一塊八一毛一七分錢。全在這兒了。其中六一毛一錢還是銅子兒湊起來的。這些銅子兒是每次一個、兩個向雜貨鋪、菜販和肉店老板那兒死乞白賴地硬扣下來的；人家雖然沒有明說，自己總覺得這種掂斤播兩的交易未免太吝嗇，當(dāng)時臉都躁紅了。德拉數(shù)了三遍。數(shù)來數(shù)去還是一塊八一毛一七分錢，而第二天就是圣誕節(jié)了。

除了倒在那張破舊的小榻上號哭之外，顯然沒有別的辦法。德拉就那樣做了。這使一種精神上的感慨油然而生，認(rèn)為人生是由啜泣，一抽一噎和微笑組成的，而一抽一噎占了其中絕大部分。

這個家庭的主婦漸漸從第一階段退到第二階段，我們不妨一抽一空兒來看看這個家吧。一套連家具的公寓，房租每星期八塊錢。雖不能說是絕對難以形容，其實跟貧民窟也相去不遠(yuǎn)。

下面門廊里有一個信箱，但是永遠(yuǎn)不會有信件投進(jìn)去；還有一個電鈕，除非神仙下凡才能把鈴按響。那里還貼著一張名片，上面印有“詹姆斯·迪林漢·揚先生”幾個字。

“迪林漢”這個名號是主人先前每星期掙三十塊錢得法的時候，一時高興，回姓名之間的。現(xiàn)在收入縮減到二十塊錢，“迪林漢”幾個字看來就有些模糊，仿佛它們正在考慮，是不是縮成一個質(zhì)樸而謙遜的“迪”字為好。但是每逢詹姆斯·迪林漢·揚先生回家上樓，走進(jìn)房間的時候，詹姆斯·迪林漢·揚太太——就是剛才已經(jīng)介紹給各位的德拉——總是管他叫做“吉姆”，總是熱烈地?fù)肀?。那?dāng)然是好的。

德拉哭了之后，在臉平面上撲了些粉。她站在窗子跟前 ?

房里兩扇窗子中間有一面壁鏡。諸位也許見過房租八塊錢的公寓里的壁鏡。一個非常瘦小靈活的人，從一連串縱的片段的映像里，也許可以對自己的容貌得到一個大致不差的概念。德拉全憑身材苗條，才精通了那種技藝。

她突然從窗口轉(zhuǎn)過身，站到壁鏡面前。她的眼睛晶瑩明亮，可是她的臉在二十秒鐘之內(nèi)卻失色*了。她迅速地把頭發(fā)解一開，讓它披落下來。

且說，詹姆斯·迪林漢·揚夫婦有兩樣?xùn)|西特別引為自豪，一樣是吉姆三代祖?zhèn)鞯慕鸨?，別一樣是德拉的頭發(fā)。如果示巴女王住在天井對面的公寓里，德拉總有一天會把她的頭發(fā)懸在窗外去晾干，使那位女王的珠寶和禮物相形見絀。如果所羅門王當(dāng)了看門人，把他所有的財富都堆在地下室里，吉姆每次經(jīng)過那兒時準(zhǔn)會掏出他的金表看看，好讓所羅門妒忌得吹胡子瞪眼睛。

這當(dāng)兒，德拉美麗的頭發(fā)披散在身上，像一股褐色*的小瀑布，奔瀉閃亮。頭發(fā)一直垂到膝蓋底下，仿佛給她鋪成了一件衣裳。她又神經(jīng)質(zhì)地趕快把頭發(fā)梳好。她躊躇了一會兒，靜靜地站著，有一兩滴淚水濺落在破舊的紅地毯上。

她穿上褐色*的舊外套，戴上褐色*的舊帽子。她眼睛里還留著晶瑩的淚光，裙子一擺，就飄然走出房門，下樓跑到街上。

她走到一塊招牌前停住了，招牌上面寫著：“莎弗朗妮夫人——經(jīng)營各種頭發(fā)用品?！钡吕苌弦欢螛翘?，氣喘吁吁地讓自己定下神來。那位夫人身軀肥一大，膚色*白得過分，一副冷冰冰的模樣，同“莎弗朗妮”這個名字不大相稱。

[莎弗朗妮：意大利詩人塔索（1544--1595）以第一次十字軍東征為題材的史詩《被解放的耶路撒冷》中的人物，她為了拯救耶路撒冷全城的基督徒，承認(rèn)了并未犯過的罪行，成為舍己救人的典型。]

“你要買我的頭發(fā)嗎？”德拉問道。

“我買頭發(fā)，”夫人說，“脫掉帽子，讓我看看頭發(fā)的模樣。”

