A few weeks ago psychologist Dan Ariely, inspired by the holiday bive, pondered the hows and whys of gift-giving. Reading his piece—an endorsement of a behavioral economics view that challenges the rational economic contention that gift-giving is a largely irrational dilemma—at once brought to mind the story that has to me and, I suspect, to many others always epitomized the spirit of gifts and generosity: O. Only a few pages long, the story may be O. Say it, and chances are people will at once realize just what kind of gift you mean. A gift wjlling is the real embodiment of quality over quantity, the value of thought over any amount of expenditure. A gift that puts the mere mention of a Holiday Wish List to shame. A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer…. Two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were ...