【正文】 joint studio resulted. 最后一片葉子歐亨利 在一幢三層磚樓的頂層，蘇和約翰西辟了個畫室?！凹s翰西”是喬安娜的昵稱。她們一位來自緬因州，一位來自加利福尼亞。兩人相遇在第八大街的一個咖啡館，發(fā)現(xiàn)各自在藝術(shù)品味、菊苣色拉，以及燈籠袖等方面趣味相投，于是就有了這個兩人畫室。 　2 That was in May. In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the district, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Johnsy was among his victims. She lay, scarcely moving on her bed, looking through the small window at the blank side of the next brick house. 那是5月里的事。到了11月，一個醫(yī)生稱之為肺炎的陰森的隱形客闖入了這一地區(qū)，用它冰冷的手指東碰西觸。約翰西也為其所害。她病倒了，躺在床上幾乎一動不動，只能隔著小窗望著隔壁磚房那單調(diào)沉悶的側(cè)墻。 3 One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway with a bushy, gray eyebrow. 一天上午，忙碌的醫(yī)生揚了揚灰白的濃眉，示意蘇來到過道。 4 She has one chance in ten, he said. And that chance is for her to want to live. Your little lady has made up her mind that she39。s not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind? “她只有一成希望，”他說?！澳沁€得看她自己是不是想活下去。你這位女朋友已經(jīng)下決心不想好了。她有什么心事嗎？” 5 She she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day, said Sue. “她――她想有一天能去畫那不勒斯灣，”蘇說。 6 Paint? bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking about twice a man, for instance? “畫畫？――得了。她有沒有別的事值得她留戀的――比如說，一個男人？” 7 A man? said Sue. Is a man worth but, no, doctor。 there is nothing of the kind. “男人？”蘇說?！半y道一個男人就值得――可是，她沒有啊，大夫，沒有這碼子事?！? 8 Well, said the doctor. I will do all that science can acplish. But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages in her funeral procession I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines. After the doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and cried. Then she marched into Johnsy39。s room with her drawing board, whistling a merry tune. “好吧，”大夫說?！拔視M一切努力，只要是科學(xué)能做到的。可是，但凡病人開始計算她出殯的行列里有幾輛馬車的時候，我就要把醫(yī)藥的療效減去一半?！贝蠓蜃吆?，蘇去工作室哭了一場。隨后她攜著畫板大步走進(jìn)約翰西的房間，口里吹著輕快的口哨。 9 Johnsy lay, scarcely making a movement under the bedclothes, with her face toward the window. She was looking out and counting counting backward. 約翰西躺在被子下幾乎一動不動，臉朝著窗。她望著窗外，數(shù)著數(shù)――倒數(shù)著數(shù)！ 10 Twelve, she said, and a little later eleven。 and then ten, and nine。 and then eight and seven, almost together. “12，”她數(shù)道，過了一會兒“11”，接著數(shù)“10”和“9”；再數(shù)“8”和“7”，幾乎一口同時數(shù)下來。 11 Sue looked out of the window. What was there to count? There was only a bare, dreary yard to be seen, and the blank side of the brick house twenty feet away. An old, old ivy vine climbed half way up the brick wall. The cold breath of autumn had blown away its leaves, leaving it almost bare. 蘇朝窗外望去。外面有什么好數(shù)的呢？外面只看到一個空蕩蕩的沉悶的院子，還有20英尺開外那磚房的側(cè)墻，上面什么也沒有。一棵古老的常青藤爬到半墻高。蕭瑟秋風(fēng)吹落了枝葉，藤上幾乎光禿禿的。 12 Six, said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. They39。re falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. It made my head ache to count them. But now it39。s easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now. “6”，約翰西數(shù)著，聲音幾乎聽不出來。“現(xiàn)在葉子掉落得快多了。三天前差不多還有100片。數(shù)得我頭都疼?？涩F(xiàn)在容易了。又掉了一片。這下子只剩5片了?！? 13 Five what, dear? “5片什么，親愛的？” 14 Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I39。ve known that for three days. Didn39。t the doctor tell you? “葉子。常青藤上的葉子。等最后一片葉子掉了，我也就得走了。三天前我就知道會這樣。大夫沒跟你說嗎？” 15 Oh, I never heard of such nonsense. What have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? Don39。