Welcome dear students! Today we are going to learn about The Gift of the Magi from Class 10 English First Language. Before we begin the story, let us do a quick pre reading activity. You must have received many gifts in your life. Think about which one you liked the most and why. Keep that thought in mind as we explore how gifts can mean much more than their price tag. [CHECKPOINT]
Now, let us dive into the story by O. Henry. The narrative opens with a stark reality. Della has exactly one dollar and eighty seven cents. Sixty cents of that is in pennies, saved painstakingly one and two at a time by bargaining hard with the grocer, the vegetable man, and the butcher. This close dealing made her cheeks burn with the silent suggestion of stinginess. She counts the money three times. It is still one dollar and eighty seven cents. And tomorrow is Christmas. With nothing left to do, she flops down on a shabby little couch and cries. The narrator reflects that life is made of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles taking the lead. [CHECKPOINT]
As Della calms down, we are introduced to her home. It is a furnished flat costing eight dollars per week. The description is not quite impossible to describe, but it certainly borders on begging for sympathy. In the entrance hall below, there is a letter box that never receives mail and an electric button that never rings. A card there bears the name Mr. James Dillingham Young. The middle name Dillingham was added during a time of prosperity when Jim earned thirty dollars a week. Now that his income has shrunk to twenty dollars, they are considering shortening it to just D. Yet, whenever Jim comes home, he is called Jim and hugged tightly by his wife, Della. [CHECKPOINT]
Della finishes crying, powders her cheeks, and looks out the window at a grey cat walking on a grey fence in a grey backyard. Tomorrow is Christmas, and she only has one dollar and eighty seven cents for Jim. She had saved for months, but expenses always exceed calculations. Twenty dollars a week simply does not stretch far. She had spent many happy hours planning a fine, rare, and excellent gift worthy of Jim. Between the windows hangs a pier glass, a tall narrow mirror. In an eight dollar flat, it is so thin that only a very agile person can see their reflection by moving quickly past it. Della, being slender, has mastered this art. [CHECKPOINT]
Suddenly, she spins from the window and stands before the glass. Her eyes shine, but her face loses color in twenty seconds. She pulls down her hair, letting it fall to its full length. The narrator tells us the couple has two prized possessions. One is Jim’s gold watch, passed down from his father and grandfather. The other is Della’s hair. If the Queen of Sheba lived across the airshaft, Della would hang her hair out the window just to make the Queen’s jewels look cheap. If King Solomon were the janitor with treasures in the basement, Jim would flaunt his watch just to make Solomon pluck his beard in envy. [CHECKPOINT]
Della’s hair falls like a cascade of brown waters, reaching below her knees and nearly acting as a garment. She quickly puts it up again, shedding a tear or two on the worn red carpet. She puts on her old brown jacket and hat, and with a whirl of skirts and sparkling eyes, she rushes out to the street. She stops at a shop signed Madame Sofronie, Hair Goods of All Kinds. She runs upstairs, panting. Madame is large, pale, and chilly. Della asks if she will buy her hair. Madame agrees, asks her to remove her hat, and examines it. [CHECKPOINT]
Madame offers twenty dollars. Della immediately says to give it to her quickly. The next two hours fly by joyfully. She searches every store inside out for Jim’s gift. At last, she finds it. It is a platinum fob chain, simple and plain in design, showing its value through quality rather than cheap decoration. It is worthy of the watch. It matches Jim perfectly, representing quietness and value. It costs twenty one dollars. She hurries home with eighty seven cents left. With this chain, Jim could proudly check the time anywhere. His watch was grand, but he sometimes checked it secretly because of the old leather strap he used instead of a chain. [CHECKPOINT]
Back home, Della’s excitement gives way to caution. She gets out her curling irons, lights the gas, and starts fixing the damage caused by her generous love. It is a huge task. Within forty minutes, her head is covered in tiny, tight curls, making her look like a misbehaving schoolboy. She studies her reflection carefully. She worries Jim might think she looks like a chorus girl from Coney Island, but with only one dollar and eighty seven cents, she had no other choice. [CHECKPOINT]
