B7Unit 4The Gift of the Magi5091201.docx

B7Unit 4The Gift of the Magi5091201.docx

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B7Unit4TheGiftoftheMagi5091201

UnitFour

GetStarted

▇Readthefollowingbackgroundnotesbeforeclassandbepreparedforclassroomactivities.

1.Bio-sketchoftheauthor:

O.Henry（1862-1910）wasthepennameoftheAmericanwriterWilliamSydneyPorter,whomainlywroteaboutthelifeofordinarypeopleinNewYorkCityattheturnofthe20thcentury.

HewasborninGreensboro,NorthCarolina.Hisfatherwasaphysician.WhenWilliamwasthree,hismotherdied,andhewasraisedbyhispaternalgrandmotherandaunt.YoungWilliamlovedreading,butattheageoffifteenheleftschool,andthenworkedinadrugstoreandonaTexasranch.Later,hemovedtoHouston,wherehehadanumberofjobs,includingthatofabankclerk.In1884hestartedahumorousweeklyTheRollingStone（《滚石周刊》）.Whentheweeklyfailed,hejoinedtheHoustonPostasareporterandcolumnist.In1897hewasfoundguiltyofembezzling（盗用）money,althoughtherehasbeenmuchdebateeventothisdayoverhisactualguilt.

WhileinprisonWilliamSydneyPorterstartedtowriteshortstoriestoearnmoneytosupporthisdaughterMargaret.Hisfirstwork,“WhistlingDick’sChristmasStocking”（口哨大王迪克的圣诞袜）waspublishedin1899.Afterdoingthreeyearsofthefiveyearssentence,Porterwasreleasedfromprisonin1901.HethenchangedhisnametoO.Henry.

In1902,O.HenrymovedtoNewYorkCityandfromDecember1903toJanuary1906hewroteastoryeveryweekfortheNewYorkWorld.Henry’sfirstcollection,CabbagesandKings（《白菜与国王》）appearedin1904.Twoyearslater,hissecondcollectionofshortstories,TheFourMillion（《四百万》）,waspublished.Duringhislifetime,hepublished10collectionsandover600shortstories.

O.Henry’slastyearswereshadowedbyalcoholism,illhealth,andfinancialproblems.HediedoflivertroubleonJune5,1910,inNewYork.Threemorecollections,namely,SixesandSevens（《七上八下》,1911）,RollingStones（《滚石》1912）andWaifsAndStrays（《流浪儿》,1917）,appearedposthumously.

O.Henrywaswidelyknownas“amasterofsurpriseendings.”Hisshortstoriesarewellknownfortheirwit,wordplay,warmcharacterizationandclevertwistendings.Atwistofplot,whichturnsonanironicorcoincidental（巧合的）circumstance,istypicalofO.Henry’sstories.

2.Aboutthestory:

“TheGiftoftheMagi”firstappearedinaNewYorkCitynewspaperin1905andwasincludedinO.Henry’ssecondcollectionofshortstories,TheFourMillion,whichwaspublishedin1906.Thestoryisaboutapoormarriedcouple,DellaandJim,andhowtheyeachgiveuptheirmostprizedpossessions—hiswatchandherhair—tobuyeachotherChristmaspresents.DellasellsherprizedhairtobuyJimaplatinumfobchain,onlytofindthatJimhassoldhiswatchandboughtherasetofdecorativecombsforherbeautifullonghair.

“TheGiftoftheMagi”hasbeenwidelyreadthroughouttheworldinitsvariousversions.ItisregardedbymanycriticsasoneofO.Henry’smasterpiecesforitsskilfulinventionoftheplot,thewittytwistofincidents,andthesurpriseending.Aswereadthestory,weshouldpayspecialattentiontotheliterarytechniquesO.Henryusesinwritingthestory.Thetextwearegoingtostudyistheunabridgedoriginalversion.

Incidentally,somecriticsclaimthatO.Henrydeliberatelytreatsthenumber“3”asa“magicnumber”inthestory:

Thestoryhasthreecharacters:

Della,Jim,andMadameSophronie;itcentresonthreevaluables:

Jim’sgoldwatch,Della’shair,andtheloveJimandDellashare;Jim’sgoldwatchhasbeenwornrespectivelybythreepersons:

Jim,hisfather,andhisgrandfather;Dellacountshermoneythreetimes（Paragraph1）;thenarratorsaysthatlifeismadeupofthreethings:

“sobs”,“sniffles”,and“smiles”（Paragraph2）;thestoryrefersthreetimestotheYoungs’supper:

chops,etc.Believeitornot,suchcriticalcommentsdoshowthediverseinterestofthepublicinO.Henry’sworks.

3.TheMagi（/5meIdVaI/东方三贤，东方三博士）:

AccordingtotheBible,Jesuswasborninastableandwaslaidinamangerasabed,becausetherewerenoemptyroomsinthetownhisparentshadtravelledto.WhenthethreewisemenknownastheMagilearnedthenewsofJesus’birth,theycamefromtheEasttopresentgiftsto“thebabyJesusinthemanger,”guidedbyastar.ThisbiblicalstoryisfoundintheNewTestamentoftheBible（Matthew2:

1-12）.ThethreewisemenhavebeenidentifiedinwesterntraditionasKingofArabia,KingofPersia,andKingofIndia. AccordingtoChristianity,theMagiwerethefirstreligiousfigurestoworshipChrist,andforthisreasonthestoryoftheMagiisparticularlyrespectedandpopularamongChristians.TheMagiarealsoknownastheThreeWiseMenortheThreeKings.

