The Gift of the Magi

The Gift of the Magi is a short story written by O. Henry (a pen name for William Sydney Porter), about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been a popular one for adaptation, especially for presentation during the Christmas season. The plot and its "twist ending" are well-known, and the story and its lesson are sometimes subverted for the sake of irony or humor. It was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City.

Synopsis
James "Jim" Dillingham Young and his wife Della are a young couple who are very much in love with each other but can barely afford their one-room apartment due to their very bad economic situation. For Christmas, Della decides to buy Jim a chain for his prized pocket watch given to him by his father's father. To raise the funds, she has her long, beautiful hair cut off and sold to make a wig. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his watch to buy Della a beautiful set of combs made out of tortoiseshell and jewels for her lovely, knee-length brown hair. Although each is disappointed to find the gift they chose rendered useless, each is pleased with the gift that they received, because it represents their love for one another and their love is eternal.

The story ends with the narrator comparing the pair's mutually sacrificial gifts of love with those of the Biblical Magi: "The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully wise men – who brought gifts to the new-born King of the Jews in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. 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. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the Magi."

Adaptations

 * Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas - features a story with Ma and Emmet
 * Christmas Eve on Sesame Street - features a story with Ernie and Bert
 * Rugrats: "The Santa Experience" - features a story with Phil and Lil
 * Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas - features a story with Mickey and Minnie Mouse
 * It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie - features brief scenes with The Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat; Bunsen and Beaker; and Johnny and Sal
 * "The Gift of the Magi", a one-hour musical adaptation presented in 1958 on CBS, starring Gordon MacRae and Sally Ann Howes
 * "O. Henry's Full House", a 1952 film dramatizing five O. Henry short stories, features a fifteen-minute adaptation of the story starring Farley Granger and Jeanne Crain
 * Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation! - features a brief scene with Candace Flynn and Jeremy Johnson
 * The Gift of Love, a 1978 television movie starring Marie Osmond and Timothy Bottoms.