At seven o’clock, the coffee is made and the frying pan is hot for chops. Jim is never late. Della holds the fob chain and sits on the table corner near the door. She hears his footsteps and turns pale. She whispers a silent prayer asking God to make him still think she is pretty. Jim enters, looking thin and serious. He is only twenty two, burdened with a family, needing a new coat and gloves. He stops inside the door, frozen like a hunting dog that has caught a scent. His expression is unreadable and terrifies Della. It is not anger, surprise, disapproval, or horror. He just stares. [CHECKPOINT]
Della jumps off the table and runs to him. She explains she cut and sold her hair because she could not bear Christmas without a gift for him. She promises it will grow back and begs him to say Merry Christmas. She tells him about her beautiful gift. Jim struggles to process it, asking laboriously if she cut her hair. Della confirms it, asking if he still likes her. Jim looks around the room, asking with a dazed expression if her hair is truly gone. Della says it is sold and gone, reminding him it is Christmas Eve and asking him to be kind because she did it for him. She adds that while the hairs on her head might be numbered, no one could count her love for him, and asks if she should cook the chops. [CHECKPOINT]
Jim snaps out of his trance and embraces her. The narrator pauses to reflect on the value of their eight dollars a week versus a million dollars a year, noting that a mathematician or a clever person would answer incorrectly. The Magi brought valuable gifts, but not this kind of wisdom. Jim pulls a package from his coat and places it on the table. He tells her not to mistake his reaction, saying no haircut or shampoo could make him love her less. He asks her to open the package to understand his initial shock. [CHECKPOINT]
Della opens it and screams with joy, then quickly breaks into hysterical tears. Jim comforts her. Inside are the combs she had worshipped in a Broadway window. They are beautiful, made of pure tortoise shell with jeweled rims, perfect for her now vanished hair. They are expensive, and she had longed for them without hope. Now they are hers, but the hair to wear them is gone. She hugs them and smiles through tears, saying her hair grows fast. Suddenly, she leaps up and cries out. Jim has not seen her gift yet. She eagerly shows him the platinum chain, which seems to flash with her bright spirit. [CHECKPOINT]
She asks if it is splendid and tells him he will check the time a hundred times a day now. She asks for his watch to attach it. Instead, Jim falls onto the couch, puts his hands behind his head, and smiles. He tells her to put the gifts away for now because they are too nice to use. He reveals he sold his watch to buy her combs. He then asks her to cook the chops. The narrator concludes by explaining the Magi were wise men who brought gifts to the infant Jesus and invented Christmas giving. Their gifts were wise, possibly exchangeable if duplicated. The narrator calls Jim and Della foolish children who unwisely sacrificed their greatest treasures, but declares that of all who give gifts, these two are the wisest. They are the true Magi. [CHECKPOINT]
Now let us review the glossary to ensure you understand every key term. Magi refers to the wise men who brought gifts to the newborn Jesus, traditionally three kings from the East. Bulldozing means arguing forcefully. Imputation means suggestion. Parsimony means meanness in spending. Close dealing means stingy bargaining. Flop down means to fall down heavily. Sniffles means sniffing repeatedly while crying. Beggar description means impossible to describe in words. Mendicancy squad refers to beggars. Vestibule is an entrance hall. Coax a ring means to succeed in making a bell ring. Appertaining thereunto means connected or fixed to it. Christmas Eve is the twenty fourth of December. Agile means active. Sterling means excellent or very good. Pier glass is a tall narrow mirror designed for a wall. Whirl means to turn quickly. Queen of Sheba was a queen who visited Solomon and gave rich gifts. Airshaft is a space for ventilating a room. Depreciate means to reduce the value. King Solomon was the wise king of Israel known for pomp and splendor. Janitor means caretaker or doorkeeper. Cascade means waterfall. Fluttered means moved lightly. Yer means