The last leaf_2(最后一片叶子)

Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a chivalric old gentleman. A mite of a little woman with blood thinned by California zephyrs was hardly fair game for the red-fisted, short-breathed old duffer. But Johnsy he smote; and 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.

chivalric  ['ʃɪvəlrɪk]adj.骑士制度的;骑士精神的

chivalric ideals 骑士的理想

mite[maɪt]n.小虫,螨; 一点点,极小量; 小孩子

 a mite uneasy 一丝不安;a mite (= a little) expensive 有点儿贵

Poor little mite! 可怜的小家伙！

zephyr [ˈzefə(r)] n.<文>和风，微风  A zephyr is a gentle wind.

duffer [ˈdʌfə(r)]n.笨蛋，傻瓜;无用之人

He is a duffer at golf. 他不善于打高尔夫球.

bedstead[ˈbedsted]n.（旧式）床架

pane[peɪn]n.（窗户或门上的）一块玻璃   a windowpane一块窗玻璃

One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway with a shaggy, gray eyebrow.

“She has one chance in—let us say, ten,” he said, as he shook down the mercury in his clinical thermometer. “And that chance is for her to want to live. This way people have of lining-up on the side of the undertaker makes the entire pharmacopoeia look silly. Your little lady has made up her mind that she’s not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?”

shaggy [ˈʃæɡi] adj. 毛发蓬乱的;
undertaker n. 殡仪业人员; 承办人; 承担者
pharmacopoeia [ˌfɑ:məkə'pi:ə]n.  药典 
Chinese Pharmacopoeia 中国药典

“She—she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day,” said Sue.

“Paint?—bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking about twice—a man, for instance?”

“A man?” said Sue, with a jew‘s-harp twang in her voice. “Is a man worth—but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind.”

“Well, it is the weakness, then,” said the doctor. “I will do all that science, so far as it may filter through my efforts, can accomplish. But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages in her funeral procession I subtract 50 percent from the curative power of medicines. If you will get her to ask one question about the new winter styles in cloak sleeves I will promise you a one-in-five chance for her, instead of one in ten.”

Naples['neɪplz]n. 那不勒斯（意大利西南部港市）
twang[twæŋ]n.鼻音; v.(使)发出拨弦声;(使)发出嘣的一声
a funny twang/an American twang   带鼻音的美式英语
 harp[hɑːp] n. 竖琴   play the harp
jew‘s-harp n. 单簧口琴

After the doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and cried a Japanese napkin to a pulp. Then she swaggered into Johnsy’s room with her drawing board, whistling ragtime.

Johnsy, lay, scarcely making a ripple under the bedclothes, with her face toward the window. Sue stopped whistling, thinking she was asleep.

She arranged her board and began a pen-and-ink drawing to illustrate a magazine story. Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.

pulp[pʌlp]n. 浆状物 v. 使…化为浆     paper/wood pulp  纸 / 木浆

swagger [ˈswægə(r)] n. 昂首阔步; 吹嘘，自大

v. 神气十足地走;大摇大摆地走

He swaggered toward her.      他昂首阔步地向她走去.

That's the way I felt once about their swaggering and boasting.

对于他们的傲慢和吹嘘,我也同样讨厌过.

ragtime['ræɡtaɪm] 雷格泰姆音乐（20世纪初流行于美国的一种爵士乐）Ragtime is a kind of jazz piano music that was invented in America in the early 1900s.
ripple[ˈrɪpl]n.波纹，涟漪，细浪；起伏的声音；扩散（涟漪）作用
The air was so still that there was hardly a ripple on the pond's surface.
a ripple of applause/laughter/fear/excitement
v. 如波浪起伏;扩散，传开
A slight wind rippled the crops in the valley... 一阵微风吹过，山谷里的庄稼便随风起伏。
The tops of the trees rippled in the breeze.  树冠在微风中婆娑摇曳。
The sea rippled and sparkled.
A chill shiver rippled over his skin.    他浑身打了个冷战。