The Last Leaf · chapter 2 of 3
The Old Painter Downstairs
楼下的老画家
Sue asks old Behrman, who has talked about his masterpiece for twenty-five years, to come upstairs. Then a long night of wind, rain and snow begins.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 贝尔曼先生住在这座楼的一楼。他六十多岁了，留着一大把白胡子。
Bèi'ěrmàn xiānsheng zhù zài zhè zuò lóu de yī lóu. Tā liùshí duō suì le, liúzhe yí dà bǎ bái húzi.
Mr. Behrman lived on the ground floor of the same building. He was over sixty and had a big, bushy white beard.
- Narrator 他画了四十年画，一张好画也没画出来。他总说要画一张杰作，可是还一笔也没画。
Tā huà le sìshí nián huà, yì zhāng hǎo huà yě méi huà chūlái. Tā zǒng shuō yào huà yì zhāng jiézuò, kěshì hái yì bǐ yě méi huà.
He had been painting for forty years without making one good picture. He was forever saying he would paint a masterpiece, but he still hadn't made a single brushstroke of it.
- Sue 贝尔曼先生！贝尔曼先生，您在家吗？
Bèi'ěrmàn xiānsheng! Bèi'ěrmàn xiānsheng, nín zài jiā ma?
Mr. Behrman! Mr. Behrman, are you in?
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Last Leaf is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Behrman 谁啊？吵死了！哦，是楼上的苏小姐。进来吧，进来吧。
Shéi a? Chǎo sǐ le! Ò, shì lóushàng de Sū xiǎojie. Jìnlái ba, jìnlái ba.
Who's there? What a racket! Oh, it's Miss Sue from upstairs. Come in, come in.
- Sue 屋子里又暗又乱，全是酒味儿。墙角那张白画布，还在等着他的杰作。
Wūzi lǐ yòu àn yòu luàn, quán shì jiǔ wèir. Qiángjiǎo nà zhāng bái huàbù, hái zài děngzhe tā de jiézuò.
It's so dark and messy in here, and it reeks of liquor. And there in the corner is that blank canvas, still waiting for his masterpiece.
- Behrman 看什么？看我的画布吗？总有一天，我要在上面画一张杰作！
Kàn shénme? Kàn wǒ de huàbù ma? Zǒng yǒu yì tiān, wǒ yào zài shàngmiàn huà yì zhāng jiézuò!
What are you staring at? My canvas? One of these days I'm going to paint a masterpiece on it!
- Sue 贝尔曼先生，这句话，您已经说了二十五年了。
Bèi'ěrmàn xiānsheng, zhè jù huà, nín yǐjīng shuō le èrshíwǔ nián le.
Mr. Behrman, you've been saying that for twenty-five years.
- Behrman 二十五年怎么了？杰作又不是一天能画完的！说吧，你来干什么？
Èrshíwǔ nián zěnme le? Jiézuò yòu bú shì yì tiān néng huà wán de! Shuō ba, nǐ lái gàn shénme?
So what if it's been twenty-five years? You can't finish a masterpiece in a day! Well? What do you want?
- Sue 我想请您当我的模特，画一个老矿工。可是先说琼西，她病得很重。
Wǒ xiǎng qǐng nín dāng wǒ de mótè, huà yí gè lǎo kuànggōng. Kěshì xiān shuō Qióngxī, tā bìng de hěn zhòng.
I'd like you to model for me, as an old miner. But first, let me tell you about Johnsy. She's very ill.
- Sue 她每天看着窗外的常春藤，数上面的叶子。她说，最后一片叶子掉了，她也就死了。
Tā měi tiān kànzhe chuāngwài de chángchūnténg, shǔ shàngmiàn de yèzi. Tā shuō, zuìhòu yí piàn yèzi diào le, tā yě jiù sǐ le.
Every day she watches the ivy outside the window and counts its leaves. She says that when the last leaf falls, she'll die.
- Sue 她那么瘦，那么轻，我真怕她也像一片叶子一样，飘走了。
Tā nàme shòu, nàme qīng, wǒ zhēn pà tā yě xiàng yí piàn yèzi yíyàng, piāo zǒu le.
She's so thin and so light. I'm scared she'll just drift away, like a leaf herself.
- Behrman 什么？叶子掉了，人就要死？世界上有这么傻的人吗？我从来没听说过！
Shénme? Yèzi diào le, rén jiù yào sǐ? Shìjiè shang yǒu zhème shǎ de rén ma? Wǒ cónglái méi tīngshuō guo!
What? A leaf falls, so a person has to die? Is anyone in the world really that foolish? I never heard such nonsense!
- Behrman 不当！我不当你的模特，不当什么傻老矿工！你怎么能让这种傻想法，进到她的脑子里？
Bù dāng! Wǒ bù dāng nǐ de mótè, bù dāng shénme shǎ lǎo kuànggōng! Nǐ zěnme néng ràng zhè zhǒng shǎ xiǎngfǎ, jìn dào tā de nǎozi lǐ?
No! I won't model for you, and I won't be any silly old miner! How could you let such a silly idea get into her head?
- Behrman 唉，可怜的琼西小姐……
Ài, kělián de Qióngxī xiǎojie…
Oh, poor Miss Johnsy…
- Sue 她发烧发得太厉害了，脑子里全是奇怪的想法。
Tā fāshāo fā de tài lìhai le, nǎozi lǐ quán shì qíguài de xiǎngfǎ.
Her fever is so high that her head is full of strange ideas.
