ST.

MATTHEW'S COLLEGE NORTH

1 One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. 8 Where she stopped the sign read: “Mme. Sofronie.
Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- Hair Goods of All Kinds.” One flight up Della ran
seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. to the wigmaker’s shop and collected herself,
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the panting.
shabby little couch and howl. So Della did.
9 “Madame, will you buy my hair?” asked Della. She
2 While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding took off her hat, and down rippled the brown
from sobs to sniffles, take a look at the home. A cascade.
furnished flat at $8 per week. In the entryway
below was a letter-box into which no letter would 10 “Let me see,” said Madame, lifting the mass with a
go, and an electric button from which no mortal practiced hand. “Hmm. Twenty dollars.”
finger could
coax a ring. And next to the button was a card 11 Della took the money quick. Oh, and the next two
bearing the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.” hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed
metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim’s
3 Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks present.
with the powder rag. Tomorrow would be
Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which 12 She found it at last. It was a
to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every platinum fob chain, simple
penny she could for months, with this result. and chaste in design,
Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses properly proclaiming its
had been greater than she had calculated. They value by substance alone and
always are. Only $1.87 to buy not by gaudy ornamentation
a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour —as
she had spent planning for something nice for all good things should
him. do. It was even worthy of
Something fine and rare. The Watch. As soon as
she saw it she knew that
4 Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood it must be Jim’s. It was
before the mirror. Her eyes were shining like him. Quietness and
brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within value—
twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair the description applied
and let it fall to its full length. to both. Twenty-one
dollars they took from
5 Now, there were two possessions of the James her for it, and she hurried
Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty home with the 87 cents. With that
pride. One chain on his watch Jim might be properly
was Jim’s gold watch that had been his father’s and his anxious about the time in any company. Grand as
grandfather’s. The other was Della’s hair. the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly
on account of the old leather strap that he used in
6 So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her, rippling
place of a chain.
and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It
reached below her knee and made itself almost a 13 When Della reached home her elation gave way
garment a little to prudence and reason. She got out
for her. And then she did it up again nervously and her
quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood curling irons and went to work repairing the
still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red damages made by generosity added to love. Which is
carpet. always a tremendous task, dear friends—a mammoth
task.
7 On went her old brown jacket; on went her old
brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the 14 Within forty minutes her head was covered with
brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully
door and down the stairs to the street. like a truant schoolboy. She looked at her reflection
in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.
 ST. MATTHEW'S COLLEGE NORTH

Continue reading.
15 At 7 o’clock the coffee was made and the frying pan was 24 Nimble fingers tore at the string and paper. And
on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a
chops. quick change to hysterical tears and wails, requiring
the immediate employment of all the comforting
16 Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in powers of the man of the flat.
her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the
door that he always entered. Then she heard his step 25 For there lay The Combs—the
on the stairway down on the first flight, and she set of combs, side and back,
turned white for just a moment. that Della had worshipped
long in a Broadway window.
17 Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a dog Beautiful combs, pure
at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon tortoise shell, with jewelled
Della, rims—just the shade to wear
and there was an expression in them that she could not in the beautiful vanished
read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor hair. They were expensive
surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the combs, she knew, and her
sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply heart had simply craved and
stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his yearned over them without
face. the least hope of possession.
And
18 Della wriggled off the table and went for him. “Jim,
now, they were hers, but
darling,” she cried, “don’t look at me that way. I had
the tresses that should have
my hair cut off and sold because I couldn’t have lived
adorned the long-desired
through Christmas without giving you a present. It’ll
combs were gone.
grow out again—you won’t mind, will you? I just had
to 26 But she hugged them to her chest, and at length she
do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say ‘Merry was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say:
Christmas!’ Jim, and let’s be happy. You don’t know “My hair grows so fast, Jim!”
what a nice— what a beautiful, nice gift I’ve got for
you.” 27 And then Della leaped up like a little singed cat
and cried, “Oh, oh!” Jim had not yet seen his
19 “You’ve cut off your hair?” asked Jim, laboriously, as beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly
if he had not arrived at that obvious fact yet, even upon her open palm. The dull precious metal
after the hardest mental labor. seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and
ardent spirit.
20 “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 28 “Isn’t it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it.
I?” 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.”
Jim looked about the room curiously. “You say your
hair is gone?” he said, with an air almost of idiocy. 29 Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch
and put his hands under the back of his head and
21 “You needn’t look for it,” said Della. “It’s sold, I smiled. “Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas
tell you—sold and gone, too. It’s Christmas Eve, presents away and keep ’em a while. They’re too nice
boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the
hairs of my head were numbered,” she went on money to buy your combs.”
with sudden serious sweetness, “but nobody could
ever count my love for you.” 30 The magi, as you may know, were wise men—
wonderfully wise men—who are said to have brought
22 Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He gifts to the baby Jesus. They invented the art of giving
enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard Christmas presents. And here I have related to you
with discreet attention some unimportant object in the uneventful tale of two foolish children in a flat
the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the
a year—what is the difference? A mathematician or a greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to
wit would give you the wrong answer. the wise of these days, let it be said that of all who
23 Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and tossed give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give
it upon the table. “Don’t make any mistake, Dell,” he and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere
said, “about me. I don’t think there’s anything in the they are wisest. They are the magi.
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.”
EXTENDED READING
COMPREHENSION:
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
Answer the questions about “The Gift of the Magi.”
1. Which of the following quotes from the text best conveys the central theme of the story?
 ST. MATTHEW'S COLLEGE NORTH

a. “She got out her curling irons and went to work repairing the damages made by generosity added to love.”
b. “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.”
c. “Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep ’em a while. They’re too nice to use just at present.”
d. “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.”

2. The narrator states that the characters live on twenty dollars a week. What other clues does the author give
to describe the economic status of the characters?

3. To which of the following objects does the narrator compare Della’s hair?
a. a carpet b. a waterfall c. a mirror d. a necklace

4. Choose two adjectives that best describe Della and two adjectives that best describe Jim. Support your
answer with details from the story.
Adjective Text Details

Del
la

Ji
m

5a. Why does Jim smile in paragraph 29?

a. He likes his present and can’t wait to use it. b. He realizes the irony of their situation.
c. He is relaxed and ready to enjoy Christmas. d. He loves Della’s new haircut.

5b. What does this tell you about Jim’s personality?

6. The title of this story is an allusion. What is the source of this allusion?
a. British literature b. Greek mythology c. The Bible d. American history

7. Describe the relationship between Della and Jim. Cite parts of the story in your answer.

EXTENDED READING
COMPREHENSION:
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
Answer the quest
ions about “The Gift of the Magi.”

8a. Go back to the text and underline examples where the narrator “breaks the fourth wall,” or speaks directly to
the reader. Record one example on the lines below.

8b. What effect does this literary device have on the tone of the story?
 ST. MATTHEW'S COLLEGE NORTH

9. Read the following examples of figurative language from the story. Write whether each quote is an example
of simile, alliteration, hyperbole, or personification.
“While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from sobs to sniffles...”
“... hair fell about her, rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters.”
“...properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by gaudy ornamentation.”
“Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a dog at the scent of a quail.”
“...she went on with sudden serious sweetness...”
“... I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present.”

10. Compare Della’s sacrifice to Jim’s. In your opinion, are their sacrifices equal? Why or why not?

11. The narrator calls Della and Jim “two foolish children...who most unwisely sacrificed for each other
the greatest treasures of their house.” But then he goes on to call them “wisest.” Why?

12. “The Gift of the Magi” is a classic example of dramatic irony. Explain why the end of the story is ironic.