird．His eyes were fixed upon Della．There was an expression in them that she could not read，and it frightened her．It was not anger，nor surprise，nor fear，nor any of the feelings that she had been prepared for．He simply looked at her with a strange expression on his face．Della went to him．
＂Jim，my love，＂she cried，＂do not look at me that way．I had my hair cut and sold because I could not have lived through Christmas without giving you a gift．My hair will grow out again．I just had to do it．My hair grows very fast．Say＇Merry Christmas！＇Jim，and let us be happy．You do not know what a nice—what a beautiful，nice gift I have for you．＂
＂You have cut off your hair？＂asked Jim，slowly，as if he had not accepted the information even after his mind worked very hard．
＂Cut it off and sold it，＂said Della．＂Do you not like me just as well？I am the same person without my hair，right？＂
Jim looked about the room as if he were looking for something．
＂You say your hair is gone？＂he asked．Jim seemed to awaken quickly and put his arms around Della．Then he took a package from his coat and threw it on the table．
＂Do not make any mistake about me，Dell，＂he said．＂I do not think there is any haircut that could make me like my girl any less．But if you will open that package you may see why you had me frightened at first．＂
White fingers quickly tore at the string and paper．There was a scream of joy；and then，alas！A change to tears and cries，requiring the man of the house to use all his skill to calm his wife．
For there were the combs—the special set of objects to hold her hair that Della had wanted ever since she saw them in a shop window．Beautiful combs made of shells，with jewels at the edge—just the color to wear in the beautiful hair that was no longer hers．They cost a lot of money，she knew，and her heart had wanted them without ever hoping to have them．And now，the beautiful combs were hers，but the hair that should have touched them was gone．
But she held the combs to herself，and soon she was able to look up with a smile and say，＂My hair grows so fast，Jim！＂
Then Della jumped up like a little burned cat and cried，＂Oh，oh！＂
Jim had not yet seen his beautiful gift．She happily held it out to him in her open hands．The silver chain seemed so bright．
＂Isn＇t it wonderful，Jim？I looked all over town to find it．You will have to look at the time a hundred times a day now．Give me your watch．I want to see how it looks on it．＂
Instead of obeying，Jim fell on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled．
＂Dell，＂said he，＂let us put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while．They are too nice to use just right now．I sold my gold watch to get the money to buy the set of combs for your hair．And now，why not put the meat on．＂
热词空间
valued a．经估价的，贵重的，受尊重的
jewel n．珠宝，贵重物，镶珠宝的饰物
vt．饰以珠宝，镶以宝石
immovable a．不能移动的，固定的
