Annotated Version of "The Gift of the Magi

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by O. Henry

Annotated
One dollar and eighty-seven
cents. That was all. And sixty
cents of it was in pennies.

There’s no introduction;
the story just starts right
in the middle of things.

This technique is called
in media res, which is
Latin for in the middle
of things.

Annotated The Gift of the Magi © 2007. All Rights Reserved.



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story will appear
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in black text.

by O. Henry

Annotated


of things.




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story will appear
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in black text.
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green-colored block, in
white text.

by O. Henry

Annotated


of things.




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by O. Henry

Annotated



of things.

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by O. Henry

Annotated



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by O. Henry

Annotated


of things.




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by O. Henry

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Question 1: Why do
you think Della is in
need of money?




Periodically, there are
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by O. Henry

Annotated


Question 1: Why do
need of money?




by O. Henry

Annotated

Answer on a
separate sheet of
paper for turn-in.



Question 1: Why do
need of money?




And now, let’s begin our look at

An Annotated Version

cents. That was all. And
sixty cents of it was in
pennies.

Annotated Gift of the Magi © 2007. All Rights Reserved.

pennies.

There’s no
introduction; the
story just starts
right in the middle of
things.

Press <Enter> to Continue Notes

pennies.

There’s no
introduction; the
story just starts
right in the middle of
things.
This technique is
called in medias res,
which is Latin for in
the middle of things.


pennies.

We’re told that
someone has only
$1.87. That’s not
very much money.
And a lot of it is in
pennies, as if
someone worked hard
to scrape it together,
a penny at a time.



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.

This part tells us
that the person who
saved the $1.87 did
so by arguing with
merchants about
prices and getting
them to come down a
penny or two at a
time.


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.


That means that the
merchants probably
thought the shopper
was a cheapskate!
Being thought of as
cheap is what silent
imputation of
parsimony means.


Three times Della counted
it. One dollar and eightyseven cents. And the next
day would be Christmas.

The author now tells
us the name of the
person who is trying
to get some money
together: Della.
And we find out here
that the story takes
place on the day
before 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.

Della doesn’t have
enough money, and
she’s upset about it.
Question 1: Why do
you think she might
need money?


predominating.

The author says that
life is made up of
sobs, sniffles, and
predominating.
This is his way of
saying that life is
happy sometimes, sad
sometimes, but
mostly in between.


predominating.


Notice that sobs,
sniffles, and smiles
all begin with the
same sound.
That’s not an
accident. Repeating
the same sound like
that is called
alliteration.


While the mistress of the
home is gradually subsiding
from the first stage to the
second, take a look at the
home.


The narrator now
moves the focus
from Della, who is on
the couch crying, to
the place where she
is living.


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.

A furnished flat is an
apartment that has
furniture already in
it, which is rented.
The rent on the
apartment is $8 a
week, which means
it’s probably not very
nice or new.


the lookout for the
mendicancy squad.

To beggar
description means
something that is so
nice that it’s hard to
describe in words.


the lookout for the
mendicancy squad.

When the narrator
says that the
apartment did not
exactly beggar
description, he means
that it is old, shabby,
and run-down. It is
not new and nice.


the lookout for the
mendicancy squad.


“Mendicancy” means
being poor and having
to beg for money or
food.
The part it certainly
had that word on the
lookout for the
mendicancy squad
means that it’s a
place where poor
people might live.

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.


A vestibule is an
entryway that leads
to several
apartments.
The letter-box is the
mailbox. It’s broken,
and so is the
doorbell. That shows
us that the
apartments are
shabby and rundown.

Also appertaining thereunto
was a card bearing the name
"Mr. James Dillingham
Young."


On the mailbox for
one of the
apartments is a card
to identify who lives
there: 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.

Almost everyone has
a middle name, but
using it on the
mailbox that way
would have been
something that rich
people would do.



“Flung to the breeze”
here means using the
middle name in public.
We’re told that the
person used his
middle name that way
when he was being
paid $30 a week.



That was a lot of
money then, and so
the person might
have thought he
would soon be rich,
making that kind of
money.
But we’re told he’s
not making that much
anymore.



Now, when the income was
shrunk to $20, though, they
were thinking seriously of
contracting to a modest and
unassuming D.

Now he’s only making
$20 a week, so
maybe the
“Dillingham” part
should be changed to
“D.”


Now, when the income was
shrunk to $20, though, they
were thinking seriously of
contracting to a modest and
unassuming D.


What the narrator is
doing here is telling
the reader that the
person isn’t doing
well financially right
now.


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.

