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TheLastLeafO.HenryWilliamSydneyPorterO.Henry(1862-1910)ChargedwithembezzlingfundsfromthebankinTexas,fledtoHondurasWhenhiswifewasdying,hereturnedtoTexasin1897;heturnedhimselftotheauthoritiesandservedthreeyearsinprisonhebegantowriteshortstoriesusedthepseudonymO.Henry.themaincharactersI'mjustapoorartistlivingwithmybestfriendJohnsy.It'sgettingreallycold,andJohnsyhascomedownwithpneumonia.Thedoctordoesn'tgiveJohnsymuchhopeofsurviving.Thisbreaksmyheart.IfeelsosickandI’mtired.IknowIwilldiesoon.IjustwanttoholdonuntilthelastleafoftheIvybranchfalls.Soonthelastleafwllfall,andIwilldie,too.Whatisthisnonsense?Thelittlegirlthinksshewilldiewhenaleaffallsfromavine?ThisiscrazyimustdosomethingtoprotectthepoorlittlethingAveryquickpreviewofthefictionAnoldFrenchman,namedBehrman,isanartist(andaverybadonetoo)wholivesnearbyandisSue'stutorComments•AlthoughOHenrycertainlydidnotinventtheshortstory,hemasteredthisformandperfectedthetechniqueofthesurpriseending.OHenrybecameamasteratdoingthisbylayingtheconstructionfortheseendingsinthestoryitself.Hegiveshintstohisreadersoftheendingstocomebybrieflyincludingdetailsthatseemunimportantatfirstmemories.Butbecomeimmenselyimportantwhenthesurpriseendingisrevealed.AnexampleofthisisinthestorythelastLeafwherereaderseescluesofwhattheoldartistlivingdowntownshasdonetosavethelifeofthegirlupstairs.•尽管短篇小说这种文学形式并非欧亨利首创的，但他堪称这种文体的大师级人物，而且还将出人意料的结局这种技巧发扬至完美。在故事展开的过程中，他就开始为结局埋下伏笔，手法非常熟稔巧妙，通过那些初看似乎无关紧要的细节，设置，他不断给读者以小小的暗示，然而，直到故事真相大白的那一刻，读者才会意识到当初那些细枝末节是多么重要。最后一片叶子就是一个典型例子。在这篇小说里，读者其实可以发现很多蛛丝马迹，揭示了楼下的那位老画家是如何挽救那位姑娘的生命的•Weknowtheoldmanhasbeenwaitinghiswholelifetopainthismasterpiece,butwedon’texpecthinto.Notuntiltheveryendingdowerealizethattheoldartisthasindeedfulfilledhisdreamwhileatthesametime,fatallyinjuringhimselfinaselflessactofkindness.O.Herryisamasteratleadingthereaderdownonepathofexpectation,andthenshatteringtheseexpectation,andthanshatteringtheseexpectationsatthesurprisingconclusionofthestory.However,justasin“thelastleaf”,theseendingsarerarelyrandomactsofcruelfate.Instead,theyarecarefullyconstructedbythemasterfulauthortoshowthereaderthehumanityofourfrailandsometimesfoolish,butalsogenerousandkindnature.•我们都知道，那位老人终生都在等待创出一部经典画作，可我们觉得是白日做梦。直到小说结尾，我们才意识到，他确确实实实现了梦想，同时却因为自己善良无私的行为身染重病致死。在小说中，欧亨利非常善于引导读者满怀期望地开始阅读，却在故事结尾用出人意料的结局打碎这些切期望。然而，正如在最后一片叶子里一样，这些结尾大多并非命运残酷无常造成的，而是这位大师级的作者精心构造出来的，旨在向读者揭示我们那脆弱、有时愚蠢却亦慷慨而善良的本性。Thankyou