Once upon a time, there was a guy named Magi. It wasn't my choice, trust me. Magi always got his name pronounced wrong, Magi always got teased because nobody could get his name right, and Magi understandably got fed up with it. So, he went by his middle name: James. Now, James didn't know that eventually his first name would be forgotten, and James hadn't the slightest inkling that he was going to go down in history as a fictional character. He was just James. Anyway, James lived back in the days where everything was dirt cheap. Yes, reader, I'm talking about the olden days your grandparents always talk about with a longing look; you know, the days where gas was only a nickel per gallon and so on and so forth. Now, despite those amazing low prices; James was super poor, like, $20 a week poor. And James had a family to take care of too! He had a lovely wife with long hair of whom he loved dearly, and this year he couldn't see how he could get his wife, Della (she didn't bother to go by her middle name), those cute combs he saw her eyeballing. Now, James had this sweet gold watch that his dad gave to him a long time ago. It must've been a whole lot of cash back in ye olden days. Now, James was in a dilemma. His wife would look even more smoking if she had those combs, and she would be elated to find out she'd gotten her them for Christmas. So James thought about it, and thought about it, and thought about it. Then he thought about it some more. Finally, he decided the happiness of his wife was more important than any watch or expensive item. So, he sold his watch, bought the combs, and hurried home to his wife. Guess what? When he got home, Della had cut and sold her hair to get his gold antique watch a nice gold chain. When he showed Della he'd gotten her those combs, she was elated. "Don't worry, my hair grows fast." She said. "Well, let's just save our presents. They're too good to use now." And then Della and James ate supper, with no love lost between them.
And, as O. Henry said, "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."
I'm sure James was pretty flattered to be called a wise man, don't you? ;-)
Story is courtesy of www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/henry/Gift_Magi.pdf
And, as O. Henry said, "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."
I'm sure James was pretty flattered to be called a wise man, don't you? ;-)
Story is courtesy of www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/henry/Gift_Magi.pdf
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