THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
Summary (in English and Hindi )
ONE DOLLAR AND EIGHTY-SEVEN CENTS.
That was all. She had put it aside, one cent and then another and then another, in her careful buying of meat and other food. Della counted it three times. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.
एक डॉलर और सत्तासी सेंट।
बस इतना सा ही सबकुछ था। उसने माँस और अन्य भोजन की खरीदारी करके सावधानीपूर्वक कभी एक सेंट और फिर दूसरा और फिर एक-एक करके कुछ और सेंट बचाये थे। डेला ने इन्हें तीन बार गिना। एक डॉलर और सत्तासी सेंट। और अगले दिन क्रिसमस था।
There was nothing to do but fall on the bed and cry. So Della did it. While the lady of the home is slowly growing quieter, we can look at the home. Furnished rooms at a cost of $8 a week. There is little more to say about it.
बिस्तर पर गिर कर रोने के अलावा कुछ और चारा नहीं था। तो डेला ने वैसा ही किया। अब, जबकि डेला (घर की महिला) धीरे-धीरे शांत हो रही है, तब तक हम घर को देख सकते हैं। घर में सुसज्जित कमरे जिनके कीमत (किराया) $8 प्रति सप्ताह थी। इससे ज्यादा इस घर के बारे में कहने के लिए और कुछ नहीं है।
In the hall below was a letter-box too small to hold a letter. There was an electric bell, but it could not make a sound. Also there was a name beside the door: “Mr. James Dillingham Young.”
नीचे हॉल में एक लेटर-बॉक्स था जो एक पत्र रखने के लिए भी बहुत छोटा था। एक बिजली की घंटी थी, लेकिन वह आवाज नहीं कर सकती थी। दरवाजे के बगल में एक नाम भी था: “मि जेम्स डिलिंगहम यंग।"
When the name was placed there, Mr. James Dillingham Young was being paid $30 a week. Now, when he was being paid only $20 a week, the name seemed too long and important. It should perhaps have been “Mr. James D. Young.” But when Mr. James Dillingham Young entered the furnished rooms, his name became very short indeed. Mrs. James Dillingham Young put her arms warmly about him and called him “Jim.” You have already met her. She is Della.
जब नाम वहाँ लिखा गया, तो मिस्टर जेम्स डिलिंगहैम यंग को प्रति सप्ताह 30 डॉलर का भुगतान किया जा रहा था। अब, जब उन्हें प्रति सप्ताह केवल $20 का भुगतान किया जा रहा था, तो यह नाम बहुत लंबा और महत्वपूर्ण लग रहा था। अब इस नाम को शायद होना चाहिए था-"श्रीमान जेम्स डी. यंग"। लेकिन जब मिस्टर जेम्स डिलिंगहैम यंग सुसज्जित कमरों में प्रवेश किया करते थे , तो उनका नाम वास्तव में बहुत ही छोटा हो जाया करता था। श्रीमती जेम्स डिलिंगहैम यंग गर्मजोशी से अपनी बाहें उसके गले में डालती और उसे "जिम" कहा करती थी । आप उससे (श्रीमती जेम्स डिलिंगहैम यंग से ) पहले ही मिल चुके हैं। वह डेला है।
Della finished her crying and cleaned the marks of it from her face. She stood by the window and looked out with no interest. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a gift. She had put aside as much as she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week is not much. Everything had cost more than she had expected. It always happened like that.
डेला ने अपना रोना समाप्त किया और अपने चेहरे से रोने के निशान साफ किए। वह खिड़की के पास खड़ी रही और बिना किसी दिलचस्पी के बाहर देखने लगी। कल क्रिसमस का दिन होगा, और उसके पास केवल $1.87 थे जिससे जिम के लिए एक उपहार खरीदना था। उसने महीनों तक जितना हो सकता था, उतना पैसा जोड़कर अलग रखा था- और उसका परिणाम हुआ- केवल $1.87 । एक सप्ताह में बीस डॉलर ज्यादा नहीं होता है। सब कुछ उसकी अपेक्षा से अधिक महँगा पड़ा। उसके साथ हमेशा ऐसा ही होता था।
Only $ 1.87 to buy a gift for Jim. Her Jim. She had had many happy hours planning something nice for him. Something nearly good enough. Something almost worth the honor of belonging to Jim.
