One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. Every day， when she went to the shops， she spent very little money. She bought the cheapest meat， the cheapest vegetables. And when she was tired， she still walked round and round the shops to find the cheapest food. She saved every cent possible1.

Delia counted the money again. There was no mistake. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And the next day was Christmas.

She couldnt do anything about it. She could only sit down and cry. So she sat there， in the poor little room， and she cried.

Delia lived in this poor little room， in New York， with her husband， James Dillingham Young. They also had a bedroom， and a kitchen and a bathroom — all poor little rooms. James Dillingham Young was lucky， because he had a job， but it was not a good job. These rooms took most of his money. Delia tried to find work， but times were bad， and there was no work for her. But when Mr. James Dillingham Young came home to his rooms， Mrs. James Dillingham Young called him “Jim” 2 and put her arms round him. And that was good.

Delia stopped crying and she washed her face. She stood by the window， and looked out at a grey cat on a grey wall in the grey road. Tomorrow was Christmas Day， and she had only one dollar and eighty-seven cents to buy Jim a Christmas present. Her Jim. She wanted very much to buy him something really fine， something to show how much she loved him.

Suddenly， Delia turned round and ran over to look in the glass on the wall. Her eyes were bright.

Now， the James Dillingham Youngs had two very special things. One was Jims gold watch. It once belonged to3 his father， and， before that， to his grandfather. The other special thing was Delias hair.

Quickly， Delia let down her beautiful， long hair. It fell down her back， and it was almost like a coat around her. Then she put her hair up again， quickly. For a second or two she stood still， and cried a little.

Then she put on her old brown coat， and her old brown hat， turned， and left the room. She went downstairs and out into the road， and her eyes were bright.

She walked along by the shops， and stopped when she came to a door with “Madame Eloise—Hair” on it. Inside there was a fat woman. She did not look like an “Eloise”.

“Will you buy my hair？” Delia asked.

“I buy hair，” Madame replied. “Take your hat off， then， and show me your hair.”

The beautiful brown hair fell down.

“Twenty dollars，” Madame said， and she touched the hair with her hand.

“Quick！ Cut it off！ Give me the money！”Delia said.

The next two hours went quickly. Delia was happy because she was looking round the shops for Jims present. At last she found it. It was a gold chain4 for The Watch. Jim loved his watch， but it had no chain. When Delia saw this gold chain， she knew immediately that it was right for Jim. She must have it. The shop took twentyone dollars from her for it， and she hurried home with the eighty-seven cents. When she arrived there， she looked at her very short hair in the glass. “What can I do with it？” she thought. For the next half an hour she was very busy.

Then she looked again in the glass. Her hair was now in very small curls5 all over her head.“Oh， dear. I look like a schoolgirl！” she said to herself. “Whats Jim going to say when he sees me？”

At seven oclock the dinner was nearly ready and Delia was waiting. “Oh， I hope he thinks that Im still beautiful！” she thought.

T h e d o o r opened and Jim came in and closed it. He looked very thin and he needed a new coat. His eyes were on Delia. S h e c o u l d n o t understand the look on his face， and she was afraid. He was not angry or surprised. He just watched her， with that strange look on his face. Delia ran to him.

“J i m ，” s h e cried. “Dont look at me like that. I sold my hair because I wanted to give you a present. It will soon be long again. I had to do it， Jim. Say ‘Happy Christmas， please. I have a wonderful present for you！”

“Youve cut off your hair？” asked Jim.

“Yes. I cut it off and sold it，” Delia said.”But dont you love me any more， Jim？ Im still me.”

Jim looked round the room.

“You say your hair has gone？” he said， almost stupidly6.

“Yes. I told you. Because I love you！ Shall I get the dinner now， Jim？”

Suddenly Jim put his arms round his Delia. Then he took something from his pocket and put it on the table.

“I l o v e y o u ， Delia，” he said. “It doesnt matter if your hair is short or long. But if you open that， youll see why I was unhappy at first.”

Excited， Delia pulled off the paper. Then she gave a little scream7 of happiness. But a second later there were cries of unhappiness. Because there were The Combs8 — the combs for her beautiful hair. When she first saw these combs in the shop window， she wanted them. They were beautiful combs， expensive combs， and now they were her combs. But she no longer had her hair！

Delia picked them up and held them. Her eyes were full of love.

