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The Gift of the Magi; revised standard version.

A wife longed for a new gold necklace. But the family was poor, and her husband was a spendthrift, nice enough but not willing to spend their critical resources on extravagances.

So the cunning woman hatched a plot. Christmas is coming, she told her husband, and I have thought of the perfect gift for you, one that won’t require me to take cash from our limited coffers.

Every day she’d smile and wink and do those wily things a woman can do, which can drive a man mad. Her husband could tell that this was a great gift he was to receive. But that scared him — because he realized he had to reciprocate.

So the husband thought, my wife has lovely hair. What she needs is a clip to hold it tight, but not any clip, but an ornate one worthy of the gift she was clearly working to give to him.

Distraught as to how to get this creat gift, he came up with a plan, one of great personal sacrifice, but which would be nothing compared to the joy his wife would experience. So he went to the local pawn shop, and sold off his prized pocket watch. And with the money, purchased the hair clip for his wife.

Christmas came, and he eagerly awaited his wife’s wakening. But when she came down, he was shocked to see that, when she had removed her bonnet, her fine hair was cut short — so short a hair clip would be useless. And when she opened his present, he could see her dissappointment, and then she cried.

“What is wrong, my dear? what happened to your hair?” So she explained, in sobs and fits, how she had sold her hair for his gift. And he opened the gift, to find a find gold chain for his pocket watch — a watch he no longer had.

But he could not bear to hurt his wife further by explaining why his watch was gone. Instead, he accepted her gift graciously. However, a few days later, he came to her with in fake horror — “Dear, this past day I put my watch down, only for a minute, and some horrible child has stolen it. I am only thankful that I had the foresite to have detached the chain”.

She cried, a horrible cry of tears and sorrow. So he gave her the necklace “Look dear, all is not lost — this gold chain you gave me makes a beautiful necklace for you, and when I get some money, I’ll by a locket to complete it”.

A few months later, the wife’s hair had grown back, just as she had planned — and she was proud to walk about town, with her fine new gold necklace, and a lovely hair clip beside.