The Gift of the Magi

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.

一块八毛七。就这么多。其中六毛还是一分一分的铜板。这些铜板是一次一两个攒下来的，靠的是跟杂货店老板、菜贩和肉铺老板软磨硬泡地讨价还价，磨到脸都发烫，因为这样斤斤计较，分明就是在无声地承认自己小气。德拉数了三遍。一块八毛七。而明天就是圣诞节了。

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.

显然没有别的办法，只能扑倒在那张破旧的小沙发上号啕大哭。德拉就这么做了。这不禁引出一番人生的感慨：生活是由啜泣、抽噎和微笑组成的，而抽噎占了大半。

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.

趁这家的女主人渐渐从第一阶段平息到第二阶段，我们来看看这个家吧。一套带家具的公寓，每星期八块钱。说它穷得难以形容倒也不至于，可它确实时刻在提防着收容乞丐的巡查队。

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 bearing the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.” 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, the letters of “Dillingham” looked blurred, as 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.

楼下的门厅里有一个信箱，没有一封信投得进去；还有一个电铃按钮，凡人的手指无论怎么按，也哄不出一声铃响。旁边还附着一张名片，上面写着“詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬先生”。“迪林厄姆”这几个字，是在主人从前兴旺的时候随手添上去的，那时他每星期挣三十块钱。如今收入缩到了二十块，“迪林厄姆”这几个字母看上去模模糊糊，仿佛正在认真考虑缩成一个谦逊低调的“D”。可是每当詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬先生回到家，走进楼上的公寓，詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬太太——也就是前面向你介绍过的德拉——就叫他“吉姆”，紧紧地拥抱他。这一切都很好。

Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey 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 honour of being owned by Jim.

德拉哭完了，拿粉扑在脸颊上扑了扑。她站在窗前，呆呆地望着外面一只灰猫在一个灰色后院的灰色篱笆上走。明天就是圣诞节，她只有一块八毛七给吉姆买礼物。好几个月来，她能省一分就省一分，结果就是这样。一星期二十块钱，不经花。开销比她算的要多。开销总是这样。只有一块八毛七给吉姆买礼物。她的吉姆。她曾花了许多快乐的时光，盘算着给他买样好东西。一样精致、稀罕、货真价实的东西——一样多少配得上归吉姆所有这份荣耀的东西。

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.

房间的两扇窗户之间有一面窗间镜。也许你在每星期八块钱的公寓里见过这种窗间镜。一个非常瘦削又非常灵活的人，迅速地依次观看自己在镜中一条一条的纵向影像，就能对自己的模样得出一个相当准确的概念。德拉身材苗条，已经掌握了这门艺术。

Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its colour within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.

她突然从窗前转过身来，站到镜子前面。她的眼睛闪闪发亮，可是不到二十秒钟，脸上就没了血色。她迅速地把头发解开，让它披散下来，垂到最长。

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.

要知道，詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬夫妇有两样东西是他们俩都引以为豪的。一样是吉姆的金表，那是他父亲的，也是他祖父的。另一样是德拉的头发。要是示巴女王住在天井对面的公寓里，德拉总有一天会把头发垂到窗外去晾干，只为了让女王陛下的珠宝和礼物黯然失色。要是所罗门王当了这里的看门人，把他所有的财宝都堆在地下室里，吉姆每次经过都会掏出他的金表来看看，只为了看他嫉妒得直揪胡子。

So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her, rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.

于是此刻，德拉美丽的头发披散在她身上，像一道褐色的瀑布那样起伏、闪光。头发一直垂到膝盖下面，几乎成了她的一件衣裳。然后她又紧张而迅速地把头发盘了起来。有一会儿她犹豫了，静静地站着，一两滴眼泪溅落在磨旧了的红地毯上。

On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.

她穿上那件旧的褐色外套；戴上那顶旧的褐色帽子。裙子一旋，眼里还闪着那明亮的光，她就飘出门，下了楼，来到街上。

Where she stopped the sign read: “Mme. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds.” One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting. Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the “Sofronie.”

她停下来的地方，招牌上写着：“索弗罗妮夫人。各类头发制品。”德拉跑上一段楼梯，喘着气，定了定神。那位夫人身材高大，白得过分，冷冰冰的，看上去一点也不像“索弗罗妮”。

“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.

