The Last Leaf
Sue
Johnsy
Doctor
Old Behrman
Scene Ⅰ
Aside:
In a little district west of Washington Square the streets have run crazy and broken themselves into small strips called "places." These "places" make strange angles and curves.
One day,an artist once discovered a valuable possibility in this street. So, to quaint old Greenwich Village the art people soon came prowling. ( Sue and Johnsy meet at the restaurant of an Eighth Street...)
S: Hey,I find our tastes in art, food and clothes so congenial.Maybe we can have a joint studio.
J: Oh,that’s great.We’d better look for a studio with north windows, Dutch attics and low rents.
S: It couldn’t be better.Then we can import some pewter mugs and a chafing dish or two from Sixth Avenue.
J: It sounds exciting.Let’s take action right away.
Scene Ⅱ
Aside:
That was in May. In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors
called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony(聚居地), touching one here
and there with his icy fingers.
Johnsy unluckily suffered from Mr.Pneumonia.she lay, scarcely moving, on her painted iron bedstead, looking through the small Dutch window-panes at the blank side of the next brick house.
One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway...
D: Let us say, She only has one chance in ten.And that chance is for her to want to live. But Your little lady has made up her mind that she's not going to get well. Has she had anything on her mind?
S: She ... she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day.
D: Paint? - bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking twice - a man for instance?
S: A man?Is a man worth .... but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind.
D: She is so weak.I will do my best.But whenever my patient begins to count the
carriages in her funeral procession I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines. If you will get her to ask one question about the new winter styles in clothes, I will promise you a one-in-five chance for her.
Scene Ⅲ
Aside:
After the doctor went ,Sue went into the workroom and cried.Then she entered into Johnsy's room with her drawing board, whistling a tune. Johnsy lay with her face toward the window.
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 backward. )
J: Twelve...eleven...ten,ten...nine...eight,seven..(almost toghther)
(Sue look solicitously out of the window.)
S: What is it,dear?
J: Six.They're falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. It made my head ache to count them. But now it's easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now.
S:Five what, dear? Tell me.
J: Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I've known that for three days. Didn't the doctor tell you?
S:Oh, I never heard of such nonsense.What old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? And you used to love that vine. So, don't be a goosey. The doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well were vey big.Now Try to take some broth,and let me go back to my drawing,
(Johnsy kept her eyes fixed out the window.)
J:There goes another. No, I don't want any broth. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I'll go, too.
S:Dear,will you promise me to keep your eyes closed, and not look out the window until I am done working? I must hand those drawings tomorrow. I need the light, or I would draw the shade down.
J:Couldn't you draw in the other room?
S: I'd rather be here by you.
J:Tell me as soon as you have finished,because I want to see the last one fall. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of thinking. I want to go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves.(close eyes)
S:Try to sleep.I must call Behrman up to be my model.I'll not be gone a minute.
Scene Ⅳ
Abside:
Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor beneath them. He was past sixty and a failure in art. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists in the colony who could not pay the price of a professional. He was a little fierce old man and drank excessively.
Sue told him of Johnsy's fancy.
B:What?Is a kind of people in the world foolish to die because leafs drop off from a vine? I had not heard of such a thing. Why do you allow silly thougts to come into her brain? Oh, poor Miss Johnsy.
S:She is very ill and weak,and the fever has left her mind full of strange fancies.Very well, Mr. Behrman, if you do not care to pose for me, you needn't.
B:You are just like a woman!Who said I will not pose?Let’s go.Poor Miss Johnsy!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 the window, and motioned(打手势) 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.
Scene Ⅴ
Aside:
The next morning, Sue awoke from an hour's sleep.She found Johnsy with dull, wide-open eyes staring at the drawn green shade.
J: Pull it up! I want to see....
It is the last one,I thought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the wind. It will fall today, and I shall die at the same time.
S: Dear, dear! If you won't think of yourself. What would I do?
(Silence....)
The day wore away, and even through the twilight(黄昏) they could see the lone ivy leaf clinging to its stem against the wall.
Next morning.When it was light enough, Johnsy commanded that the shade be raised.The ivy leaf was still there.
J:I've been a bad girl, Sue.It is a sin to want to die.You may bring me a little broth now. No,bring me a mirror first.
...Sue,some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples.
Scene Ⅵ
The doctor came in the afternoon, and Sue had an excuse to go into the hallway.
D:With good nursing you'll win.
S: Thank you,doctor.
D:And now I must see another patient--Behrman, his name is some kind of an artist. Pneumonia, too. He is an old, weak man, and the attack is acute. There is no hope for him;,but he goes to the hospital today to be made more comfortable.
The next day....
D:She's out of danger. You win. Pay attention to nutrition and care.
S:Ok,I will.
（Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay）
S：I have something to tell you, dear.Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital.
He was ill only two days. The janitor found him the morning of the first day in his room,helpless with pain.His shoes and clothing were wet through and cold.
J:Oh,poor man.What happened to him?
S:Look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall.Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it's Behrman's masterpiece - he painted it on that night when the last leaf fell.