The Gift of the Magi
麦琪的礼物
《麦琪的礼物》是欧·亨利最负盛名的一篇佳作。“麦琪”不是故事中哪个人物的名字，而是指《圣经》故事中从东方来朝见初生耶稣的三贤人。黛拉和吉姆才是故事里真正的主人公。受到减薪的影响，他俩生活清苦，以至于到了圣诞前夜，两人谁都没有足够的钱来给对方买一件像样的礼物。最后只好各自卖掉最珍贵的东西：黛拉卖掉长发给吉姆的怀表配上表链，而吉姆卖掉了怀表给黛拉的长发买了一套梳子。东方三贤的礼物固然珍贵，但在这两件圣诞礼物面前，也大失光彩。
One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved 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.
一块八毛七。所有的钱就这么多。而且，有六毛钱还是用小硬币凑的。这些硬币是用在杂货店、菜摊儿、肉铺子这些地方费力讨价而省下的一两分积攒的。每次她都因落下个“抠门儿”的坏名声而脸颊发烫。黛拉数了三遍钱。一美元八毛七分。第二天就是圣诞节了。
很明显，什么也做不了，除了一下子坐在又破又旧的小沙发里哭。黛拉就是这个样子。这让她不免想起生活就是由呜咽、抽噎和微笑组成的，而抽噎占了主要部分。
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