- Sue 好吧，贝尔曼先生，您不想当，就别当了。可是您啊，您是一个讨厌的老……老……
Hǎo ba, Bèi'ěrmàn xiānsheng, nín bù xiǎng dāng, jiù bié dāng le. Kěshì nín a, nín shì yí gè tǎoyàn de lǎo… lǎo…
Fine, Mr. Behrman. If you don't want to, then don't. But you… you're a nasty old… old…
- Behrman 你们女人啊，都一样！谁说我不当了？走，我跟你上楼！
Nǐmen nǚrén a, dōu yíyàng! Shéi shuō wǒ bù dāng le? Zǒu, wǒ gēn nǐ shàng lóu!
You women are all the same! Who said I wouldn't do it? Come on, I'm going up with you!
- Behrman 我想说“我去”，已经想了半个小时了！
Wǒ xiǎng shuō “wǒ qù”, yǐjīng xiǎng le bàn gè xiǎoshí le!
I've been trying to say “I'll come” for the last half hour!
- Behrman 琼西小姐这么好的人，不能在这种地方生病！总有一天，我要画一张杰作，然后我们都搬走！
Qióngxī xiǎojie zhème hǎo de rén, bù néng zài zhè zhǒng dìfang shēngbìng! Zǒng yǒu yì tiān, wǒ yào huà yì zhāng jiézuò, ránhòu wǒmen dōu bān zǒu!
A girl as good as Miss Johnsy shouldn't lie sick in a place like this! One day I'll paint my masterpiece, and then we'll all move away!
- Narrator 他们上楼的时候，琼西已经睡着了。苏拉下窗帘，带贝尔曼先生去了另一个房间。
Tāmen shàng lóu de shíhou, Qióngxī yǐjīng shuìzháo le. Sū lā xià chuānglián, dài Bèi'ěrmàn xiānsheng qù le lìng yí gè fángjiān.
When they got upstairs, Johnsy was asleep. Sue pulled down the shade and took Mr. Behrman into the other room.
- Narrator 两个人站在窗前，害怕地看着那棵常春藤，又互相看了看，谁也没说话。
Liǎng gè rén zhàn zài chuāng qián, hàipà de kànzhe nà kē chángchūnténg, yòu hùxiāng kàn le kàn, shéi yě méi shuōhuà.
The two of them stood at the window and looked fearfully at the ivy. Then they looked at each other, and neither said a word.
- Sue 下雨了，还有雪……来，您坐在这个旧水壶上，这就是您的石头。
Xià yǔ le, hái yǒu xuě… lái, nín zuò zài zhège jiù shuǐhú shang, zhè jiù shì nín de shítou.
It's raining, and there's snow in it too… Here, sit on this old kettle. That's your rock.
- Behrman 好，好，我就是你的老矿工。快画吧，我的脚都冷了！
Hǎo, hǎo, wǒ jiù shì nǐ de lǎo kuànggōng. Kuài huà ba, wǒ de jiǎo dōu lěng le!
Yes, yes, I'm your old miner. Hurry up and draw. My feet are freezing!
- Narrator 第二天早上，琼西睁着大大的眼睛，看着拉下来的绿窗帘。
Dì èr tiān zǎoshang, Qióngxī zhēngzhe dàdà de yǎnjing, kànzhe lā xiàlái de lǜ chuānglián.
The next morning, Johnsy lay with her eyes wide open, staring at the green shade pulled down over the window.
- Johnsy 把窗帘拉开，我要看。
Bǎ chuānglián lā kāi, wǒ yào kàn.
Open the shade. I want to look.
- Sue 雨下了一夜，风吹了一夜……叶子一定都掉光了。
Yǔ xià le yí yè, fēng chuī le yí yè… yèzi yídìng dōu diào guāng le.
It rained all night, and the wind blew all night… The leaves must all be gone.
- Sue 啊！琼西，你看！墙上还有一片叶子！
À! Qióngxī, nǐ kàn! Qiáng shang hái yǒu yí piàn yèzi!
Oh! Johnsy, look! There's still one leaf on the wall!
- Sue 叶子边儿都黄了，可是中间还是绿的。它还挂在那么高的地方！
Yèzi biānr dōu huáng le, kěshì zhōngjiān háishi lǜ de. Tā hái guà zài nàme gāo de dìfang!
Its edges have gone yellow, but the middle is still green. And it's still hanging on, way up there!
- Johnsy 这是最后一片了。我以为它夜里一定会掉，我听见风了。
Zhè shì zuìhòu yí piàn le. Wǒ yǐwéi tā yèlǐ yídìng huì diào, wǒ tīngjiàn fēng le.
So that's the last one. I was sure it would come down in the night. I could hear the wind.
- Johnsy 它今天就会掉的。它掉的时候，我也会死。
Tā jīntiān jiù huì diào de. Tā diào de shíhou, wǒ yě huì sǐ.
It will fall today. And when it does, I'll die.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How long has Mr. Behrman been saying he'll paint a masterpiece?
“这句话，您已经说了二十五年了。”
- What is Sue afraid of?
“我真怕她也像一片叶子一样，飘走了。”
- Why does Mr. Behrman shout at first?
“叶子掉了，人就要死？世界上有这么傻的人吗？”
- What does Mr. Behrman do when Sue calls him a nasty old…?
“谁说我不当了？走，我跟你上楼！”
- What does Johnsy say will happen today?
“它今天就会掉的。它掉的时候，我也会死。”