your. Hashed means mixed. Ransack means to search thoroughly. Fob is a chain for a pocket watch. Chaste means plain and without decoration. Meretricious means superficially attractive but of no real value. On the sly means secretly. Prudence means having good judgment. Curling iron is a tool to curl hair. Ravage means ruin or wreck. Mammoth means huge. Truant means someone who shirks duty. Coney Island is a famous entertainment place in New York. Chorus girl is a dancer or singer in a musical comedy. Setter is a hunting dog trained to freeze at a scent. Quail is a small bird. Laboriously means taking a lot of time. Patent means evident or apparent. Trance is a state of unawareness. Enfold means to embrace. Discreet means tactful. Inconsequential means trivial. Wit means an intelligent person. Nimble means agile. Ecstatic means very excited. Dark assertion means a mysterious statement. Hysterical means uncontrollable. Tress means hair. Coveted means craved for. Adornment means something decorative. Singed means burnt slightly. Ardent means zealous or keen. Dandy means too splendid. Manger is a feeding box for cattle. Babe in the manger refers to the infant Jesus. Lamely means unsatisfactorily. Chronicle means a story. [CHECKPOINT]
Let us move to the comprehension questions. I will answer each one carefully for your exam preparation. Question one asks how Della saved her one dollar and eighty seven cents. She saved it by bargaining hard and arguing forcefully with the grocer, vegetable man, and butcher, saving pennies one and two at a time. Question two asks for details of Jim’s flat. It was a furnished flat costing eight dollars a week, with a useless letter box, a broken doorbell, a pier glass mirror, and a worn red carpet. Question three states the card had only the letter D. This is false. They were thinking of contracting it to D, but the card still bore the full name Mr. James Dillingham Young. [CHECKPOINT]
Question four asks for their most precious possessions. Jim’s gold watch and Della’s beautiful hair. Question five asks how the writer compares Della’s hair to the Queen of Sheba’s jewels. He says if the Queen lived across the airshaft, Della would hang her hair out to dry just to make the Queen’s jewels look cheap. Question six asks about the comparison to King Solomon’s treasures. He says if Solomon were the janitor, Jim would pull out his watch every time he passed just to make Solomon pluck his beard in envy. Question seven asks why Della sold her hair. She sold it to buy a Christmas present for Jim. Question eight asks how much she got. Twenty dollars. [CHECKPOINT]
Question nine asks what she bought for Jim. A platinum fob chain. Question ten asks how it was worthy of the watch. It was simple, chaste, and valuable, matching the quiet dignity of the watch. Question eleven asks how the chain was like Jim. It represented quietness and value, just like Jim’s personality. Question twelve asks what Della fixed before Jim came home. She used curling irons to fix her short hair into tiny curls. Question thirteen asks Jim’s reaction. He stared at her with an unreadable, terrified expression, frozen in shock. Question fourteen asks for Jim’s gift. It was a set of beautiful, expensive tortoise shell combs with jeweled rims, which Della had longed for in a Broadway window. [CHECKPOINT]
Question fifteen asks if the gifts were useful. No, they were useless because Della sold her hair for the chain, and Jim sold his watch for the combs. Question sixteen asks Della’s reaction. She screamed with joy, then burst into hysterical tears, but hugged them and smiled, saying her hair grows fast. Question seventeen asks what their sacrifices tell us. It shows their deep, selfless love and willingness to give up their greatest treasures for each other. Question eighteen asks for another example of humor and pathos. The narrator’s comment about a mathematician giving the wrong answer to the difference between eight dollars a week and a million a year blends humor with the sad reality of their poverty. [CHECKPOINT]
Question nineteen asks who the Magi were. They were the wise men who brought gifts to the newborn Jesus in the manger. Question twenty asks the writer’s last word to the wise. He says that of all who give gifts, Jim and Della are the wisest, and they are the true Magi. Now for the close study. Extract one mentions repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Generosity refers to selling her hair. The repairing work was curling her short hair. She did it to look pretty for Jim. Extract two mentions a mathematician or wit giving the wrong answer. The question is about the difference between eight dollars a week and a million a year. The right answer is that there is no difference in love and sacrifice. The implied meaning is that material wealth does not measure true value or wisdom in giving. [CHECKPOINT]
