奇书网

第7章 The Gift of the Magi（第2页）

"IfJimdoesn'tkillme，"shesaidtoherself，"beforehetakesasee，he'llsayIlooklikeaeyIslandchirl。ButwhatcouldIdo-oh!WhatcouldIdowithadhty-seve;

At7o'clockthecoffeewasmadeandthefrying-panwasonthebackofthestovehotaocookthechops。

Jimwase。Delladoubledthefobherhandandsatontheerofthetablehathealwaysehensheheardhisstepoairawaydowflight，auramoment。Shehadahabitflittlesilehesimplesteverydaythings，andnowshewhispered:"PleaseGod，makehimthinkIamstillpretty。"ThedooropenedandJimsteppedina。Helookedthinandveryserious。Poorfellow，hewasowo-andtobeburdehafamily!Heneededaahoutgloves。

Jimstoppedihedoor，asimmovableasasetteratthestofquail。Hiseyeswerefixedupohereressiosheotread，anditterrifiedher。Itwasnotanger，norsurprise，nordisapproval，norhorror，noraimentsthatshehadbeenpreparedfor。Hesimplystaredatherfixedlyeculiarexpressiononhisface。

Dellawriggledoffthetableaforhim。

&qu，"shep;apos;tlookatmethatway。Ihadmyhairdsolditbep;apos;thavelivedthroughChristmaswithoutgivingyouapresent。It&apain-youos;tmind，willyou?Ijusthadtodoit。Myhairgrowsawfullyfast。Say'MerryChristmas!'Jim，a'sbehappy。Youdon'tknowwhataabeautiful，I'vegotforyou。"

"You'vecutoffyourhair?"askedJim，laboriously，asifhehadpateevehehardestmentallabor。

"Cutitoffandsoldit，"saidDella。"Don'tyoulikemejustaswell，anyhoos;mmewithoutmyhair，ain'tI?"

Jimlookedabouttheroomcuriously。

"Yousayyo;hesaid，withanairalmostofidiocy。

"Youneedn'tlookforit，"saidDella。"It'ssold，Itellyou-solda'sChristmasEve，boy。Begoodtome，foritwentforyou。Maybethehairsofmyheadwere;shewentonwithsuddenserioussweet;butnobodycouldeveryloveforyou。ShallIputthe?"

OutofhistranceJimseemedquicklytowake。HeenfoldedhisDella。Forteusregardwithdiscreetseiialobjetheotherdire。Eightdollarsaweekoramillioisthedifferehematiorawitwouldgiveyahemagibroughtvaluablegifts，butthatwasnotamohisdarkassertionwillbeillumieron。

Jimdreahisovercoatpodthrewitupoable。

"Don'tmakeanymistake，Dell，"hesaid，"aboutme。Idon'tthinkthere'sanythinginthewayofahaircutorashaveorashampoothatakemelikemygirlaifyou'llunaayseewhyyouhadmegoi。"

Whitefingersathestringaheicscreamofjoy;andthen，alas!aquiegetohystericaltearsandwails，ieemploymentofallthefpowersofthelordoftheflat。

FortherelayThebs-thesetofbs，sideandback，thatDellahadworshippedfinaBroad。Beautifulbs，puretortoiseshell，withjewelledrims-justtheshadetoweariifulvaheywereexpensivebs，shekhadsimplydyearhemwithouttheleasthopeofpossession。Andnow，theywerehers，butthetressesthatshouldhaveadoredadorsweregone。

Butshehuggedthemtoherbosom，ahshewasabletolookupwithdimeyesandasmileandsay:&qurowssofast，Jim!"

AndthenDellaleapeduplikealittlesia;Oh，oh!"

Jimhadseeifulpresetohimeagerlyupohedullpreetalseemedtoflashwithareflehta。

"Isn'titadandy，Jim?Ihuntedallovertowntofindit。You'llhavetolookatthetimeahuimesadaynow。Givemeyourwatttoseehowitlooksonit。"

Insteadofobeying，Jimtumbleddownonthedputhishahebackofhisheadandsmiled。

"Dell，"saidhe，"let'sputourChristmaspresentsa'emawhile。They'retooousejustatpresent。Isoldthewatchtogetthemoobuyyourbs。Andnowsupposeyouputthe。"

Themagi，asyouknoonderfullywisemen-whiftstotheBabeiheyiofgivingChristmaspresents。Beiheirgiftswerenodoubtwiseones，possiblybearingtheprivilegeofexcaseofduplidhereIhavelamelyrelatedtoyoutheufulicleoftwofoolishinaflatwhomostunwiselysacrificedforeachreatesttreasuresoftheirhouse。Butinalastwordtothewiseofthesedaysletitbesaidthatofallwhogivegiftsthesetisest。Ofallwhogiveas，suchastheyarewisest。Everywheretheyarewisest。Theyarethemagi。