The Gift of Magi
英文故事TheGiftoftheMagi附理解练习
The Gift of the MagiO.HenryIt was Christmas, and Della and Jim wanted to give each other special gifts.They had no extra money, but they each could sacrifice something dear.Once dollar and eighty – seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bargaining with the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eight –seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but rather looked as if it were “begging.”In the doorway below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.” But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called “Jim” and greatly hugged by Mr. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.Della finished her cry and attended to her cheek with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at the gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard.Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling – something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being Jim’s wife.Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the mirror. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Young’s 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. Had the Queen of Sheba lived the flat across the way, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty’s jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.On went her old brown jacket, on went on old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eye, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.Where she stopped the sign read: “Mme. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All kinds.” One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting, Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the “Sofronie.”“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.“I buy hair,” said Madame. “Take yet hat off the let’s have a sight at the looks of it.”Down rippled the brown cascade.“Twenty dollars,” said Madame, lifting the mass with a practiced hand.Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim’s present.She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim’s. It was like him. Quietness and value – the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain.When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends – a mammoth task.Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls thatmade her look wonderfully like a schoolboy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.“If Jim doesn’t kill me,” she said to herself, “before he takes a second look at me, he’ll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do – oh! What could I do with a dollar and eight-seven cents?”At 7 o’clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair way down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit of saying little silent prayers about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: “ Please God, make him think I am still pretty.”The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was with gloves.Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simple stared at her fixedly with at peculiar expression on his face. Della wriggled off the table and went for him.“Jim, daring.” She cried, “do n’t look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It’ll grow out again – you won’t mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair growsawfully fast. Say ‘Merry Christmas!’ Jim, and let’s be happy. You don’t know what a nice – what a beautiful, nice gift I’ve got for you.”“You’ve cut off your hair?” ask Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet even after the hardest mental labor.“Cut it off and sold it,” said Della. “Don’t you like me just as well, anyhow? I’m me without my hair, aren’t I?” Jim looked about the room curiously.“You say your hair is gone!” he said, with an air almost of idiocy.“You needn’t look for it,” said Della. “It’s sold, I tell you – sold and gone, too. It’s Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered,” she went on with a sudden serious sweetness, “but nobody could even count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?”Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year –what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magic brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table. “Don’t make any mistake, Della.” he said, “about me. I don’t think there’s any thing in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you’ll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first.”White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy, and then, alas! A quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails,necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.For there lay the Combs –the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped for long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims – just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now they hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone. But 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!”Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.“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.” Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.“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. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you theuneventful chronicle of 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. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.ExercisesPre-Reading/Listening Exercises:1. Vocabulary2. Expressionsbargaining flung to the breezehowl, sobs, sniffles no mortal fingersterling full lengthdepreciate took a mighty prideintoxication with a practiced handchorus girl ransacking the storesterrify repairingsentiments you had me goingpeculiar isn’t it a dandy?trancecombs2. Questions:a. If you had no money and wanted to give a very special friend a gift, what would you give them?b. What makes a gift special?c. If you had to sell something you owned in order to get some money,what would be the hardest thing to sell?3. Note: When reading the story, have the students stop at the paragraph which begins: “The door opened and Jim stepped in.”Then have them make guesses for how the story will end.Post-Reading/Listening Exercises:1. Comprehension Questions:a. What did Della want to do for Jim?b. Why was Della so very sad?c. Where did Della go to get more money?d. What did Della buy for Jim?e. What did Jim buy for Della?f. Why are these two people called “the magi”?2. Understanding the Meaning:a. What was so special about the gifts they gave each other?b. What had they really done for each other?c. If you were Jim/Della, what would you have done? How would you have reacted?3. Discussion: Possible discussion questions:a. What qualities of giving are reflected in these givers?b. What was so special about their love for each other?c. What was a special gift you once received?d. How is it possible for poor people to be generous in their hearts?e. What makes people generous?f. Are some people born generous and kind?g. Can such generosity be repaid?。
评刘若瑞版《麦琪的礼物》
评中文翻译《麦琪的礼物》《The Gift of Magi 》即《麦琪的礼物》是美国著名文学家欧·亨利写的一篇短篇小说，它通过写在圣诞节前一天，一对小夫妻互赠礼物，结果阴差阳错，两人珍贵的礼物都变成了无用的东西，而他们却得到了比任何实物都宝贵的东西——爱，告诉人们尊重他人的爱，学会去爱他人，是人类文明的一个重要表现。
这篇文章在初中时就已经被学习，今天我从英汉互译的角度来评价一下中文版的《麦琪的礼物》。
众所周知，“反译法”是英译汉中常用的翻译技巧之一，所谓反译法就是指原文从正面表达的,译文可以从反面着笔翻译,如把肯定句译成否定句,或者把否定句译成肯定句。
不同民族的思维方法和用来反映思维的方法往往是不同的，例如，英语民族从正面来表达一个思想，而汉语则可以、有时甚至是必须从反面来表达。
例如《麦琪的礼物》中的一句话：in the vestibule below was a letter box into which no letter would go ,and an electric button f rom which no mortal finger could coax a ring.汉语译为楼下的甬道里有一个信箱，但是永远不会有信件投进去，还有一个电铃，鬼才能把它按响。
译者把原文from which no mortal finger could coax a ring 用反译法译译得十分传神，但如果按照原文的否定形式译，恐怕意识就不会那样贴切，译文也会令人感到索然无味。
欧·亨利是美国最著名的短篇小说家之一，虽然The Gift of the Magi ①是其广为流传的优秀作品，曾被收录中学课本，但对于这篇小说的翻译版本，一直存在许多的争论。
对于翻译的标准和原则，我国学者严复最早提出“信、达、雅”的标准——“信”即忠实于原文，“达”即翻译的流畅，“雅”即译文的典雅。
这一翻译标准至今仍对我国翻译界存在影响。
the gift of the magi-麦琪的礼物(课堂PPT)
As we know, During this period, the United States was experiencing a severe economic crisis. So the novel also depicted the tragic life of the working people, exposed the brutal nature of the bourgeois monopoly indirectly, accused the persecution of the people by rulers ,reflected the people's dissatisfaction with the rule of the bourgeoisie;
Christmas is a religious festival. It is the day we celebrate as the birthday of Jesus. And now Christmas is both a holiday and a holy day. In America it is one of the biggest event of the year (especially for kids), and for members of the Christian religions it is an important day on the religious calendar. Exchanging gifts and sending Christmas cards are the modern ways of celebrating the Christmas in the world.
2
O. Henry 's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and clever twist endings.
the gift of the magi读后感
the gift of the magi读后感《The Gift of the Magi》是美国著名短篇小说家欧·亨利的一部经典作品。
本文将为您分享我对这部作品的读后感。
---最近，我重温了欧·亨利的经典之作《The Gift of the Magi》，这部温馨感人的故事再次触动了我内心深处的柔软。
作品讲述了在一个寒冷的圣诞节，一对年轻夫妇为了给对方送上最珍贵的礼物，不惜牺牲自己最宝贵的东西。
在物欲横流的现代社会，这个故事让我感受到了真爱的力量和人性的美好。
故事中的主人公德拉和吉姆是一对经济拮据的年轻夫妇。
在圣诞节来临之际，他们为了给对方买到一份心仪的礼物，各自做出了令人感慨的牺牲。
德拉卖掉了自己引以为傲的长发，为吉姆购买了一条白金表链；而吉姆则卖掉了自己珍贵的金表，为德拉买了一把全套的梳子。
当两人在圣诞夜交换礼物时，虽然礼物已失去了原本的意义，但他们从中体会到了对方深沉的爱意。
读完这个故事，我不禁为这对夫妇的真挚感情所感动。
在物质生活丰富的今天，许多人追求名牌、奢侈品，试图用金钱衡量爱情。
然而，《The Gift of the Magi》告诉我们，真正的爱情是无法用金钱购买的。
德拉和吉姆虽然失去了自己最宝贵的东西，但他们收获了更加珍贵的爱情，这也是他们送给彼此最美好的礼物。
此外，这个故事还让我思考了人性的美好。
在物欲横流的社会，人们往往容易为了追求物质而忽略了内心的善良。
而《The Gift of the Magi》正是通过这对夫妇的举动，提醒我们要珍惜内心的善良和真诚。
正是这种善良和真诚，让这个世界变得更加美好。
总之，《The Gift of the Magi》这部作品让我深刻体会到了真爱的力量和人性的美好。
在这个故事中，我看到了爱情最纯粹的样子，也感受到了善良与真诚的力量。
高中英语课文文本
《高中英语课文文本》一、课文内容概述1. 《The Gift of the Magi》：讲述了一对年轻夫妇为了给对方买礼物，不惜卖掉自己最珍贵的东西。
这个故事传递了爱与牺牲的精神，让学生在阅读中感受人性的美好。
2. 《The Old Man and the Sea》：海明威的经典作品，讲述了一个老渔夫与一条大马林鱼搏斗的故事。
课文通过描绘老渔夫的坚韧不拔，传递了勇敢面对困难、永不放弃的精神。
3. 《The Million Pound Bank Note》：讲述了一个美国人如何在英国凭借一张百万英镑的钞票，赢得尊重和信任的故事。
课文揭示了金钱与道德的关系，引导学生正确看待金钱。
4. 《Robinson Crusoe》：丹尼尔·笛福的经典之作，讲述了主人公鲁滨逊漂流到一个荒岛，独自生活28年的故事。
课文展示了人类在面对困境时的顽强生存意志。
5. 《A Tale of Two Cities》：查尔斯·狄更斯的著名小说，以法国大革命为背景，讲述了两个城市、两个家庭的故事。
课文通过对比，展现了人性的善恶与命运的无常。
二、课文特点1. 语言地道：高中英语课文文本选材广泛，涉及不同国家的文化背景，为学生提供了地道的英语表达。
2. 贴近生活：课文内容与学生的生活实际紧密相关，便于学生理解和运用。
3. 寓教于乐：课文故事性强，情节引人入胜，让学生在轻松愉快的氛围中学习英语。
4. 思想性强：课文蕴含丰富的人生哲理，有助于培养学生正确的价值观和人生观。
