介绍：
美国著名作家殴亨利的短篇小说《麦琪的礼物》描写了一对相爱至深的情侣在圣诞节互送礼物的故事。故事情节虽简单，但我们还是能透过作者细腻的笔触感受到浓浓的温情，可谓是非常适合在圣诞季阅读的温暖小说。
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI麦琪的礼物
by O. Henry [美]欧·亨利／著潘明元／译
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.
一元八角七。全都在这儿了，其中六角是一分一分的铜板。这些分分钱是杂货店老板、菜贩子和肉店老板那儿软硬兼施地一分两分地扣下来，直弄得自己羞愧难当，深感这种掂斤播两
的交易实在丢人现眼。德拉反复数了三次，还是一元八角七，而第二天就是圣诞节了。
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.
除了扑倒在那破旧的小睡椅上哭嚎之外，显然别无他途。德拉这样作了，可精神上的感慨油然而生，生活就是哭泣、抽噎和微笑，尤以抽噎占统治地位。
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.
当这位家庭主妇逐渐平静下来之际，让我们看看这个家吧。一套带家具的公寓房子，每周房租八美元。尽管难以用笔墨形容，可它真真够得上乞丐帮这个词儿。
In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card beari
ng the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young."
楼下的门道里有个信箱，可从来没有装过信，还有一个电钮，也从没有人的手指按响过电铃。而且，那儿还有一张名片，上写着“詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·杨先生”。
The "Dillingham"had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called"Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.
“迪林厄姆”这个名号是主人先前春风得意之际，一时兴起加上去的，那时候他每星期挣三十美元。现在，他的收入缩减到二十美元，“迪林厄姆”的字母也显得模糊不清，似乎它们正严肃地思忖着是否缩写成谦逊而又讲求实际的字母Ｄ。不过，每当詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·杨回家，走进楼上的房间时，詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·杨太太，就是刚介绍给诸位的德拉，总是把他称作“吉姆”，而且热烈地拥抱他。那当然是再好不过的了。
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling - something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.
德拉哭完之后，往面颊上抹了抹粉，她站在窗前，痴痴地瞅着灰濛濛的后院里一只灰白的猫正行走在灰白的篱笆上。明天就是圣诞节，她只有一元八角七给吉姆买一份礼物。她花去好几个月的时间，用了最大的努力一分一分地攒积下来，才得了这样一个结果。一周二十美元实在经不起花，支出大于预算，总是如此。只有一元八角七给吉姆买礼物，她的吉姆啊。她花费了多少幸福的时日筹划着要送他一件可心的礼物，一件精致、珍奇、贵重的礼物 - 至少应有点儿配得上吉姆所有的东西才成啊。
There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.买礼物
房间的两扇窗子之间有一面壁镜。也许你见过每周房租八美元的公寓壁镜吧。一个非常瘦小而灵巧的人，从观察自己在一连串的纵条影象中，可能会对自己的容貌得到一个大致精确的概念。德拉身材苗条，已精通了这门子艺术。
Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.
突然，她从窗口旋风般地转过身来，站在壁镜前面。她两眼晶莹透亮，但二十秒钟之内她的面失去了光彩。她急速地折散头发，使之完全泼散开来。
Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took
a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.
现在，詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·杨夫妇俩各有一件特别引以自豪的东西。一件是吉姆的金表，是他祖父传给父亲，父亲又传给他的传家宝；另一件则是德拉的秀发。如果示巴女王①也住在天井对面的公寓里，总有一天德拉会把头发披散下来，露出窗外晾干，使那女王的珍珠宝贝黔然失；如果地下室堆满金银财宝、所罗门王又是守门人的话，每当吉姆路过那儿，准会摸出金表，好让那所罗门王忌妒得吹胡子瞪眼睛。