Maharashtra Board Class 10 English Kumarbharti Unit Four Chapter 4.6 The Gift of Magi PDF Download

The Gift Of The Magi

Warming Up!

1. The moment you hear the word 'Gift' what feelings do you experience, Complete the web with those feelings.

2. 'Gifts' need not be material gifts. They can be abstract and yet priceless. For example, favours, kindness, shown, help in times of need etc.

Think of and enlist such unforgettable gifts given to you by:

(1) Parents/ Grand parents:

(2) Siblings/ relatives:

(3) Friends:

(4) Strangers:

3. Say whether the words underlined are infinitives/ participles or gerunds.

(1) The athletes wanted to take part in the running race.

(a)

(b)

(2) Would you like to eat at the dinning table?

(a)

(b)

(3) Reading is good for the mind and soul. So take up reading books.

(a)

(b)

(4) I like to eat fruits rather than eating sweets.

(a)

(b)

(5) Listening and speaking sharpen your language skills.

(a)

(b)

Teacher's Note

Gifts can be things we buy or things we give from our heart. When your grandmother teaches you to cook or your friend helps you in studies, those are gifts too. Just like in India, we share time and knowledge with family members.

Exam Trick

Remember: Infinitive = to + verb (to eat, to run). Gerund = verb + ing used as noun (reading, playing). Participle = verb + ing used as adjective (running race, sleeping boy).

Points to Remember

Gifts can be material or non-material.
Non-material gifts are things like love, help, and kindness.
Infinitives start with 'to' before the verb.
Gerunds are words ending in 'ing' that work like nouns.
Participles end in 'ing' but work like adjectives.

The Gift Of The Magi

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.

While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the look out for the mendicancy squad.

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. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young."

The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. 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.

bulldozing: pressurizing

cheeks burned: felt ashamed

imputation: associative action to some person

parsimony: unwillingness to spend money

instigates: provokes

mendicancy squad: police who arrest beggars and the homeless

coax: urge

appertaining: concerning

Teacher's Note

O Henry wrote this story long ago. The story shows how poor Della and Jim were. Just like some families in India struggle to buy gifts for their loved ones, Della only had $1.87 for her husband's Christmas gift.

Exam Trick

Remember: Della has only $1.87. She saved this money by asking the grocer and butcher to give her low prices. This shows she was very poor and ashamed of bargaining.

Points to Remember

Della saved money by bargaining with the grocer and butcher.
She only had $1.87 for Jim's Christmas gift.
Their flat was very small and cost only $8 per week.
Jim was called "Jim" at home but his real name was James Dillingham Young.
The family had lost their money. Jim now earned only $20 per week instead of $30.

Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. 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. Something fine and rare and sterling - something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honour of being owned by Jim.

There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat. 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. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.

Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its colour within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.

Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Young in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. 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. 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.

So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.

On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. 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.

depreciate: gradually diminish in value

cascade: a small waterfall

garment: clothing

accurate: correct/precise

basement: the floor of a building which is partly or entirely below ground level

Teacher's Note

Della had two treasures: her long beautiful hair and her love for Jim. In India, long hair is very important to women. Della's decision to cut her hair shows how much she loved Jim and wanted to give him a gift.

Exam Trick

Remember: Jim's pride = his gold watch. Della's pride = her long hair. Both treasures were passed down from their parents. This makes the story more sad and special.

Points to Remember

Della had very beautiful long hair that reached below her knee.
Jim had a gold watch that belonged to his father and grandfather.
These were the two most important things they owned.
Della suddenly decided to do something about her hair.
She cut her hair and sold it to buy Jim a Christmas gift.

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