12. Summary of the lesson "The Last Leaf"

The lesson "The Last Leaf" is written by O Henry. The story is about young artists: Sue and Johnsy. They lived in the same flat. One day, in November, Johnsy was affected with pneumonia. She used to lie on the bed and gaze out the window. She would count the leaves of the ivy creeper. She thought that she would die when the last leaf fell. Johnsy's friend Sue tried to convince her that it was autumn and so it is pretty normal that the leaves should be shed. But Johnsy didn't listen to her words. She kept on counting backwards. To make her active Johnsy thought of talking to her about interesting things like clothing and fashion. But Johnsy lay still in her bed. Then Sue said that she was going to draw the painting of an old miner. So she went to call her neighbour Mr Behram to act as their model. Meanwhile, Sue shared her worries about Johnsy to Behrman. He came to see Johnsy and found that Johnsy had fallen asleep. Then Sue opened the windows and shown him the last leaf from the ivy. After seeing that Mr Behram left the place. In the night, there was a heavy storm and wind. On the following day, Johnsy asked Sue to open the curtains. When Sue opened the curtains, they found that the last leaf didn't fall and it looked green and healthy. After seeing that, Johnsy realised her foolishness and started recovering from her health. Then the doctor came and examined Johnsy and said that her health was improving. Meanwhile, he informed that Mr Behrman was affected with pneumonia. The next day, Sue told Johnsy that Mr Behrman had passed away. He had been in the out when the heavy storm blew. Sue asked Johnsy whether she knew why the last leaf was not falling. She informed her that it was Mr Behrman's masterpiece.