5. 难度适中：课文难度循序渐进，符合学生的认知规律，助力学生提高英语水平。
《高中英语课文文本》三、课文教学目标1. 提升语言能力：通过学习课文，使学生能够熟练运用英语词汇和语法，提高英语表达能力。
2. 增强文化意识：让学生在了解不同文化背景的基础上，培养跨文化交际能力，拓宽国际视野。
3. 培养思维品质：引导学生深入剖析课文内容，锻炼批判性思维和创造性思维，提升问题解决能力。
高中英语选修课英语文学欣赏欧亨利Thegiftofthemagi《麦琪的礼物》学生版讲义资料
The Gift of the MagiO. HenryOne dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. Andsixty cents of it was in pennies. Three times Della counted it.One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would beChristmas.There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on theshabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Whichinstigates(鼓动、煽动) the moral reflection that life is made upof sobs and smiles, with sobs predominating（支配、统治）.Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with thepowder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully ata gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrowwould be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with whichto buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room.Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.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.So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her rippling(轻柔的起伏) and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking（彻底搜索）the stores for Jim's present.She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. It was a platinum fob chain（白金表链）simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value--the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly（偷偷地，暗中地）on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain.She got out her curling irons（卷发钳）.Within forty minutes her head was covered withtiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfullylike a schoolboy. She looked at her reflection in themirror long, carefully, and critically.Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain inher hand and sat on the corner of the table near the doorthat he always entered. Then she heard his step on thestair away down on the first flight, and she turned whitefor just a moment. She had a habit of saying a littlesilent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please God, make him think I am still pretty."The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.Jim stopped inside the door with his eyes fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments（情感）that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar（特别的）expression on his face.Della wriggled off the table and went for him."Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again--you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say `Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice--what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you.""You've cut off your hair?" asked Jim, laboriously（艰难地、辛苦地）."Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?"Jim looked about the room curiously."You say your hair is gone?" he said, with an air almost of idiocy."You needn't look for it," said Della. "It's sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It's Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"Eight dollars a week or a million a year--what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table."Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first."White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic（狂喜地）scream of joy; and then, alas!For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair.She hugged them to her bosom（胸口）, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: "My hair grows so fast, Jim!"And then Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, "Oh, oh!"Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. 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."Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch（坐到沙发上）and put his hands under the back of hishead and smiled."Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presentsaway 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. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege（权利）of exchange in case of duplication （重复）. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed（牺牲）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. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.。
麦琪的礼物_英文原文
THE GIFT OF THE MAGIby O. HenryOne dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents ofit was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Threetimes Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. While the mistress of the home is gradually subsidingfrom the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young."The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. But whenever Mr. JamesDillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.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 hadbeen his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty'sjewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shininglike a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and madeitself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With awhirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.Where she stopped the sign read: "Mne. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds." One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting. Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the "Sofronie.""Will you buy my hair?" asked Della."I buy hair," said Madame. "Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it."Down rippled the brown cascade."Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand. "Give it to me quick," said Della.Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget thehashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present. She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all ofthem inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretriciousornamentation--as all good things should do. It was even worthy ofThe Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value--the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked atit on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in placeof a chain. When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a littleto prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted thegas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends--a mammoth task.Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lyingcurls that made her look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. She looked at herreflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically."If Jim doesn't kill me," she said to herself, "before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. Butwhat could I do--oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty- seven cents?" At 7 o'clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and saton the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Thenshe heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit for saying little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered:"Please God, make him think I am still pretty."The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdenedwith a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves. Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. 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.Della wriggled off the table and went for him."Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again--you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say `Merry Christmas!'Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice-- what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you.""You've cut off your hair?" asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet even after the hardest mental labor. "Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?"Jim looked about the room curiously."You say your hair is gone?" he said, with an air almost of idiocy. "You needn't look for it," said Della. "It's sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It's Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year--what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table. "Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first."White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tearsand wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.But 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!" And them Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, "Oh, oh!" Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit."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."Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled."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. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of twofoolish 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. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.麦琪的礼物1一块八毛七分钱。
《欧亨利短篇小说集》主要情节
《欧亨利短篇小说集》主要情节欧亨利（O. Henry）是美国著名的短篇小说家，以其精彩的叙事、巧妙的结构和出人意料的结局而著称。
《欧亨利短篇小说集》收录了他的许多经典作品，本文将介绍其中一些主要情节。
1. 《礼物的权利》（The Gift of the Magi）这个故事发生在圣诞节前夕，讲述了年轻夫妇吉姆和多拉为了给对方买礼物而做出的牺牲。
吉姆卖掉了他的怀表来买多拉的发针，而多拉则将她的长发剪掉，换取吉姆的怀表链。
最终，他们互相奉献的礼物虽然变得无用，但却展现了他们深爱对方的情感。
2. 《最后一片叶子》（The Last Leaf）故事发生在一个秋天的天气变冷的晚上，主要描写了两位年轻女孩苏西和约翰。
苏西生病后，她相信自己会死去，因为她活在一株树上的叶子数目决定了她的生死。
而约翰是个画家，他画了一片假叶子贴在树上，为了让苏西相信还有希望。
最后，约翰因为寒冷而感染肺炎去世，但苏西因为看到画上的叶子没有掉落而找到希望，并最终康复。
3. 《声音与大脑的标志》（The Voice of the City）这个故事以纽约这座繁华城市为背景，讲述了一个把“声音”和“大脑的标志”联系在一起的情节。
故事中的女主人公，一个小资的文学爱好者，在一次意外中失声。
她在城市中四处寻找声音，最终找到了这个声音的源头——一个拾荒者，他用他对城市环境的了解预测了城市的未来。
通过这个故事，欧亨利传达了城市的思想与活力。
4. 《福伦特德家族》（The Furnished Room）这个故事发生在一个破败的租房屋中，描绘了一个绝望无助的年轻人试图找到他失散多年的情人。
他租下了一个曾经是她居住过的房间，并被房间里的氛围所吸引。
最终，他发现了情人留下的一封信，得知她已经去世。
这个故事通过描述一个房间中的气息和布置，展现了一个消失的爱情。
5. 《屋顶上的猫》（The Cat on the Roof）这个故事以一只孤独的猫为主角，以战争年代为背景。
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
The selfless love between Jim and Della also moved me deeply. They sacrificed their only treasure just to buy a Christmas gift to each other. Maybe we should consider these two people foolish, they had not think about theirselves even for one second. With the surprising ending that both their gifts became useless, we feel warm though Only when we treat others with true love can we receive the same thing. Love need not decorated luxuriantly .It can be simple and plain.
