It is customary to show old and new movies, play excellent music and songs of all times, etc. around the festival and other important days.
This is how it is done during the weeks and months leading up to Christmas. Television will be full of great Christmas-themed movies and “Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell” will be sung for the umpteenth time.
This is one of the all-time great stories on the subject of Christmas written by one of the greatest story writers of all time.
The story is titled “The Gift of the Magi,” and its writer is O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter.
First, what do we mean by magicians?
When Christ was born, the wise men are supposed to have brought him gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense (by the way, the English word ‘magic’ is derived from him) or three Wise Men or three Kings from the East.
The writer gives his own explanation at the end of the story. This tradition of author commentary within the story is used less and less in modern stories. In fact, modern stories, like modern art and poetry, are becoming more and more difficult to understand and that may be one of the reasons why the genre of short stories is disappearing, although it is not dead yet.
O. Henry writes at the end of the story: “The wise men, as you know, were wise men, wonderfully wise men, who brought gifts to the Child in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were without doubt wise, possibly having the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have unconvincingly recounted to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish boys in a flat who most recklessly sacrificed the greatest treasures of their house to each other. But in a final word to the wise of these days, let it be said that of all those who give gifts, these two were the wisest. Oh, all those who give and receive gifts, as they are the wisest. Magic.”
The story is about a poor couple, Della and Jim, who don’t know what to get each other on Christmas Eve, since they don’t have any money. How much did they have?
“A dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was it. And sixty cents was in pennies. The pennies were saved one and two at a time by knocking down the grocer, the greengrocer, and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of the parsimony implied in such close dealing. Della counted it three times. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.
Of course, it was the time when things and services were cheap. They paid a weekly rent of $8 for their furnished flat, and Jim earned $20 a week, whereas he used to earn $30 a week. $1.87 was still too little to buy any Christmas gifts.
However, they were able to buy expensive and exactly the gifts that others needed and wanted most:
“Dell,” he said, “let’s put away our Christmas presents and keep them for a while. They’re too good to use now.”
The story ends with a “tail twist” surprise that was a favorite plot of traditional writers and is frowned upon by modern writers. However, this bittersweet ending makes it one of the best immortal tales.
Of course, to know the surprise ending and savor this great story, I have not revealed all the details and I would recommend it as a must-read for everyone and especially for those who are young at heart. But who isn’t?
I would also like to reflect for a moment if the owner of an important sound card with the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young” belonging to an unused mailbox and a non-working electric button in the lobby, had no money to spend on Christmas. gift, how desperate the really poor can feel on Christmas Eve! If we think of them at Christmas, surely God will bless us.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
LIVE THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE!
BE HAPPY! BE HEALTHY! SUCCEED!
TODAY, TOMORROW AND ALWAYS!