The Gift of the Magi · chapter 2 of 3
Her Long Hair
她的长头发
A little hair shop, a pair of big scissors, and twenty yuan. Then Xiao Mei hunts along Nanjing Road for a present worthy of A Ming.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 弄堂口有一家小理发店。门上写着三个字：收头发。
Lòngtáng kǒu yǒu yì jiā xiǎo lǐfàdiàn. Mén shang xiězhe sān gè zì: shōu tóufa.
At the mouth of the lane stood a little hair shop. Three words were written on its door: WE BUY HAIR.
- Xiao Mei 老板娘，您……您这里收头发吗？
Lǎobǎnniáng, nín… nín zhèlǐ shōu tóufa ma?
Ma'am, do you… do you buy hair here?
- Shop Owner 收啊，你放下头发，让我看看。
Shōu a, nǐ fàng xià tóufa, ràng wǒ kànkan.
I do. Let your hair down and let me have a look.
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Gift of the Magi is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Shop Owner 天哪，这么长的头发！我开店十年了，还没见过这么好的！
Tiān na, zhème cháng de tóufa! Wǒ kāi diàn shí nián le, hái méi jiàn guo zhème hǎo de!
Good heavens! Hair this long! I've had this shop for ten years, and I've never seen any this fine!
- Shop Owner 又黑又亮，一点儿也不乱。好头发，真是好头发！
Yòu hēi yòu liàng, yìdiǎnr yě bú luàn. Hǎo tóufa, zhēn shì hǎo tóufa!
So black and glossy, and not a single tangle. Good hair. Really good hair!
- Xiao Mei 我的头发，能卖多少钱？
Wǒ de tóufa, néng mài duōshao qián?
How much can I get for my hair?
- Shop Owner 二十块，一分也不能多了。
Èrshí kuài, yì fēn yě bù néng duō le.
Twenty yuan. Not a fen more.
- Xiao Mei 好，二十块！您快剪吧，别让我想太多。
Hǎo, èrshí kuài! Nín kuài jiǎn ba, bié ràng wǒ xiǎng tài duō.
All right, twenty! Cut it quickly, before I have time to think.
- Shop Owner 来，坐下吧。小姑娘，你真的想好了吗？头发剪了，就没有了。
Lái, zuò xià ba. Xiǎo gūniang, nǐ zhēn de xiǎng hǎo le ma? Tóufa jiǎn le, jiù méiyǒu le.
Come, sit down. Young lady, are you really sure? Once your hair is cut, it's gone.
- Xiao Mei 想好了，明天是圣诞节，我要给我先生买一个礼物。
Xiǎng hǎo le, míngtiān shì Shèngdànjié, wǒ yào gěi wǒ xiānsheng mǎi yí gè lǐwù.
I'm sure. Tomorrow's Christmas, and I'm going to buy my husband a present.
- Narrator 剪刀响了几下。那么长的头发，很快就没有了。
Jiǎndāo xiǎng le jǐ xià. Nàme cháng de tóufa, hěn kuài jiù méiyǒu le.
The scissors snipped a few times. All that long hair was gone in moments.
- Shop Owner 你看，多漂亮的头发！拿好，这是二十块钱。
Nǐ kàn, duō piàoliang de tóufa! Ná hǎo, zhè shì èrshí kuài qián.
Just look at it. What beautiful hair! Here, take this: twenty yuan.
- Xiao Mei 谢谢您。没关系，头发还会再长出来的，对不对？
Xièxie nín. Méi guānxi, tóufa hái huì zài zhǎng chūlái de, duì bu duì?
Thank you. It's all right. Hair grows back, doesn't it?
- Narrator 南京路上人很多，很多商店都在卖圣诞节礼物。小美拿着二十块钱，一家一家地找。
Nánjīng Lù shang rén hěn duō, hěn duō shāngdiàn dōu zài mài Shèngdànjié lǐwù. Xiǎo Měi názhe èrshí kuài qián, yì jiā yì jiā de zhǎo.
Nanjing Road was crowded, and lots of shops were selling Christmas presents. Clutching her twenty yuan, Xiao Mei went from shop to shop.
- Xiao Mei 这家的不好看，那家的太贵……已经走了两个小时了，下一家！
Zhè jiā de bù hǎokàn, nà jiā de tài guì… yǐjīng zǒu le liǎng gè xiǎoshí le, xià yì jiā!
Nothing nice in this one, too expensive in that one… I've been walking for two hours. Next shop!
- Xiao Mei 啊，就是它！就是这条金表链！
A, jiù shì tā! Jiù shì zhè tiáo jīn biǎoliàn!
Oh, that's the one! It's this gold watch chain!
- Xiao Mei 简简单单的，可是那么好，就跟阿明一样！
Jiǎnjiǎndāndān de, kěshì nàme hǎo, jiù gēn Ā Míng yíyàng!
Plain and simple, and yet so fine. Just like A Ming!
- Xiao Mei 二十一块……我有二十块，还有一块八毛七，够了！
Èrshíyī kuài… wǒ yǒu èrshí kuài, hái yǒu yí kuài bā máo qī, gòu le!
Twenty-one yuan… I have twenty, plus one eighty-seven. That's enough!
- Xiao Mei 现在我只有八毛七了。可是有了表链，阿明在谁面前，都能看表了！
Xiànzài wǒ zhǐ yǒu bā máo qī le. Kěshì yǒu le biǎoliàn, Ā Míng zài shéi miànqián, dōu néng kàn biǎo le!
Now I'm down to eighty-seven fen. But with a chain, A Ming can check his watch in front of anyone!
- Narrator 回到家，小美又站在了镜子前面，看了很久。
Huí dào jiā, Xiǎo Měi yòu zhàn zài le jìngzi qiánmiàn, kàn le hěn jiǔ.
Back home, Xiao Mei stood in front of the mirror again and looked for a long time.
- Xiao Mei 这是我吗？短短的头发，像一个小男孩！
Zhè shì wǒ ma? Duǎnduǎn de tóufa, xiàng yí gè xiǎo nánhái!
Is that me? With my hair this short, I look like a little boy!
- Xiao Mei 阿明回来，看见我这个样子，会说什么呢？他还会觉得我好看吗？
Ā Míng huílái, kànjiàn wǒ zhège yàngzi, huì shuō shénme ne? Tā hái huì juéde wǒ hǎokàn ma?
When A Ming comes home and sees me like this, what will he say? Will he still think I'm pretty?
- Xiao Mei 有人上楼了……是阿明回来了！老天爷，求求你，让他还觉得我好看吧。
Yǒu rén shàng lóu le… shì Ā Míng huílái le! Lǎotiānyé, qiúqiu nǐ, ràng tā hái juéde wǒ hǎokàn ba.
Someone's coming up the stairs… A Ming is home! Please, Heaven, let him still think I'm pretty.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does the shop owner say about Xiao Mei's hair?
“我开店十年了，还没见过这么好的！”
- How much does the owner pay for the hair?
“二十块，一分也不能多了。”
- Why does Xiao Mei ask the owner to cut quickly?
“您快剪吧，别让我想太多。”
- Why is the gold chain the perfect present?
“简简单单的，可是那么好，就跟阿明一样！”
- What worries Xiao Mei when she gets home?
“他还会觉得我好看吗？”