“But my hair will soon be long again， Jim.”

And then Delia remembered. She jumped up and cried， “Oh！ Oh！” She ran to get Jims beautiful present， and she held it out to him.

“Isnt it lovely， Jim？ I looked everywhere for it. Now youll want to look at your watch a hundred times a day. Give it to me！ Give me your watch， Jim！ Lets see it with its new chain.”

But Jim did not do this. He sat down， put his hands behind his head， and he smiled.

“Delia，” he said. “Lets keep our presents for a time. Theyre so nice. You see， I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now， lets have dinner.”

And this was the story of two young people who were very much in love.

1塊8毛7分錢。就這么多。她每天去商店都盡量少花錢，買最便宜的肉、最便宜的蔬菜。即便很累了，她還是在商店里一圈又一圈地轉悠，尋找最便宜的食品。已經(jīng)是能省一分就省一分了。

德拉又把錢數(shù)了一遍。沒錯，就是1塊8毛7分錢。就這些?？擅魈炀褪鞘フQ節(jié)了。

她無計可施，只有坐下來哭。于是她坐了下來，在這破破爛爛的小屋子里哭了起來。

德拉和丈夫詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·揚住在紐約這套破爛的小屋子里。他們還有一間臥室、一間廚房和一個衛(wèi)生間——都是又小又差的房間。詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·揚很幸運，因為他有一份工作，不過不是什么好工作。他掙的大部分錢都花在這所小屋子的租金上了。德拉努力地找過工作，但世道太糟，她沒能如愿。不過每當詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·揚先生回家時，詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·揚太太都會叫他“吉姆”，并擁抱他。他們是幸福的。

德拉不哭了，洗了洗臉。她站在窗口望出去，灰色的路上有一堵灰色的墻，墻上有只灰色的貓。明天就是圣誕節(jié)了，可她只有1塊8毛7分錢給吉姆買圣誕禮物。她的吉姆！她非常想給他買件不錯的禮物，一件能代表她有多愛他的禮物。

突然，德拉轉身跑到墻上的鏡子前。她的眼前一亮。

詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·揚夫婦有兩樣非同尋常的東西。一樣是吉姆的金表。那表過去屬于他父親，再之前是他祖父的。另一樣就是德拉的頭發(fā)。

德拉飛快地放下她那美麗的長發(fā)。長發(fā)滑落到背上，幾乎像一件上衣一樣裹著她。然后，她又迅速地把頭發(fā)挽起來。有那么一會兒，她愣愣地站在那兒，輕輕地哭泣。

接下來，她穿上那件舊的棕色大衣，戴上棕色的舊帽子，轉身出了家門。她跑下樓去，來到街上，眼中閃著光。

她沿著商店一路走著，在一家門上寫著“埃洛伊絲夫人——買賣頭發(fā)”的店鋪前停了下來。門里頭有一個胖女人，看上去不像是“埃洛伊絲”。

“您買我的頭發(fā)嗎？”德拉問道。

“我買頭發(fā)，”那位夫人回答道，“把帽子摘下來，讓我看看你的頭發(fā)?！?/p>

美麗的褐色長發(fā)垂落下來。

“20塊錢。”夫人說。她摸了摸德拉的頭發(fā)。

“快點！剪吧！把錢給我！”德拉說。接下來的兩個小時過得太快了。德拉快樂地在商店里逛來逛去，給吉姆選禮物。

她終于找到了中意的禮物，那是一條金表鏈，正好配“那塊表”。吉姆非常喜歡那塊表，可是它沒有表鏈。德拉一看到這條表鏈，就覺得它配吉姆的表再合適不過了。她一定得把它買下來。

商店收了她21塊錢，她帶著剩下的8毛7分錢匆匆地回家了。

回家以后，她從鏡子里打量著自己的短頭發(fā)?！拔以撛趺创蚶硪幌履兀俊彼?。接下來的半個小時里，她忙成一團。

然后她又照照鏡子。現(xiàn)在她滿頭都是小卷卷兒。“哦，天哪，我看上去像個小女生！”她自言自語道，“吉姆看到我會怎么說呢？”