Let us tackle the paragraph writing section. First, why are the gifts compared to the Magi? The Magi were wise men who brought gifts to Jesus. Jim and Della’s gifts, though materially useless, were given with immense love and sacrifice, making their wisdom and purity equal to the Magi. Second, the appropriateness of the title. The title perfectly captures the theme of wise, selfless giving. Though the couple acts foolishly by selling their treasures, their love makes them the wisest gift givers, just like the biblical Magi. Third, imagining you are Della, the conflict before sacrificing your hair. I loved my hair, it was my pride. But Christmas was tomorrow, and I had only one dollar and eighty seven cents. I wanted to give Jim something worthy. The pain of cutting it away warred with my desperate love for him. I knew it would grow back, but losing it felt like losing a part of myself. Yet, seeing Jim’s face on Christmas morning without a gift was unbearable. I chose love over pride. [CHECKPOINT]
Now, the vocabulary exercises. Section A requires filling blanks with phrases. One, Della’s despair gave way to ecstatic joy. Two, the take off was delayed on account of the bad weather. Three, we are on the lookout for new opportunities. Four, her conduct is so strange that it beggars description. Five, I have some urgent work to attend to. Six, at last we reached home. Seven, the burglar had turned the house inside out. Eight, Della and Jim were made for each other. Nine, the two of them must have been meeting on the sly. Ten, we look for an improvement in our son’s performance this year. Section B asks for antonyms. One, expand. Two, easy. Three, adversity. Four, modest. Five, latter. Six, depreciated. Seven, imprudence. [CHECKPOINT]
Moving to language activities. Activity A asks for a dialogue. I will provide a model. Della asks why Jim looks dull. Jim says he is not dull, just overwhelmed. Della reassures him her hair will grow. Jim says he loves her regardless. Della asks if he likes the chain. Jim says it is beautiful, but he sold his watch for her combs. Della cries but says they will keep them safe. Jim agrees, saying their love is the real gift. Activity B asks for reported speech. Della cried to Jim, her darling, not to look at her that way. She explained she had cut and sold her hair, but it would grow back. She asked if he would mind, saying she had to do it. Jim asked laboriously if she had cut off her hair. Della confirmed it, asking if he still liked her. Jim asked with an air of idiocy if her hair was gone. Della replied that it was sold and gone, reminding him it was Christmas Eve and asking him to be good to her because she did it for him, then asked if she should put the chops on. [CHECKPOINT]
Activity C asks to report interview questions in indirect speech. The interviewer asked what my name was, how old I was, where I lived, whether I had passed the tenth standard, if I knew cycling, why I wanted to work, why I did not continue my studies, what games I played, how much salary I expected, and whether I was ready to work extra hours if asked. Activity D asks to rearrange sentences. The correct order is three, one, two, six, four, five. My mother is open minded and does not stick to one idea. She listens to others and changes her mind if necessary. My father, on the other hand, is very stubborn. If he has an opinion, he refuses to change it. I think they have only one personality trait in common. They are both very giving to my sister and me. [CHECKPOINT]
Activity E discusses sentence length variety. Another example from the story is the opening: One dollar and eighty seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. For the writing task, I will write a short paragraph on Sacrifice using varied sentence lengths. Love demands everything. It asks for nothing. Yet it gives everything. When you hold someone dear, you willingly step aside from your own comfort, your own dreams, your own pride, just to see them smile. It is a quiet surrender. It is loud in its silence. It changes you forever. Activity F asks for a letter to the editor. I will provide a model. Dear Editor, I am writing to share my ten day experience as a social service volunteer in a rural village. The reality of village life is both humbling and inspiring. We witnessed severe water scarcity, yet the villagers shared their limited resources with remarkable generosity. Our team distributed basic medical supplies and taught hygiene practices. The children’s eagerness to learn despite lacking proper classrooms left a deep impact on me. This camp taught me that true service is not about charity, but about solidarity and mutual respect. I urge more youth to participate in such initiatives. Yours sincerely, A Volunteer. [CHECKPOINT]
