One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. —
1美元和87美分。 —

And sixty cents of it was in pennies. —
其中60美分是在一分硬币中。 —

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. —
通过与杂货商、蔬菜商和屠夫进行一对两次的交易来节省零钱，以至于自己的脸颊因为这种近乎吝啬的交易而发烫。 —

Three times Della counted it. —
德拉数了三次。 —

One dollar and eighty- seven cents. —
一美元八十七美分。 —

And the next day would be Christmas.
而明天是圣诞节。

There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. —
明显没有别的事情可做，只能瘫坐在破旧的小沙发上哭泣。 —

So Della did it. —
所以德拉就这么做了。 —

Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
这引发了一番思考：生活由哭泣、抽泣和微笑组成，其中抽泣占主导地位。

While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. —
在家中的女主人逐渐从第一阶段陷入第二阶段之际，来看看这个家。 —

A furnished flat at $8 per week. —
一套每周8美元的家具公寓。 —

It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.
它并不完全可以说是乞丐般的描述，但它绝对让人想到了那个乞讨队。

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. —
在下面的门厅里有一个信箱，但是没有一个信件会被投进去。还有一个电钮，但是没有人的手指能够按响它。 —

Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.”
还有一张卡片，上面写着“詹姆斯·迪林汉姆·杨先生”。

The “Dillingham” had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. —
这个“迪林汉姆”是在之前的繁荣时期，当其拥有者每周拿到30美元工资时揭示出来的。 —

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 introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.
现在，当收入缩水到20美元时，他们正认真考虑缩小为一个谦逊的D。但是无论什么时候詹姆斯·迪林汉姆·杨先生回家，到了他楼上的公寓，他都会被称为“吉姆”，并被迪拉·詹姆斯·迪林汉姆·杨热烈拥抱，你已经在前文中见过她作为德拉的介绍，这一切都很好。

Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. —
迪拉结束了她的哭泣，用粉扑擦拭着脸颊。 —

She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. —
她站在窗前，茫然地望着灰色花园中一只灰色猫在灰色围栏上走来走去。 —

Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. —
明天就是圣诞节了，她只有1.87美元可以用来给吉姆买礼物。 —

She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. —
她已经为了几个月节俭地存下每一分钱，结果却是这样。每周20美元也不够用。 —

Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. —
花费比她计算的要多。它们总是如此。 —

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. —
只有1.87美元可以买一份给吉姆的礼物。她的吉姆。她曾经花了许多快乐时光来计划给他买些好东西。 —

Something fine and rare and sterling–something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.
一些美丽、稀有和精美的东西——近乎足以配得上吉姆拥有的荣誉的东西。

There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. —
在房间的窗户之间有一面穿衣镜。 —

Perhaps you have seen a pierglass in an $8 flat. —
也许你在一套8美元的公寓里见过一面穿衣镜。 —

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. —
一个非常瘦且非常灵活的人通过观察他在一系列纵向条纹中的反射，可以对自己的外貌有一个相当准确的概念。 —

Della, being slender, had mastered the art.
德拉，身材苗条，已经掌握了这种技巧。

Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. —
她突然从窗口转身站在镜子前。 —

her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. —
她的眼睛闪亮灿烂，但她的脸在二十秒内失去了颜色。 —

Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.
她迅速地把头发放下来，让它完全延伸到最长。

Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. —
现在，詹姆斯·迪林汉姆·杨家里有两样宝贝，他们都对此感到非常自豪。 —

One was Jim’s gold watch that had been his father’s and his grandfather’s. —
其中一样是吉姆的金表，这是他父亲和祖父的传家之宝。 —

The other was Della’s hair. —
另一样则是戴拉的头发。 —

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. —
如果示巴女王住在空中板隔壁，戴拉某天会故意把她的头发晾在窗外，以便抬低女王的珠宝和礼物的价值。 —

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.
如果所罗门王做这座大厦的看房员，地下室里堆满了他的财宝，吉姆每次经过时都会掏出他的表，只是为了看到所罗门羡慕地抓住自己的胡须。

So now Della’s beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. —
所以现在，戴拉美丽的头发就像棕色的瀑布一样灿烂闪亮地垂落下来。 —

It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her.
它垂至膝盖以下，几乎成了戴拉的一件装饰品。

And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. —
然后她又紧张而快速地扎起来。有一次， —

Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.
她犹豫了一分钟，站在原地，几滴泪水洒在破旧的红地毯上。

On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. —
她穿上了她那件古老的棕色夹克， —

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.
戴上了她那顶古老的棕色帽子。衣摆旋转，眼睛里依旧闪耀着明亮的光芒，她飘然走出门，沿着楼梯下到了街上。

Where she stopped the sign read: “Mne. Sofronie. —
她停下来的地方挂着一块招牌： —

Hair Goods of All Kinds.” One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting. —
“索夫洛尼女士，各类发饰。”戴拉跑上了楼梯，喘着气整理自己。 —

Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the “Sofronie.”
女士本人，身材高大，过白的皮肤，冷酷的气息，看上去一点也不像“索夫洛尼”。

“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.
“你愿意卖掉我的头发吗？”戴拉问道。

“I buy hair,” said Madame. —
“我买头发，”女士说道。 —

“Take yer hat off and let’s have a sight at the looks of it.”
“摘下你的帽子，让我看看它的样子。”

Down rippled the brown cascade.
棕色瀑布般的头发垂落下来。

“Twenty dollars,” said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.
“二十美元，”女士说道，娴熟地抬起那一大团头发。

“Give it to me quick,” said Della.
“快给我看看，”戴拉说道。

Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. —
哦，接下来的两个小时如踏在玫瑰翅膀上一般快速流逝。 —

Forget the hashed metaphor. —
忘记那拙劣的比喻吧。 —

She was ransacking the stores for Jim’s present.
她在商店里搜寻着吉姆的礼物。

She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. —
最终她找到了。这个肯定是为吉姆而设计的，没有其他人适合。 —

There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. —
没有其他商店有类似的，而她已经打开了所有商店的底袋。 —

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. —
这是一条白金护链，设计简单朴素，通过实物本身而不是华丽的装饰来宣告它的价值 - 所有好东西都应该如此。 —

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. —
它甚至与那个手表配得上。她一看到它就知道它一定是吉姆的。它就像他一样。 —

Quietness and value–the description applied to both.
宁静和价值 - 这个描述适用于两者。

Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. —
她把它买下花了21美元，然后急忙带着87美分回家。 —

With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. —
有了这条链子挂在手表上，吉姆在任何场合都可以放心地关注时间。 —

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.
尽管手表很好，但他有时偷偷看它，因为他用旧皮带代替链子。

When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. —
当达拉回到家时，她的醉意逐渐变得谨慎和理智。 —

She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. —
她拿出她的卷发夹，点燃煤气，开始修复慷慨和爱情带来的破坏。 —

Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends–a mammoth task.
亲爱的朋友们，这总是一项巨大的任务。

Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. —
在四十分钟内，她的头上被密集而紧贴的卷发覆盖，让她看起来像一个逃学的男生。 —

She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.
她仔细而长时间地审视着镜子中的自己。

“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. —
“如果吉姆在第二次看到我的时候不杀了我，他会说我看起来像一个康尼岛合唱团的女孩。”她自言自语地说。 —

But what could I do–oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty- seven cents?”
但是我能怎么办呢，哦！我用一美元八十七美分能做什么呢？

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.
7点钟时，咖啡已经煮好了，平底锅已经放在炉子后面，热得可以煎排骨了。

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. —
吉姆从来不会迟到。达拉将表链折叠在手中，坐在桌子角落的门旁边，那是他经常进来的地方。 —

Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. —
然后她听到他走下第一层楼的楼梯声，她瞬间脸色苍白。 —

She had a habit for saying little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: —
她习惯于为最简单的日常事物默默祈祷，现在她轻声说道： —

“Please God, make him think I am still pretty.”
“求上帝，请让他认为我还是漂亮的。”

The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. —
门开了，吉姆走了进来，关上了门。 —

He looked thin and very serious. —
他看起来消瘦而非常严肃。 —

Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two–and to be burdened with a family! —
可怜的家伙，他只有二十二岁，却要背负一个家庭的负担！ —

He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.
他需要一件新的大衣，而且没有手套。

Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. —
吉姆站在门内，一动不动，如同指示猎犬闻到鹌鹑的气味。 —

His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. —
他的眼睛专注地盯着德拉，有一种她无法读懂的表情，它让她感到恐惧。 —

It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. —
这不是愤怒，也不是惊讶，不是不赞成，不是恐怖，也不是她准备好的任何情感。 —

He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.
他只是坚定地盯着她看，脸上露出那种奇特的表情。

Della wriggled off the table and went for him.
德拉从桌上滑下来，走向他。

“Jim, darling,” she cried, “don’t look at me that way. —
“亲爱的吉姆，”她喊道，“不要那样看着我。 —

I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn’t have lived through Christmas without giving you a present.
我为了给你一个礼物，在圣诞节前把我的头发剪了卖了。”

It’ll grow out again–you won’t mind, will you? —
“它会再长出来的，你不会介意的，对吗？ —

I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. —
我实在忍不住。我的头发长得非常快。 —

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.”
说‘圣诞快乐！’”“吉姆，让我们快乐起来吧。你不知道我给你准备了多么漂亮-多么美丽的礼物。”

“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.
“你把你的头发剪掉了？”吉姆费劲地问道，好像他还没有思考出那个显而易见的事实。

“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?”
“剪掉了并卖掉了。”德拉说。“你不管我是不是这样，是吗？即使没有头发，我还是我自己，不是吗？”

