Christmas is a wonderful time for many people around the world. Often families, couples or friends make an effort to buy a meaningful gift for the people they love. Other times, they might not be able to afford a gift or don’t have the time to purchase something. The following story proves, that you don’t need a gift when the love you have is strong enough.

O. Henry
William Sydney Porter, with the pseudonym O. Henry, was born on September 11th 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1887 he got married to Athol Estes and started his writing during that year. In 1894 he started a weekly segment in The Rolling Stone. Two years later he was accused of embezzlement and fled to Honduras. In 1898 he received a sentence of five years in prison in Columbus, Ohio. During his shortened stay of three years and three months, he had the chance to continue his writing, which gained a lot of popularity and transformed him into O. Henry by the time he was released. In 1902 he moved to New York and wrote weekly stories for the ‘New York Sunday World’ from 1903 to 1906. In 1904 O. Henry published his first book “The Four Million” and “The Trimmed Lamp” followed in 1906 and 1907. The latter two are about New Yorkers and their daily lives. In his last years, he struggled with alcoholism, an unhappy second marriage and illness. William Sydney Porter died on June 5th 1910 in New York City at the age of only 47. After his death more of his work was published, the last one 29 years after he died in 1939. In 1919 the O. Henry Prize was invented in his honour.

The story “The Gift of the Magi” was published in the collection “The Four Million” on April 10th 1906, but had been previously published in a newspaper. It’s about a couple with only a little money struggling to buy presents for each other.

Summary
On Christmas Eve, Della Young notices that she only has $1, 87 (around $62 in 2022) at her disposal for a Christmas present for her husband Jim. Trying to get more money, she sells her long hair to a hairdresser for $20 (around $600 in 2022) and then goes on to buy a platinum watch chain for her husband. Later Jim gifts her a set of ornamental combs, which she can’t use because she had sold her hair. Jim admits that he sold his watch to afford the combs. This leaves both in the situation that they can’t use the gifts that the other has sold something important for. The story shows the deep love they have for each other and that it is priceless. At the end, the narrator compares the gifts with those of the Biblical Magi. The Three Kings brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to the birth of Christ.

For the original story, click here! https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/1-the_gift_of_the_magi_0.pdf

I hope you learned something from this story and remember that love and gratitude are more important than expensive gifts!