जिम के लिए एक उपहार खरीदने के लिए, केवल $1.87। उसका जिम! उसके लिए कुछ अच्छा प्लान करने के लिए उसके पास कई सुखद घंटे थे। कुछ ऐसा जो काफी अच्छा हो। कुछ ऐसा जो जिम की वस्तुओं के लायक हो।
There was a looking-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen the kind of looking-glass that is placed in $8 furnished rooms. It was very narrow. A person could see only a little of himself at a time. However, if he was very thin and moved very quickly, he might be able to get a good view of himself. Della, being quite thin, had mastered this art.
कमरे की खिड़कियों के बीच शीशा लगा हुआ था। शायद आपने उस तरह के लुकिंग ग्लास को देखा होगा जो $8 के सुसज्जित कमरों में अक्सर रखा होता है। यह बहुत संकरा होता था। इस शीशे में एक व्यक्ति एक बार में अपने को थोड़ा ही देख सकता था। हालाँकि, अगर वह बहुत पतला हो और बहुत तेज़ी से उसके सामने से गुजरे तो शायद वह अपने आपका एक अच्छा दृश्य पा सकता था। काफी दुबली होने के कारण डेला ने इस कला में महारत हासिल कर ली थी।
Suddenly she turned from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brightly, but her face had lost its color. Quickly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its complete length.
अचानक वह खिड़की से मुड़ी और शीशे के सामने खड़ी हो गई। उसकी आँखें चमक रही थीं, लेकिन उसके चेहरे का रंग फीका पड़ गया था। उसने जल्दी से अपने बालों को खोला और उन्हें पूरी लंबाई तक खुलने के लिए छोड़ दिया।
The James Dillingham Youngs were very proud of two things which they owned. One thing was Jim’s gold watch. It had once belonged to his father. And, long ago, it had belonged to his father’s father. The other thing was Della’s hair.
जेम्स डिलिंगहैम यंग्स (दोनों पति - पत्नी) को उन दो चीजों पर बहुत गर्व था जो उनके पास थीं। एक चीज थी जिम की सोने की घड़ी। यह कभी उनके पिता की थी। और, बहुत पहले, यह उसके पिता के पिता की थी। दूसरी चीज थी डेला के बाल।
If a queen had lived in the rooms near theirs, Della would have washed and dried her hair where the queen could see it. Della knew her hair was more beautiful than any queen’s jewels and gifts.
यदि कोई रानी उनके पास के कमरों में रह रही होती, तो डेला जरूर उसके सामने अपने बालों को धोती और वहाँ सुखाती जहाँ से रानी उसे देख सकती। डेला जानती थी कि उसके बाल किसी भी रानी के गहनों और उपहारों से अधिक सुंदर हैं।
If a king had lived in the same house, with all his riches, Jim would have looked at his watch every time they met. Jim knew that no king had anything so valuable.
अगर कोई राजा उसी घर में उनके साथ अपनी सारी दौलत के साथ रह रहा होता, तो जब कभी भी वे दोनों मिलते तो जिम हर बार अपनी घड़ी को अवश्य ही देखता। जिम जानता था कि किसी भी राजा के पास इतना कीमती कुछ नहीं हो सकता।
So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her, shining like a falling stream of brown water. It reached below her knee. It almost made itself into a dress for her.
तो अब डेला के सुंदर बाल उसके चारों ओर गिर गए, जो भूरे पानी की गिरती धारा की तरह चमक रहे थे। बाल उसके घुटने के नीचे पहुँच गए थे। बालों ने लगभग खुद को उसकी पोशाक बना लिया था।
And then she put it up on her head again, nervously and quickly. Once she stopped for a moment and stood still while a tear or two ran down her face. Once she stopped for a moment and stood still while a tear or two ran down her face.
