After reading this short story "The Gift of the Magi"," I have come to the following conclusion.

             The "magi"" is referring to a wise gift in this story. The Magi is also the name of the three kings, or also known as the three wise men. The wise men gave, but of course wise gifts! After reading this I believe the story really isn't just about a poor couple trying to get each other gifts for Christmas but looks deeper into life as materiel possessions are just as stated a material item . .

             The story starts off with a very poor yet content couple, Jim and Della. Della has been saving her money for months to buy Jim a Christmas present and has still fallen short of her goal. Looks in the mirror and see's she has something of value, her hair. Della then decides she must sell her hair to by Jim a gift. Same thing with Jim, all he has is his "prized" possession" - his watch. Jim, after returning home, sees that Della had cut off all of her hair to be able to purchase a meaningful gift for Jim. Della was waiting to give her husband the gift which turned out to be a bracelet. Jim gave Della the brushes that she loved and then Della asked Jim to remove his watch. He couldn't take out his watch since he had sold it get Della the combs/brushes for her hair. So in theory each of them sacrificed their prize possessions for one another foolishly. You lose one to gain one so you are still at the same point that you were. "It's the thought that counts".

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             Part II.

             After going to the given link, I found that not much could be learned from the link itself and required an additional look at other websites. Upon completion of this task, I have come to the following thoughts. .

             "Messiah", generally speaking, means Christ. Not really knowing a substantial amount about Handel but listening to his music would make one think that he was or may have been a spiritual person. I think this by the way that the biblical passages where placed within the music itself.