美音朗读原版：美音朗读和解析系列1-麦琪的礼物Part

美音朗读原版：美音朗读和解析系列1-麦琪的礼物Part这跟part one里面的“on went her old brown jacket”是一样的倒装句式，生动体现了Della一口气跑上二楼的场景。Up to the second floor Della ran and stopped to get her breath.以下是小说正文及解析：The Gift of the Magi (Part 2)Where she stopped the sign said: “Mrs. Sofronie. Hair Articles of all Kinds.”

在之前的文章中，我对著名短篇小说《麦琪的礼物》的第一部分进行了朗读和解析，对Part1感兴趣的读者请点击这里查看，

美音朗读和解析系列1-《麦琪的礼物》Part 1

本文将是“美音朗读和解析系列1《麦琪的礼物》”的第二部分。请点击收听。

以下是小说正文及解析：

The Gift of the Magi (Part 2)

Where she stopped the sign said: “Mrs. Sofronie. Hair Articles of all Kinds.”

Up to the second floor Della ran and stopped to get her breath.

这跟part one里面的“on went her old brown jacket”是一样的倒装句式，生动体现了Della一口气跑上二楼的场景。

Mrs. Sofronie large too white cold-eyed looked at her.

寥寥数语勾勒出一个精明的商贩形象。

“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.

“I buy hair ” said Mrs. Sofronie. “Take your hat off and let me look at it.”

我发现很多中文版的翻译没有抓住这两段对白的精髓：Della满脑子都是要与自己最珍爱的头发说再见，所以问“你要买我的头发吗？”而作为商贩的Mrs. Sofronie是不在乎这些的，她眼神冰冷（“cold-eyed”），只关注于商品的成色如何，所以很保守的说道“I buy hair”。请仔细听我在朗读时的口气，其实我认为在这里更好的翻译应该是：“我倒是收购头发。。。”，言外之意，那要看你头发成色如何我才决定收不收，而之后她也给Della发出了指令。

Down fell the brown waterfall.

“Twenty dollars ” said Mrs. Sofronie lifting the hair to feel its weight.

仍然是感受不到怜惜，在Mrs. Sofronie眼里，那寄托了太多东西的美丽长发就是一件可以检查的商品而已。

“Give it to me quick ” said Della.

从严格意义上来说，这里应该用副词“quickly” 然而在日常口语中，可能出于懒惰的原因，很多人选择使用形容词形式，比如这里的“quick”，再比如“drive slow”（应该是drive slowly）。

Oh and the next two hours seemed to fly. She was going from one shop to another to find a gift for Jim.

She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the shops and she had looked in every shop in the city.

It was a gold watch chain very simply made. Its value was in its rich and pure material. Because it was so plain and simple you knew that it was very valuable. All good things are like this.

It was good enough for The Watch.

As soon as she saw it she knew that Jim must have it. It was like him. Quietness and value—Jim and the chain both had quietness and value. She paid twenty-one dollars for it. And she hurried home with the chain and eighty-seven cents.

With that chain on his watch Jim could look at his watch and learn the time anywhere he might be. Though the watch was so fine it had never had a fine chain. He sometimes took it out and looked at it only when no one could see him do it.

上面这些都是Della的心理活动，句式简单，因为在你激动的时侯，是不会用太复杂的句式去想事情的。Della自己脑补的这些原因层层递进，只有一家店里有，制作朴素，但是做工精良（好东西都这样），配得上那个金表，最重要的是它和Jim本人有相似点，而且最关键的是它很实用，因为这样Jim可以随时看时间了等等。最终，她坚定了买那个金表链子的决心。

When Della arrived home her mind quieted a little. She began to think more reasonably. She started to try to cover the sad marks of what she had done. Love and large-hearted giving when added together can leave deep marks. It is never easy to cover these marks dear friends—never easy.

Within forty minutes her head looked a little better. With her short hair she looked wonderfully like a schoolboy. She stood at the looking-glass for a long time.

这里的wonderfully有一点点调侃之意。

“If Jim doesn’t kill me ” she said to herself “before he looks at me a second time he’ll say I look like a girl who sings and dances for money. But what could I do—oh! What could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?”

A second time: 这里等于another time. 很多英语学习者搞不清楚什么情况下使用“a second time”，什么情况下使用“the second time”，以后我会撰文专门讨论，敬请关注。

At seven Jim’s dinner was ready for him.

Jim was never late. Della held the watch chain in her hand and sat near the door where he always entered. Then she heard his step in the hall and her face lost color for a moment. She often said little prayers quietly about simple everyday things. And now she said: “Please God make him think I’m still pretty.”

The door opened and Jim stepped in. He looked very thin and he was not smiling. Poor fellow he was only twenty-two—and with a family to take care of! He needed a new coat and he had nothing to cover his cold hands.

上面也是Della的心理活动，充满了对Jim的疼惜：他只有22岁，但是却要照顾整个家庭！他需要一个新的外套，而且他的双手冰冷，连手套都没有。

Jim stopped inside the door. He was as quiet as a hunting dog when it is near a bird. His eyes looked strangely at Della and there was an expression in them that she could not understand. It filled her with fear. It was not anger nor surprise nor anything she had been ready for. He simply looked at her with that strange expression on his face.

未完待续，敬请关注part 3。

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