The narrator tells us
here that even
though Mr. Young
isn’t making as much
money as he used too,
his wife isn’t angry
about it.



And we find out that
Della and Jim are the
husband and wife in
the story.

Which is all very good.
Della finished her cry and
attended to her cheeks with
the powder rag.


Now we turn the
focus back to Della,
who is done crying.
A powder rag is a
cloth that a woman
uses to put on and
take off her makeup.


She stood by the window
and looked out dully at a
gray cat walking a gray
fence in a gray backyard.


Della is worried
about not having
much money, and so
everything looks gray
to her as she
wonders what to do.
Question 2:
Describe a situation
when you were
worried about
something.

Tomorrow would be
Christmas Day, and she had
only $1.87 with which to
buy Jim a present.


Now the author
comes right out and
tells us what the
problem is—not
enough money to buy
a nice present for
her husband for
Christmas.


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.

The narrator gives us
more information
about how hard it has
been for Della to
scrape together
money.
The twenty dollars a
week is her husband’s
salary, as we’ve
already been told.


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.


Isn’t it true that
expenses are always
more than you think
they will be?


Only $1.87 to buy a present
for Jim. Her Jim. Many a
happy hour she had spent
planning for something nice
for him.

The narrator gives us
the impression that
it has made Della
happy to think about
giving Jim something
nice for Christmas.
But what can you get
that’s nice for just
$1.87?



Something fine and rare and
sterling--something just a
little bit near to being
worthy of the honor of
being owned by Jim.

Sterling in this sense
means genuine, as in
the phrase sterling
silver. That means
real silver, not plated
or painted, but real
silver all the way
through.



There was a pier-glass
between the windows of the
room. Perhaps you have
seen a pier-glass in an $8
flat.


Pier-glass is a kind of
cheap mirror, made in
long, narrow strips.
It would have been
used in cheap
apartments instead
of expensive plateglass mirror.


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.


By placing the strips
of mirror together,
you can make kind of
an uneven mirror.


Della, being slender, had
mastered the art.

here that Della can
see herself pretty
well in the cheap
pier-glass mirror.
That’s important for
what is to come in
the story.



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.


Della sudden
brightens up—maybe
she has an idea?


Now, there were two
possessions of the James
Dillingham Youngs in
which they both took a
mighty pride.


The narrator will now
spend some time
describing two things
that Della and Jim
have that are
important to them.


One was Jim's gold watch
that had been his father's
and his grandfather's.

Jim has a nice watch,
that belonged to his
family and that is
now his.
The watch would
have been a big deal
to him. It would be
passed from father
to son in the family.



The other was Della's hair.


And Della has long,
beautiful 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.


The queen of Sheba
was a legendary
beauty from the
Bible.
The author is saying
here that Della’s hair
is so nice that it
would have made the
queen’s jewels and
gifts look shabby.

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.


King Solomon was a
famous wise man
from the Bible.
The narrator is
saying here that Jim
watch is so nice that
it would have made
the king jealous.


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.


Della’s hair, besides
just being beautiful,
is really long—it
stretches all the way
past her knees.


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.


Della puts her hair
back up, and cries
just a little bit while
she does so.
Question 3: Why do
you think Della is
crying here?


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.


Della gets dressed
quickly and hurries
out of the apartment.


Where she stopped the sign
read: "Mne. Sofronie. Hair
Goods of All Kinds." One
flight up Della ran, and
collected herself, panting.

Mne. is an
abbreviation for
Madame. It is a word
that comes from
French that is used
with the person’s last
name to address a
married woman, like
we might use the
term Mrs.



Mne. Sonfronie. Hair
Goods of All Kinds. is
a shop that buys and
sells hair.
This was common in
the days before
there was a manmade
substitute for human
hair to make wigs for
people.




Sofronie is a French
name.
Many times, sellers
of hair and clothes
would pretend they
were French, because
the French were the
leaders in ladies
fashions.


Madame, large, too white,
chilly, hardly looked the
"Sofronie."


here that the woman
who is calling herself
Madame Sofronie
doesn’t look much like
we would expect a
French woman to
look.


"Will you buy my hair?"
asked Della.


Now we understand
Della’s plan—she’s
going to sell her hair
to get money to buy
Jim a gift.


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


The narrator shows
us here that
“Madame Sofronie”
doesn’t speak the way
a French woman
would. She’s
probably not French
at all—but no one
really expects her to
be anyway.


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

The word practised
looks funny to us, as
if it might be
misspelled, but it
isn’t.
That way of spelling
it was acceptable
when this story was
written.



"Give it to me quick," said
Della.


Della asks for the
money quickly, before
she has a chance to
change her mind.