और फिर उसने अपने बालों को फिर से अपने सिर पर बाँध लिया, घबराहट में और जल्दी से। एक बार वह एक पल के लिए रुकी और स्थिर खड़ी रही, जबकि एक या दो आंसू उसके चेहरे से नीचे लुढ़क गए।
She put on her old brown coat. She put on her old brown hat. With the bright light still in her eyes, she moved quickly out the door and down to the street. Where she stopped, the sign said: “Mrs. Sofronie. Hair Articles of all Kinds.” Up to the second floor Della ran, and stopped to get her breath.
उसने अपना पुराना भूरा कोट पहन लिया। उसने अपनी पुरानी भूरी टोपी पहन ली। आँखों में तेज रोशनी के साथ, वह जल्दी से दरवाजे से बाहर निकली और नीचे गली में चली गई। जहाँ वह रुकी, उस साइन पर लिखा था : "श्रीमती सोफ्रोनी। बालों से बने सभी प्रकार के सामान ।” डेला दूसरी मंजिल तक दौड़ी और साँस लेने के लिए रुकी।
Mrs. Sofronie, large, too white, cold-eyed, looked at her. “Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.
श्रीमती सोफ्रोनी, जोकि बड़ी, बहुत गोरी, ठंडी आंखों वाली महिला थी, ने उसकी ओर देखा। "क्या तुम मेरे बाल खरीदोगी?" डेला ने पूछा।
“I buy hair,” said Mrs. Sofronie. “Take your hat off and let me look at it.” Down fell the brown waterfall. “Twenty dollars,” said Mrs. Sofronie, lifting the hair to feel its weight. “Give it to me quick,” said Della.
"मैं बाल खरीदती हूँ," श्रीमती सोफ्रोनी ने कहा। "अपनी टोपी उतारो और मुझे अपने बाल देखने दो।" उसके भूरे रंग के बाल ऐसे नीचे गिरे जैसे कोई भूरे रंग का झरना। "बीस डॉलर," श्रीमती सोफ्रोनी ने बालों को उठाकर उनका वजन महसूस करने के बाद ने कहा। "मुझे जल्दी से दे दो," डेला ने कहा।
Oh, and the next two hours seemed to fly. She was going from one shop to another, to find a gift for Jim.
ओह, और अगले दो घंटे जैसे पंख लगा कर उड़ गए। वह जिम के लिए एक उपहार खोजने के लिए एक दुकान से दूसरी दुकान जा रही थी।
She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the shops, and she had looked in every shop in the city.
आखिरकार उसे जिम के लिए एक उपहार मिल ही गया । यह निश्चित रूप से जिम के लिए ही बनाया गया था और किसी के लिए नहीं। किसी भी दुकान में उसके जैसा कोई नहीं था, और वह शहर की हर दुकान में देख चुकी थी।
It was a gold watch chain, very simply made. Its value was in its rich and pure material. Because it was so plain and simple, you knew that it was very valuable. All good things are like this. It was good enough for The Watch.
यह एक सोने की घड़ी-चेन थी, जिसे बहुत ही सादगी से बनाया गया था। इसका मूल्य इसकी समृद्ध और शुद्ध सामग्री में था। क्योंकि यह इतना सादा और सरल था, कि आप इसे देखते ही जान जाते कि यह बहुत मूल्यवान है। सभी अच्छी चीजें इसी प्रकार की होती हैं। यह जिम की घड़ी के लिए बहुत ही अच्छी थी।
As soon as she saw it, she knew that Jim must have it. It was like him. Quietness and value—Jim and the chain both had quietness and value. She paid twenty-one dollars for it. And she hurried home with the chain and eighty-seven cents.
