第1个回答 2011-10-15
Mr. And Mrs. Young rented a furnished flat at $8 per week, certainly like the mendicancy squad. The young couple, Jim and Della, had a good days during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, the income was shrunk to $20.
Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and Della had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months. So she had nothing to do but to sob. When Della finished her cry, she looked around aimlessly at the home. Suddenly she stopped and stood before the pier-glass. her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds.
Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair.
She decied to sale her hair and then bought a platinum fob chain for Jim.
Jim come back home. He looked thin and very serious because of the heavye burden of family! When Jim’s eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face. It frightened Della.
"You've cut off your hair?" asked Jim."Cut it off and sold it," said Della.
Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.
He enfolded his Della. "Don't make any mistake, Della," he said, "about me. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first." Della opened it. For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window! She hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: "My hair grows so fast, Jim!"
At this time Della reminded that Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. "Oh, oh!" She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. "Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll 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."
"Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on."
The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. But the two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. They are the magi.