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

The narrator means
that the time went
by quickly, as if it
were flying by.
But he doesn’t say
flew by on rosy
wings, instead, he
says tripped by on
rosy wings.


Oh, and the next two hours
tripped by on rosy wings.
Forget the hashed
metaphor.

He uses the word
tripped instead of
the more natural
word, flew.
That’s why he calls it
a hashed metaphor.

Hashed in this sense
means a metaphor
that’s not a very good
one.


She was ransacking the
stores for Jim's present. 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.


Della has a lot of fun
shopping—especially
now that she has
some money to spend
—and finds a nice
gift for Jim.


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.

A fob chain is a chain
that’s meant to
attach to a pocket
watch.
The other end of the
chain attaches to the
man’s belt.


things should do.


The point of the
chain is so that if the
watch slips out of
the person’s hand, it
won’t drop to the
ground and probably
break.


things should do.


Meretricious here
means something
that’s flashy.
What the narrator is
saying is that the
chain was plain, but
still very expensivelooking.


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.

The narrator calls it
not just the watch
but the Watch.
Capitalizing the word
watch tells us that
it’s a very special
watch—maybe the
only one of its kind.


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.


Della thinks that the
fob chain is perfect
for Jim because, like
her husband, it is
quiet (meaning its
just a plain chain) and
it has value.


Twenty-one dollars they
took from her for it, and she
hurried home with the 87
cents.

The fob chain cost
$21. Della had $1.87
saved, and earned
$20 from the sale of
her hair, so now she
has only 87 cents
left.
But that’s okay,
because she got a
nice gift for Jim.



With that chain on his
watch Jim might be
properly anxious about the
time in any company.


Della thinks that Jim
might be eager to
pull out his watch to
“check the time” a
lot, now that he will
have a nice chain to
show off.


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.

that since Jim has
only a leather strap
to tie up his watch,
he sometimes is shy
or embarrassed
about pulling it out to
check the time.



When Della reached home
her intoxication gave way a
little to prudence and
reason.

The word intoxication
usually implies that
someone has been
drinking alcohol, but
the author doesn’t
mean that at all when
he uses that word
here. The narrator
means that Della was
very happy.


When Della reached home
her intoxication gave way a
little to prudence and
reason.


But now that she’s
back home, she must
face the reality of
having lost her
beautiful long hair.


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.

In the days before
electricity, curling
irons for hair were
heated up by gas
burners, used, then
placed back on the
burner to heat up
again.


the ravages made by
Which is always a

Della is trying to do
what can be done
with the short hair
she has left.


the ravages made by
Which is always a


The author uses the
words ravages made
by generosity added
to love to describe
what’s left of Della’s
hair after she’s cut it
off to sell it.


the ravages made by
Which is always a

What the author
means is that when
we love someone and
want to be generous
to them—as Della
loves Jim—we often
do things that are a
sacrifice to
ourselves.


the ravages made by
Which is always a


To repair these
“ravages,” the author
says, is very hard to
do—and that’s very
often true.


Within forty minutes her
head was covered with tiny,
close-lying curls that made
her look wonderfully like a
truant schoolboy.


Della uses the curling
iron to curl what hair
she has left.
This sort of curls
made in short hair is
the hairstyle that
schoolboys of the
period might have.


She looked at her reflection
in the mirror long,
carefully, and critically.


Question 4: Why do
you think Della is
now so concerned
with the way she
looks?


"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.

Now Della’s starting
to get worried about
what effect the loss
of her hair will have
on Jim.
Coney Island was an
amusement park in
New York City.


"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.


Young women who
worked as singers in
a chorus at Coney
Island might have
worn short curly
hairstyles.


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.


Della has gotten
things ready for Jim
to come home.


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.


Della continues to
worry about what
Jim is going to think
about her missing
hair.


Then she heard his step on
the stair away down on the
first flight, and she turned
white for just a moment.


And here comes Jim.


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.

The narrator says
that Jim was
burdened with a
family. That doesn’t
mean that he and
Della have children.



It just means that he
does have a wife, and
that his wife doesn’t
have a job.
In those days, many
women did not work
outside the home.




Since Della doesn’t
have any income, Jim
has to be the breadwinner for both of
them.
Again, the narrator
tells us that Jim’s
clothing is old and
worn, suggesting that
the family doesn’t
have much money.

Jim stopped inside the door,
as immovable as a setter at
the scent of quail.

The phrase setter at
the scent of quail
refers to a breed of
dog that hunters
went hunting with.
The dog was trained
to stop and point
when he noticed a
bird in the grass
ahead.