那股褐色*的小瀑布瀉一了下來。

“二十塊錢，”夫人用行家的手法抓起頭發(fā)說。

“趕快把錢給我?！钡吕f。

噢，此后的兩個鐘頭仿佛長了玫瑰色*翅膀似地飛掠過去。諸位不必與日俱增這種雜湊的比喻。總之，德拉正為了送吉姆的禮物在店鋪里搜索。

德拉終于把它找到了。它準(zhǔn)是為吉姆，而不是為別人制造的。她把所有店鋪都兜底翻過，各家都沒有像這樣的東西。那是一條白金表鏈，式樣簡單樸素，只是以貨色*來顯示它的價值，不憑什么裝璜來炫耀——一切好東西都應(yīng)該是這樣的。它甚至配得上那只金表。她一看到就認(rèn)為非給吉姆買下不可。它簡直像他的為人。文靜而有價值——這句話拿來形容表鏈和吉姆本人都恰到好處。店里以二十一塊錢的價格賣給了她，她剩下八一毛一七分錢，匆匆趕回家去。吉姆有了那條鏈子，在任何場合都可以毫無顧慮地看看鐘點了。那只表雖然華貴，可是因為只用一條舊皮帶來代替表鏈，他有時候只是偷偷地瞥一眼。

德拉回家以后，她的陶醉有一小部分被審慎和理智所替代。她拿出卷發(fā)鐵鉗，點著煤氣，著手補救由于愛情加上慷慨而造成的災(zāi)害。那始終是一件艱巨的工作，親愛的朋友們——簡直是了不起的工作。

不出四十分鐘，她頭上布滿了緊一貼著的小發(fā)鬈，變得活像一個逃課的小學(xué)生。她對著鏡子小心而苛刻地照了又照。

“如果吉姆看了一眼不把我宰掉才怪呢，”她自言自語地說，“他會說我像是康奈島游樂場里的賣唱姑娘。我有什么辦法呢？——唉！只有一塊八一毛一七分錢，叫我有什么辦法呢？”

到了七點鐘，咖啡已經(jīng)煮好，煎鍋也放在爐子后面熱著，隨時可以煎肉排。

吉姆從沒有晚回來過。德拉把表鏈對折著握在手里，在他進(jìn)來時必經(jīng)的門口的桌子角上坐下來。接著，她聽到樓下梯級上響起了他的腳步聲。她臉色*白了一忽兒。她有一個習(xí)慣，往往為了日常最簡單的事情默禱幾句，現(xiàn)在她悄聲說：“求求上帝，讓他認(rèn)為我還是美麗的?！?/p>

門打開了，吉姆走進(jìn)來，隨手把門關(guān)上。他很瘦削，非常嚴(yán)肅?？蓱z的人兒，他只有二十二歲——就負(fù)起了家庭的擔(dān)子！他需要一件新大衣，手套也沒有。

吉姆在門內(nèi)站住，像一條獵狗嗅到鵪鶉氣味似的紋絲不動。他的眼睛盯著德拉，所含的神情是她所不能理解的，這使她大為驚慌。那既不是憤怒，也不是驚訝，又不是不滿，更不是嫌惡，不是她所預(yù)料的任何一種神情。他只帶著那種奇特的神情凝視著德拉。

德拉一扭一腰，從桌上跳下來，走近他身邊。

“吉姆，親愛的，”她喊道，“別那樣盯著我。我把頭發(fā)剪掉賣了，因為不送你一件禮物，我過不了圣誕節(jié)。頭發(fā)會再長出來的——你不會在意吧，是不是？我非這么做不可。我的頭發(fā)長得快極啦。說句'恭賀圣誕’吧！如姆，讓我們快快樂樂的。我給你買了一件多么好——多么美麗的好東西，你怎么也猜不到的?！?/p>

“你把頭發(fā)剪掉了嗎？”吉姆吃力地問道，仿佛他絞盡腦汁之后，還沒有把這個顯而易見的事實弄明白似的。

“非但剪了，而且賣了?！钡吕f?！安还茉鯓?，你還是同樣地喜歡我嗎？雖然沒有了頭發(fā)，我還是我，可不是嗎？”

吉姆好奇地向房里四下張望。

“你說你的頭發(fā)沒有了嗎？”他帶著近乎白癡般的神情問道。

“你不用找啦，”德拉說?！拔腋嬖V你，已經(jīng)賣了——賣了，沒有了。今天是圣誕前夜，親愛的。好好地對待我，我剪掉頭發(fā)為的是你呀。我的頭發(fā)也許數(shù)得清，”她突然非常溫柔地接下去說，“但我對你的情愛誰也數(shù)不清。我把肉排煎上好嗎，吉姆？”

