麦琪的礼物

麦琪的礼物

The Gift of the Magi

一美元八十七美分。就这么多了。其中六十美分还是小铜板。

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.

这些小铜板是一两个一两个地省下来的——在杂货店老板、菜贩和屠夫那里一次次讨价还价，直争得脸颊发烫，因为这种斤斤计较无声地让人觉得自己吝啬。黛拉数了三次。

Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it.

一美元八十七美分。而第二天就是圣诞节了。

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.

显然，除了倒在破旧的小沙发上号啕大哭之外，别无他法。于是黛拉就这么哭了。这引出了一条人生感悟：人生是由抽泣、抽抽搭搭和微笑组成的，其中抽抽搭搭占了绝大部分。

There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.

趁着这位女主人正渐渐从第一阶段过渡到第二阶段，来看看这个家吧。一间每周租金八美元的带家具公寓。

While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week.

它倒不至于完全无法形容，但肯定已经落魄得会被乞讨监督队盯上了。

It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.

楼下的门厅里有一个收不到信的信箱，还有一个没有凡人的手指能按响的电铃。旁边还有一张卡片，上面写着“詹姆斯·迪林汉·杨先生”。

In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.”

在早前一段繁荣时期，当卡片的主人每周能拿三十美元时，“迪林汉”这个名字曾随风招摇。

The “Dillingham” had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week.

不过，现在收入缩水到二十美元了，他们正认真考虑将名字缩减为一个谦虚不起眼的“D”。

Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D.

但每当詹姆斯·迪林汉·杨先生回到家，走进楼上的公寓时，他都被唤作“吉姆”，并受到詹姆斯·迪林汉·杨夫人（已经向各位介绍过，她就是黛拉）热烈的拥抱。这可真是一件大好事。

But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called “Jim” and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.

黛拉哭完了，用粉扑擦了擦脸颊。她站在窗前，呆呆地看着一只灰色的猫在灰色的后院里走过灰色的篱笆。

Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard.

明天就是圣诞节了，而她只有一美元八十七美分来给吉姆买礼物。好几个月来，她能省一分就省一分，结果就是这样。一周二十美元根本不经花。花销总比她预想的要大。

Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated.

总是这样的。只有一美元八十七美分给吉姆买礼物。她的吉姆。她曾度过许多快乐的时光，计划着为他买一件好东西。

They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him.