Learn English from Stories: The Gift of the Magi
Reading stories is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to learn English. Today's story is "The Gift of the Magi", a famous short story by the American writer O. Henry, first published in 1905. Here it is in simple English.
The Story
Della and Jim were a young couple. They were poor, but they loved each other very much.
On Christmas Eve, Della had only one dollar and eighty-seven cents to buy a gift for Jim. So she sold her beautiful long hair and bought a gold chain for Jim's old watch.
Jim came home and looked at her short hair in surprise. He gave her a set of combs for her long hair. Della gave him the chain. Jim smiled softly: "I sold my watch to buy your combs."
Their gifts were now useless, but their love was the greatest gift of all.
New Words
couple – two people in a relationship | poor – having little money | gift – something you give someone | sold – past tense of sell | bought – past tense of buy | surprise – a feeling caused by something unexpected | comb – a tool for arranging hair | useless – of no use
Grammar Tip: Past Tense
Most verbs in this story are in the past tense, because the story happened in the past. Some verbs simply add "ed", like look → looked and love → loved. Others change completely: sell → sold, buy → bought, give → gave, come → came. The best way to remember them is to use them in your own sentences.
Practice Sentences
I bought a gift for my mother.
He sold his old bike.
She gave me a book.
Moral
True love is about giving, not about the price of the gift. Della and Jim each gave up their most precious possession for the other's happiness. That is the heart of this story.
Did you enjoy this story? Follow Political Diary India on Facebook for the next one.