जैसे ही उसने इसे देखा, उसे लगा कि जिम के पास यह होनी चाहिए। यह उसी के जैसी थी। शांत और मूल्यवान - जिम और चैन, दोनों में सौम्यता और मूल्यता थी । उसने इसके लिए इक्कीस डॉलर का भुगतान किया। और वह चेन और सत्तासी सेंट लेकर घर चली गई।
With that chain on his watch, Jim could look at his watch and learn the time anywhere he might be. Though the watch was so fine, it had never had a fine chain. He sometimes took it out and looked at it only when no one could see him do it.
अपनी घड़ी पर उस चेन के साथ, जिम कहीं भी अपनी घड़ी को देख सकता था और समय पता कर सकता था। हालाँकि घड़ी इतनी अच्छी थी, लेकिन उसमें कभी भी एक अच्छी चेन नहीं थी। वह उसे तभी बाहर निकालता और देखता था जब कोई उसे ऐसा करते नहीं देख रहा होता था।
When Della arrived home, her mind quieted a little. She began to think more reasonably. She started to try to cover the sad marks of what she had done. Love and large-hearted giving, when added together, can leave deep marks. It is never easy to cover these marks, dear friends— never easy.
जब डेला घर पहुँची, तो उसका मन थोड़ा शांत हुआ। वह अधिक तार्किक रूप से सोचने लगी। उसने जो कुछ किया था, वह उसके दुखद निशानों को ढकने की कोशिश करने लगी। प्यार और बड़े दिल से देना, जब एक साथ जोड़ा जाता है, तो गहरे निशान छोड़ सकता है। इन निशानों को ढकना कभी भी आसान नहीं होता, दोस्तों ये सच है।
Within forty minutes her head looked a little better. With her short hair, she looked wonderfully like a schoolboy. She stood at the looking-glass for a long time.
चालीस मिनट के भीतर उसका सिर (हेयर-स्टाइल ) थोड़ा बेहतर लग रहा था। अपने छोटे बालों के साथ, वह एक स्कूली लड़के की तरह शानदार लग रही थी। वह काफी देर तक शीशे के पास खड़ी रही।
“If Jim doesn’t kill me,” she said to herself, “before he looks at me a second time, he’ll say I look like a girl who sings and dances for money. But what could I do—oh! What could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?”
At seven, Jim’s dinner was ready for him.
उसने खुद से कहा "अगर जिम मुझे दूसरी बार देखने से पहले जान से नहीं मरता तो वह निश्चित ही कहेगा कि मैं उस लड़की की तरह दिखती हूँ जो पैसे के लिए गाती और नाचती है। लेकिन मैं क्या कर सकती थी-ओह! मैं एक डॉलर और सत्तासी सेंट का कर भी क्या सकती थी?” सात बजे, जिम का डिनर उसके लिए तैयार था।
Jim was never late. Della held the watch chain in her hand and sat near the door where he always entered. Then she heard his step in the hall and her face lost color for a moment. She often said little prayers quietly, about simple everyday things. And now she said: “Please God, make him think I’m still pretty.”
जिम कभी देर से घर नहीं आया था । डेला ने घड़ी-चैन अपने हाथ में पकड़ी और उस दरवाजे के पास बैठ गई जहाँ से वह हमेशा प्रवेश करता था। तभी उसने हॉल में उसके कदम की आवाज सुनी और एक पल के लिए उसके चेहरे का रंग फीका पड़ गया। वह अक्सर छोटी-छोटी दुआएं करती थी- चुपचाप, रोजमर्रा की साधारण चीजों के बारे में। और अब उसने कहा: "भगवान, कृपया ऐसा करो कि वह सोचे कि मैं अभी भी सुंदर हूँ।"
The door opened and Jim stepped in. He looked very thin and he was not smiling. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two—and with a family to take care of! He needed a new coat and he had nothing to cover his cold hands.
