麦琪的礼物 The Gift of the Magi（第1页）
麦琪的礼物TheGiftoftheMagi
欧·亨利O。Henry
hty-sevewasall。Andsixtytsofitennies。Penniessavedowoatatimebybulldozingthegrodthevegetablematilone'scheeksburhesilentimputationofparsimonythatsuchclosedealihreetimesDellatedit。hty-seves。AdaywouldbeChristmas。
Therewasothingtodobutflopdownontheshabbylittledhowl。SoDelladidit。Whistigatesthemoralreflethatlifeismadeupofsobs，sniffles，ahsnifflespredominating。
&ressofthehomeisgraduallysubsidingfretothesed，takealookatthehome。Afur$8perweek。Itdidlybeggardes，butitlyhadthatwordoforthemendicysquad。
Iibulebelowwasaletter-boxintowhio，atonfromwhiercouldg。Alsthereuntowasacardbearingthe;Mr。JamesDillinghamYoung"。
&;Dillingham"hadbeenflungtothebreezeduringaformerperiodofprosperitywhenitspossessoraid$30perhentheinewasshrunkto$20，thelettersof"Dillingham"lookedblurred，asthoughtheywerethinkingseriouslytoamodestandunassumingD。ButwheneverMr。JamesDillinghamYoungeandreachedhisflatabovehewascalled"Jim&qugedbyMrs。JamesDillinghamYouroducedtoyouasDella。Whichisallverygood。
Dellafinishedherdatteohercheekswiththep。ShestoodbythewindowadullyatagraygagrayfenagraybaorrowwouldbeChristmasDay，andshehadonly$1。87withwhiapresent。Shehadbeensavingeverypennysheonths，withthisresult。Twentydollarsaweekdoesn'tgofar。Expenseshadbeehanshehadcalculated。Theyalwaysare。Only$1。87tobuyapresentforJim。HerJim。Manyahappyhourshehadspentplanningforsomethingni。SomethingfineaerlihingjustalittlebithyofthehownedbyJim。
Thereier-glassbetsoftheroom。Perhapsyouhaveseenapier-glassinan$8fat。Averythinandveryagilepersonmay，byhisrefearapidsequengitudinalstrips，obtainafairlyacofhislooks。Della，beingslender，hadmasteredtheart。
Suddenlyshewhirledfromthewindowandstlass。Hereyeswereshiningbrilliantly，butherfacehadlostitscolorwithiyseds。Rapidlyshepulleddownherhairafalltoitsfulllength。
wopossessionsoftheJamesDillinghamYoungsinwhichtheybothtookamightypride。OnewasJim'sgoldwatchthathadbeenhisfather'sandhisgrandfather's。TheotherwasDella'shair。HadtheQueenofShebalivediacrosstheairshaft，DellawouldhaveletherhairhangoutthewiodryjusttodepreciateHerMajesty'sjewelsandgifts。HadKingSolomoor，withallhistreasurespiledupi，Jimulledouthiswatcheverytimehepassed，justtoseehimpluckathisbeardfromenvy。
SonowDella'sbeautifulhairfellabandshininglikeacascadeofbrowreachedbelowherkneeaselfalmostagarmeheupagainnervouslyandquiceshefalteredforamioodstillwhileatearortwosplashedonthewor。
&heroldbrow;oheroldbrohirlofskirtsandwiththebrilliaillinhereyes，sheflutteredoutthedooranddowothestreet。
&oppedthesig;Mine。SofroodsofAllKinds。"OupDellaran，aedherself，panting。Madame，large，toowhite，chilly，hardlylookedthe"Sofro;。
"Willyoubuymyhair?"askedDella。
"Ibuyhair，"saidMadame。"Takeyourhatoffa'shaveasightatthelooksofit。"
Dowhebro>
"Twentydollars，"saidMadame，liftihaprad。
"Giveittomequick。"saidDella。
Oh，awohourstrippedbys。Fetthehashedmetaphor。ShewasransagthestoresforJim'spresent。
&atlast。ItsurelyhadbeenmadeforJimaherewasinaores，aurnedallofthemilatinumfobsimpleanddesign，pritsvaluebysubstabymeretrientation—asallgoodthingsshoulddo。ItwasevenworthyofTheWatch。AssooshekmustbeJim's。Itwaslikehim。Quietnessahedesappliedtoboth。Twenty-onedollarstheytookfromherforit，andshehurriedhomewiththe87ts。WiththathiswatchJimmightbeproperlyanxiousaboutthetimeinanypany。Grachwas，hesometimeslookedatitontheslyonatoftheoldleatherstrapthatheusedinplaceofa。
WhenDellareaeherintoxigavewayalittletoprudendreasohergironsahegasatheravagesmadebygeyaddedtolove。Whichisalwaysatremendoustask，dearfriends—amammothtask。
Withinfortyminutesherheadwascoveredwithtiny，gcurlsthatmadeherlookwonderfullylikeatruantschoolboy。Shelookedatherreflethemirr，carefully，andcritically。
"IfJimdoesn'tkillme，"shesaidtoherself，"beforehetakesasee，he'llsayIlooklikeaeyIslandchirl。ButwhatcouldIdo—oh!WhatcouldIdowithadhty-seve;
At7o'clockthecoffeewasmadeandthefrying-panwasonthebackofthestovehotaocookthechops。
Jimwase。Delladoubledthefobherhandandsatontheerofthetablehathealwaysehensheheardhisstepoairawaydowflight，auramoment。Shehadahabitflittlesilehesimplesteverydaythings，andnowshewhispered:"PleaseGod，makehimthinkIamstillpretty。"
ThedooropenedandJimsteppedina。Helookedthinandveryserious。Poorfellow，hewasowo—andtobeburdehafamily!Heneededaahoutgloves。
Jimstoppedihedoor，asimmovableasasetteratthestofquail。HiseyeswerefixeduponDella，andthereressiosheotread，anditterrifiedher。Itwasnotanger，norsurprise，nordisapproval，norhorror，noraimentsthatshehadbeenpreparedfor。Hesimplystaredatherfixedlyeculiarexpressiononhisface。
Dellawriggledoffthetableaforhim。
"Jim，darling，"shecried，"don'tlookatmethatway。IhadmyhairdsolditbecauseI'thavelivedthroughChristmaswithoutgivingyouapresent。It&#ain—youwon'tmind，willyou?Ijusthadtodoit。Myhairgrowsawfullyfast。Say'MerryChristmas!'Jim，a'sbehappy。Youdon'tknowwhataabeautiful，I'vegotforyou。"