“您买我的头发吗？”德拉问。

“I buy hair,” said Madame. “Take yer hat off and let’s have a sight at the looks of it.”

“我买头发，”夫人说。“把帽子摘了，让我瞧瞧它的样子。”

Down rippled the brown cascade. “Twenty dollars,” said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.

那道褐色的瀑布波浪般泻了下来。“二十块，”夫人用熟练的手托起那一大把头发说。

“Give it to me quick,” said Della.

“快把钱给我，”德拉说。

Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim’s present.

啊，接下来的两个钟头像长着玫瑰色翅膀一样轻快地溜走了。别管这个乱七八糟的比喻了。她正在一家家商店里翻找给吉姆的礼物。

She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation—as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim’s. It was like him. Quietness and value—the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain.

她终于找到了。那一定是专为吉姆做的，不是为别人。所有的商店她都翻了个底朝天，哪一家也没有第二件。那是一条白金表链，样式简单朴素，只凭质地本身恰如其分地显出它的价值，而不靠俗艳的装饰——一切好东西都该如此。它甚至配得上那块“金表”。她一看见它，就知道它非是吉姆的不可。它像他。安静而有分量——这话用在两者身上都合适。他们收了她二十一块钱，她带着剩下的八毛七匆匆回家。有了这条表链配着那块表，吉姆在任何场合都可以理直气壮地看时间了。那块表虽然名贵，可因为用的是一根旧皮带而不是表链，他有时只能偷偷地看。

When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends—a mammoth task.

德拉到了家，她的陶醉稍稍让位给了审慎和理智。她拿出卷发钳，点着煤气，开始着手修补慷慨加上爱情所造成的破坏。亲爱的朋友们，这向来是一项艰巨的工作——一项浩大的工程。

Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.

不到四十分钟，她的头上就布满了紧贴着的小卷发，使她看上去活像一个逃学的男孩。她对着镜子里的自己，久久地、仔细地、挑剔地端详着。

“If Jim doesn’t kill me,” she said to herself, “before he takes a second look at me, he’ll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do—oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?”

“要是吉姆不先把我杀了，”她自言自语，“等他再看我一眼，他准会说我像科尼岛上合唱团的姑娘。可我有什么办法呢——哦！一块八毛七，我能有什么办法呢？”

At 7 o’clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.

七点钟，咖啡煮好了，煎锅放在炉子后头，已经热了，就等着煎肉排。

Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit for saying little silent prayers about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: “Please God, make him think I am still pretty.”

吉姆从不迟到。德拉把表链对折攥在手里，坐在他总是从那儿进来的门边的桌角上。接着，她听见他走上楼下第一段楼梯的脚步声，脸色一下子白了一会儿。她有个习惯，为了最平常的日常小事也会默默地做个小小的祈祷，此刻她低声说：“求求你，上帝，让他觉得我还是漂亮的。”

The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two—and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.

门开了，吉姆走进来，把门关上。他看上去很瘦，十分严肃。可怜的人，他才二十二岁——就背上了一个家的担子！他需要一件新大衣，他连手套都没有。

Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.

吉姆在门里站住了，一动不动，像一只嗅到了鹌鹑气味的猎狗。他的眼睛盯着德拉，眼神里有一种她看不懂的东西，这使她害怕。那不是愤怒，不是惊讶，不是不满，不是恐惧，也不是她事先准备好的任何一种情绪。他只是带着那种古怪的神情，定定地盯着她。

Della wriggled off the table and went for him.

德拉从桌子上扭身下来，朝他走去。

“Jim, darling,” she cried, “don’t look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It’ll grow out again—you won’t mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say ‘Merry Christmas!’ Jim, and let’s be happy. You don’t know what a nice—what a beautiful, nice gift I’ve got for you.”

“吉姆，亲爱的，”她喊道，“别那样看着我。我把头发剪下来卖了，因为不送你一件礼物，我就过不了这个圣诞节。头发还会长出来的——你不会介意的，对吗？我非这样做不可。我的头发长得可快了。说一声‘圣诞快乐’吧，吉姆，让我们高高兴兴的。你不知道我给你买了一件多好的——多美、多好的礼物。”

“You’ve cut off your hair?” asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet even after the hardest mental labor.

“你把头发剪了？”吉姆吃力地问，仿佛即使经过最艰苦的脑力劳动，也还没弄明白这个明摆着的事实。

“Cut it off and sold it,” said Della. “Don’t you like me just as well, anyhow? I’m me without my hair, ain’t I?”