दरवाजा खुला और जिम ने अंदर कदम रखा। वह बहुत पतला लग रहा था और वह मुस्कुरा भी नहीं रहा था। बेचारा, वह केवल बाईस का था—और देखभाल करने के लिए उसके पास एक परिवार था! उसे एक नए कोट की जरूरत थी और उसके पास अपने ठंडे हाथों को ढकने के लिए भी कुछ नहीं था।
Jim stopped inside the door. He was as quiet as a hunting dog when it is near a bird. His eyes looked strangely at Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not understand. It filled her with fear. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor anything she had been ready for. He simply looked at her with that strange expression on his face.
जिम दरवाजे के अंदर आकर रुक गया। वह उस शिकारी कुत्ते की तरह शांत था जब वह एक पक्षी के पास होता है। उसकी आँखों ने डेला को अजीब तरह से देखा, और उनमें एक ऐसा भाव था जिसे वह समझ नहीं पा रही थी। इसने डेला को भय से भर दिया। यह न तो क्रोध था, न आश्चर्य, और न ही वह कोई ऐसी चीज थी जिसके लिए वह तैयार थी। बस अपने चेहरे पर अजीब भाव लिए हुए उसने डेला को देखा।
Della went to him. “Jim, dear,” she cried, “don’t look at me like that. I had my hair cut off and sold it. I couldn’t live through Christmas without giving you a gift. My hair will grow again. You won’t care, will you? My hair grows very fast. It’s Christmas, Jim. Let’s be happy. You don’t know what a nice—what a beautiful nice gift I got for you.”
डेला उसके पास गई।
"जिम, प्रिय," उसने डरते हुए कहा, "मुझे इस तरह मत देखो। मैंने अपने बाल कटवा लिए और उसे बेच दिया। मैं आपको उपहार दिए बिना क्रिसमस नहीं मना सकती थी। मेरे बाल फिर से उग आएंगे। आप चिंतित न हो, क्या तुम सच में इसकी चिंता करोगे? मेरे बाल बहुत तेजी से बढ़ते हैं। यह क्रिसमस है, जिम। चलो खुशी मनाये। आप नहीं जानते कि मुझे आपके लिए कितना अच्छा - कितना सुन्दर उपहार मिला है।"
“You’ve cut off your hair?” asked Jim slowly. He seemed to labor to understand what had happened. He seemed not to feel sure he knew. “Cut it off and sold it,” said Della. “Don’t you like me now? I’m me, Jim. I’m the same without my hair.” Jim looked around the room. “You say your hair is gone?” he said.
"आपने अपने बाल काट लिए हैं?" जिम ने धीरे से पूछा। वह यह समझने का प्रयास कर रहा था कि क्या हुआ था। ऐसा लग रहा था कि उसे यकीन नहीं हो रहा था कि वह जानता है कि ऐसा क्यों हुआ होगा। "काट दिए और बेच दिए," डेला ने कहा। "क्या तुम अब मुझे पसंद नहीं करते? मैं- मैं हूँ, जिम। मैं अपने बालों के बिना भी ऐसी ही हूँ।" जिम ने कमरे के चारों ओर देखा। उसने कहा "तुम कहती हो कि तुम्हारे बाल चले गए हैं?"
“You don’t have to look for it,” said Della. “It’s sold, I tell you— sold and gone, too. It’s the night before Christmas, boy. Be good to me, because I sold it for you. Maybe the hairs of my head could be counted,” she said, “but no one could ever count my love for you. Shall we eat dinner, Jim?” Jim put his arms around his Della.
"आपको इसे ढूँढने करने की ज़रूरत नहीं है," डेला ने कहा। "ये (बाल) बेच दिए गए है , मैं आपको बताया - बेच दिए गए और चले भी गए। यह क्रिसमस से पहले की रात है। मेरे साथ अच्छे तरीके से व्यवहार करो, क्योंकि मैंने इसे तुम्हारे लिए बेचा है। उसने फिर कहा "हो सकता है कि मेरे सिर के बाल गिने जा सकें लेकिन कोई भी कभी भी तुम्हारे लिए मेरे प्यार की गहराई पता नहीं कर सकता है। क्या हम रात का खाना खाएं, जिम?" जिम ने डेला के चारों ओर अपनी बाहें डाल दीं।
For ten seconds let us look in another direction. Eight dollars a week or a million dollars a year— how different are they? Someone may give you an answer, but it will be wrong. The magi brought valuable gifts, but those were was not among them. My meaning will be explained soon.