Now, the speaking section. For pronunciation, remember that the letter b is silent in words like thumb, numb, lamb, climb, tomb, bomb, debt, doubt, limb, plumber, and subtle. The letter d is silent in judge, lodge, ledge, budget, ledger, hedge, ridge, bridge, grudge, fridge, drudgery, nudge, handsome, handkerchief, pledge, edge, and badge. The letter h is silent in honest, hour, heir, exhaust, exhibit, honour, ghost, honourable, shepherd, rhyme, honorary, and honorarium. Practice these aloud with a partner. For the picture story activity, since you are listening, imagine a sequence showing a boy finding a stray dog, feeding it, taking it to a vet, and finally adopting it. The moral is that compassion and responsibility bring joy. A suitable title would be The Bond of Kindness. [CHECKPOINT]
Let us review the note on the author. O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter. He was born on September eleventh, eighteen sixty two in Greensboro, North Carolina. He became famous for his short stories. He started The Rolling Stone, a humorous weekly in eighteen eighty seven, and wrote for the Houston Post. He wrote one story each week for the New York World and penned over six hundred stories. His first collection, Cabbages and Kings, appeared in nineteen oh four and was immediately popular. Other collections include The Four Million in nineteen oh six and The Trimmed Lamp in nineteen oh seven. Suggested readings are Cabbages and Kings and Rolling Stone. [CHECKPOINT]
Now, grammar revisited. Section A covers subject verb agreement. I will give the correct verb forms. One, was. Two, is. Three, wait. Four, is. Five, was. Six, is. Seven, is. Eight, am. Nine, is. Ten, is. Eleven, is. Twelve, says. Thirteen, withers. Fourteen, is. Fifteen, is. Sixteen, has. Seventeen, trust. Eighteen, sings. Nineteen, was. Twenty, are. Twenty one, is. Twenty two, was. Twenty three, is. Twenty four, have. Twenty five, is. Twenty six, was. Twenty seven, is. Twenty eight, belongs. Twenty nine, has. Thirty, knew. Remember the rules: collective nouns like staff take singular verbs when acting as one unit. Titles like mathematics are singular. Phrases like along with do not change the subject number. [CHECKPOINT]
Section B covers inversion. When sentences begin with negative or restrictive phrases, the subject and auxiliary verb invert. I will provide model sentences. One, Not only did she study hard, but she also helped her friends. Two, Not even once have I seen him so angry. Three, On no account should you open this door. Four, Only by running at full speed could he catch the bus. Five, On no occasion will I tolerate dishonesty. Six, So badly did he play that the team lost. Seven, Seldom do we see such dedication. Eight, In no circumstances will I give up. Nine, Nowhere can you find better hospitality. Ten, To such a pitch did his anger rise that he shouted. Eleven, Only on that account did he agree. Twelve, Only by paying double the money could we secure the tickets. [CHECKPOINT]
Section C covers question tags. One, do not you. Two, shall we. Three, do not you. Four, can they. Five, is not it. Six, will you. Seven, will you. Eight, were not they. Nine, did not they. Ten, do not I. Remember, positive statements take negative tags, and negative statements take positive tags. Imperatives usually take will you or shall we. [CHECKPOINT]
Finally, language for fun. A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sentence that reads the same forwards and backwards. Examples include pop, level, deed, refer, madam, and racecar. Try to recall ten more on your own. The brain teaser boxes mentioned in the book conceal meaningful phrases. The first answer is half an hour. For the others, use your imagination to decipher the visual wordplay, focusing on how letters and spacing create common idioms. This exercise sharpens your lateral thinking skills. [CHECKPOINT]
Thank you for listening! Keep revising and practicing. Goodbye! [CHAPTER_COMPLETE]