關於生死的短篇小說
❶ 羅生門講的是什麼
《羅生門》講述了藤暮時分，羅生門下，一個家奴正在等侯著雨停，當他茫然不知所措，仿若於生死未決時，偶遇以拔死人頭發為生的一老嫗，走投無路的家奴邪惡大發，決心棄苦從惡，剝下老嫗的衣服逃離了羅生門。
在一個戰爭年代，一個被主人趕出來的僕人，思想上正在做強盜和被餓死之間掙扎。這時正巧走到一個到處都堆滿死屍的地方，也就是叫做羅生門的地方，他壯起膽子，想進去找到一些財物。結果他竟然發現有一個衣衫襤褸的老婦人正在從一個年輕女子的死屍頭上拔頭發。
他沖上去說你這個沒人性的，竟然對死屍也不放過。老太婆解釋說她只是想用這些頭發做個頭套謀生罷了。他說「曾經這個婦人，用蛇肉曬干當做魚干來賣，吃了魚乾的人們覺得很好吃，婦人得以維持生計。我並不覺得這婦人做錯了，她跟我一樣都是為了生存啊！」
於是，僕人大悟了，既然是為了生存，還有什麼不可以的？於是，他就搶了老太婆的衣服逃走了，並且從那以後再也沒人見過他。
(1)關於生死的短篇小說擴展閱讀：
《羅生門》是日本作家芥川龍之介1915年創作的短篇小說，情節取材於日本古典故事集《今昔物語》。
作品雖以舊題材創作的歷史小說，卻被賦予了一定的寓意，描寫了社會最底層頑強掙扎著繼續生存的民眾，而並非單純意義上的歷史小說。
作品影響：
《羅生門》以柳川隆之介的筆名，發表於大正4年（1915）的《帝國文學》上，之後芥川龍之介將其創作的短篇小說集也取名為《羅生門》。在其後的作品中芥川再也設有用過柳川窿之介這一筆名，而且在其第一部短篇小說集《羅生門》中除了《羅生門》外，所有以柳川隆之介發表的作品都沒有收錄。從這一點上，讀者就可以看出小說《羅生門》在芥川文學中的重要位置。
參考鏈接：網路-羅生門
❷ 莫言的主要作品有哪些
莫言，生於1956年，山東高密人，主要作品有長篇小說集《紅高粱家族》、《豐乳肥臀》、《天堂蒜苔之歌》，中短篇小說集《透明的蘿卜》、《爆炸》等。中篇小說《紅高粱》是莫言的代表作品，發表於《人民文學》1986年第3期，獲1985～1986年全國優秀中篇小說獎。後據此改編的同名電影於1988年在西柏林國際電影節上獲金熊獎。
❸ 張愛玲小說簡介 張愛玲小說介紹
1、《傾城之戀》是張愛玲最膾炙人口的短篇小說之一。是一篇探討愛情、婚姻和人性在戰亂及其前後，怎樣生存和掙扎的作品。
故事發生在香港，上海來的白家小姐白流蘇，經歷了一次失敗的婚姻，身無分文，在親戚間備受冷嘲熱諷，看盡世態炎涼。偶然認識了多金瀟灑的單身漢范柳原，便拿自己當做賭注，遠赴香港，博取范柳原的愛情，要爭取一個合法的婚姻地位。兩個情場高手鬥法的場地在淺水灣飯店，原本白流蘇似是服輸了，但在范柳原即將離開香港時，日軍開始轟炸淺水灣，范柳原折回保護白流蘇。狂轟濫炸，生死交關，牽絆了范柳原，流蘇欣喜中不無悲哀，夠了，如此患難，足以做十年夫妻。
2、《茉莉香片》是現代作家張愛玲創作的短篇小說，發表於1943年7月《雜志》第11卷第4期，收入1944年8月上海雜志社《傳奇》，現收錄於小說集《傾城之戀》。
該小說講述了一個普通青年學生聶傳慶尋找自己內心真正父親的故事。小說藉由一個畸形的下一代受害者形象進行自剖，影射了20世紀40年代上海「陰郁少年」的境遇。
3、《紅玫瑰與白玫瑰》是現代作家張愛玲創作的中篇小說，首次發表於1944年， 中國大陸地區版本收錄於同名小說集。
該小說講述了主人公佟振保與兩個女人的情感糾葛。作為情婦的「紅玫瑰」嬌蕊，以及妻子「白玫瑰」煙鸝，她們都在振保身上傾注了大量感情，在戀情中卑微妥協，而振保愛自己更勝他人，最終還是負了她們，三人為愛身陷囹圄，不得善終。小說生動地呈現了新舊交替時期人們的生活情感和婚姻狀態，對這兩位女性的行為和心理變化大量著墨，通過跌宕曲折的故事情節，再現了女性在男權意識統治的社會下生活的困境，揭示了悲劇產生的根源。
❹ 推薦一些小說吧
