Full text:
In a neighborhood just west of Washington Square, the streets seem to divide, as if in a frenzy, into a number of small alleyways called "lanes. These "alleys" form many odd angles and curves. The street itself often crosses once or twice.
On one occasion, an artist realized that the street had something valuable to offer. It would be interesting if a merchant, going to collect payment for paints, paper and canvases, were to turn round and round and round in circles on this street, and suddenly bump into himself, who would return empty-handed, having received not a penny!
So it wasn't long before artsy people were coming to this quaint Greenwich Village. They wandered around, looking for north-facing windows, 18th-century triangular walls, Dutch lofts, and low rents. Then they bought some tin-wax cups and a baking pan or two from Sixth Avenue and created an "art district.
Suai and Joanne set up their studio on the top floor of a stumpy three-story brick house. "Joanne" was Joanna's nickname. One of the two was from Maine; the other's hometown was California. They met over dinner at a Del Monico restaurant on Eight Horse Pike, and when they talked to each other, they realized they had similar tastes in art, food and clothing, and they rented the studio together.
That was in May. By November, a ruthless, invisible visitor, whom doctors call "pneumonia," was stalking the art district, touching here and there with his icy fingers.
On the east side of the plaza, the bad guy walks around openly, victimizing dozens of people at a time. But in this intricate, narrow, mossy "alley," his pace slows.
Mr. Pneumonia is not what you would call a gentleman who helps the weak and the needy. A weak woman, already bloodless from the California westerly winds, certainly couldn't stand up to the common sense of the old guy with the red fist off and the panting breath. But he surprised Joanne by striking her; she lay motionless on the painted iron bed, staring out of the little Dutch window at the wall of the brick house opposite.
Source: from "The Last Leaf" by American author O. Henry.
Expanded:
The development and changes in the social life of the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries had a profound impact on the country's literature. Before the Civil War, writers were mostly inspired by the ideals of democracy, fraternity, and freedom of capitalism, and most of the writers used romanticism for their literary creations.
After the Civil War in 1900, due to the destruction of the ideals of life, most writers turned to realism to express the social life of the times, and O. Henry was one of these writers whose ideals were destroyed.The period between 1900 and 1920 was the golden age of American historical development. Much of O. Henry's material came from the people he met in New York and the things he saw and heard.
In his works, he vividly portrayed the worldly conditions of all social classes, leaving a deep imprint of the great upheavals and changes in American society in that era. His whole creation is exposing the unfairness, irrationality and abnormality of social life and sympathizing with the miserable fate of the people in the lower class, but celebrating the beauty of human nature is the mainstream of O. Henry's literary creation, which shows the writer's persistent pursuit of the ideal of human nature.
Specifically, it focuses on excavating and praising the great personality and noble character of the little people, shaping the image of Christ with distinctive humanity, and demonstrating their good wishes for the world of humanity. The tone of the work was in line with the general upward trend of American society at the time, reflecting the fact that the general public had no lack of confidence and hope despite their ill-fated circumstances.
O Henry's most popular novels are about American city life, and most of his most famous stories take place in the streets of New York City. Compared with western novels, most of the novels of this kind are gray and gloomy, full of the hopelessness and bitterness of urban life. O. Henry was very familiar with the social life of the lower class in the United States, and the hardships of his life.
Makes him y feel the pain and misfortune of the lower class society, but also see through the evil nature of the American jackal society. O'Henry is a humanitarian, in such urban themes, in addition to the concern and sympathy for the ordinary little people, but also depicted the upper class in the city, to show the unfairness, irrationality and abnormality of social life.