आइए दस सेकंड के लिए एक अन्य पहलु देखें। आठ डॉलर प्रति सप्ताह या एक मिलियन डॉलर प्रति वर्ष- दोनों कितने भिन्न हैं? हो सकता है कि कोई आपको उत्तर दे, लेकिन वह गलत होगा। बुद्धिमान व्यक्ति (Magi ) बहुमूल्य उपहार लाये थे, लेकिन वे इनके जैसे नहीं थे। मेरा अर्थ आपको जल्द ही समझ आ जाएगा।
From inside the coat, Jim took something tied in paper. He threw it upon the table. “I want you to understand me, Dell,” he said. “Nothing like a haircut could make me love you any less. But if you’ll open that, you may know what I felt when I came in.” White fingers pulled off the paper. And then a cry of joy; and then a change to tears.
कोट के अंदर से जिम ने कागज में बंधी कोई चीज निकाली। उसने उसे टेबल पर रख दिया। "मैं चाहता हूँ कि आप मुझे समझें, डेला," उसने कहा। "बाल कटवाने जैसा कोई कभी कार्य मुझे तुमसे कम प्यार करने के लिए नहीं उकसा सकता। लेकिन अगर आप इसे खोलेंगी, तो आप जान जायेंगीं कि जब मैं अंदर आया तो मुझे कैसा लगा था।" सफेद उंगलियों ने कागज को खींच कर खोल दिया। और फिर खुशी चीख सुनाई दी और फिर वह चीख आँसुओं में बदल गई।
For there lay The Combs—the combs that Della had seen in a shop window and loved for a long time. Beautiful combs, with jewels, perfect for her beautiful hair. She had known they cost too much for her to buy them. She had looked at them without the least hope of owning them. And now they were hers, but her hair was gone. But she held them to her heart, and at last was able to look up and say: “My hair grows so fast, Jim!”
वहाँ पर वही कंघियों का समूह था जिसे डेला ने एक दुकान की खिड़की में देखा था और लंबे समय से इसे चाहती थी। सुंदर कंघियाँ, रत्नों के साथ, उसके सुंदर बालों के लिए एकदम सही उपहार। वह जानती थी कि उन कंघियों की कीमत उसके लिए बहुत ही अधिक थी; वह उन्हें खरीद नहीं सकती थी। उसने उन्हीं तरसती हुई नजर से देखा। और अब वही कंघियाँ उसके पास थी परन्तु अब उसके बाल चले गए थे। लेकिन उसने उन कंघियों को अपने दिल के पास पकड़ रखा था, और आखिर में उसने ऊपर देखा और कहा : "मेरे बाल इतनी तेजी से बढ़ते हैं, जिम!"
And then she jumped up and cried, “Oh, oh!” Jim had not yet seen his beautiful gift. She held it out to him in her open hand. The gold seemed to shine softly as if with her own warm and loving spirit. “Isn’t it perfect, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You’ll have to look at your watch a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch.
और फिर वह उछल पड़ी और ख़ुशी से चिल्लाई, "ओह, ओह!" जिम ने अभी तक उसका सुंदर उपहार नहीं देखा था। उसने उसे अपने खुले हाथ रख कर उसकी ओर बढ़ाया। सोना उसी कोमलता से चमक रहा था जैसे कि उसकी (डेला) अपनी ओजपूर्ण और प्रेम से भरी आत्मा थी। "क्या यह सही नहीं है, जिम? मैंने इसे खोजने के लिए पूरे शहर में चक्कर लगाए थे। अब आपको अपनी घड़ी को दिन में सौ बार देखना पड़ेगा। मुझे अपनी घड़ी दो।
I want to see how they look together.” Jim sat down and smiled. “Della,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while. They’re too nice to use now. I sold the watch to get the money to buy the combs. And now I think we should have our dinner.”
