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 «The Four Million»

Microsummary: A poor young couple sell their most valued possessions to buy Christmas gifts for each other, but they realize that the gifts are now useless without the items they have sold.

A young couple, Della and Jim, were living in a small flat.

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Della — young woman in her 20s; Jim's wife; slender, brown hair, brown eyes; passionate, loving, determined.

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Jim — young man in his 20s; Della's husband; thin, serious; hardworking, devoted, loving.

They had very little money and it was Christmas time. Della wanted to buy Jim a present, but she only had one dollar and eighty-seven cents. She had been saving every penny she could for months, but it was not enough.

Della had long, beautiful hair which she was very proud of. She decided to cut it off and sell it to buy Jim a present. She went to a shop and sold her hair for twenty dollars. With the money she had left, she went to the stores and found a perfect present for Jim - a platinum fob chain. She bought it for twenty-one dollars and hurried home.

When Jim came home, Della was nervous. She was afraid he wouldn't like her new haircut. But Jim was not angry or surprised. He just stared at her with an expression she couldn't read. Then he gave her a package - he had sold his watch to buy her a present - a set of combs for her hair.

Della and Jim were both very happy. They had sacrificed their most precious possessions to buy each other presents. They were the wisest of all who give and receive gifts.