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    The Gift of the Magi
    The Gift of the Magi
    The Gift of the Magi
    Ebook29 pages17 minutes

    The Gift of the Magi

    By O. Henry

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateJan 1, 1900
    Author

    O. Henry

    O. Henry (1862-1910) was an American short story writer. Born and raised in North Carolina, O. Henry—whose real name was William Sydney Porter—moved to Texas in 1882 in search of work. He met and married Athol Estes in Austin, where he became well known as a musician and socialite. In 1888, Athol gave birth to a son who died soon after, and in 1889 a daughter named Margaret was born. Porter began working as a teller and bookkeeper at the First National Bank of Austin in 1890 and was fired four years later and accused of embezzlement. Afterward, he began publishing a satirical weekly called The Rolling Stone, but in 1895 he was arrested in Houston following an audit of his former employer. While waiting to stand trial, Henry fled to Honduras, where he lived for six months before returning to Texas to surrender himself upon hearing of Athol’s declining health. She died in July of 1897 from tuberculosis, and Porter served three years at the Ohio Penitentiary before moving to Pittsburgh to care for his daughter. While in prison, he began publishing stories under the pseudonym “O. Henry,” finding some success and launching a career that would blossom upon his release with such short stories as “The Gift of the Magi” (1905) and “The Ransom of Red Chief” (1907). He is recognized as one of America’s leading writers of short fiction, and the annual O. Henry Award—which has been won by such writers as William Faulkner, John Updike, and Eudora Welty—remains one of America’s most prestigious literary prizes.

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    Reviews for The Gift of the Magi