Jim stopped inside the door,
as immovable as a setter at
the scent of quail.

The dog would
continue to stand
completely still, even
when the hunter
would fire his gun
over the dog’s head
at the bird.
A quail is a kind of
bird that the hunter
might be after.



His eyes were fixed upon
Della, and there was an
expression in them that she
could not read, and it
terrified her.


Della sees that her
husband notices, but
she’s not sure what
his expression means.
Question 5: Do you
think that Jim is
going to be angry
about her missing
hair?


It was not anger, nor
surprise, nor disapproval,
nor horror, nor any of the
sentiments that she had
been prepared for.

Della knows what her
husband’s expression
is when he’s angry,
surprised, when he
disapproves of
something, or when
he is horrified.
She can tell that this
expression is none of
those things.



He simply stared at her
fixedly with that peculiar
expression on his face.

Jim has a peculiar
expression on his
face because he
knows something that
Della does not know.
We’re about to find
out what it is.



Della wriggled off the table
and went for him.

Della is nervous
about what Jim’s
expression means, so
she finally went for
him and is going to
explain.

Went for him means
she runs right up to
him.



"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.

Della wants to quickly
explain about why
she is missing her
hair.



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."


The reader can
imagine her saying all
this hurriedly, trying
to smooth over the
problem by explaining
that she got Jim a
nice gift.


"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.

Jim is in shock about
the hair, but not for
the reason that Della
thinks!



out why.

"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?"


Yes, of course, she’s
the same person with
or without her hair.
But having beautiful
long hair and then
suddenly not having it
is a bit of a shock!


Jim looked about the room
curiously. "You say your
hair is gone?" he said, with
an air almost of idiocy.

Jim still can’t quite
believe what he’s
seeing, but not for
the reason that Della
thinks!
out why.



"You needn't look for it,"
said Della. "It's sold, I tell
you--sold and gone, too.


Della picks up on
Jim’s looking around
the room, and she
tries to make a joke.
You needn’t look for
it is her little joke.


It's Christmas Eve, boy. Be
good to me, for it went for
you.

Again, Della is trying
to soothe what she
imagines might be
Jim’s anger at her
missing hair.
But he’s not angry.
It’s something else.



Maybe the hairs of my head
were numbered," she went
on with sudden serious
sweetness, "but nobody
could ever count my love
for you.

Della’s comment
about the hairs on
her head being
numbered refers to
the Bible.


for you.

The Bible says that
our days are
numbered, just as
are the hairs on our
head.


for you.


What that means is
that none of us are
going to live forever.
Della here is saying,
yes, the hairs of her
head were numbered,
but her love for Jim
is not.


Shall I put the chops on,
Jim?"

This is Della’s way of
asking if he would
like her to start
dinner.
Maybe Della thinks
that doing something
ordinary and routine
will bring Jim back to
reality a little bit.



Out of his trance Jim
seemed quickly to wake. He
enfolded his Della.


Finally, Jim seems to
snap out of it.

Enfolded his Della
means that Jim gave
her a great big hug.


For ten seconds let us
regard with discreet
scrutiny some
inconsequential object in
the other direction.

Here, the narrator
asks the reader to
turn away and look
somewhere else for a
few seconds.
It was impolite to
stare at a husband
and wife while they
were hugging—or
maybe even kissing a
little too.



Eight dollars a week or a
million a year--what is the
difference? A
mathematician or a wit
would give you the wrong
answer.

Remember that the
apartment where
they live cost $8 a
week?


difference? A
answer.

The author here says
that although they
live in a shabby little
apartment, they are
as happy as if they
lived in a million
dollar mansion.


difference? A
answer.

That is to say that it
makes them no
difference.
But a mathematician
would certainly say
there’s a difference
between a million a
year and $8 a week!


difference? A
answer.


A wit is a person who
is smart and can
make jokes. That
kind of person might
make a joke about
the difference
between a million a
year and $8 a week.
But it makes no
difference to Jim
and Della, you see.

The Magi brought valuable
gifts, but that was not
among them. This dark
assertion will be illuminated
later on.

The Magi were the
three wise men that
brought gifts to the
infant Jesus at
Bethlehem.
The Magi brought
gifts that were
useful—that’s
important to know.


The Magi brought valuable
gifts, but that was not
among them. This dark
assertion will be illuminated
later on.


The author is giving
us a hint of what is
to come later in the
story.
The hint is that
there’s something
about Della’s gift
that’s even better
than the gifts that
the Magi brought the
baby Jesus.

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

Well, it looks like Jim
has a gift of his own.
It’s a package small
enough to fit in his
pocket—what could it
be?
And how could he
have money to buy a
gift?



