Della wanted to buy a very special Christmas present for her husband Jim. She had been saving some money but it wasn’t enough to buy the present. Jim’s situation was the same; he wanted to give her something significant, but he didn’t have the money to buy it.

Della knew that Jim had a gold watch from his father, so she wanted to give him a gold chain to carry it. While Jim remembered a particular time when he and Della passed in front of a shop and she saw a gorgeous tortoiseshell combs, which Jim wanted to give her because she had beautiful long hair.

Della decided to sell her hair in order to be able to buy the gold chain and Jim sold his gold watch so that he could afford the tortoiseshell combs for Della. When they got home, they both exchanged presents; unfortunately nobody of them could use the items. Both reacted sadly at first, but then they understood that the most valuable present was to be together.