你可以去專門的論壇找 神罰論壇 TXT之夢 派派小說論壇 都是只要注冊個帳號就可以免費下載小說 裡面的分類也很明確 ，每1部都有內容介紹和試閱 很容易找到想要的
❺ 莫言蛙的內容梗概
《蛙》這部小說的敘事緣起是日本作家杉谷義人到「我」（蝌蚪）的故鄉與當地文學愛好者暢談文學。在結識了「我」的姑姑之後，杉谷義人鼓勵當地文學愛好者以姑姑為素材寫出感人的作品。受杉谷義人啟發，「我」決定向法國作家薩特看齊，以姑姑的一生為素材創作一部話劇。「我」遵照杉谷義人的囑咐，先以書信的方式把姑姑的故事寫給杉谷義人。
當時，隨著國家市場經濟搞活，「我」的小學同學陳鼻成了村裡有名的萬元戶；他的老婆，小侏儒王膽懷了第二胎。王膽一直躲藏著，直到臨產的時候，乘著一張竹筏想逃到外地去生下腹中的胎兒。在經過一番驚心動魄的追逐後，姑姑的計劃生育隊在河上追上了逃跑的王膽。王膽羊水破裂，姑姑在竹筏上給她接生了一個女嬰，但王膽卻不幸死去。
王仁美不幸死後，姑姑做媒，我娶了姑姑的助手小獅子，但沒再生育。歲月匆匆，時光荏苒。經過二十多年的計劃生育，國家終於控制住了人口暴增的局面。「我」和小獅子也退休回到了故鄉。這時的故鄉正在發生天翻地覆的、走向城市化的巨變，高密東北鄉膠河兩岸正在進行著前所未有的大開發：花園、大小超市、盲人按摩院、美容院、商場、農貿市場、中美合資婦嬰醫院等等大城市有的東西，在這里也都涌現出來。「我」的小學同學袁腮開辦了牛蛙養殖場；王膽的哥哥王肝成了泥塑藝人秦河的助手；姑姑也嫁給了另一老實巴交的泥塑藝人郝大手。王肝送給我一套《高密東北鄉奇人系列》DVD。通過這張DVD，「我」了解了姑姑之所以嫁給郝大手的原因。在姑姑被宣布退休的那天晚上，姑姑喝醉了，她搖搖晃晃地往回走，結果走到了一片窪地。在月光下，蛤蟆、青蛙呱呱地叫著。姑姑想逃離那些蛙叫聲，但蛙聲追逐著她；她一邊嚎叫一邊奔跑，最後遇上了郝大手。
退休之後，姑姑對生命，尤其是對嬰兒和胎兒生命的觀念也在發生變化。晚年的姑姑對生命生發出了中國傳統母親式的大悲憫，並且表現出一個鄉村醫生對神秘生命的沉重思考。她把想像中的那些她引流過的嬰兒形象描述給丈夫——一個民間泥塑藝人，通過丈夫的手，捏成泥人，祈願用這種方式來彌補她對那些沒能來到人世的嬰兒的歉疚。但與此同時，姑姑也用她那雙善於接生的手參與著各種各樣的接生。
在發生了巨變的故鄉，「我」在一家名為「堂吉訶德」的餐館遇到了落魄潦倒的陳鼻。當年英俊的陳鼻，此時頭頂光禿，衣著古怪，裝扮成了塞萬提斯筆下的愁容騎士堂吉訶德，拿著話劇演員的腔調，在餐館里招徠客人；但是因為有酒癮和煙癮，還帶著一條寸步不離的癩皮狗，所以並不討人喜歡。陳鼻的兩個性情高潔的女兒——陳耳和陳眉——曾是高密東北鄉最美麗的姐妹花，她們到南方一家毛絨玩具廠打工，結果在一場震驚全國的大火中，陳耳被燒成焦炭，陳眉燒毀了面容。種種變故使陳鼻變得有些瘋瘋癲癲，甚至想帶著他的狗撲倒車輪下面尋死。
隨著人們生活條件的變化和商品經濟的突飛猛進，一些超生的方式也「與時俱進」，越來越令人驚嘆。在高密東北鄉，袁腮以牛蛙養殖公司為幌子，組織了一批「代孕女」為那些想要生男孩的人代孕。年逾五旬的小獅子耍花招把「我」的精液注入一個「代孕女」體內，並使其懷孕；而這個「代孕女」就是王膽在竹筏上給陳鼻生下了那個女兒，在南方那家毛絨玩具廠燒毀面容的陳眉。「我」一下子陷入前所未有的矛盾糾結中：五十五歲的「我」，糊里糊塗又要做父親了；更何況，「我」和陳眉，這簡直是亂倫啊；「我」想找出辦法讓懷孕數月的陳眉做葯物引產，但「我」年輕時曾因此斷送了妻子王仁美的性命，這是「我」心中最痛的地方，是「我」永難贖還的罪過。在跟一位老同學傾訴了這一切，並聽了那位老同學的一番勸解後，「我」在心理上慢慢接受了現實；「我」甚至把陳眉所懷的孩子想像成王仁美曾經懷的那個在手術台上夭折嬰兒的投胎轉世，並以老來得子的喜悅迎來了兒子的誕生。
