The ivy leaf was still there.
Johnsy lay for a long time looking at it. And then she called to Sue, who was stirring her chicken broth over the gas stove.
“I’ve been a bad girl, Sudie,” said Johnsy. “Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die. You may bring me a little broth now, and some milk with a little port in it, and—no; bring me a hand-mirror first, and then pack some pillows about me, and I will sit up and watch you cook.”
An hour later she said:
“Sudie, some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples.”
The doctor came in the afternoon, and Sue had an excuse to go into the hallway as he left.
“Even chances,” said the doctor, taking Sue’s thin, shaking hand in his. “With good nursing you’ll win. And now I must see another case I have downstairs. Behrman, his name is—some kind of an artist, I believe. 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 the doctor said to Sue: “She’s out of danger. You’ve won. Nutrition and care now—that’s all.”
And that afternoon Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay, contentedly knitting a very blue and very useless woollen shoulder scarf, and put one arm around her, pillows and all
“I have something to tell you, white mouse,” she said. “Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. He was ill only two days. The janitor found him on the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold. They couldn’t imagine where he had been on such a dreadful night. And then they found a lantern, still lighted, and a ladder that had been dragged from its place, and some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it, and—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 there the night that the last leaf fell.”
knit[nɪt]n.编织物; 编织法
v. 编织,针织；使紧密结合；（骨头）愈合，接合
Do you know how to knit? 你会织毛线吗 ?
Society is knitted together by certain commonly held beliefs.
社会是靠某些共同的信念来维系的。
The bone hasn't knitted together properly. 骨头愈合得不好。
winter knits 编织的冬衣
janitor[ˈdʒænɪtə(r)]n. 看门人， 门房
He is a school janitor. 他是学校的门卫.
flutter [ˈflʌtə(r)]v.&n. 颤动，飘动，挥动；振翅，鼓翼；(心)怦怦直跳
~（on sth）小赌注
He fluttered his hands around wildly. 他拼命挥舞着双手。
The butterfly fluttered from flower to flower. 蝴蝶在花丛中飞来飞去。
The sound of his voice in the hall made her heart flutter.
他在大厅中讲话的声音使她的心怦怦直跳。
to have a flutter on the horses 赛马中下小赌注
the flutter of wings 翅膀的拍动
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