圣誕禮物

廖文馨

Della and Jim were newly married1. They were poor. Jims money was enough to rent2 only a very small house. But they were very proud3 of two things. Della had the longest and most beautiful hair in all New York. And Jim had a pretty watch. His father gave it to him.

黛拉和吉姆剛剛結婚，他們很窮。吉姆的錢只夠租一間很小的房子。但有兩件事讓他們非常自豪，黛拉有全紐約最長、最美麗的頭發;吉姆有一塊漂亮的表，是他父親給他的。

Christmas was coming. Jim and Della began to think about what gifts they could give each other. Every time when Jim looked at his watch， he was sad. Della saw that. The watch was fixed to4 his coat by an old leather strap5. He really needed a chain6. And Jim often looked at Della doing her long hair. How well it would look if only he could buy her a jewelled7 comb8. But if they wanted to buy a gold watch chain or a jewelled hair-comb， it would cost much money.

圣誕節快到了。吉姆和黛拉開始考慮給對方送什么禮物。每次當吉姆看表時，他總是很悲傷。黛拉注意到了這一點，手表是用一條舊皮帶固定在他的外衣上的，他真的需要一條表鏈。而吉姆經?？粗炖嶂拈L發。要是他能給她買一把鑲有寶石的梳子，那該多好啊。但是，如果他們想買一條表鏈或一個鑲寶石的梳子，那就得花很多的錢。

Now it was Christmas Eve. Della had saved 87 cents for Jims Christmas gift. She had counted9 the money for the tenth time. Then she had a good idea！She quickly put on her old hat and coat. She ran down the street to the shop with the ad “Hair Bought”. She went in there. An hour later， she walked out of the shop and now she had another 15 dollars. But she was without her hair！On the way home， she stopped at every watch makers shop. At last， she found the right chain to suit10 Jims watch.

現在是圣誕夜。黛拉已經攢了八角七分錢，用來給吉姆買圣誕禮物。這些錢她已經數第十次了。然后她有了一個好主意！她立即地戴上舊帽子，穿上舊外套。沿著街道跑到一家有著“買頭發”廣告的商店。她走了進去。一個小時后，她走出商店，現在又多了15美元。但是她沒有頭發了！在回家的路上，她每路過一家鐘表店都會停下來。最后，她終于找到了適合吉姆的表鏈。

Della went back home. There was only one dollar and 87 cents in her pocket. Before Jim arrived home from work， she had just enough time to wrap11 the gift in a piece of colored paper， and to curl12 the short ends of her hair.

黛拉回到家，她口袋里只有1美元87美分了。在吉姆下班回家之前，她有充足的時間把禮物用彩紙包起來，再把短發的發尾卷一卷。

When Jim saw it， he was speechless13. “Oh， Jim， dont look at me like that！” Della cried. “Itll grow again， sure it will. Very quickly.” Then she took out the watch chain from behind. “You see， I had to sell it to get money for your gift. Merry Christmas， dear.”

當吉姆看到短發時，他說不出話來?！班?，吉姆，別那樣看著我！”黛拉喊道，“它會再長出來的，肯定會的，很快就會?！比缓笏龔纳砗筇统霰礞湥澳憧矗业觅u掉它才能換來給你的禮物。圣誕快樂，親愛的。”

When Jim had opened it， he sat on a chair and laughed until tears came into his eyes. “I think wed better put our gifts away for a while，” he said at last. “You see，” he went on and took a small bag from his pocket. “Ive sold my watch to buy this comb for your hair！ Isnt that funny？”

當吉姆打開它的時候，坐在椅子上笑著笑著眼淚就流出來了?！拔蚁胛覀冏詈脮簳r把禮物收起來?！苯K于，他說道?！澳憧?，”他接著說，然后從口袋里掏出一個小包，“我賣掉了我的手表，買了這把梳子給你梳頭發！這是不是很有意思？”

After nodding14， the tears came into Dellas eyes， too. Della gave Jim a smile and said， “Ours are the best Christmas gifts in the world， you know.”

點了點頭，黛拉的眼淚也涌上來了。黛拉微笑著對吉姆說：“你知道的，我們的圣誕禮物是世界上最好的圣誕禮物?！?/p>

（英語原文選自：englishteststore.net）