Jim looked about the room curiously.
吉姆好奇地环顾了一下房间。

“You say your hair is gone?” he said, with an air almost of idiocy.
“你说你的头发没了？”他带着一种近乎愚蠢的语气说道。

“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. —
“你不必找了，”德拉说。“我告诉你，它被卖了，消失了。今天是圣诞前夜，宝贝，请对我好一点，因为我为了你而剪掉了。” —

Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered,” she went on with sudden serious sweetness, “but nobody could ever count my love for you. —
也许我的头发是被数过的，” 她突然认真地说道，” 但没有人能够计算出我对你的爱。 —

Shall I put the chops on, Jim?”
“我要把排骨放上去，吉姆吗？”

Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. —
吉姆似乎从刚才的恍惚中迅速清醒过来。 —

He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. —
他搂住了戴拉。 让我们用谨慎的审视目光看着另一个方向上的一样微不足道的东西，持续了十秒钟。 —

Eight dollars a week or a million a year–what is the difference? —
每周八美元还是一年一百万美元有什么区别呢？ —

A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. —
一个数学家或者一个机智的人会给出错误的答案。 —

The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. —
法士们带来了很珍贵的礼物，但其中没有包括这个。 —

This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.
这个黑暗的说法稍后会被解释清楚。

Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.
吉姆从大衣口袋里拿出一个包裹，扔在桌子上。

“Don’t make any mistake, Dell,” he said, “about me. —
“别搞错了，黛尔。”他说道，”我对你没什么变化。 —

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. —
没有什么理发、剃须或洗头的事情会让我对我的女孩儿有任何减少的感觉。 —

But if you’ll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first.”
“但是如果你把那个包裹打开，也许你就会明白为什么一开始我有些迷惑了。”

White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. —
白皙的手指灵活地撕扯着绳子和纸。 —

And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! —
然后是喜悦的尖叫声，然后，哀悼啊！ —

a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.
一个女性的情绪迅速转变为歇斯底里的眼泪和哭声，迫使她迅速寻求安慰的力量，即她的丈夫。

For there lay The Combs–the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. —
因为在那里摆放着梳子——一套梳子，包括侧梳和发针，这套梳子在百老汇商店的橱窗里，德拉长久以来一直崇拜着。 —

Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims–just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. —
漂亮的梳子，纯贝壳制成，带有镶嵌的边缘——正适合用在那美丽而消逝的头发上。 —

They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. —
她知道这些梳子很贵，但她的心只是简简单单地渴望着和翘盼着能拥有它们，即便希望只是一线之缘。 —

And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.
现在，它们是她的了，然而本该装饰这些心仪的饰品的秀发已不复存在。

But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: —
但她紧紧地拥抱着它们，最终能够抬起朦胧的眼睛，微笑着说：“我的头发长得太快了， —

“My hair grows so fast, Jim!”
吉姆！”

And them Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, “Oh, oh!”
于是，德拉像只受了点伤的小猫一样跳了起来，哭道：“哦，哦！”

Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. —
吉姆还没有看到他漂亮的礼物。 —

She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. —
她急切地将它放在手掌上递给他。 —

The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.
这块沉闷的贵金属似乎闪耀着她明亮而热情的精神的倒影。

“Isn’t it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. —
“吉姆，这是个好东西吧？我在城里到处找它。 —

You’ll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. —
从现在开始，你得一天看一百次时间了。 —

Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it.”
把你的手表给我。我想看看它戴在上面是什么样子。”

Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.
吉姆没有照办，他一头栽倒在沙发上，将手放在头后，笑了起来。

“Dell,” said he, “let’s put our Christmas presents away and keep ‘em a while. —
“戴尔，”他说，”咱们把圣诞礼物收起来保存一段时间吧。 —

They’re too nice to use just at present. —
它们太漂亮了，暂时还用不上。 —

I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. —
我卖了手表来买你的梳子。 —

And now suppose you put the chops on.”
现在你把肉排放上吧。”

The magi, as you know, were wise men–wonderfully wise men–who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. —
众所周知，那些礼赞者是智者，非常聪明的智者，他们给马槽中的婴儿带来了礼物。 —

They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. —
他们发明了赠送圣诞礼物的艺术。 —

Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. —
作为聪明的人，他们的礼物无疑是明智的选择，可能还可以通过交换来避免重复。 —

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. —
在这里，我简单地向你叙述了一个平淡无奇的故事，讲述了两个愚蠢的孩子在一间公寓里愚蠢地为对方牺牲了他们家中最宝贵的财物。 —

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. —
但对于当今明智之人的最后忠告是，这两个人是所有送礼者中最聪明的。 —

O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. —
哦，所有给与接受礼物的人，他们都是最为明智的。无论在哪里， —

Everywhere they are wisest.
他们都是最明智的。