O. Henry. The Last Leaf (Intermediate)
O. Henry. The Last Leaf (Part 1)
Wordsforpart 1
o shared a studioapartment — делили однокомнатную квартиру
o Thisdisease, pneumonia — Эта болезнь, пневмония
o She has one chance in — let us say ten — Унееодиншансиз, скажем, десяти.
o Has she anything on her mind worth thinking? — Естьлиейочемстоитдумать?
o tocountthecarriagesatherfuneral — считать кареты в своей похоронной процессии
o severaltimesrepeated —который повторялся несколько раз
o Shewas …. — countingbackward — Она считала в обратном порядке.
o What was there to count? — Чтотамбылосчитать?
o An old ivy vine — старыйплющ
o When the last one falls — Когдапоследнийупадет
o Then I’ll go, too. —Тогдаяумру.
Many artists lived in the Greenwich Village area of New York. Two young women named Sue and Johnsy shared a studio apartment at the top of a three-story building. Johnsy’s real name was Joanna.
In November, a cold, unseen stranger came to visit the city. This disease, pneumonia, killed many people. Johnsy lay on her bed, hardly moving. She looked through the small window. She could see the side of the brick house next to her building.
One morning, a doctor examined Johnsy and took her temperature. Then he spoke with Sue in another room.
«She has one chance in — let us say ten,» he said. «And that chance is for her to want to live. Your friend has made up her mind that she is not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?»
«She — she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples in Italy some day,» said Sue.
«Paint?» said the doctor. «Bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking twice — a man for example?»
«A man?» said Sue. «Is a man worth — but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind.»
«I will do all that science can do,» said the doctor. «But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages at her funeral, I take away fifty percent from the curative power of medicines.»
After the doctor had gone, Sue went into the workroom and cried. Then she went to Johnsy’s room with her drawing board, whistling ragtime.
Johnsy lay with her face toward the window. Sue stopped whistling, thinking she was asleep. She began making a pen and ink drawing for a story in a magazine. Young artists must work their way to «Art» by making pictures for magazine stories. Sue heard a low sound, several times repeated. She went quickly to the bedside.
Johnsy’s eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting — counting backward. «Twelve,» she said, and a little later «eleven»; and then «ten» and «nine;» and then «eight» and «seven,» almost together.
Sue looked out the window. What was there to count? There was only an empty yard and the blank side of the house seven meters away. An old ivy vine, going bad at the roots, climbed half way up the wall. The cold breath of autumn had stricken leaves from the plant until its branches, almost bare, hung on the bricks.
«What is it, dear?» asked Sue.
«Six,» said Johnsy, quietly. «They’re falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. It made my head hurt to count them. But now it’s easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now.»
«Five what, dear?» asked Sue.
«Leaves.On the plant. When the last one falls I must go, too. I’ve known that for three days. Didn’t the doctor tell you?»
«Oh, I never heard of such a thing,» said Sue. «What have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? And you used to love that vine. Don’t be silly. Why, the doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well real soon were — let’s see exactly what he said – he said the chances were ten to one! Try to eat some soup now. And, let me go back to my drawing, so I can sell it to the magazine and buy food and wine for us.»
«You needn’t get any more wine,» said Johnsy, keeping her eyes fixed out the window. «There goes another one. No, I don’t want any soup. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I’ll go, too.»
O. Henry. The Last Leaf (Part 2)
Wordsforpart 2
o a failure — неудачник
o a workofart — произведение искусства
o a fierce old little man -злобныйстарикашка
o a blankcanvas — чистый холст
o float away like a leaf — улетиткаклист
o pulled the shade down — спустилаштору
Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor of the apartment building. Behrman was a failure in art. For years, he had always been planning to paint a work of art, but had never yet begun it. He earned a little money by serving as a model to artists who could not pay for a professional model. He was a fierce old little man who protected the two young women in the studio apartment above him.
Sue found Behrman in his room. In one area was a blank canvas that had been waiting twenty-five years for the first line of paint. Sue told him about Johnsy and how she feared that her friend would float away like a leaf.
Old Behrman was angered at such an idea. «Are there people in the world with the foolishness to die because leaves drop off a vine? Why do you let that silly business come in her brain?»
«She is very sick and weak,» said Sue, «and the disease has left her mind full of strange ideas.»
«This is not any place in which one so good as Miss Johnsy shall lie sick,» yelled Behrman. «Some day I will paint a masterpiece, and we shall all go away.»
Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down to cover the window. She and Behrman went into the other room. They looked out a window fearfully at the ivy vine. Then they looked at each other without speaking. A cold rain was falling, mixed with snow. Behrman sat and posed as the miner.