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青少年小說

"The Gift of the Magi" 賢者的禮物
"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 at Christmas time. The plot and its "twist ending" are well-known, and the ending is generally considered an example of cosmic irony. It was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City.  

climax: Jim gives Della her present — an assortment of expensive hair clip for her hair (referred to as “The Combs”). Della then shows Jim the chain she bought for him, to which Jim says he sold his watch to get the money to buy her combs. 


*ATM    Teller 櫃員

 

O. Henry
William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.

William Sydney Porter --> pharmacist, artist, laborer, bank teller, journalist, author, ranch hand (牧場幫工)


 
tavern 小酒館


behind bar 坐過牢
 

歐亨利短篇小說獎



Parsimony-(n.) stinginess

possession  寶物
   own

John Milton  "Paradise lost"

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, changed into twelve books (in the manner of the division of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification.

The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men". Paradise Lost is widely considered one of the greatest literary works in the English language.

John Milton 晚年受眼疾所苦

The whole world is a garden
"The Cherry Orchard"  by Chekov

Alice Steinbath's " Without Reservation"  p291-305