在敘述從20世紀50年代到當下這些故事的過程中，作為小有名氣劇作家的「我」，也為自己以姑姑一生為素材創作的話劇找到了靈感。當下生活中的許多事件和「我」要創作的劇本中的故事糾纏在一起，使「我」已經分不清劇本中哪些是紀實，哪裡些虛構。而且在與杉谷義人的通信交往中，「我」內心中的贖罪心理也日漸加重，「我」甚至把寫作當成了一種贖罪的方式。在寄給杉谷義人的劇本中，「我」把前面的敘述延伸到了如夢如幻的話劇舞台上。這是一部具有荒誕色彩的，融合了詼諧、戲謔、調侃、反諷、嬉鬧、靈魂獨白、戲中戲等文體風格的話劇。在劇本中，生下孩子的陳眉因為孩子被抱走而精神失常，到處尋找自己的孩子，甚至闖進公安派出所去訴冤。「我」一家子給代孕生的孩子「金娃」辦滿月宴席時，陳眉闖進來搶走「金娃」，跑進一個以民國時期縣衙大堂為背景的電視戲劇片拍攝現場。經過「縣長」一番頗具諷刺意味的斷案後，「金娃」回到了小獅子的懷抱。在話劇的最後一幕，姑姑展開了內心的剖白：她經常回想起那些因計劃生育而死去的女人和她接生過的孩子。
❻ 經典短篇小說介紹
文學變革時期，短篇文體往往更易於實現藝術實驗和探索的訴求。新時期是中國文學發展的重要轉型階段，在各種文學觀念不斷更新、文學思潮不斷更迭的過程中，短篇小說呈示出諸多藝術創新的顯著特徵，在很大程度上起到了文學變革的“先導性”作用。以下是我介紹給大家的關於經典短篇小說，希望大家喜歡!
經典短篇小說介紹：
1、《乞力馬扎羅的雪》
作者：海明威
豆瓣評分：8.5分
(2965人評價)
內容簡介|
本書收錄了海明威的十一篇短篇佳作。雪山上的豹子，河邊的垂釣人，咖啡廳中的老者……十一個貌似淡薄的故事蘊含了人世間言不盡的滄桑。海明威獨特的“冰山”式文風在他的短篇小說中得到了最佳的呈現。
2、《都柏林人》
作者：詹姆斯·喬伊斯
豆瓣評分：8.5分
(2011人評價)
內容簡介|
本書15篇故事，以寫實和諷刺的表現手法描繪了二十世紀初期都柏林中下階層的生活，癱瘓和死亡貫穿全書。
3、《變形記》
作者：卡夫卡
豆瓣評分：8.3分
(18693人評價)
內容簡介|
卡夫卡描寫了人一夜之間變成大甲蟲的荒誕故事，嘲諷了人和人之間的冷漠和赤裸裸的金錢關系。
4、《九故事》
作者：J. D. 塞林格
豆瓣評分：8.5分
(5342人評價)
內容簡介|
《九故事》是J.D.塞林格的代表作，也是世界公認的當代經典短篇小說集。在他的筆下，兒童與成年人再也無法互相溝通，柔柔的諷喻卻是在這一個世界中的生活藝術。
5、《羅生門》
作者：芥川龍之介
豆瓣評分：8.6分
(11270人評價)
內容簡介|
本書收錄芥川的中短篇小說共十三篇。《羅生門》以風雨不透的布局將人推向生死抉擇的極限，從而展示了“惡”的無可迴避，第一次傳遞出作者對人的理解，對人的無奈與絕望。
6、《大教堂》
作者：雷蒙德·卡佛
豆瓣評分：8.5分
(7742人評價)
內容簡介|
卡佛短篇小說集《大教堂》獲得普利策獎提名，是公認的巔峰之作。它的作品致力於描摹美國平民的生活，表現小人物日常生活的變質，表現普通人被生活打得遍體鱗傷後的孤獨與沉默。
7、《小徑分岔的花園》
作者：博爾赫斯
豆瓣評分：9.1分
(3157人評價)
內容簡介|
偵探小說形式下的小說藝術革新之作。本書敘述了中國博士余准在第一次世界大戰中替德國人充當間諜的故事。“小說—花園—迷宮”的脈絡第一次出現在博爾赫斯的作品中。
值得你深夜躲在被窩里啃的10篇短篇小說介紹：
1、 阿城《棋王》
這應該是我喜愛的第一篇短篇小說。這篇小說也一度被稱之為尋根文學的代表作品。在近幾年流行的“馮唐金線”里，這篇小說也被納入了金線之內。初看小說的動機多半源自我自己本身對象棋的愛好。後來發現，其實小說中真正講棋的內容並不多，反倒是講述了「」時代，被隱藏的“特殊人才”的命運與掙扎。後來我看了小說改編的電影，雖然總體並不如意，但幾個重要橋段卻十分精彩。但更精彩的還是小說，人物描寫的神形兼備，情節的扣人心弦，至今回味無窮。
