Рассказ О. Генри «Последний лист» на англйском языке уже публиковался на нашем сайте. — O. Henry The Last Leaf (in English, for intermediate). Однако он оказался немного сложным для начинающих. С классикой всегда так… Трудно поместить ее в «прокрустово ложе» адаптации. Как же быть? Неужели книги на английском языке, а именно классика будет доступна для начинающих только на более продвинутых уровнях знания языка? На этот раз я постаралась упростить этот рассказ настолько, насколько можно упростить художественное произведение, не потеряв красоту его повествования. Я надеюсь, что теперь начинающие смогут прочитать этот замечательный, хотя и немного грустный рассказ «The Last Leaf» на уровне «beginner».
O. Henry. The Last Leaf (in English, for beginners)
1.Выучите список ключевых слов, перед тем, как читать рассказ. Они даны перед текстом.
2.Проверяйте перевод более сложных слов, которые вам встретятся в тексте, например, pneumonia — пневмония, decease — заболевание, examined — осмотрел и других, если не понимаете смысл предложения.
Part 1
Words to know (key words):
- artist — художница
- fall ill — заболеть
- fall — падать
- lay — лежала (lie — лежать)
- get well — поправиться
- few chances — мало шансов
- patient — пациент
- medicine — лекарство
- lose hope — терять надежду
- count — считать
Two young women, Sue and Johnsy, lived in New York. They were artists. Johnsy’s real name was Joanna.
In November it was very cold and Johnsy fell ill. She had a pneumonia, a decease that killed many people.
Johnsy lay on her bed and looked through the small window. She could see only the brick wall of the house next to her building.
In the morning a doctor examined Johnsy and took her temperature. Then he spoke with Sue in another room.
«Your friend thinks that she is not going to get well. That’s why she has very few chances. I can’t help her. When my patient loses hope, medicines don’t work.»
After the doctor left, Sue cried. Then she put on a cheerful smile and went to Johnsy’s.
Johnsy lay with her face toward the window. Sue went up to her bed.
Johnsy’s eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting: «twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight…
Sue looked out the window, too. What was there to count? There was only the wall of the house seven meters away. An old ivy vine climbed up the wall. Its almost bare branches hung on the bricks.
An old ivy vine climbed up the wall. Its almost bare branches hung on the bricks. — Пожелтевший плющ карабкался по стене. Его полуголые ветви цеплялись за кирпичи.
«What is it, dear?» asked Sue.
«Six,» said Johnsy, quietly. «They’re falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. But now it’s easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now.»
There goes another one. — Вот еще один полетел.
«Five what, dear?» asked Sue.
«Leaves. On the plant. When the last one falls, I must go, too. Didn’t the doctor tell you?»
«Oh, I never heard of such a thing,» said Sue. «Don’t be silly. The doctor told me this morning that you were getting better. Your chances are ten to one! Try to eat some soup now, please..»
Johnsy kept looking out the window. «There goes another one. No, I don’t want any soup. There were just four leaves left. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I’ll go, too.»
«Johnsy, dear,» said Sue, «promise me not to look out the window for a while. I must finish my drawing by tomorrow.»
Johnsy closed her eyes. She lay white and still. «I want to see the last leaf fall. I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of thinking. I want to fall down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves.»
«Try to sleep until I come back,» said Sue. «I must call Mister Behrman to be my model for my drawing.»
* * *
O. Henry. The Last Leaf (in English, for beginners)
Part 2
Words to know (key words):
- failure — неудачник
- earn money — зарабатывать деньги
- sick — больной
- weak — слабый
- die — умереть
- foolishness — глупость
- silly — глупый
- wet — мокрый
- imagine — представить себе
- wonder — удивляться
Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor of the same building. Behrman was a failure in art. He earned a little money being a model to artists.
Sue found Behrman in his room. He was sitting and looking at a blank canvas in front of him. Sue told him about Johnsy.
«She is very sick and weak,» said Sue, «and her mind is full of strange ideas. She thinks that she will die when the last leaf falls.»
«What a foolishness! To die because leaves drop off a vine? Why do you let that silly idea come in her head?» cried old Behrman.
Johnsy was sleeping when they came. They looked out the window at the ivy vine. A cold rain was falling, mixed with snow. Then Sue pulled the shade down to cover the window. They looked at each other without speaking.
Then Sue pulled the shade down to cover the window. — Затем Сью опустила на окно штору.
The next morning Sue found Johnsy with wide-open eyes, looking at the covered window.
«Pull up the shade; I want to see,» she said, quietly.
Sue obeyed.
The rain and strong wind that blew through the night but there was one ivy leaf left. It was the last leaf on the vine. It hung bravely on the branch about seven meters above the ground, still dark green at the center and yellow at its sides.
«It is the last one,» said Johnsy. «I thought it would fall during the night. I heard the wind. It will fall today and I shall die at the same time.»
«Dear, dear! Think of me, if you don’t think of yourself. What will I do?»
But Johnsy did not answer.
The next morning Johnsy looked at the window but the ivy leaf was still there. She lay for a long time, looking at it. Then she called Sue, who was cooking chicken soup.
«I’ve been a bad girl,» said Johnsy. » It is wrong to want to die. You may bring me a little soup now.»
Later in the day, the doctor came, and Sue talked to him in the hall.
«She is better,» said the doctor. «With good care, you’ll win. And now I must see another patient, I have in your building. Behrman, an artist. He had a pneumonia, too. He is an old, weak man. There is no hope for him.»
Later that day, Sue came up to the bed where Johnsy lay, and said to her.
«I have something to tell you, dear,» she said. «Mister Behrman died of pneumonia today. He was sick only two days. They found him last morning in his room. His shoes and clothes were completely wet and icy cold. They could not imagine where he had been on such a terrible night.
And then they found a lantern and a ladder. And paints and brushes, and a painting board with green and yellow colors mixed on it.
Look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn’t you wonder why it never moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it is Behrman’s masterpiece – he painted it that night when the last leaf fell.»
The End
You have read the story by O.Henry «The Last Leaf» (for beginners).
Очень трогательный и тяжёлый рассказ.
Да, и это один из лучших рассказов О.Генри
Я плакал…