They gave everything for love and lost but what they discovered changed their lives: the deepest part of Christmas in a story to share

It all starts with a woman counting money. Very little money, very little money. It's just under $2. There is only one day left until Christmas. It will be very difficult to buy a gift for your loved one.

The woman – her name is Delia – is married to Jim. She is very much in love. They live in the United States, in a very cheap apartment. She only has one asset, her beautiful hair. He only has his gold watch.

With this data it starts Gift of the Three Wise Mena story Oh HenryAn American writer who was born in 1862 and died in 1910 It can be downloaded for free from Bajalibros. Legend has it that he wrote it under pressure to deliver it and was driven by a bottle of whisky.

“Oh Henry “He left us more than a short and pathetic masterpiece,” the Argentine writer was able to say. Jorge Luis Borgeswho included pieces by the author in his anthology—among them this story—and even dared to interfere with one of the stories Oh Henry, the dream.

In fact, writer William Sidney Porter was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. His mother died when he was very young and they went to live with his father who was a doctor in his grandmother's house. He was a good student, in 1881 he graduated from pharmacy.

But life was going to get busy. Young Sidney went to work on a ranch in Texas and later lived with a friend in Austin. The friend had a cat named Henry. And about her relationship with him…Oh HenryI told him that his nickname would appear.

In that time he learned several languages, including Spanish, eloped with a well-to-do woman, and had a daughter who died and then another.

He also began working as a teller at First National Bank in Austin. attention: This information will be important.

In 1894, he launched a weekly comic magazine called Rolling Stone. After the failure of this initiative, Porter joined the newspaper Houston BossR: He was a journalist and columnist and even drew cartoons.

But – and here comes the bank – in February 1896, he was accused of doing so Embezzlement of bank resources. He escaped: his friends helped him and he went to Honduras. He spent only six months there: his wife was very ill and he decided to return to Austin.

He was tried and sentenced to the minimum sentence: five years, of which he served three years and three months for good behaviour. He worked as a night pharmacist in the prison hospital, and wrote to support his daughter Margaret financially. His tales of adventures in the American Southwest and Central America quickly gained popularity among magazine readers. When he got out of prison, W. S. Porter has already turned into O. Henry.

The following years would be spent in New York. It's the same city depicted by another writer, Stephen Crane: poverty, workers, and the fierce struggle against hunger. O. Henry will indeed be a writer, he will create the character of Cisco Kid, he will publish several collections of short stories, he will live to write and he will write to live. Alcohol will haunt you.

Oh Henry He was distinguished by his novels that focused on daily life, especially the lives of New Yorkers.

His stories revealed how chance events shaped his characters' personalities, through humor that oscillated between melancholy and sarcasm.

One of the features of his work was its presentation Surprising results, a resource that has become closely associated with his style. However, this distinctive feature eventually diminished its critical appreciation when it fell out of favor.

“Edgar Allan Poe emphasized that every story should be written according to its outcome,” said Borges, who was not praising. O. Henry exaggerated this doctrine and thus arrived at Hoax storyto the story whose last line lies in a surprise.

And so a surprise awaits us at the end Gift of the Three Wise MenA short story, very suitable for reading aloud. Or several surprises. Delia will make a radical decision. He fears the reaction of Jim, who arrives home tired and carrying the same poverty on his shoulders.

We readers also fear their reaction. Delia has set her heart on trying to please her husband. But sometimes these decisions can backfire.

The ending – The ending has not been told, you have to read it – it will make you think and make you feel. Christmas is its deepest value.