O. Henry, whose real
name was William Sydney Porter, wrote the short story “The Gift of the Magi.”
It was published in 1910. Below are the opening paragraphs of the story. ----------------------
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.
