读《麦琪的礼物》学英文
导语：
浙江的高考英语作文改革后，出现了一种神奇的题型——读后续写。读一篇350字左右的故事，续写一篇150字左右的文章。很多学生在构思情节方面问题不大，但是在具体的描写方面还有所欠缺。写作是个长期积累的过程，需要大量的阅读，模仿。思来想去，选择了《欧亨利的短篇小说》为依据，每一篇，我会选择一些单词，情绪描写，环境描写等，看看大师是如何做到对情节的具体描写，也顺便学习词汇。之所以选择《欧亨利短篇小说》，一是篇幅短小，便于精读；二是难度适中，故事情节情理之中，又是意料之外，也顺便锻炼下自己的构思能力。今天分享的是其中最出名的一篇 《麦琪的礼物》。再一次读，依旧不得不感叹大师的厉害。
相关背景知识：
故事的内容就不赘述了。想和大家分享的是标题 The Gift of the Magi the Magi的来历。
Magi在这里翻译成”麦琪“，很容易误解成一位女性的名字。但是看标题能得到启示，英文名字一般情况下前面是不会出现定冠词the。the Magi其实是一个专有名词，也是有典故的。The Magi指基督出生时来送礼物的三贤人，也有说是东方的三王：梅尔基奥尔（光明之王）赠送黄金表示尊贵；加斯帕（洁白者）赠送乳香象征神圣；巴尔撒泽赠送没药预示基督后来遭受迫害而死。他们的礼物代表的尊贵与圣洁，此举动开创了送圣诞礼之风。
维基百科里是这样描述的：
referred to as the (Three) Wise men or (Three) Kings, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense (乳香，用于宗教仪式） and myrrh （没药，用于制香水和熏香）. They are regular figures in traditional accountants of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition.
这篇小说的结尾也提到了：
The Magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men --who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents.
话不多说，见图见真相
传说中的东方”三博士“
字*词*句
1. bulldoze: (用推土机）推到；强迫 to force someone to do something, although they might not want to bulldoze sb into (doing) sth
Eg: She bulldozed her daughter into buying a new dress.
2. flop down: 掉落下来，向下翻
There was clearly nothing left to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.
3. attend to: to help someone or deal with something 处理；照料，关心
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rags.
这个词组比较常见，看到在这里的用法，我觉得好妙。
4. mighty: very large, powerful, or important 强大的；巨大的；伟大的
They both took a mighty pride.
take a mighty pride 极其引以为傲
5. on the sly: 悄悄地，偷偷地
He sometimes looked at it on the sly.
下面是一些我觉得写得很好的句子
1. Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles ,with sniffles predominating.
译文：人生是由啜泣，抽噎和微笑组成的，而抽噎占了其中绝大部分。
2. and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings.
trip: 轻快地走，轻快地跳舞
译文：此后的两个钟头仿佛长了玫瑰色翅膀似地飞掠过去。
3. Her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession.
crave and yearn over: 渴望，渴求
译文：心向神往了好久，但从来没有存过占有它的希望。（个人觉得这样会更通顺：心向神往了好久，但从来没有想过拥有它。）
描写：
1. 关于 “哭” 的描写
Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.
Della觉得剪掉长发前的不舍难过，犹豫不决。
with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes
这句如诗句一般有画面感。
2. 形容“开心”：
And then an ecstatic scream of joy；and then, alas! A quick feminine change of hysterical tears and wails
译文：接着是一声狂喜的呼喊；紧接着，哎呀！突然转变成女性神经质的眼泪和号哭
ecstatic: extremely happy 狂喜的，欣喜若狂的
Della leaped up like a little singed cat
译文：德拉象一只给火烫着的小猫似地跳了起来
singed cat： 还可以指实质优于外表的人
随感：
《麦琪的礼物》中学时语文课本里的课文，印象极其深刻。那时候只是觉得故事的结局真的太出乎我的意料了。现在重新读一遍，Della 和Jim，一对贫困的夫妻，为了对爱人表示诚挚的爱，都失去了彼此最珍贵的物品。爱情和财富之间，他们选择了前者。也许后面的生活会更艰难，可是能够彼此一起互相帮扶着，还有什么过不去的呢？如同小说的结尾：
two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the Magi.
译文：那两个住在一间公寓里的笨孩子，极不聪明地为了对方牺牲了他们一家最宝贵的东西。但是，让我们对目前一般聪明人说最后一句话，在所有馈赠礼物的人当中，那两个人是最聪明的。在一切授受衣物的人当中，象他们这样的人也是最聪明的。无论在什么地方，他们都是最聪明的。他们就是麦琪。
P.s :图片来自网络，译文是王仲年版。
