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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 $$8
per week. It did
not exactly
beggar description, but it certainly
had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy
squad.
当这位家庭主妇逐渐平静下来之际，
让我们看看这个家吧。
一套带家具的公寓房
子，每
周房租八美元。尽管难以用笔墨形容，可它真真够得上乞丐帮这个词儿。
In the vestibule below was a letter-box
into which no letter would go, and an electric
button
from
which
no
mortal
finger
could
coax
a
ring.
Also
appertaining
thereunto
was a card bearing the name
楼下的门道里有个信箱，
可从来没有装过信，
还有一个电钮，<
/p>
也从没有人的手指
按响过电铃。而且，那儿还有一张名片，上写着
“詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·杨先生”
。
The
the breeze during a
former period of prosperity
when its
possessor was being paid $$30 per week. Now, when
the income was shrunk
to
$$20,
though,
they
were
thinking
seriously
of
contracting
to
a
modest
and
unassuming D. But whenever Mr. James
Dillingham Young came home and reached
his
flat
above
he
was
called
and
greatly
hugged
by
Mrs.
James
Dillingham
Young, already introduced to you as
Della. Which is all very good.
“迪林厄姆”
这个名号是主人先前春风得意之际，
一时兴起加上去的，
那时候他
每星期挣三十美元。现在，他的收入缩减到二十美元，
“迪林厄姆”的字母也显
得模糊不清，似乎它们正严肃地思忖着是否缩写成
谦逊而又讲求实际的字母Ｄ。
不过，
每当詹姆斯·
迪林厄姆·
杨回家，
走进楼上的房间时，
詹姆斯·
迪林厄姆·
杨
太
太，就是刚介绍给诸位的德拉，总是把他称作“吉姆”
，而且热烈地拥抱他。
那当然是再好不过的了。
Della
finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with
the powder rag. She stood by
the window
and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray
fence in a gray backyard.
Tomorrow
would be Christmas Day, and she had only $$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 $$1.87
to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a
happy hour she had spent planning for
something nice for him. Something fine and
rare and sterling - something just a
little bit near to being worthy of the honor of
being
owned by Jim.
德拉哭完之后，<
/p>
往面颊上抹了抹粉，
她站在窗前，
痴痴地
瞅着灰濛濛的后院里一
只灰白色的猫正行走在灰白色的篱笆上。
明天就是圣诞节，
她只有一元八角七给
吉姆买一份礼物。
她花去好几个月的时间，
用了最大的努力一分一分地攒积下来，
才得了这样一个结果。一周二十美元实在经不起花，支出大于预算，总是如此。
只有一元八角七给吉姆买礼物，
她的吉姆啊。
她花费了
多少幸福的时日筹划着要
送他一件可心的礼物，一件精致、珍奇、贵重的礼物
-
至少应有点儿配得上吉
姆所有的东西才成啊。
There was a
pier-glass between the windows of the room.
Perhaps
you have seen a
pier-glass
in
an
$$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.
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<
/p>
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
内她的面色失去了光彩。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
珠宝贝黔然失色；
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。
< br>
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.
此时此刻，德
拉的秀发泼撒在她的周围，微波起伏，闪耀光芒，有如那褐色的瀑
布。她的美发长及膝下
，仿佛是她的一件长袍。接着，她又神经质地赶紧把头发
梳好。踌躇了一分钟，一动不动
地立在那儿，破旧的红地毯上溅落了一、两滴眼
泪。
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.
她穿上那件褐色的旧外衣，
戴上褐色的旧帽子，
眼睛里残留着晶莹的泪花，
裙子
一摆，便飘出房门，下楼来
到街上。
Where
she
stopped
the
sign
read:
Sofronie.
Hair
Goods
of
All
Kinds.
flight
up Della ran, and collected herself, panting.
Madame, large, too white, chilly,
hardly looked the
她走到一块招牌前停下来
，上写着：
“索弗罗妮夫人
-
专营各式头发”
。德拉奔
上楼梯，
气喘吁吁地定了定神。
那位夫人身躯肥大，
过于
苍白，
冷若冰霜，
同
“索
弗罗妮”的雅号简直牛头不对马嘴。
“你要买我的头发吗？”德拉问。
<
/p>
“我买头发，
”夫人说。
“揭掉帽子，让我看看发样。
”
Down rippled the brown cascade.
那褐色的瀑布泼撒了下来。
“二十美元，
”夫人一边说，一边内行似地抓起头发。
< br>
“快给我钱，
”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.
呵，
接着而至的两个
小时犹如长了翅膀，
愉快地飞掠而过。
请不用理会这胡诌的
比喻。她正在彻底搜寻各家店铺，为吉姆买礼物。
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，那准是
专为吉姆特制的，决非为别人。她找遍了各家商店，哪儿
也没有这样的东西，
一条朴素的白金表链，
镂刻着花纹。
正如一切优质
东西那样，
它只以货色论长短，
不以装璜来炫耀。
而且它正配得上那只金表。
她一见这条表
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