吉姆好象從恍惚中突然醒過來。他把德拉摟在懷里。我們不要冒昧，先花十秒鐘工夫瞧瞧另一方面無關(guān)緊要的東西吧。每星期八塊錢的房租，或是每年一百萬元房租 ——那有什么區(qū)別呢？一位數(shù)學(xué)家或是一位俏皮的人可能會給你不正確的答復(fù)。麥琪帶來了寶貴的禮物，但其中沒有那件東西。對這句晦澀的話，下文將有所說明。

[麥琪：指基督出生時來送禮物的三賢人。一說是東方的三王：梅爾基奧爾（光明之王）贈送黃金表示尊貴；加斯帕（潔白者）贈送－乳－香象征神圣；巴爾撒澤贈送沒藥預(yù)示基督后來遭受迫害而死。]

吉姆從大衣口袋里掏出一包東西，把它扔在桌上。

“別對我有什么誤會，德爾。”他說，“不管是剪發(fā)、修臉，還是洗頭，我對我姑娘的愛情是決不會減低的。但是只消打開那包東西，你就會明白，你剛才為什么使我愣住了。“

白皙的手指敏捷地撕一開了繩索和包一皮紙。接著是一聲狂喜的呼喊；緊接著，哎呀！突然轉(zhuǎn)變成女性*神經(jīng)質(zhì)的眼淚和號哭，立刻需要公寓的主人用盡辦法來安慰她。

因為擺在眼前的是那套插在頭發(fā)上的梳子——全套的發(fā)梳，兩鬢用的，后面用的，應(yīng)有盡有；那原是在百老匯路上的一個櫥窗里，為德拉渴望了好久的東西。純玳瑁做的，邊上鑲著珠寶的美麗的發(fā)梳——來配那已經(jīng)失去的美發(fā)，顏色*真是再合適也沒有了。她知道這套發(fā)梳是很貴重的，心向神往了好久，但從來沒有存過占有它的希望?，F(xiàn)在這居然為她所有了，可是那佩帶這些渴望已久的裝飾品的頭發(fā)卻沒有了。

但她還是把這套發(fā)梳摟在懷里不放，過了好久，她才能抬起迷蒙的淚眼，含笑對吉姆說：“我的頭發(fā)長得很快，吉姆！”

接著，德拉象一只給火燙著的小貓似地跳了起來，叫道：“喔！喔！”

吉姆還沒有見到他的美麗的禮物呢。她熱切地伸出攤開的手掌遞給他。那無知覺的貴金屬仿佛閃閃反映著她那快活和熱誠的心情。

“漂亮嗎，吉姆？我走遍全市才找到的。現(xiàn)在你每天要把表看上百來遍了。把你的表給我，我要看看它配在表上的樣子。”

吉姆并沒有照著她的話去做，卻倒在榻上，雙手枕著頭，笑了起來。

“德爾，”他說，“我們把圣誕節(jié)禮物擱在一邊，暫且保存起來。它們實在太好啦，現(xiàn)在用了未免可惜。我是賣掉了金表，換了錢去買你的發(fā)梳的?，F(xiàn)在請你煎肉排吧?！?/p>

那三位麥琪，諸位知道，全是有智慧的人——非常有智慧的人——他們帶來禮物，送給生在馬槽里的圣子耶穌。他們首創(chuàng)了圣誕節(jié)饋贈禮物的風(fēng)俗。他們既然有智慧，他們的禮物無疑也是聰明的，可能還附帶一種碰上收到同樣的東西時可以交換的權(quán)利。我的拙筆在這里告訴了諸位一個沒有曲折、不足為奇的故事；那兩個住在一間公寓里的笨孩子，極不聰明地為了對方犧牲了他們一家最寶貴的東西。但是，讓我們對目前一般聰明人說最后一句話，在所有饋贈禮物的人當(dāng)中，那兩個人是最聰明的。在一切授受衣物的人當(dāng)中，象他們這樣的人也是最聰明的。無論在什么地方，他們都是最聰明的。他們就是麥琪。

《麥琪的禮物》英文原文——THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

by O. Henry

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies sa一ved 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. Three times 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 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 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. 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.

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 sa一ving 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 ha一ve 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, ob一tain 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 had been 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 ha一ve 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 ha一ve 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 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.

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 ha一ve 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 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 and not by meretricious ornamentation--as all good things should do. 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 ga一ve way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ra一vages 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 that made her look wonderfully like a truant 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 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 sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she 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: lease 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, 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 ha一ve 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 sha一ve 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 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 cra一ved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should ha一ve 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 ha一ve 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 doub一t wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I ha一ve lamely related to you the uneventful 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. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.