7 - The Last Leaf.doc

The Last Leaf By O. Henry In a little district west of Washington Square the streets have run crazy and broken themselves into small strips (条) called places. These places make strange angles (角度) and curves (曲线). One street crosses itself a time or two. An artist once discovered a valuable possibility in this street. Suppose a collector with a bill for paints, paper and canvas should, in traversing this route (穿过这条路), suddenly meet himself coming back, without a cent having been paid on account! So, to quaint (古怪) old Greenwich Village (格林威治村，位于纽约曼哈顿区，艺术家等的聚居地) the art people soon came prowling (徘徊，搜寻), hunting for north windows and eighteenth-century gables (山墙) and Dutch attics (阁楼) and low rents. Then they imported some pewter mugs (青灰色的马克杯) and a chafing dish (保温锅) or two from Sixth Avenue, and became a colony. At the top of a squatty (低矮), three-story brick Sue and Johnsy had their studio. Johnsy was familiar for Joanna. One was from Maine; the other from California. They had met at the table dh? te (不知来源的某个词) of an Eighth street Delmonicos, (人名，饭店名) and found their tastes in art, chicory (菊苣)salad and bishop sleeves (灯笼袖) so congenial (意气相投) that the joint studio resulted. That was in May. In November a cold, unseen (看不见的) stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia (肺炎), stalked (蔓延) about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Over on the east side this ravager (破坏者) strode boldly, smiting (重击) his victims by scores, but his feet trod (践踏) slowly through the maze (迷宫) of the narrow and moss-grown (生苔藓的) places. Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a chivalric (有骑士精神的) old gentleman. A mite (细小) of a little woman with blood thinned (变薄) by California zephyrs (和风) was hardly fair game for the red-fisted, short-breathed old duffer (笨蛋). But Johnsy he smote (击败); and she lay, scarcely moving, on her painted iron bedstead (床架), looking through the small Dutch window-panes (窗格) at the blank side of the next brick house. One morning t