The Gift of the Magi (Henry)

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O. Henry

The Gift of the Magi

1905 

Summary of the book
from the Collection « Four Million»

Jim and Della are a young couple who live in a small apartment and are very much in love.

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Jim (James Dillingham Young) — a loving husband who values his family's gold watch, but is willing to sacrifice it to show his love for his wife.

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Della — a determined and resourceful young woman with long, beautiful hair that she values greatly, deeply in love with her husband.

They are poor and can't afford much, but they still want to buy each other meaningful gifts for Christmas. Della has long, beautiful hair that she treasures, but she decides to sell it to a hair dealer so she can buy a watch fob chain for Jim's watch, which he values greatly.

Meanwhile, Jim sells his watch, which he inherited from his grandfather, to buy combs for Della's hair. He uses the money to buy a set of tortoise-shell combs, which he thinks will look beautiful in Della's hair.

On Christmas morning, Jim and Della exchange gifts. Della is overjoyed when she sees the watch fob chain, and Jim is touched when he sees the combs. However, they both quickly realize that their gifts are now useless without the things they have sold. Della's combs have no use without her long hair, and Jim's watch fob chain has no use without a watch.

Despite this, they are still happy and grateful to have each other.

Don't make any mistake, Dell, ... about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less.

They sit down and laugh about their silly mistake, and they realize that the true value of a gift lies in the thought and love that went into it, rather than its monetary worth. They also recognize that love is more important than material possessions.