2级-《欧·亨利短篇小说集》-第1课

背景知识 

1. 关于《欧·亨利短篇小说集》

《欧·亨利短篇小说集》讲述了：欧·亨利，他善于描写美国社会尤其是纽约百姓的生活。他的作品构思新颖，语言诙谐，结局常常出人意外；又因描写了众多的人物，富于生活情趣，被誉为“美国生活的幽默百科全书”。代表作有小说集《白菜与国王》、《四百万》、《命运之路》等。其中一些名篇如《爱的牺牲》、《警察与赞美诗》、《带家具出租的房间》、《麦琪的礼物》、《最后一片藤叶》等使他获得了世界声誉。

2. 作者简介

欧·亨利(O.Henry，1862年9月11日-1910年6月5日)，又译奥·亨利，原名威廉·西德尼·波特(William Sydney Porter)，美国短篇小说家、美国现代短篇小说创始人，其主要作品有《麦琪的礼物》、《警察与赞美诗》、《最后一片叶子》、《二十年后》等。他的一生富于传奇性，当过药房学徒、牧牛人、会计员、土地局办事员、新闻记者、银行出纳员，甚至坐过监狱，并由此开始了他的写作生涯。欧·亨利与契诃夫和莫泊桑并列世界三大短篇小说巨匠，曾被评论界誉为曼哈顿桂冠散文作家和美国现代短篇小说之父，他的作品有"美国生活的百科全书"之誉。

麦琪的礼物是什么呢？为什么她要送礼物呢？我们一起来看一看。

故事原文 

O. Henry's Short Stories L1

欧·亨利短篇小说集 L1

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. Every day, when she went to the shops, she spent very little money. She bought the cheapest meat, the cheapest vegetables. And when she was tired, she still walked round and round the shops to find the cheapest food. She saved every cent possible.(1)(2)(3)

1块8毛7分钱。就这么多。她每天去商店都尽量少花钱，买最便宜的肉、最便宜的蔬菜。即便是累了，她还是在商店里一圈又一圈地转悠，寻找最便宜的食品。已经是能省一分就省一分了。

Della counted the money again. There was no mistake. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And the next day was Christmas.

德拉又把钱数了一遍。没错，就是1块8毛7分钱。就这些。可明天就是圣诞节了。

She couldn't do anything about it. She could only sit down and cry. So she sat there, in the poor little room, and she cried.

她无计可施，只有坐下来哭了。于是她坐了下来，在这破破烂烂的小屋子里哭了起来。

Della lived in this poor little room, in New York, with her husband. James Dillingham Young. They also had a bedroom and a kitchen and a bathroom--all poor little rooms. James Dillingham Young was lucky, because he had a job, but it was not a good job. These rooms took most of his money.(4) Della tried to find work, but times were bad, and there was no work for her. But when Mr James Dillingham Young came home to his rooms, Mrs James Dillingham Young called him 'Jim' and put her arms round him.(5) And that was good.

德拉和丈夫詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬住在纽约这所破烂的小屋子里。他们还有一间卧室、一间厨房和一个卫生间——都是又小又差的房间。詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬很幸运，因为他有一份工作，不过不是什么好工作。他挣的大部分钱都花在这所小屋子的租金上了。德拉努力地找过工作，但世道太糟，她没找到工作。不过每当詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬先生回家时，詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬太太都会叫他“吉姆”，并拥抱他。这还是幸福的。

Della stopped crying and she washed her face. She stood by the window, and looked out at a grey cat on a grey wall in the grey road. Tomorrow was Christmas Day, and she had only one dollar and eighty-seven cents to buy Jim a Christmas present. Her Jim. She wanted very much to buy him something really fine, something to show how much she loved him.(6)

德拉不哭了，洗了洗脸。她站在窗口望出去，灰色的路上有一堵灰色的墙，墙上有只灰色的猫。明天就是圣诞节了，可她只有1块8毛7分钱给吉姆买圣诞礼物。她的吉姆！她非常想给他买件不错的礼物，一件能代表她有多爱他的礼物。

Suddenly, Della turned round and ran over to look in the glass on the wall. Her eyes were bright.

突然，德拉转身跑到墙上的镜子前。她的眼前一亮。

Now, the James Dillingham Youngs had two very special things. One was Jim's gold watch. It once belonged to his father, and, before that, to his grandfather. The other special thing was Della's hair.

詹姆斯·迪林厄姆·扬夫妇有两样非同寻常的东西。一样是吉姆的金表。那表过去属于他父亲。再之前是他祖父的。另一样就是德拉的头发。

Quickly, Della let down her beautiful, long hair. It fell down her back, and it was almost like a coat around her. Then she put her hair up again, quickly. For a second or two she stood still, and cried a little.

德拉飞快地放下她那美丽的长发。长发滑落到背上，几乎像一件上衣一样裹着她。然后她又迅速地把头发挽起来。有那么一会儿，她愣愣地站在那儿，轻轻地哭泣。

Then she put on her old brown coat, and her old brown hat, turned, and left the room. She went downstairs and out into the road, and her eyes were bright.

然后她穿上了那件旧的棕色大衣，戴上了棕色的旧帽子，转身出了家门。她跑下楼去。来到街上，眼中闪着光。

 （原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点 

1. cheapest 最便宜的（最高级）

    cheap adj. 便宜的

2. walk round and round 一圈又一圈地转悠

3. save every cent possible 能省一分就省一分

4. take 占据； 占有

5. put one’s arms round sb. 拥抱某人

hug 拥抱

6. buy sb. sth. 给某人买某物