欧亨利短篇小说《TheLastLeaf》(《最后一片常青藤叶》(6)

琼西的眼睛睁得大大的。她望着窗外，在计数——倒数上来。
“十二，”她说，过了一会儿，又说“十一”；接着是“十”、“九”；再接着是几乎连在一起的“八”和“七”。
苏关切地向窗外望去。有什么可数的呢？外面见到的只是一个空荡荡、阴沉沉的院子，和二十英尺外的一幛砖屋的墙壁。一株极老极老的常春藤，纠结的根已经枯萎，攀在半墙上。秋季的寒风把藤上的叶子差不多全吹落了，只剩下几根几乎是光秃秃的藤枝依附在那堵松动残缺的砖墙上。
"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 Sudie."
"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?" 怎么回事，亲爱的？”苏问道。“六。”琼西说，声音低得像是耳语，“它们现在掉得快些了。三天前差不多有一百片。数得我头昏眼花。现在可容易了。喏，又掉了一片。只剩下五片了。”
“五片什么，亲爱的？告诉你的苏。”“叶子，常春藤上的叶子。