"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.


Jim reassures Della
that her hair being
there or being gone
is not something that
would make him
angry.


But if you'll unwrap that
package you may see why
you had me going a while at
first."

But there is
something that made
him have that
strange expression—
something that the
package will explain.
What could it be?



White fingers and nimble
tore at the string and paper.


Della opens the
package in a rush.


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.

She squeals with joy
when she sees what
it is—and then
suddenly starts
crying all over again!
Crying so hard that
Jim—the lord of the
flat—has to try to
comfort her.


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.


And it’s not happy
crying, either—Della
is really sad all of a
sudden.
What could the small
package possibly be?
Question 6: What
do you think the
package might be?


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.

The package turns
out to be a set of
combs—we would call
them barrettes—
that women use to
hold their hair in
place.


Broadway window.
hair.

These particular
combs are some that
Della has wanted
badly for a long time.
They’re just the
right color and
everything.


Broadway window.
hair.

Do you see why she
was very happy at
first and then all of a
sudden very upset?
She forgot for a
minute that her hair
is gone!


They were expensive
combs, she knew, and her
heart had simply craved and
yearned over them without
the least hope of possession.

They were expensive
combs, we’re told.
But we already know
that Jim and Della
don’t have much
money.
Question 7: How do
you think Jim might
have gotten the
money to buy them?



And now, they were hers,
but the tresses that should
have adorned the coveted
adornments were gone.


She has the combs,
but no hair to wear
them in.
Now we see why Jim
had that strange
expression on his
face when he saw
Della and saw that
her hair was gone.


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!"


Yes, eventually,
Della’s hair will grow
long again, and she’ll
be able to wear the
combs in it.
It will probably be a
long time, though.


And them Della leaped up
like a little singed cat and
cried, "Oh, oh!"

All of a sudden, Della
remembers the nice
gift she has for Jim!
She wants him to
have it right away
because Jim was so
nice to buy her the
combs she wanted.



Jim had not yet seen his
beautiful present.


Della rushes to get
the fob chain she
bought with the
money she got from
selling her hair.


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.


Ardent here means
eager, and Della is
eager to please her
Jim with the nice
gift.
Question 8: What
do you think Jim’s
reaction to the nice
gift will be?


"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."


Della wants to see
what the chain looks
like with the watch
attached to it, and
she want to see it
right away!


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


What is Jim smiling
about? And why
doesn’t he give her
the watch?
out.


"Dell," said he, "let's put
our Christmas presents
away and keep 'em a while.
They're too nice to use just
at present.


Jim says a strange
thing here.
But he probably
knows that Della
won’t let him get
away with that—she’s
going to insist on
seeing what the
watch looks like with
the new chain.

I sold the watch to get the
money to buy your combs.

And now we find out
why Jim smiled when
he saw that his gift
was a watch fob
chain.
His gift is as useless
to him now as Della’s
gift is to her.



And now suppose you put
the chops on."


Jim suggests that
Della start dinner,
and that’s the last
that we hear in the
story about Jim and
Della.


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.

The narrator wants
us to know that the
Magi were the first
Christmas gift givers,
and that they were
wise enough to
choose good gifts.



Being wise, their gifts were
no doubt wise ones,
possibly bearing the
privilege of exchange in
case of duplication.


Maybe the gifts they
gave were gifts that
could be returned, if
need be.
Being able to be
returned might be
one quality of a good
gift.


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.


The narrator calls
Jim and Della two
foolish children, and
says that they most
unwisely sacrificed
their greatest
treasures.
Question 9: Do you
think Jim and
Della’s gifts were
foolish?

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.


But it’s hard to
explain what makes a
good gift, and the
narrator wants to say
that Jim and Della’s
gifts to each other
were the best gifts—
even better than the
Magi’s gifts to baby
Jesus.


To all who give and receive
gifts, such as they are
wisest. Everywhere they are
wisest. They are the magi.

The narrator again
states that of all
people who have given
and do give gifts, Jim
and Della’s gifts were
the wisest.
The narrator ends
the story by saying
they—Jim and Della—
are the Magi.



Now you know the story “The Gift of the Magi.”
The last question is an essay-type of question.
Answer it by writing at least 100 words.
Question 10: At the end of the story, the
narrator says that Jim and Della are the Magi.
This is a metaphor. They’re not really the Magi,
but the narrator is saying they are like the Magi.
Remembering that the Magi were the wise men
who brought gifts to the infant Jesus, how are
Jim and Della like the Magi?


Annotated Version of "The Gift of the Magi

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Annotated Version of "The Gift of the Magi