The Gift of the Magi

Della had saved only one dollar and eighty-seven cents, and it was Christmas Eve. She wanted desperately to buy her husband Jim a gift worthy of how much she loved him, but her savings were nowhere near enough.

Della and Jim were poor, yet each of them possessed one true treasure. Jim owned a gold watch that had belonged to his father, and Della had beautiful long hair that fell past her knees like a waterfall of brown silk.

Standing in front of the mirror, Della has made a difficult decision. She let down her hair, took a deep breath, and went out into the cold streets to a shop that bought hair for wigs.

The shopkeeper offered her twenty dollars for her hair, and Della, fighting back tears, sold it without hesitation, because her devotion to Jim mattered more than her vanity.

With the money, Della searched the entire city until she found the perfect gift: an elegant platinum chain for Jim's cherished watch, simple and dignified, exactly the kind of gift he deserved.

That evening, Jim arrived home and stared at Della's short hair in shock, unable to speak. Della worried he would be angry, but instead he handed her a small package.

Inside the package were the ornamental combs Della had admired for months in a shop window — combs meant for beautiful long hair, the very hair she had just sold to buy his gift.

Then Della gave Jim the watch chain, only to learn the bitter irony: Jim had sold his watch to afford her combs. Neither gift could be used, yet the two of them understood that they had given the greatest gift of all — proof of how much they loved and sacrificed for each other.