O. Henry’s classic short story starts with the problem: Della positively, absolutely has to buy her husband Jim the perfect Christmas present, and –way to be last minute – it’s Christmas Eve. Oh yeah, they’re also dirt poor, so she has to do this with $1.87. When Della lets her gorgeous, knee length brown hair down, we also learn that her tresses and Jim’s gold pocket watch are the only prized possessions they have.

But she’s just got to get the perfect gift for her man, so she sells her hair, leaving her with enought scratch to buy it.

The trouble is, when Jim sees her new look, he seems to be in a state of shock (not mad, just shocked), and of course this is a wee bit distressing and perplexing to Della. After he regains his compure, Jim tells Della (and us) that his reaction will make sense when she opens the present he bought her…

A splendiferous set of combs made out of tortoiseshell and jewels! Yikes, the irony, and we now appreciate what Jimbo was reacting to, but the guy’s a sweetheart and assures Della he’ll love her no matter how she looks. But wait…

We’re still waiting to know how Jim will react to her gift, and we might also be wondering just how he got the coin to buy those expensive combs. Wow, check out this rather swelligant watch chain, Jim! Oh geez, Jim admits (with a happy face) that he sold his timepiece to buy Della her combs.

Well, that does it for Christmas. It’s here where the story ends and the narrator gives us a very Giftly, very Biblical life lesson:  it doesn’t really matter that Jim and Della’s presents turned out to be useless. They are the wisest givers of all – in fact, they’re the magi.