"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its twist ending are well-known, and the ending is generally considered an example of comic irony. It was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern[2] on Irving Place in New York City.

The story was initially published in The New York Sunday World under the title "Gifts of the Magi" on December 10, 1905. It was first published in book form in the O. Henry Anthology The Four Million in April 1906.

About O. Henry
O.Henry's real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1862. When he was 20, he moved to Austin, Texas. There, he worked for a bank and a magazine. In 1895, he began working for a newspaper in Houston, Texas.

A year later, the police began questioning him about his job at the bank in Austin. Porter had taken money from the bank. Before he could be arrested, Porter ran away to Honduras. There he was safe from the police, but he returned six months later because his wife was ill. Soon the police found him, and he was sent to jail.

Porter began to write stories while he was in jail. He started using the pen name "O.Henry." In 1901, he was released from jail. He worked for a newspaper in New York City and wrote one short story each week. Porter died in New York in 1910. He is famous for his short stories with surprise endings.