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cry [kraɪ] плакати / кричати
cheap [tʃiːp] дешевий
below her knees [bɪˈləʊ hə niːz] нижче її колін
chain [tʃeɪn] ланцюжок
at last [æt lɑːst] нарешті
watch [wɒtʃ] годинник (наручний або кишеньковий)
gift [ɡɪft] подарунок
combs [kəʊmz] гребінці
dream [driːm] мріяти
sold [səʊld] продав (минулий час від sell)


One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all.
And sixty cents of it was in small coins.
Della counted it three times. One dollar and eighty-seven cents.
And the next day was Christmas.
There was nothing to do but sit down and cry. So Della cried.

Della lived with her husband, Jim, in a very small and cheap apartment.
They were very poor, but they loved each other very much.
Della wanted to buy a beautiful Christmas present for Jim.
She had only $1.87. Suddenly, she looked at herself in the mirror.
She had very long, beautiful brown hair. It fell about her like
a cascade of brown water. It reached (діставали) below her knees.

She went out to a shop that bought hair.
"Will you buy my hair?" asked Della.
"I buy hair," said the lady. "Take your hat off and let’s see."
The lady gave Della $20.

Della spent the next two hours looking for Jim’s present.
She found it at last. It was a platinum chain for his gold watch.
The watch was very old and beautiful; it belonged (належав)
to his father and grandfather. The chain cost $21. Della ran home with 87 cents.

When Jim came home, he looked at Della. His eyes were strange.
"Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me like that (не дивись так на мене).
I sold my hair to buy you a Christmas gift!"

Jim took a package from his pocket and put it on the table.
"I love you, Della," he said. "Open this."

Della opened the package. Inside were The Combs (гребінці) —
beautiful, expensive combs for her hair that she had seen in
a shop window and dreamed about. And now her hair was gone
(А зараз у неї не було волосся).

Then Della gave Jim his present — the beautiful chain.
"Give me your watch, Jim! I want to see how it looks with the new chain."
But Jim sat down and smiled.
"Della," he said, "I sold my watch to get the money to buy your combs."
And so, these two people were very wise.
They gave each other the greatest gifts of .