The Gift of the Magi · chapter 3 of 3
Two Gifts
两份礼物
A Ming comes home through the snow and stops dead in the doorway. Two presents are waiting, and a surprise neither of them saw coming.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 晚上七点，外面下着大雪。门开了，阿明走了进来。
Wǎnshang qī diǎn, wàimiàn xiàzhe dàxuě. Mén kāi le, Ā Míng zǒu le jìnlái.
At seven that evening, heavy snow was falling outside. The door opened, and A Ming came in.
- Narrator 他看着小美，站在门口，一句话也不说。
Tā kànzhe Xiǎo Měi, zhàn zài ménkǒu, yí jù huà yě bù shuō.
He stood in the doorway, staring at Xiao Mei, without a word.
- Xiao Mei 阿明，你怎么不说话？你生气了吗？
Ā Míng, nǐ zěnme bù shuōhuà? Nǐ shēngqì le ma?
A Ming, why won't you say anything? Are you angry?
Chapter 3 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.
- A Ming 你的头发……你的长头发呢？
Nǐ de tóufa… nǐ de cháng tóufa ne?
Your hair… Where's your long hair?
- Xiao Mei 我把它剪了，卖了。圣诞节，我一定要送你一个礼物！你别生气，好不好？
Wǒ bǎ tā jiǎn le, mài le. Shèngdànjié, wǒ yídìng yào sòng nǐ yí gè lǐwù! Nǐ bié shēngqì, hǎo bu hǎo?
I cut it off and sold it. I just had to give you a Christmas present! Please don't be angry, all right?
- A Ming 那么好的头发，你把它卖了？
Nàme hǎo de tóufa, nǐ bǎ tā mài le?
Hair as beautiful as that, and you sold it?
- Xiao Mei 卖了，头发没有了，可是我还是你的小美啊。
Mài le, tóufa méiyǒu le, kěshì wǒ háishi nǐ de Xiǎo Měi a.
Yes, it's sold, and my hair is gone. But I'm still your Xiao Mei.
- A Ming 小美，我没有生气。长头发，短头发，我都一样爱你。
Xiǎo Měi, wǒ méiyǒu shēngqì. Cháng tóufa, duǎn tóufa, wǒ dōu yíyàng ài nǐ.
Xiao Mei, I'm not angry. Long hair or short, I love you just the same.
- A Ming 可是，你先打开这个盒子。打开了，你就知道我为什么这样了。
Kěshì, nǐ xiān dǎkāi zhège hézi. Dǎkāi le, nǐ jiù zhīdào wǒ wèishénme zhèyàng le.
But first, open this box. Then you'll see why I froze like that.
- Xiao Mei 这是……南京路那家店里的梳子！
Zhè shì… Nánjīng Lù nà jiā diàn lǐ de shūzi!
These are… the combs from that shop on Nanjing Road!
- Xiao Mei 我看了多少次，想了多少次，现在它们是我的了！可是，我的头发……
Wǒ kàn le duōshao cì, xiǎng le duōshao cì, xiànzài tāmen shì wǒ de le! Kěshì, wǒ de tóufa…
All the times I looked at them, all the times I wished for them, and now they're mine! But my hair…
- Xiao Mei 没关系，我的头发长得很快！
Méi guānxi, wǒ de tóufa zhǎng de hěn kuài!
Never mind. My hair will grow back in no time!
- Xiao Mei 对了，阿明，你看，你的礼物！
Duì le, Ā Míng, nǐ kàn, nǐ de lǐwù!
Oh! A Ming, look, your present!
- Xiao Mei 一条金表链！我找了两个小时呢。快把金表给我，我想看看，配上它有多好看！
Yì tiáo jīn biǎoliàn! Wǒ zhǎo le liǎng gè xiǎoshí ne. Kuài bǎ jīnbiǎo gěi wǒ, wǒ xiǎng kànkan, pèi shàng tā yǒu duō hǎokàn!
A gold watch chain! I spent two hours looking for it. Quick, give me your watch. I want to see how it looks with the chain!
- A Ming 小美，我们先把这两份礼物收起来吧。
Xiǎo Měi, wǒmen xiān bǎ zhè liǎng fèn lǐwù shōu qǐlái ba.
Xiao Mei, let's put these two presents away for now.
- Xiao Mei 为什么要收起来？
Wèishénme yào shōu qǐlái?
Why put them away?
- A Ming 因为我的金表，已经卖了。我卖了表，给你买了梳子。
Yīnwèi wǒ de jīnbiǎo, yǐjīng mài le. Wǒ mài le biǎo, gěi nǐ mǎi le shūzi.
Because my gold watch is already sold. I sold it to buy you the combs.
- Xiao Mei 你卖了表，给我买梳子？我卖了头发，给你买表链？
Nǐ mài le biǎo, gěi wǒ mǎi shūzi? Wǒ mài le tóufa, gěi nǐ mǎi biǎoliàn?
You sold your watch to buy me combs? And I sold my hair to buy you a chain?
- A Ming 现在啊，梳子没有头发，表链也没有表了！
Xiànzài a, shūzi méiyǒu tóufa, biǎoliàn yě méiyǒu biǎo le!
So now the combs have no hair, and the chain has no watch!
- Narrator 两个人看着对方，笑了起来。笑着笑着，他们抱在了一起。
Liǎng gè rén kànzhe duìfāng, xiào le qǐlái. Xiàozhe xiàozhe, tāmen bào zài le yìqǐ.
The two of them looked at each other and began to laugh. Still laughing, they held each other tight.
- Xiao Mei 阿明，圣诞节快乐。
Ā Míng, Shèngdànjié kuàilè.
Merry Christmas, A Ming.
- A Ming 圣诞节快乐，小美。好了，我饿了，我们吃饭吧！
Shèngdànjié kuàilè, Xiǎo Měi. Hǎo le, wǒ è le, wǒmen chī fàn ba!
Merry Christmas, Xiao Mei. Now then, I'm starving. Let's eat!
- Narrator 很久以前，有几位聪明人，叫麦琪。他们走了很远的路，给一个刚出生的孩子送去了礼物。
Hěn jiǔ yǐqián, yǒu jǐ wèi cōngming rén, jiào Màiqí. Tāmen zǒu le hěn yuǎn de lù, gěi yí gè gāng chūshēng de háizi sòng qù le lǐwù.
Long ago, there were some wise men called the Magi. They traveled a long way to bring gifts to a newborn child.
- Narrator 有人会说，这两个年轻人一点儿也不聪明。可是在所有送礼物的人里，他们才是最聪明的。他们，就是麦琪。
Yǒu rén huì shuō, zhè liǎng gè niánqīngrén yìdiǎnr yě bù cōngming. Kěshì zài suǒyǒu sòng lǐwù de rén lǐ, tāmen cái shì zuì cōngming de. Tāmen, jiù shì Màiqí.
Some would say these two young people weren't wise at all. But of everyone who gives presents, no one is wiser. They are the true Magi.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does A Ming do when he first sees Xiao Mei?
“他看着小美，站在门口，一句话也不说。”
- Is A Ming angry about her hair?
“我没有生气。长头发，短头发，我都一样爱你。”
- What is in the box A Ming gives Xiao Mei?
“南京路那家店里的梳子！”
- Why can't A Ming put the new chain on his watch?
“我卖了表，给你买了梳子。”
- Who does the storyteller say are the wisest gift-givers?
“他们才是最聪明的。他们，就是麦琪。”