圣诞礼物

廖文馨

Della and Jim were newly married1. They were poor. Jims money was enough to rent2 only a very small house. But they were very proud3 of two things. Della had the longest and most beautiful hair in all New York. And Jim had a pretty watch. His father gave it to him.

黛拉和吉姆剛刚结婚，他们很穷。吉姆的钱只够租一间很小的房子。但有两件事让他们非常自豪，黛拉有全纽约最长、最美丽的头发;吉姆有一块漂亮的表，是他父亲给他的。

Christmas was coming. Jim and Della began to think about what gifts they could give each other. Every time when Jim looked at his watch， he was sad. Della saw that. The watch was fixed to4 his coat by an old leather strap5. He really needed a chain6. And Jim often looked at Della doing her long hair. How well it would look if only he could buy her a jewelled7 comb8. But if they wanted to buy a gold watch chain or a jewelled hair-comb， it would cost much money.

圣诞节快到了。吉姆和黛拉开始考虑给对方送什么礼物。每次当吉姆看表时，他总是很悲伤。黛拉注意到了这一点，手表是用一条旧皮带固定在他的外衣上的，他真的需要一条表链。而吉姆经常看着黛拉梳着她的长发。要是他能给她买一把镶有宝石的梳子，那该多好啊。但是，如果他们想买一条表链或一个镶宝石的梳子，那就得花很多的钱。

Now it was Christmas Eve. Della had saved 87 cents for Jims Christmas gift. She had counted9 the money for the tenth time. Then she had a good idea！She quickly put on her old hat and coat. She ran down the street to the shop with the ad “Hair Bought”. She went in there. An hour later， she walked out of the shop and now she had another 15 dollars. But she was without her hair！On the way home， she stopped at every watch makers shop. At last， she found the right chain to suit10 Jims watch.

现在是圣诞夜。黛拉已经攒了八角七分钱，用来给吉姆买圣诞礼物。这些钱她已经数第十次了。然后她有了一个好主意！她立即地戴上旧帽子，穿上旧外套。沿着街道跑到一家有着“买头发”广告的商店。她走了进去。一个小时后，她走出商店，现在又多了15美元。但是她没有头发了！在回家的路上，她每路过一家钟表店都会停下来。最后，她终于找到了适合吉姆的表链。

Della went back home. There was only one dollar and 87 cents in her pocket. Before Jim arrived home from work， she had just enough time to wrap11 the gift in a piece of colored paper， and to curl12 the short ends of her hair.

黛拉回到家，她口袋里只有1美元87美分了。在吉姆下班回家之前，她有充足的时间把礼物用彩纸包起来，再把短发的发尾卷一卷。

When Jim saw it， he was speechless13. “Oh， Jim， dont look at me like that！” Della cried. “Itll grow again， sure it will. Very quickly.” Then she took out the watch chain from behind. “You see， I had to sell it to get money for your gift. Merry Christmas， dear.”

当吉姆看到短发时，他说不出话来。“噢，吉姆，别那样看着我！”黛拉喊道，“它会再长出来的，肯定会的，很快就会。”然后她从身后掏出表链，“你看，我得卖掉它才能换来给你的礼物。圣诞快乐，亲爱的。”

When Jim had opened it， he sat on a chair and laughed until tears came into his eyes. “I think wed better put our gifts away for a while，” he said at last. “You see，” he went on and took a small bag from his pocket. “Ive sold my watch to buy this comb for your hair！ Isnt that funny？”

当吉姆打开它的时候，坐在椅子上笑着笑着眼泪就流出来了。“我想我们最好暂时把礼物收起来。”终于，他说道。“你看，”他接着说，然后从口袋里掏出一个小包，“我卖掉了我的手表，买了这把梳子给你梳头发！这是不是很有意思？”

After nodding14， the tears came into Dellas eyes， too. Della gave Jim a smile and said， “Ours are the best Christmas gifts in the world， you know.”

点了点头，黛拉的眼泪也涌上来了。黛拉微笑着对吉姆说：“你知道的，我们的圣诞礼物是世界上最好的圣诞礼物。”

（英语原文选自：englishteststore.net）