The Gifts

Mon.：Tomorrow will be Christmas. But Della feels very sad. Because she has no money to buy a present for her husband , Jim . She has only one dollar and eighty-seven cents . They have only 20 dollars a week, it doesn’t leave much for saving.

In fact, Della and Jim have two possessions in which they both take very great pride. One is Jim’s gold watch, which has been his father’s and his grandfather’s. The other is Della’s long beautiful hair.

D: Life is so hard for me. Though I saved the money for many months , I still have only one dollar and eighty seven cents.

D: I—- I—- I have to have my hair cut and sold it . In that way I can get some money and I can buy a beautiful present for Jim.

(At the shop—“Madame Sofronie. We Buy Hair Goods of All Kinds”)

D: Will you buy my hair?

M: Yes, I buy all kinds of hair. Sit down, please. Take your hat off and let me have a look. Oh, very beautiful. Very good! Twenty dollars , OK?

D: All right. But please give it to me quickly.

M: Here you are. Twenty dollars.

D: Thank you. Bye.

M: Bye.

Mon.：Della spent two hours in the streets. Then she stopped at a Gold Shop and bought a gold watch chain. Now ,Della is at home.

D: Oh, what a beautiful gold watch chain. I think it must match Jim’s watch. When he sees it he must be very happy .

(Suddenly the door opened and in came Jim . )

J: You—–?

D: Jim. Don’t look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. Jim, it will grow quickly. You don’t mind, do you ? I just had to do it. My hair grows very fast, you know. Say “Merry Christmas!” Jim, and let’s be happy.

J: You’ve cut off your hair?

D: I’ve cut it off and sold it. It’s sold. I tell you -sold and gone, too. It’s Christmas Eve , Jim. Be good to me, for it went for you.

J: Well , Della. Don’t make any mistake about me. I don’t think there’s anything about a hair cut that could make me love you any less. I know, it went for me. Look at this package .

D: What ?

J: Look at it yourself. You ‘ll see.

D:Ah! The combs. They were in the shop windows for many months!

J:Yes, the beautiful combs, pure tortoiseshell, with jewelry rims–just the color to wear in your beautiful, hair.

D: But , Jim. They are expensive combs. I know, my heart had longed for them without the least hope of possession. Now they are mine. Thank you Jim.

J; Now, you will see why I was upset at first.

D: Jim, you don’t know what a nice –what a beautiful , nice gift I’ve got for you. Can you guess?

J: I’m sorry. I won’t guess.

D: Look. A gold watch chain. Isn’t it lovely ,Jim? I hunted all over the town to find it. You’ll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it .

J: Della, Let’s put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while. They’re too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money. And I bought the combs. Now, Let’s have our supper.

礼 物

旁白：明天是圣诞节，但是德拉觉得很难过，因为她无钱为她丈夫吉姆买一圣诞礼物，她只有1.87美元，他们一个月只有20美元的收入，那很难再从中省钱了。

事实上，德拉和吉姆有两件让他们引以为豪的宝贝，一件是吉姆的金表，那是从他祖父和父亲那里留传下来的，还有一件是德拉那一头棕发，又长又美丽。

德拉：生活对我来说很困难，虽然我很多个月以前就开始存钱了，我仍然只有1.87美元。

德拉：我……我……我不得不剪了头发去卖掉，那样我就能得到一些钱去买礼物给吉姆了。

（在店门口，写着“夫人：我们买各种各样的头发”）

德拉：你买我的头发吗？

夫人：是的，我们买各式的头发，把你的帽子脱下来，让我看一下你的头发。哦，很美的头发，很好的发质，20美元，行不行？

德拉：好的，但是请你快点把钱给我。

夫人：给你，20美元。

德拉：谢谢你，再见。

夫人：再见。

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