About the author
O.Henry(1862-1910)—pseudonym笔名 of William Sydney Porter, is a prolific American short-story writer, a master of surprise endings, who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City. A typical characteristic of O. Henry‟s stories is a twist of plot which turns on an ironic or coincidental circumstance. Although some critics were not so enthusiastic about his works, the public loved it. His famous works are The Cop and the Anthem, The Ransom of Red Chief, The Last Leaf and
Introduction of the story
Jim is a clerk of a small company whose salary is only enough to make a living. And his wife Della is a virtuous and kind-hearted woman. Though they are very poor, Jim and Della have their own precious treasure—Jim‟s gold watch and Della‟s silky hair. With Christmas coming, Della had not enough money to buy a gift to his husband, so she figured out an idea that she could cut off and sold her hair to buy a chain for Jim‟s watch. And Jim also sold his watch to buy a set of combs as a Christmas gift for Della. At last, they found both their gifts were useless to each other, but they both received the most precious gift of the world—selfless love.
Feelings about the story
After read this story, I really appreciate the attitude that Jim and Della hold to their poor life. Though they were in a tough position to lead a life, they never lose their heart. With a positive attitude, they did their best to make pleasures during the days. We all possess an invisible magic weapon which has two sides. One side is “positive” while the other is “negative”. Instead of denying the existence of the negative side a person who holds a positive attitude would learn how not to indulge himself/herself in it. The author tells us though we are just the underclass of society, we could have an enthusiastic heart and the pursuit of our own life. We should be an optimist of our life.
Porter was granted bond, but the day before he was due to stand trial on July 7, 1896, he absconded潜逃 to New Orleans and later to Honduras. However, in 1897, when he learned that his wife Athol was dying, he returned to the United States and surrendered to the court, pending an appeal. Athol died on July 25, 1897. Porter was found guilty of embezzlement, sentenced to five years jail and released on 1901 for good behavior. Porter felt sorry and guilty to his wife. Athol always stand by him though they were poor. She also brought much happiness to the family. But Porter could not accompany with her in her misery. In memory of her wife Porter wrote the story The Gift of Magi. The heroine Della is an image of his wife Athol.
The Gift of Magi.
Background of the story
In 1887, Porter eloped with私奔 Athol Estes, who was 18 yeas old and from a wealthy family. Though her family objected to the match, Athol married to Porter and gave birth to a daughter in 1889. In 1894 Porter started a humorous weekly called The Rolling Stone and also in 1894 he resigned from the First National Bank of Austin where he had worked as a teller after he was accused of embezzling funds. In 1895, after The Rolling Stone ceased publication, he moved to Houston. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested for embezzle ment挪用公款 in connection with his previous employment in Austin.
“Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. „Don‟t make any mistake, Dell,‟ he said „about me. I don‟t think there‟s anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less.”
Magi medʒai /: the three wise men from the East who brought gifts to the infant Jesus e (将礼物带给初生的耶稣的）东方三贤人
Profound sentences
“But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above, he was called “Jim” and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.” “Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, the window some day to dry just to depreciate her majesty‟s jewels.” “Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures pilled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled put his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.”