7點鐘，晚餐就快做好了，德拉等著吉姆回來?！芭叮蚁ＭX得我還是美麗的?！彼?。

門開了，吉姆進來后，把門關上。他看上去非常瘦，而且需要一件新大衣。他的目光落在德拉身上。她弄不懂他的表情，有點怕。他沒生氣，也不是吃驚，只是望著她，一臉古怪的神情。

德拉向他跑去。

“吉姆，”她大聲說，“別這樣看著我。我賣掉了頭發(fā)，因為我想給你買件禮物。頭發(fā)很快會再長起來的。我不得不這么做，吉姆。說‘圣誕快樂吧，求你了。我給你準備了一件好得不得了的禮物！”

“你把頭發(fā)剪啦？”吉姆問道。

“對，我把它剪了，賣了，”德拉說，“難道你不再愛我了嗎，吉姆？我還是我呀?！?/p>

吉姆環(huán)視了一下屋子。

“你是說你的長頭發(fā)沒了？”他傻乎乎地說。

“是，我是這么說的。因為我愛你！現(xiàn)在我把晚飯端上來好嗎，吉姆？”

突然間吉姆伸出手臂摟住了德拉。然后，他從口袋里掏出一樣東西放在桌上。

“我愛你，德拉，”他說，“你的頭發(fā)是長是短都沒關系?？墒悄愦蜷_這個，就會明白我為什么不高興了。”

德拉興奮地拆開紙包。她快活地尖叫了一聲，不過隨后就難過地哭起來。因為紙包里是“那套梳子”——正好配她美麗長發(fā)的那套梳子——她在商店櫥窗里第一次看到的時候就想要。那真是一套漂亮的梳子、貴重的梳子，現(xiàn)在是她的了。可她的頭發(fā)已經(jīng)沒了！

德拉把梳子拿起來，捧在手里。她眼里滿是柔情。

“可是我的頭發(fā)很快會再長起來的，吉姆?！?/p>

然后德拉想起自己的禮物。她跳了起來，叫道：“哦，哦！”她跑去把給吉姆的漂亮禮物拿過來，遞給他。

“好看嗎，吉姆？我找遍了大街小巷才找到的?，F(xiàn)在你一定想一天看一百次表了。給我，把你的表給我，吉姆！我們看看它配上新鏈子怎么樣?！?/p>

但是吉姆沒有給她。他坐下來，把手放在腦后，笑了起來。

“德拉，”他說，“我們把禮物擱一段時間吧。它們太珍貴了。你看，我賣了表，好拿錢給你買梳子。現(xiàn)在，我們吃飯吧?！?/p>

這就是兩個彼此相愛的年輕人的故事。

文章改編自美國短篇小說家歐·亨利（O.Henry）的名篇《麥琪的禮物》（The Gift of the Magi）。文章標題源自圣經(jīng)典故。麥琪，是耶穌誕生之時前來送禮的三位圣人，他們開創(chuàng)了圣誕節(jié)互贈禮物的風俗。在許多西方人心目中，理想的圣誕節(jié)禮物應當如同“麥琪的禮物”一般珍貴、有意義。

小說情節(jié)并不復雜。一對窮困卻恩愛的年輕夫婦——德拉與吉姆為了在圣誕節(jié)給彼此送上滿意的禮物，分別割舍了自己最珍貴的東西：德拉為了給丈夫的金表配上表鏈，忍痛賣掉了一頭美麗的長發(fā)；吉姆深知妻子對商店櫥窗內(nèi)的發(fā)梳渴望已久，便出售了自己的金表。這對互敬互愛的小夫妻，在難以置信的巧合下，為我們闡釋了生活的溫情以及“禮物”的真正價值。

歐·亨利一生窮困，筆下主人公多為社會底層掙扎勞作的小人物。他善于捕捉生活中的戲劇場景，在構思精巧的故事中，以笑中帶淚的筆觸講述他們的喜怒哀樂。小說的結局往往讓人意想不到，卻又合情合理、令人信服。這篇《圣誕節(jié)禮物》正是最好的體現(xiàn)。（賞析/Cici）