4.TheQueenofSheba（/5FIbE/士巴女王）:

TheQueenofShebawasthewomanwhoruledtheancientkingdomofSheba.Thelocationofthehistoricalkingdommayhaveincludedpartoralloftoday’sEthiopia（埃塞俄比亚）,andYemen（也门）.AccordingtotheHebrewBible（希伯来圣经）,theunnamedqueenofthelandofShebaheardofthegreatwisdomofKingSolomonofIsraelandjourneyedtherewithgiftsofspices（香料）,gold,preciousstones.Thisqueenhasbeengivenavarietyofnamesbydifferentscholarsindifferenttimes,butinmostcases,shehasbeendescribedasabeautiful,intelligent,understanding,resourceful,andadventurouslegendaryfigure.LegendsoftheQueenofShebaarecommonthroughoutArabia,Persia（波斯）,EthiopiaandIsrael（以色列）.Today,theQueenofShebaisoftenusedtorefertoaveryrichpersonortopeoplewhospendmoneyasiftheywereveryrich.Hencetheidiomaticexpression“andI’mtheQueenofSheba,”whichishumorouslyusedasareplywhenpeopleclaimthattheyarefamousorthattheyhavedonesomethingimpressive,butyoudonotbelievethem.E.g.

—“I’dliketoreserveatablefortonight—thisisDemiMoore.”

—“Oh,yeah,andI’mtheQueenofSheba.”

ReadandExplore

Text

TheGiftoftheMagi

O.Henry

1.Onedollarandeighty-sevencents.Thatwasall.Andsixtycentsofitwasinpennies.Penniessavedoneandtwoatatimebybulldozingthegrocerandthevegetablemanandthebutcheruntilone’scheeksburnedwiththesilentimputationofparsimonythatsuchclosedealingimplied.ThreetimesDellacountedit.Onedollarandeighty-sevencents.AndthenextdaywouldbeChristmas.

2.Therewasclearlynothingtodobutflopdownontheshabbylittlecouchandhowl.SoDelladidit.Whichinstigatesthemoralreflectionthatlifeismadeupofsobs,sniffles,andsmiles,withsnifflespredominating.

3.Whilethemistressofthehomeisgraduallysubsidingfromthefirststagetothesecond,takealookatthehome.Afurnishedflatat$8perweek.Itdidnotexactlybeggardescription,butitcertainlyhadthatwordonthelookoutforthemendicancysquad.

4.Inthevestibulebelowwasaletter-boxintowhichnoletterwouldgo,andanelectricbuttonfromwhichnomortalfingercouldcoaxaring.Alsoappertainingthereuntowasacardbearingthename“Mr.JamesDillinghamYoung.”

5.The“Dillingham”hadbeenflungtothebreezeduringaformerperiodofprosperitywhenitspossessorwasbeingpaid$30perweek.Now,whentheincomewasshrunkto$20,though,theywerethinkingseriouslyofcontractingtoamodestandunassumingD.ButwheneverMr.JamesDillinghamYoungcamehomeandreachedhisflatabovehewascalled“Jim”andgreatlyhuggedbyMrs.JamesDillinghamYoung,alreadyintroducedtoyouasDella.Whichisallverygood.

6.Dellafinishedhercryandattendedtohercheekswiththepowderrag.Shestoodbythewindowandlookedoutdullyatagraycatwalkingagrayfenceinagraybackyard.TomorrowwouldbeChristmasDay,andshehadonly$1.87withwhichtobuyJimapresent.Shehadbeensavingeverypennyshecouldformonths,withthisresult.Twentydollarsaweekdoesn’tgofar.Expenseshadbeengreaterthanshehadcalculated.Theyalwaysare.Only$1.87tobuyapresentforJim.HerJim.Manyahappyhourshehadspentplanningforsomethingniceforhim.Somethingfineandrareandsterling—somethingjustalittlebitneartobeingworthyofthehonorofbeingownedbyJim.

7.Therewasapier-glassbetweenthewindowsoftheroom.Perhapsyouhaveseenapier-glassinan$8flat.Averythinandveryagilepersonmay,byobservinghisreflectioninarapidsequenceoflongitudinalstrips,obtainafairlyaccurateconceptionofhislooks.Della,beingslender,hadmasteredtheart.

8.Suddenlyshewhirledfromthewindowandstoodbeforetheglass.Hereyeswereshiningbrilliantly,butherfacehadlostitscolorwithintwentyseconds.Rapidlyshepulleddownherhairandletitfalltoitsfulllength.

9.Now,thereweretwopossessionsoftheJamesDillinghamYoungsinwhichtheybothtookamightypride.OnewasJim’sgoldwatchthathadbeenhisfather’sandhisgrandfather’s.TheotherwasDella’shair.HadtheQueenofShebalivedintheflatacrosstheairshaft,DellawouldhaveletherhairhangoutthewindowsomedaytodryjusttodepreciateHerMajesty’sjewelsandgifts.HadKingSolomonbeenthejanitor,withallhistreasurespiledupinthebasement,Jimwouldhavepulledouthiswatcheverytimehepassed,justtoseehimpluckathisbeardfromenvy.

10.SonowDella’sbeautifulhairfellaboutherripplingandshininglikeacascadeofbrownwaters.Itreachedbelowherkneeandmadeitselfalmostagarmentforher.Andthenshediditupagainnervouslyandquickly.Onceshefalteredforaminuteandstoodstillwhileatearortwosplashedonthewornredcarpet.

11.Onwentheroldbrownjacket;onwentheroldbrownhat.Withawhirlofskirtsandwiththebrilliantsparklestillinhereyes,sheflutteredoutthedooranddownthestairstothestr