O.

Henry’s Short stories

Pineumonia Strikes
In a little district west of Washington
Square, the streets have run crazy and have
broken the district into strange shapes. This
district is called Greenwich Village. An
artist once discovered a valuable feature of
this district. On such streets, it is very
likely that a bill collector with a bill for
paints, paper, and canvas would get lost while try- ing to find the
address of the artist who owes him money! So, artists came in large
numbers to quaint, old Greenwich Village. At the top of an ugly,
three-story brick apart- ment building, Sue and Johnsy rented a
small stu- dio. Sue was from Maine; Johnsy was from California.
They had met at a small cafe on Eighth street and found that their
tastes in art, food, and clothes were so much alike that they decided
to rent a place together. That was in May.
Vocabulary
• pneumonia (n) viêm phổi • A owe(s) B: nợ
• strike (v) đánh, đập • quaint (adj) lạ vì cổ
• district (n) quận,huyện,hạt • brick (n) gạch
• valuable (adj) có giá trị, quý giá • rent (v) thuê
• shape (n) hình dạng • studio (n) xưởng, trường quay
• discover (v) khám phá • taste (n) vị, khiếu thẩm mĩ
• feature (n) nét đặc trung • alike (adi) tương tự,giống
• bill collector (n) người thu nợ • decide (v) quyết định
• get lost: mất, lạc

In November, a cold, unseen stranger whom the doctors called

pneumonia came to Greenwich Village, touching people here and
there with his icy fingers.' A small woman with blood thinned by the
warm California sun was no match for the tough and deadly illness.
Johnsy got pneumonia, and it made her very ill. She lay, hardly
moving on her iron-framed bed, looking through the small window
at the brick wall of the building next door. One morning, the busy
doctor invited Sue into the hallway. His eyes were sad under his
bushy gray eyebrows.
"She has one chance in - let us say, ten," he said, as he looked at his
clinical thermometer. "And that chance depends on her will to live. khao khát sống
Some- times when people give up trying to live, it doesn't matter
what medicines I give. Your friend has decided, for some reason,
that she is not going to get well."
Vocabulary
• unseen (adj) vô hình, không có chuẩn bị • eyebrow (n) lông mày
• icy (adj) băng giá • chance (n) cơ hội
• match for: phù hợp • clinical thermometer (n) nhiệt kế y tế
• depend on: phụ thuộc vào
• tough (adj) bền, dai, khắc nghiệt
• give up: từ bỏ
• deadly (adj) gây chết người, trí mạng • matter (n) sự kiện, vấn đề
• illness(n) căn bệnh • medicine (n) thuốc men
• hallway (n) hành lang • get wel: khoẻ lại
• bushy (adj) rậm rạp

"Is she worried about anything?" continued doctor. "She...she

wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day," said Sue.
"Paint? Nonsense! Does she have any important worries, like about
man, for instance?"
"A man?" asked Sue, with a touch of sarcasm in her voice. "Is a man
worth dying for? But, no, doc- tor; there is nothing of the kind."
"Well, she is weak," said the doctor. "I will do all that science, as I
understand it, can accomplish. But whenever my patient begins to
count the days until her own funeral, I subtract 50 percent from the
power of medicine to cure.' If you could get her to ask one question
about the new winter : clothing styles, I will promise you a one-in-
five chance for her, instead of one in ten."
After the doctor had gone, Sue went into the workroom and eried
her eyes dry. Then she walked carelessly into Johnsy's room with
her drawing board, whistling a popular and lively tune.
Vocabulary
paint (v): vẽ funeral (n):
to instance: substract (v):
sarcasm (n): cure (v): chữa trị
be worth: instead of (adv): thay vì, thay thế
accomplish(v): workroom (n):
patient (n): bệnh nhân cry one’s eyes dry:
count (v): đếm drawing board (n):
whistle (v): huýt sáo, thổi còi

