O.Henry's those unexpected endings -2

1. Whose Apple Is It – The Apple Mystery

2. The migrant boy who pretends to be a rich man misses the rich man who loves the migrant boy - "Flashy and Unreal"

3. He's a bad guy, but in her life, he's a good guy – The Last Leaf

4. About whether money can buy or not to buy love - "God of Wealth and Love"

A while ago, I opened a collection of O'Henry's short stories, and I was always surprised by unexpected and reasonable impact at the end, and I felt a little depressed when I couldn't guess the ending, but more of an admiration. In the way of telling stories to friends, I would like to share four of the articles that impressed me more, 1 and 2 in yesterday's -1, the following is 3.

The Last Leaf

Strictly speaking, Bellman is still a loser, looks like a white-bearded, untrimmed old man, sixty years old, engaged in painting for forty years but how can not reach the skirt edge of the goddess of art, did not create decent works, except for the occasional commercial and other work, relying on artistic creation can not even support themselves. In the impoverished "arts district" of Greenwich Village, there are too many young artists gathered here who cannot afford to hire professional models, and Bellman earns an income by being their unprofessional models.

Bellman was often an alcoholic, and when he was drunk, he looked up to the sky to talk about the upcoming masterpieces that he had been hanging on his lips, and soberly grasped the weaknesses of the young people who could only hire him as a model, and taunted them as if they were indulging in the dream of talent that he had not looked at directly.

Bellman was less obnoxious in November because of a more annoying guest at Greenwich— pneumonia. Mr. Pneumonia harvested the lives of dozens of people at once in the eastern area of Washington Square, and then walked into the art district indifferently and held out his hand.

Belman's upstairs Jonesy was recruited. Her like-minded good friend, Sue, was called to the foyer by the doctor, who raised his thick and thick gray eyebrows, "In my opinion, she only has one-tenth of hope." That piece of hope is that she has the will to live. If one thinks about taking care of the funeral home business, all the medicines will lose their effectiveness. Your friend seems to have been convinced that he won't get any better. In her heart, is there something she is particularly concerned about? ”

After the conversation, Sue returned to the studio, secretly wept, picked up her spirits, and walked into Johansie's room with the drawing board. Qiongxi's breath was about to melt into this cold winter over and over again, and she stared out the window with her eyes wide open, only to find that her mouth was whispering a number.

"What are you looking at?" Sue asked.

"Six. Three days ago there were hundreds of them, and it was a headache to count, but now it is easy to count. Another one fell, and now there are only five pieces. ”

"What are the five pieces?"

"Ivy leaves. I was going to go when the last piece fell, and I knew that three days ago. Didn't the doctor tell you? ”

"What a stupid thing to say. I've never heard of it. This morning the doctor also told me that you are 90% sure of your illness. Su was full of pity in his heart, suppressed his uneasiness, and said indifferently: "You try to drink some soup." When I finish this and sell it to Mr. Editor, I can buy wine for the sick Johansey. ”

"You don't have to buy me wine anymore." Jonesy said that his eyes only fit the vine outside the window, "and one more piece, only four pieces." No, I don't want to drink any soup. Let the last leaf fall before dark, and then I should go too. ”

Sue's belief in Qiongxi's "going with the leaves" has no way at all, and in the end Sue only coaxes Qiongxi to promise not to look out the window today and try her best to sleep. Sue went downstairs and asked Bellman to come up and model her current work—to play an old miner who had been living in seclusion for many years.

Bellman smelled of pine nuts, and in the small room, the blank canvas that had been on the easel for 25 years and was still waiting for the first line of the masterpiece was with him.

Sue tells Bellman about Jonsey, who is afraid of the wind, like the leaves outside the window, and has lost her concern.

Hearing Jonesy's weakness and ridiculous thoughts, tears rolled out of Bellman's reddened eyes, and the water on his crumpled cheeks was drenched. He poured his frustration of nowhere out, with contempt and mockery, to the people of the district, with the exception of Sue and Joansey, who lived upstairs, and his fatherly softness poured out only on these two, and Bellman regarded himself as their protector.

He shouted, "What is this! Is there really anyone in the world who is stupid enough to want to die because the leaves fall from the vine? I've never heard anything like this. I'm not going to be a model for you anymore, and I'm not going to be this stupid recluse miner anymore. Why would you let such stupid thoughts enter her head? Ah, poor Miss Jonesy. ”

"She was sick and too weak. The high fever that had never receded burned her confused and full of strange ideas. Sue said, "If you don't want to be my model, you don't have to." You're such a nasty old man—the old. ”

"How can you nag like an old woman!" Bellman shouted impatiently, "Who said I wouldn't be your model anymore?" Let's go, I'll go with you. It's been almost half an hour, and I've been saying I'd like to be your model. alas! A good man like Miss Johansey really shouldn't be sick lying in a place like this. When I've created a masterpiece, we'll get out of here. Yes, get out of here. ”】

When the two of them went upstairs, Jonsey was sleeping. Sue and Berman, disguised as reclusive miners, glanced uneasily out the window from time to time, and for a moment they looked at each other without making a sound, only subconsciously holding their breath and then slowly lightening their breathing.

The next day Johansie struggled to open the curtains to see her withered "life." Sue couldn't stop it, so she had to look at the ivy outside the window with Johanssie. There was also a leaf, yellow withered on the edges, but it was true that it was still hanging from the vine.

Sue and Johanssie glanced at each other, and both saw their surprised selves in each other's eyes. Jonsey cooled her emotions again, such a withered fragile leaf, after last night's storm, can it survive tomorrow?

At dawn the next day, Jonsey, who had already made up his mind, asked Sue to open the curtains, and the leaf was still hanging there. Johanssie said to Sue, "Heaven left the last leaf there so that I could see how bad I had done and think that it was a sin to die." Would you like to bring me some chicken soup now and get some milk mixed with red wine? ”

This afternoon, the doctor held Sue's thin, trembling fingers and told her that Johansi's condition was very sure, just pay attention to strengthening nutrition, and he was going to pick up the patient downstairs, Bellman.

Bellman was found soaked by the concierge in the early morning after the rainstorm, and stayed in his dilapidated cabin in pain and helplessness. He died in the hospital two days after pneumonia, but fortunately his masterpiece was completed, the last vine leaf on the wall that did not swing with the wind.

I'm not sure if Bellman, in a neighborhood full of pneumonia and panic, climbing a ladder against the bone-chilling wind and torrential rain to draw that leaf, never thought that an old bone would be folded there.

I'm not sure if he did it so desperately with the heart to create a masterpiece.

But I'm sure maybe he's just a bad old man in the eyes of others, but here sue and Johansey, he's kind and kind.

What I like about this story is not only O'Henry's brilliant ending treatment, but also like Bellman's non-absolute sense of good or bad, "the arsenic of the other, my honey", arsenic is me, honey is also, so I first introduced Bellman when narrating.

Bellman may not have been brilliant in his life, but when he protected Jonsey's faith in life, I seemed to see Bellman shining with the brilliance of humanity, and I also hoped that Jonsey herself would have a firm belief, rather than putting it in a leaf.