2、 史鐵生《命若琴弦》
史鐵生大部分的作品裡，都隱藏著對自身命運的憤怒與無奈。盡管它被文學的厚重包裹的很好，但是仍然可見他對生活的詰問。這篇小說，他以盲藝人的角度卻剖析一個五光十色的世界，然後強調“希望”的重要性，又同時證明著希望本身的虛妄。在這樣人物自身製造矛盾的縫隙里，窺探人性骨子裡的堅韌與辛酸。這像是一則人類通用的寓言，也是光明與黑暗相互撕扯的寫真。史鐵生從未假惺惺的歌頌人生的陽面，或者單純斥責生活的陰面，在他的筆下，人生就是枚轉動的硬幣，忽明忽暗，永不停息。
3、 郁達夫《春風沉醉的晚上》
很難想像，一個作家能把頹廢壓抑的情緒，冰冷殘酷的環境寫得如此浪漫和唯美。郁達夫總是把冷色調的環境和低潮期的人物境遇寫得細膩入微，意蘊悠長。這篇小說情節看起來極其薄弱，但感情豐富，人物內心的雕刻鬼斧神工，藉助著深夜的春風，將一個落魄文人的辛酸與浪漫寫得撲朔迷離。其中折射著當時社會的頹唐，人性的善良和對關愛的渴望。小說看起來是似乎是消極的，又似乎是積極的，似乎是樂觀的，又似乎是悲觀的。似乎是表達著命運的不可逆轉性，又似乎在透露某種生活的希望。像是一扇破敗的窗戶里，亮起的幽幽燈火。
4、 余華《世事如煙》
余華的文筆利索而有力，宛如刻刀。他早期的“先鋒文學”作品風格獨樹一幟，風靡一時。其中這篇小說就極具代表性。這篇小說是篇邏輯相當混亂的小說，真至於說，它根本就沒有邏輯。全篇以各種怪力亂神的情節和描寫拼湊而成，甚至是人物都只是用數字作為代號。看起來沒有主題，沒有情感張力，沒有思想寄託，甚至沒有人物形象。那麼本來它應該極其枯燥而無味，但相反的是它散發這一種詭異、荒誕、諱莫如深的文學氣質，讓人喘不過氣來。在這樣的文字里，讀者的想像力和個人見解也獲得無限的發揮空間。
5、 斯蒂芬·茨威格《一個陌生女人的來信》
這篇小說很早聽說，讀過後不得不驚嘆。茨威格竟然能將一封以女人口吻的信件寫得如此牽動人心。小說的情節雖然細碎而縝密，但是基本沒有跌宕與大開大合的反轉，是極其難推動的。但是茨威格的文字魅力在於，能藉助人物內心的描寫將整個時間的跨度交代地清晰透徹，其中的悲歡離合不疾不徐的緩緩道來，彷彿書中人就與讀者隔桌而坐。這篇小說是茨威格的代表作品，徐靜蕾甚至改編成了同名電影。小說中透露著對愛情的敬畏與憐惜，亦摻雜著對人情似紙的怨懟與悲憫。
6、 天下霸唱《北大荒狼災記》
很多人只知道天下霸唱的《鬼吹燈》，但很少人知道他其餘的作品。在我看來，天下霸唱雖然是網路作家出身，但是天賦異稟，講故事的能力在很多專業作家的之上。他擅長怪力亂神、虛實結合的故事架構，承襲了古典小說對人物描寫的方式，生動活潑，精彩紛呈。雖然論文學的造詣，他並不算上乘，但是由於用文字講故事的天賦極高，所以其作品有著不可取代的地位。這篇小說僅僅是講了一個狼災的故事，但起承轉合流暢無阻，情節的一波三折，人物的個性鮮明，以及細節的弦外之音，極具民俗文學的瑰麗色彩。
7、卡爾維諾《弄錯的車站》
老狼所唱的《弄錯的車站》便是根據卡爾維諾這篇小說創作而來的。這是篇幾乎無“指向性”的小說，內容簡單異常，只講了一個人出門，然後坐錯了一趟車，然後看見了意外的景象。但是如此單薄的脈絡里，卡爾維諾將其填充地迷離與詩意，通過環境的烘托，人物的心理活動，鋪敘了一種生活隨處存在的偶爾性與不確定性。在這樣的偶爾和不確定中，人物獲得的意外風景與身心體會，往往打破了生活的沉悶，平添了別樣的姿彩。這篇小說下筆淡，似乎沒有刻意強調某種寓意，但是整體彌漫的詩意又輕而易舉的讓人浮想聯翩。
8、 吳忠全《秋草黃》
