关于本书
这篇短篇小说以一间简陋的公寓为背景，讲述了一对贫穷的年轻夫妇为买不起送给彼此的圣诞礼物而发愁。当他们各自为了爱情做出孤注一掷的牺牲时，故事探讨了慷慨与奉献的真正含义。这是一个感人的经典故事，讲述人们愿意为自己最珍视的人付出到何种程度。
开篇
One dollar and eighty-seven cents.
一块八毛七分钱。
That was all.
就这么多。
And sixty cents of it was in pennies.
而其中六毛钱还是一分一分的硬币。
Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher
这些硬币是一次一个、两个地攒下来的，靠的是跟杂货店老板、菜贩和肉铺老板软磨硬泡，
until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied.
直到这种斤斤计较所暗含的无声的吝啬指责让人脸颊发烫。
Three times Della counted it.
德拉数了三遍。
One dollar and eighty-seven cents.
一块八毛七分钱。
And the next day would be Christmas.
而第二天就是圣诞节了。
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.
显然，除了扑倒在那张破旧的小沙发上嚎啕大哭之外，别无办法。
So Della did it.
于是德拉就这样做了。
Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
这就引出了一种道德上的感想：人生是由啜泣、抽噎和微笑组成的，而抽噎占了大部分。
While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home.
在这家的女主人逐渐从第一阶段平息到第二阶段的时候，来看一看这个家吧。
A furnished flat at $8 per week.
一套带家具的公寓，每周八块钱。
It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.
它倒不至于到无法形容的地步，但它确实离那支专抓乞丐的巡逻队不远了。
In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go,
楼下的门廊里有一个信箱，没有一封信能塞得进去，
and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring.
还有一个电铃按钮，没有一根凡人的手指能哄它响起来。
Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.”
跟这些相配的还有一张名片，上面印着“詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬先生”这个名字。
The “Dillingham” had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity
“迪林厄姆”这个字眼是在从前一段兴旺的时期随风张扬开来的，
when its possessor was being paid $30 per week.
那时它的主人每周能挣三十块钱。
Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D.
可现在，收入缩减到了二十块钱，他们正在认真考虑把它缩写成一个朴素而谦逊的D。