The gifts
禮物 / 麥琪的禮物
By O. Henry
——歐·亨利
One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents.
1 美元 87 美分,只有這么多。Della 數了三次了,1 美元 87 美分。
And the next day would be Christmas. She could not afford a present, so she sat down and cried.
第二天就是圣誕節了,她買不起禮物,于是她坐在地上哭了起來。
Jim and Della had two possessions which they were both proud of.
Jim 和 Della,有兩件令他們引以為傲的家當。
One was Jim's gold watch that was from his father and his grandfather.
一個是 Jim 的金表,那是從他父親、他祖父那里傳下來的;
The other was Della's beautiful hair. It fell about her, and reached below her knee.
另一件是 Della 的一頭秀發,披肩而垂,長及膝下。
Della put on her old brown jacket and her old brown hat. Then she went out of the door and down the stairs to the street.
Della 穿上她的舊棕夾克,戴上她的舊棕帽,接著開門出去,下樓來到街上。
She stopped at a store. The sign in front of the store read "Hair Goods".
她在一家商店前停下來,店門口的牌子上面寫著——“發品”。
"Will you buy my hair?" asked Della. "Twenty dollars," the woman said.
“你買我的頭發嗎?”德拉問。“二十美元。”女人說。
Then Della searched through the stores looking for a present for Jim.
接下來,Della 一家挨一家商店搜尋,給吉姆挑選一個禮物。
She found it at last. It was a watch chain. The bill was twenty-one dollars.
最后她終于找到了,是一個表鏈,花了她 21 美元。
At seven o'clock, the coffee was made and dinner was ready. Jim was never late. Della heard his steps on the stairs.
七點鐘,咖啡煮好了,晚飯也一切就緒。Jim 一貫準時回家,她聽見下面樓梯上響起了他的腳步聲。
The door opened and Jim walked in. He stopped inside the door.
門開了,Jim 走了進來,他停了門內。
His eyes were fixed on Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read.
他的眼睛直直地盯著 Della,她看不出他到底是什么神情。
"Jim," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I sold my hair to buy you a Christmas present."
“Jim,”她哭著說,“別這樣看著我了,我把我的頭發剪掉賣了,來給你買圣誕禮物了。”
Jim drew a box from his pocket and put it on the table.
Jim 從口袋里掏出一個盒子,把它放在桌子上。
Della opened it. There lay the set of combs that she had always wanted.
Della 打開它,里面躺著的,正是她一直想擁有的一套梳子。
Now they were hers, but her hair was gone.
可現在,她擁有了,但她的頭發已經不見了。
She smiled and held out Jim's present. "I hunted all over town to find it. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it."
她微笑起來,拿出了給 Jim 的禮物。“我找遍了全城才找到它。把表給我,我要看看它配上去怎么樣。”
Instead of obeying, Jim sat down, put his hands behind his head and smiled.
Jim 并沒有聽從她的吩咐,而是倒在睡椅上,雙手放腦后,笑了。
"Della," he said, "I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs."
“Della,”他說,“我賣掉了金表,換錢給你買了梳子。”