吳忠全屬於少有的具有寫作天賦的青年作家。但他的作品良莠不齊，長篇小說寫得幾乎都不好，反倒是部分短篇有一部分寫得老練異常，頗有大家之風。這篇小說收錄在《再沒什麼比生命更寂寥》里，這也是我認為他最好的一本書。書里定義為散文，但實際上更接近小說。情節並不復雜，講述了一個男人因為思念前女友，回到老家與之相見，尋找失落的記憶。但是物是人非，前女友已經有了新的歸宿。他與前女友約會、吃飯、散步，但是都與舊時落差之大，一切都回不去了。全篇對話極少，但渲染與白描極其到位，無聲勝有聲。
9、 曾楚橋《餘生》
邂逅這篇小說是在火車站的小報攤上，火車行至午夜十分看到了這篇小說，驚艷不已。小說讓人極容易想起王家衛。因為小說的對白和構圖極具王家衛電影的風格。小說只有一男一女兩個人物，他們的相遇、經歷、結局，都有著一種強烈的宿命色彩，像是一種概念性的存在，落筆一直懸在空中，導致情節顯得空盪，不切實際。但這種寫法的魅力就在於將真實的生活虛化，在人物的內心世界無限放大，通過簡短、機鋒似的對白，勾勒了情到痴狂處的執念、瘋狂與荒涼。作者的寫作語感極好，最後收尾的對話讓人不禁動容，久久難以釋懷。
10、聽潮天外《聾子聽啞巴說瞎子看見了》
雖然這小說的作者現在還名不見經傳，但是並不妨礙我對這篇小說的喜愛。小說中少年有三位老朋友，一個聾子，一個啞巴，一個瞎子，通過與這三個老朋友的際遇，勾勒了一幅浮生若夢的情感畫卷，透露著一種對人生、歲月靜然窺探的靈氣。小說的語言詩化，長短句交錯，人物的存在不為寫實，更像是作為符號存在。全篇氤氳著一種人與人之間緣分的游離感。人物的飄零、苦悶、善良，與這個世界的格格不入導致了出世與入世的沖突，在沖突的最後，歲月無聲又包囊了一切，人物隨著時間的推移也獲得了自我的救贖與內心的通達。
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❼ 世界著名短篇小說
THE GIFT OF THE
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 graally 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 thereunto was a card bearing the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young."
The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze ring a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, 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 introced 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 lly at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray 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: "Mne. 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 prayer 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 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 ll 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 plication. 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. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.