“剪了，卖了，”德拉说。“不管怎样，你不还是一样喜欢我吗？没了头发，我还是我，不是吗？”

Jim looked about the room curiously.

吉姆好奇地在屋里四下张望。

“You say your hair is gone?” he said, with an air almost of idiocy.

“你说你的头发没了？”他问，那神气简直有点傻。

“You needn’t look for it,” said Della. “It’s sold, I tell you—sold and gone, too. It’s Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered,” she went on with sudden serious sweetness, “but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?”

“你不用找了，”德拉说。“我告诉你，卖了——卖了，也没了。今天是圣诞前夜，亲爱的。对我好一点吧，因为它是为你才没的。也许我头上的头发是数得清的，”她忽然带着严肃的温柔接着说，“可我对你的爱，谁也数不清。我去煎肉排好吗，吉姆？”

Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year—what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.

吉姆仿佛一下子从恍惚中醒了过来。他把他的德拉搂进怀里。让我们用十秒钟，谨慎地端详一下另一个方向上某件无关紧要的东西吧。每星期八块钱，或者每年一百万——有什么区别呢？数学家或者才子会给你一个错误的答案。东方三博士带来了贵重的礼物，可那件东西并不在其中。这句晦涩的话，稍后自会分明。

Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.

吉姆从大衣口袋里掏出一个小包，扔在桌上。

“Don’t make any mistake, Dell,” he said, “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. But if you’ll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first.”

“别误会我，德尔，”他说。“我想，无论剪头发、修面还是洗头，都不会让我对我的姑娘的爱少一分。不过你要是打开那个包，就会明白刚才我为什么愣了一会儿了。”

White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.

白皙而灵巧的手指扯开了绳子和包装纸。接着是一声狂喜的尖叫；接着，唉！又是女人特有的那种迅速的转变，变成了歇斯底里的眼泪和哭喊，使得这家公寓的主人不得不立即使出全部的安慰本领。

For there lay The Combs—the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims—just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.

因为那里躺着那套“梳子”——那一整套梳子，两鬓用的，脑后用的，德拉在百老汇的一个橱窗里倾慕已久。多美的梳子，纯玳瑁的，边上镶着珠宝——那颜色，正配得上那已经消失了的美丽头发。她知道那是很贵的梳子，她的心只是渴望着、向往着它们，丝毫不敢指望能够拥有。而现在，它们是她的了，可那本该用这些令人渴慕的饰物来装饰的长发，却已经没有了。

But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: “My hair grows so fast, Jim!”

但她仍把梳子紧紧抱在胸前，过了好一会儿，她才抬起泪眼，微笑着说：“我的头发长得可快了，吉姆！”

And then Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, “Oh, oh!”

接着德拉像一只被烫着的小猫那样跳起来，叫道：“哦，哦！”

Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.

吉姆还没有看见他那件美丽的礼物呢。她急切地把它摊在掌心里递给他。那暗淡的贵金属仿佛映着她明亮而热切的心，闪起光来。

“Isn’t it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over 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.”

“漂亮吧，吉姆？我找遍了全城才找到的。现在你一天得看一百次时间了。把你的表给我。我想看看配上它是什么样子。”

Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.

吉姆没有照她的话做，而是倒在沙发上，双手枕在脑后，笑了。

“Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep ’em a while. They’re too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on.”

“德尔，”他说，“咱们把圣诞礼物收起来，留一阵子吧。它们太好了，眼下还舍不得用。我把表卖了，换钱给你买了梳子。现在，你去煎肉排吧。”

The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.

你知道，东方三博士都是聪明人——聪明绝顶的人——他们给马槽里的圣婴带来了礼物。是他们发明了送圣诞礼物这门艺术。因为聪明，他们的礼物无疑也是聪明的，也许还附带着重复时可以调换的特权。而我在这里笨拙地给你讲了一段平淡无奇的故事，讲的是一套公寓里的两个傻孩子，他们极不聪明地为对方牺牲了他们家里最宝贵的东西。可是，让我对当今的聪明人说最后一句话：在所有送礼物的人当中，这两个人是最聪明的。在所有送礼物和收礼物的人当中，像他们这样的人是最聪明的。无论在哪里，他们都是最聪明的。他们就是东方三博士。