朝花夕拾之十六：The last leaf
Today, I would like to share with you a very moving story—“The Last Leaf”, which is written by a famous American writer O. Henry.
O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter, who was born on September, 11,1862 and died on June, 5,1910.
His stories are famous for their surprising endings and ironic coincidences, but readers do not lose their interest after the unexpected ending is known. His stories gave the phrase “O. Henry ending” to the language.
“The Last Leaf” is one of Henry’s most famous stories. The story happened in Washington, in a district where the poor painters lived. Sue and Johnsy are two of them. They found they had many things in common so they found an apartment and lived together. Behrman was a strange old painter, or just an old man, because he never had a good picture, and he often got drunk.
Unfortunately, Johnsy suffered pneumonia and the doctor told Sue that it’s hopeless to recover. Everyday Johnsy counted the leaves of one tree outside the window. She said to herself: “When the last leaf falls, I will die too”.
She felt very sad and helpless, she told all there to Behrman and asked him whether he could be her model so that she could finish her work, then she got money to pay for the cost for Johnsy.
Behrman didn’t pay much attention. In a stormy night, there was a strong wind. The last leaf of the tree must have fallen! The next morning, Johnsy asked Sue to open the window, To her surprise, the last leaf was still there. Day after day, the leaf didn’t fall off. Johnsy found hope and recover day by day.
One day, when Johnsy had already been fine. Sue told Johnsy that the last leaf she saw was painted by Behrman,who had died the next day after that stormy night—dying of Pneumonia…
What do you think of the story? What do you think of Behrman? It’s really a surprising ending. And you find Behrman a good old man in the end.
Don’t judge a person according to his behavior or appearance. Treat every person kindly. That’s what I’ve learnt from this story.
写于2006/5/11
O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter, who was born on September, 11,1862 and died on June, 5,1910.
His stories are famous for their surprising endings and ironic coincidences, but readers do not lose their interest after the unexpected ending is known. His stories gave the phrase “O. Henry ending” to the language.
“The Last Leaf” is one of Henry’s most famous stories. The story happened in Washington, in a district where the poor painters lived. Sue and Johnsy are two of them. They found they had many things in common so they found an apartment and lived together. Behrman was a strange old painter, or just an old man, because he never had a good picture, and he often got drunk.
Unfortunately, Johnsy suffered pneumonia and the doctor told Sue that it’s hopeless to recover. Everyday Johnsy counted the leaves of one tree outside the window. She said to herself: “When the last leaf falls, I will die too”.
She felt very sad and helpless, she told all there to Behrman and asked him whether he could be her model so that she could finish her work, then she got money to pay for the cost for Johnsy.
Behrman didn’t pay much attention. In a stormy night, there was a strong wind. The last leaf of the tree must have fallen! The next morning, Johnsy asked Sue to open the window, To her surprise, the last leaf was still there. Day after day, the leaf didn’t fall off. Johnsy found hope and recover day by day.
One day, when Johnsy had already been fine. Sue told Johnsy that the last leaf she saw was painted by Behrman,who had died the next day after that stormy night—dying of Pneumonia…
What do you think of the story? What do you think of Behrman? It’s really a surprising ending. And you find Behrman a good old man in the end.
Don’t judge a person according to his behavior or appearance. Treat every person kindly. That’s what I’ve learnt from this story.
写于2006/5/11
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