Thread: The Gift of the Magi

It would certainly seem so.

Originally Posted by Sammer

Well, it seemed like a bit of a harsh slap of irony...

Perhaps you're not familiar with the works of O. Henry, but all the ones I've read, and I've ready more than a few, have ironic twists at the end. It's what he is known for.

I think the real irony is that he never fully understood the Biblical account to which he made his errant comparison.

Originally Posted by Sammer

I think the real irony is that he never fully understood the Biblical account to which he made his errant comparison.

I think you are reading the ending wrong. He is not saying that the wise men brought gifts to the babe that at that time was in the manger but rather they gave gifts to the babe that had been born in the manger at a previous time.

That's only one problem. "They invented the art of giving Christmas presents." That's a little problemtic considering that the Catholic Encyclopedia,and several others, acknowledge that Jesus wasn't, and couldn't, have been born on December 25, rendering Christmas for that purpose, moot. "The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger." I'm not so convinced they were so wise either, since they followed the star first to Herod, who later used the information they gave him to slaughter many baby boys in search of Jesus. After their visit with Herod, then they made their way to Jesus. If the star they followed was from God, why did it lead them first to Herod? Wouldn't God know how to guide a star to where his own son was? Food for thought.

Originally Posted by Sammer

That's only one problem. "They invented the art of giving Christmas presents." That's a little problemtic considering that the Catholic Encyclopedia,and several others, acknowledge that Jesus wasn't, and couldn't, have been born on December 25, rendering Christmas for that purpose, moot. "The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger." I'm not so convinced they were so wise either, since they followed the star first to Herod, who later used the information they gave him to slaughter many baby boys in search of Jesus. After their visit with Herod, then they made their way to Jesus. If the star they followed was from God, why did it lead them first to Herod? Wouldn't God know how to guide a star to where his own son was? Food for thought.

And this has what to do with the story?

My point exactly. The story was good on its' own merits. Why involve the Magi and other extraneous details. As you see, they have only detracted from the story, due to their questionable veracity.

Originally Posted by Sammer

My point exactly. The story was good on its' own merits. Why involve the Magi and other extraneous details. As you see, they have only detracted from the story, due to their questionable veracity.

They didnt, but you did.

Well, that's one way you can look at it. Another is called reality, and that falls in line with the aforementioned facts. Again, he is the one who chose to incorporate Biblical and Christmas elements in his story, not me. No one else is to blame if he didn't do his research.

I always preferred T S Eliot's The Journey of the Magi. It's well told and evocative, mythological. It's poetry.

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.