t be so silly. Why, the doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well real soon were ten to one! Try to take some soup now, and let Sudie go and buy port wine for her sick child. “噢，我從沒聽說過這種胡說八道。常青藤葉子跟你病好不好有什么關(guān)系？別這么傻。對了，大夫上午跟我說，你的病十有八九就快好了?？旌刃屘K迪給她生病的孩子去買些波爾圖葡萄酒來。” 16 You needn39。t get any more wine, said Johnsy, keeping her eyes fixed out the window. There goes another. No, I don39。t want any soup. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I39。ll go, too. I39。m tired of waiting. I39。m tired of thinking. I want to turn loose my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves. “你不用再去買酒了，”約翰西說道，兩眼一直盯著窗外?！坝值袅艘黄?。不，我不想喝湯。這一下只剩下4片了。我要在天黑前看到最后一片葉子掉落。那時我也就跟著走了。我都等膩了。也想膩了。我只想撇開一切, 飄然而去，就像那邊一片可憐的疲倦的葉子?！? 17 Try to sleep, said Sue. I must call Behrman up to be my model for the old miner. I39。ll not be gone a minute. “快睡吧，”蘇說。“我得叫貝爾曼上樓來給我當(dāng)老礦工模特兒。我去去就來?！? 18 Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor beneath them. He was past sixty and had a long white beard curling down over his chest. Despite looking the part, Behrman was a failure in art. For forty years he had been always about to paint a masterpiece, but had never yet begun it. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists who could not pay the price of a professional. He drank gin to excess, and still talked of his ing masterpiece. For the rest he was a fierce little old man, who mocked terribly at softness in any one, and who regarded himself as guard dog to the two young artists in the studio above. 老貝爾曼是住在兩人樓下底層的一個畫家。他已年過六旬，銀白色蜷曲的長髯披掛胸前。貝爾曼看上去挺像藝術(shù)家，但在藝術(shù)上卻沒有什么成就。40年來他一直想創(chuàng)作一幅傳世之作，卻始終沒能動手。他給那些請不起職業(yè)模特的青年畫家當(dāng)模特掙點小錢。他沒節(jié)制地喝酒，談?wù)撝羌磳柺赖牟恍嘀?。要說其他方面，他是個好斗的小老頭，要是誰表現(xiàn)出一點軟弱，他便大肆嘲笑，并把自己看成是樓上畫室里兩位年輕藝術(shù)家的看護(hù)人。 19 Sue found Behrman smelling strongly of gin in his dimly lighted studio below. In one corner was a blank canvas on an easel that had been waiting there for twentyfive years to receive the first line of the masterpiece. She told him of Johnsy39。s fancy, and how she feared she would, indeed, light and fragile as a leaf herself, float away, when her slight hold upon the world grew weaker. Old Behrman, with his red eyes plainly streaming, shouted his contempt for such foolish imaginings. 蘇在樓下光線暗淡的畫室里找到了貝爾曼，他滿身酒味刺鼻。屋子一角的畫架上支著一張從未落過筆的畫布，在那兒擱了25年，等著一幅杰作的起筆。蘇把約翰西的怪念頭跟他說了，并說約翰西本身就像一片葉子又瘦又弱，她害怕要是她那本已脆弱的生存意志再軟下去的話，真的會凋零飄落。老貝爾曼雙眼通紅，顯然是淚漣漣的，他大聲叫嚷著說他蔑視這種傻念頭。 20 What! he cried. Are there people in the world foolish enough to die because leafs drop off from a vine? I have never heard of such a thing. Why do you allow such silly ideas to e into that head of hers? God! This is not a place in which one so good as Miss Johnsy should lie sick. Some day I will paint a masterpiece, and we shall all go away. Yes. “什么！”他嚷道?！笆澜缟暇谷挥羞@么愚蠢的人，因為樹葉從藤上掉落就要去死？我聽都沒聽說過這等事。你怎么讓這種傻念頭鉆到她那個怪腦袋里？天哪！這不是一個像約翰西小姐這樣的好姑娘躺倒生病的地方。有朝一日我要畫一幅巨作，那時候我們就離開這里。真的?！? 21 Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down, and motioned Behrman into the other room. In there they peered out the window fearfully at the ivy vine. Then they looked at each other for a moment without speaking. A persistent, cold rain was falling, mingled with snow. Behrman, in his old blue shirt, took his seat as the miner on an upturned kettle for a