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      The wonderful illustrations by PJ Lynch in this edition of O Henry’s well known story brings special understanding of the times, especially when being read aloud to children at Christmas time.
    • 5/5
      This book is about a couple that was very poor. The lady, Della, and the man, Jim love each other much. One day Della, want to give a present to Jim, but he only have $ 1,87, so, Della decides to go to a store, to sell his beatiful hair for $20 and buy with this money a fob chain, for the watch of Jim. Della go home to prepare the dinner. When Jim come to the home, Dellasay to Jim that she sell his hair, for buy a chain for his watch, and Jim say to Della, that he sell the watch for buy combs for her hair.
    • 4/5
      I've often heard adaptations of this story but the original is quite good.
    • 4/5
      Determined to buy her Jim a Christmas present "worthy of being owned" by him, Della confronts a hard reality: the $1.87 that she has managed to save up, by ruthlessly economizing on her weekly budget, won't even come close to being enough for a suitable gift. Reduced to tears, Della's despairing thoughts turn to her one resource: her long, beautiful hair. Acting on impulse, Della sells her knee-length tresses, and uses the money to buy a platinum chain for Jim's treasured gold pocket watch, handed down to him from his father and grandfather. Hers is not the only sacrifice, however, as she discovers when Jim comes home with her gift - beautiful tortoiseshell combs for her hair, paid for through the sale of Jim's pocket watch...Originally published in 1905, in the newspaper The New York Sunday World, and then in 1906 in a collection of O. Henry stories, The Gift of the Magi is a lovely holiday tale, one which emphasizes the importance of love and of self-sacrifice - the true gifts of the magi - at Christmastime. As the author maintains, Della and Jim may have been "foolish children," but they were wise fools. Although it's been a number of years since I first read it, the story of this poor New York couple, and their mutual sacrifice of their most prized treasures for the sake of the other, is one I continue to enjoy at the holidays. I was therefore quite happy to come across this beautiful picture-book presentation of it, with gorgeous artwork done by the Irish illustrator P.J. Lynch. His paintings capture Della and Jim's tale to perfection and are a pleasure to peruse! Although not written for children, The Gift of the Magi is a story I would not hesitate to give to young readers. Clearly others feel the same, given the number of illustrated children's editions that have been produced over the last few years.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely loved this book. The woman in this story had very long beautiful hair. She decided for Christmas she would sell her hair to buy her husband a band for his watch. While waiting for her husband to arrive, she fixed her hair hoping he would not hate it. Then when her and her husband exchanged gifts, they realized how special the love for each other was. She had cut her long hair to get her husband a band for his special watch, and her husband sold his special watch to buy her the combs she had been wanting for her long beautiful hair. Very touching story!
    • 5/5
      What a wonderful feel good short story. It's a classic.
    • 5/5
      The Gift of the Maji is a timeless story that I can read over and over again. A husband and wife are not very wealthy and they are struggling with money. The holidays are coming up and they decide to give up one of their own precious belongings to have money for gifts for their significant other. The husband gives up his watch and the wife cuts her long, beautiful hair for money. She buys him something for his watch and he buys her a comb for her hair. This story proves that love is all you need and physical gifts are not a necessity. This story is great for any age level and shows the meaning of giving up something for others.
    • 4/5
      Della and Jim was get along married, also were very poor. Della was saving for Jim´s chistmas presents, but she only had $1.87 she was concerned about the present. Della´s most precious thing was her hair and for Jim was his gold watch. Della find out the perfect present for Jim, it was a chain for his watch, but for buy it she had to sell her hair, she had to do that because she care for Jim. In christmas Della was very excited but when Jim saw her, she was very sad. Della gave the chain to Jim but Jim´s reaction was not that she expected, Della ask why that reacction and he said that was because he sold the gold for a beutiful hair clip for her hair, she let down but they understand that the important thing was that they sacrificed for love and they get over that thing of the gold watch and the beautiful hair.the ironic thing was that Della sell her hair for buy something for Jim´s watch and Jim sell his watch to buy something to Della´s hair.
    • 5/5
      Read this for school many years ago. Unearthed it this holiday season because I'd been thinking about this special little story a lot lately. The last paragraph gives me chills.It gets five stars in spite of the line about Della being "owned" by her husband. Hate that line. But O. Henry was just a man of his time.
    • 4/5
      This is book has short five story.Every story is interesting. Of cause,my favorite story is the gift.......This story is about love.I think the auther want to tell us love is more important than money.It is simple, but in fact we don't undersrand.This book gave me the chance I think it.I want to read this.
    • 4/5
      This book has 4 stories. I like first story,"The Gift of the Magi".Poor people and for the other two for Christmas,choose a gift in exchange for their precious things, is a heartwarming story.Loving gift choice for couples who are poor, young, friendly and available over the mood to read.
    • 4/5
      This book has some stories.In the second story I thought the deal was interesting.But fraud is bad.
    • 4/5
      This book has four stories.All of them are very interseting.I like the first story which is Mr.and Mrs.Jame's story.They are poor but want to buy Chiristmas present for him or her.So they plan to make some money.This story is full of love between husband and wife.
    • 5/5
      Oh, such a luscious book. This is a treasure, a classic, a heartbreak. The tale of a poor couple who sacrifice their prized possessions to give the other a gift. Simple, beautiful, timeless. Beautiful watercolors, a meditative read.
    • 5/5
      Lisbeth Zwerger illustrates O. Henry's classic tale of a young couples' sacrifices in finding perfect Christmas gifts for each other. It is a touching story about love and unselfishness, and especially relevant during the Christmas season. Zwerger's illustrations are incredibly soft and flowing without sacrificing detail, bringing new dimension to this familiar story. Although a picture book, the thought provoking themes of the story make this more appropriate for upper elementary and older. I would recommend this as a good addition to a school library or public children's collection.
    • 4/5
      This is a light book.But I really enjoyed it.It contains 5short stories and each story has an unexpected and funny or sweet ending.I think they soften or excite our hearts.The Gift of the Magi---A young couple had lived happily.And now Christmas was coming.But both of them didn't have enough money to buy a Christmas present.Finally,they thought of each idea.

    Book preview

    The Gift of the Magi - O. Henry

    The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

    almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or

    re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

    with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

    Title: The Gift of the Magi

    Author: O. Henry

    Posting Date: December 17, 2011 [EBook #7256]

    Release Date: January, 2005

    Last Updated: December 20, 2003

    Language: English

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIFT OF THE MAGI ***

    Produced by Susan Ritchie.  HTML version by Jose Menendez.

    THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

    BY

    O. HENRY

    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.

    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.

    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

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