मैं देखना चाहती हूँ कि वे एक साथ कैसे दिखते हैं।" जिम बैठ गया और मुस्कुराया। "डेला," उसने कहा, "चलो हम हमारे क्रिसमस उपहार को दूर करें और उन्हें थोड़ी देर के लिए अलग रखें। वे इतने अच्छे है की हम अभी उनका उपयोग नहीं कर सकते। । मैंने कंघी खरीदने के लिए घड़ी बेच दी। और अब मुझे लगता है कि हमें अपना डिनर कर लेना चाहिए।"
The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men— who brought gifts to the newborn Christ-child. They were the first to give Christmas gifts. Being wise, their gifts were doubtless wise ones. And here I have told you the story of two children who were not wise.
मैगी, जैसा कि आप जानते हैं, बुद्धिमान पुरुष थे - आश्चर्यजनक रूप से बुद्धिमान पुरुष - जो नवजात क्राइस्ट-चाइल्ड के लिए उपहार लाए थे । वे क्रिसमस उपहार देने वाले पहले व्यक्ति थे। बुद्धिमान होने के कारण, उनके उपहार भी निस्संदेह बुद्धिमान थे। और यहाँ मैंने आपको दो बच्चों की कहानी सुनाई है जो बुद्धिमान नहीं थे।
Each sold the most valuable thing he owned in order to buy a gift for the other. But let me speak a last word to the wise of these days: Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the most wise.
Everywhere they are the wise ones.
They are the magi.
प्रत्येक ने दूसरे के लिए उपहार खरीदने के लिए अपनी सबसे मूल्यवान वस्तु बेची। परन्तु मुझे इन बुद्धिमानों से एक अंतिम शब्द कहना चाहिए: उपहार देने वालों में से ये दोनों सबसे बुद्धिमान थे। उपहार देने और प्राप्त करने वाले सभी में, वे सबसे बुद्धिमान हैं।
हर जगह वे ही बुद्धिमान हैं।
वे मैजाय हैं।
Original text
ONE DOLLAR AND eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. 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. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.
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.
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. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.
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 there unto was a card bearing the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.” The “Dillingham” had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, the letters of “Dillingham” looked blurred, as though they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. 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.
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey backyard. 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. 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. Something fine and rare and sterling—something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.
There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.
Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.
Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the Queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.
So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her, rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.
On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.
Where she stopped the sign read: “Mme. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds.” One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting. Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the “Sofronie.”
“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.
“I buy hair,” said Madame. “Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it.”
Down rippled the brown cascade. “Twenty dollars,” said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.
“Give it to me quick,” said Della.
Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present.
She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation—as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value—the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain.
When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends—a mammoth task.
Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.
“If Jim doesn't kill me,” she said to herself, “before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do—oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?”
At 7 o'clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.
Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit for saying little silent prayers about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: “Please God, make him think I am still pretty.”
The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two—and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.
Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.
Della wriggled off the table and went for him.
“Jim, darling,” she cried, “don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again—you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say ‘Merry Christmas!’ Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice—what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you.”
“You've cut off your hair?” asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet even after the hardest mental labor.
“Cut it off and sold it,” said Della. “Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?”
Jim looked about the room curiously.
“You say your hair is gone?” he said, with an air almost of idiocy.
“You needn't look for it,” said Della. “It's sold, I tell you—sold and gone, too. It's Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered,” she went on with sudden serious sweetness, “but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?”
Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year—what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.
Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.
“Don't make any mistake, Dell,” he said, “about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first.”
White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.
For there lay The Combs—the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims—just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.
But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: “My hair grows so fast, Jim!”
And them Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, “Oh, oh!”
Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.
“Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it.”
Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.
“Dell,” said he, “let's put our Christmas presents away and keep ’em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on.”
The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.