Johnsy lay, scarcely making a move under the bedsheets, with her
face toward the window.' Sue stopped whistling, thinking she was
asleep. Sue arranged her board and began a pen-and-ink drawing to
illustrate a magazine story. Young artists must find their ways to
true Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors
must write to find their ways to true Literature.
As Sue was sketching a pair of elegant trousers and a cowboy hat on
the fig- ure of the hero, an Idaho cowboy, she 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 – counting back- ward.
"Twelve," she said, and a little later, "eleven"; and then "ten," and
"nine"; and then "eight" and "seven," almost together.
Vocabulary
scarcely (adv): chỉ vừa mới
make a move:chuyển động
bedsheet (n): khăn trải giường
arrange (n): sự sắp xếp
pen-and-ink (n): bút mực, vẽ bằng bút mực
illustrate (v): mô tả
magazine (n): tạp chí
author (n): tác giả
literature (n): ngữ văn
elegant (adj): thanh lịch, tao nhã
trousers (n): quần
backward (adv): về phía sau, ngược

Sue looked curiously out the window. What was there to count?
There was only a bare, dreary yard to be seen, and the blank side of
the brick build- ing eight meters away.' An old, old ivy vine climbed
halfway up the brick wall. The cold breath of autumn had blown its
leaves from the branches.
"What is it, dear?" asked Sue.
"Six," said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. "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."
"Five what, dear? Tell your Susie."
"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?"
Vocabulary
curiously (adv): tò mò, hiếu kì, lạ kỳ blow (v): thổi
bare (adj): tống rỗng, trần, xơ xác leaf (n): lá
dreary (adj): tồi tàn, thê lương branch (n): nhánh, cành cây
yard (n): sân có rào in a whisper: thì thầm
blank (adj): trơ trụi, trống không fall (v): ngã
ivy vine (n): cây thường xuân ache (adj): nhức nhối
climb (v): trèo
halfway (adj): nửa chừng,nửa vời
breath (n): sự thở, hơi thở
"Oh, I've never heard of such nonsense," complained Sue. with
magnificent scorn. "What do old ivy leaves have to do with your
getting well? And you used to love that vine, you silly girl. Why, the
doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well very
soon were - let's see exactly what he said – he said the chances were
ten to one! Why, that's almost as good a chance as we have in New
York when we ride on the subway or walk past a new building. Try
to eat some soup now and let Susie go back to her drawing, so she
can sell it to the editor. Then l'll buy some port wine for my sick
friend, and pork chops for my own greedy self."
"You don't have to get any more wine," said Johnsy, keeping her
eyes fixed out the window. "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."
Vocabulary
complain (v): phàn nàn subway (n): tàu điện ngầm
magnificient (adj): lộng lẫy, tráng lệ editor (n): người biên tập
scorn (n): sự khinh bỉ port wine (n): rượu vang đỏ ngọt
silly (adj): ngớ ngẩn, khờ dại pork chop (n): sườn lợn
exactly (adv): chính xác, đúng đắn greedy (adj): tham lam
broth (n): nước xuýt

“Johnsy, dear”, said Sue, bending over her, "will you promise me to
keep your eyes closed and not to look out the window until I am
done working? "Johnsy, dear," said Sue, bending I must hand those
drawings in by tomorrow. I need the light, or I would draw the shade
down." "Couldn't you draw in the other room?" asked Johnsy, coldly.
"I'd rather be here by you," said Sue. "Besides, I don't want you to
keep looking at those silly ivy leaves."? "Tell me as soon as you
have finished," said Johnsy, closing her eyes and lying white and
still as a fallen statue, "because I want to see the last one fall. I'm
tired of waiting. I'm tired of thinking. I want to let go of everything
and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves."
"Try to sleep," said Sue. "I must call Behrman up to be my model
for the old Western miner. I'll be right back. Don't move until I come
back.
Vocabulary
bend over: cúi xuống, gập xuống besides: ngoài ra, thêm vào đó
hand in: nộp statue (n): tượng
light (n): ánh sáng be tired of: chán ngán
draw down: giảm, cạn kiệt let go of: buông tay, bỏ qua
shade (n): bóng râm go sailling down:
would rather: muốn miner (n): thợ mỏ