SUMMARY
This is a very romantic story. It’s, of course, a love story, but also a story of self-sacrifice.
A married couple lived very poorly. The husband, Jim,
was a mere worker, and his wife was a
housewife. They lived in a cheap flat in the big city. Christmas was near, and each one wanted to give their partner a present, but neither of them had enough
money to buy the gift they would like. So, they have to contrive something to
get the money. Della, the wife, wanted a chain for Jim’s pocket watch, a trinket
the Jim loved very much. Jim had only a strap to hold his watch. But the chain
was too expensive, and the only idea she got to get some money was selling her own
hair. Della had a mass of long, beautiful hair and was very proud of it, and Jim
adored it. But she sold it, and then she could buy the chain.
For his own part, Jim also had to do something to get
some cash for the present he wanted to buy for Della. He also sold something he loved very
much, and, with the money, he could buy a set of combs for Della's beautiful hair (here with "combs" we mean convex combs
to adorn a woman’s hair, not the tools to arrange one’s hair).
But now you can imagine the wife’s disappointment when he saw her present. And until the end of the story, we won’t know what Jim had to sell to buy the combs, and, you know: having read some of O. Henry stories, we must have the suspicion that it will be another surprise.
But, besides surprises, the story has a morality. For you, what is it, this morality?
-What are your habits about presents?
-What do you know about the Three Wise Men? Are they historical figures?
-And what about Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas?
-Do you think the couple of the story are being romantic or only irresponsible? Are there any other, cheaper, ways to be romantic?
-Our couple is a bit traditional. Nowadays, how can one be chivalrous without being sexist?
-What differences could you find between the original story and the film adaptation?
VOCABULARY
bulldozing, parsimony, flop down, lookout, sterling,
pier-glass, hashed, fob chain, sly, truant, dog, quail, wails, tresses, singed (/singd/),
manger