圣诞礼物

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分钱。就这么多。她每天去商店都尽量少花钱，买最便宜的肉、最便宜的蔬菜。即便很累了，她还是在商店里一圈又一圈地转悠，寻找最便宜的食品。已经是能省一分就省一分了。

德拉又把钱数了一遍。没错，就是1块8毛7分钱。就这些。可明天就是圣诞节了。

她无计可施，只有坐下来哭。于是她坐了下来，在这破破烂烂的小屋子里哭了起来。

德拉和丈夫詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬住在纽约这套破烂的小屋子里。他们还有一间卧室、一间厨房和一个卫生间——都是又小又差的房间。詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬很幸运，因为他有一份工作，不过不是什么好工作。他挣的大部分钱都花在这所小屋子的租金上了。德拉努力地找过工作，但世道太糟，她没能如愿。不过每当詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬先生回家时，詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬太太都会叫他“吉姆”，并拥抱他。他们是幸福的。

德拉不哭了，洗了洗脸。她站在窗口望出去，灰色的路上有一堵灰色的墙，墙上有只灰色的猫。明天就是圣诞节了，可她只有1块8毛7分钱给吉姆买圣诞礼物。她的吉姆！她非常想给他买件不错的礼物，一件能代表她有多爱他的礼物。

突然，德拉转身跑到墙上的镜子前。她的眼前一亮。

詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬夫妇有两样非同寻常的东西。一样是吉姆的金表。那表过去属于他父亲，再之前是他祖父的。另一样就是德拉的头发。

德拉飞快地放下她那美丽的长发。长发滑落到背上，几乎像一件上衣一样裹着她。然后，她又迅速地把头发挽起来。有那么一会儿，她愣愣地站在那儿，轻轻地哭泣。

接下来，她穿上那件旧的棕色大衣，戴上棕色的旧帽子，转身出了家门。她跑下楼去，来到街上，眼中闪着光。

她沿着商店一路走着，在一家门上写着“埃洛伊丝夫人——买卖头发”的店铺前停了下来。门里头有一个胖女人，看上去不像是“埃洛伊丝”。

“您买我的头发吗？”德拉问道。

“我买头发，”那位夫人回答道，“把帽子摘下来，让我看看你的头发。”

美丽的褐色长发垂落下来。

“20块钱。”夫人说。她摸了摸德拉的头发。

“快点！剪吧！把钱给我！”德拉说。接下来的两个小时过得太快了。德拉快乐地在商店里逛来逛去，给吉姆选礼物。

她终于找到了中意的礼物，那是一条金表链，正好配“那块表”。吉姆非常喜欢那块表，可是它没有表链。德拉一看到这条表链，就觉得它配吉姆的表再合适不过了。她一定得把它买下来。

商店收了她21块钱，她带着剩下的8毛7分钱匆匆地回家了。

回家以后，她从镜子里打量着自己的短头发。“我该怎么打理一下呢？”她想。接下来的半个小时里，她忙成一团。

然后她又照照镜子。现在她满头都是小卷卷儿。“哦，天哪，我看上去像个小女生！”她自言自语道，“吉姆看到我会怎么说呢？”

7点钟，晚餐就快做好了，德拉等着吉姆回来。“哦，我希望他觉得我还是美丽的。”她想。

门开了，吉姆进来后，把门关上。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，有点怕。他没生气，也不是吃惊，只是望着她，一脸古怪的神情。

德拉向他跑去。

“吉姆，”她大声说，“别这样看着我。我卖掉了头发，因为我想给你买件礼物。头发很快会再长起来的。我不得不这么做，吉姆。说‘圣诞快乐吧，求你了。我给你准备了一件好得不得了的礼物！”

“你把头发剪啦？”吉姆问道。

“对，我把它剪了，卖了，”德拉说，“难道你不再爱我了吗，吉姆？我还是我呀。”

吉姆环视了一下屋子。

“你是说你的长头发没了？”他傻乎乎地说。

“是，我是这么说的。因为我爱你！现在我把晚饭端上来好吗，吉姆？”

突然间吉姆伸出手臂搂住了德拉。然后，他从口袋里掏出一样东西放在桌上。

“我爱你，德拉，”他说，“你的头发是长是短都没关系。可是你打开这个，就会明白我为什么不高兴了。”

德拉兴奋地拆开纸包。她快活地尖叫了一声，不过随后就难过地哭起来。因为纸包里是“那套梳子”——正好配她美丽长发的那套梳子——她在商店橱窗里第一次看到的时候就想要。那真是一套漂亮的梳子、贵重的梳子，现在是她的了。可她的头发已经没了！

德拉把梳子拿起来，捧在手里。她眼里满是柔情。

“可是我的头发很快会再长起来的，吉姆。”

然后德拉想起自己的礼物。她跳了起来，叫道：“哦，哦！”她跑去把给吉姆的漂亮礼物拿过来，递给他。

“好看吗，吉姆？我找遍了大街小巷才找到的。现在你一定想一天看一百次表了。给我，把你的表给我，吉姆！我们看看它配上新链子怎么样。”

但是吉姆没有给她。他坐下来，把手放在脑后，笑了起来。

“德拉，”他说，“我们把礼物搁一段时间吧。它们太珍贵了。你看，我卖了表，好拿钱给你买梳子。现在，我们吃饭吧。”

这就是两个彼此相爱的年轻人的故事。

文章改編自美国短篇小说家欧·亨利（O.Henry）的名篇《麦琪的礼物》（The Gift of the Magi）。文章标题源自圣经典故。麦琪，是耶稣诞生之时前来送礼的三位圣人，他们开创了圣诞节互赠礼物的风俗。在许多西方人心目中，理想的圣诞节礼物应当如同“麦琪的礼物”一般珍贵、有意义。

小说情节并不复杂。一对穷困却恩爱的年轻夫妇——德拉与吉姆为了在圣诞节给彼此送上满意的礼物，分别割舍了自己最珍贵的东西：德拉为了给丈夫的金表配上表链，忍痛卖掉了一头美丽的长发；吉姆深知妻子对商店橱窗内的发梳渴望已久，便出售了自己的金表。这对互敬互爱的小夫妻，在难以置信的巧合下，为我们阐释了生活的温情以及“礼物”的真正价值。

欧·亨利一生穷困，笔下主人公多为社会底层挣扎劳作的小人物。他善于捕捉生活中的戏剧场景，在构思精巧的故事中，以笑中带泪的笔触讲述他们的喜怒哀乐。小说的结局往往让人意想不到，却又合情合理、令人信服。这篇《圣诞节礼物》正是最好的体现。（赏析/Cici）