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  • Once upon a time, there was a town of poor painters on a high hill.

  • Sue and Johnsy were both training to be painters. They lived in a little brick house at the edge of town.

  • Johnsy had come down with pneumonia and stayed in bed, feeling very ill.

  • Returning home after work, Sue was exhausted.

  • The wind is so cold outside. Winter is coming.

  • How are you? Have you been coughing a lot? Have you taken your medicine?

  • Johnsy was too weak to respond.

  • Sue and Johnsy were so poor they could barely afford food and medicine.

  • All they could do was try to sell some of their paintings.

  • Cough, cough, cough.. Oh..

  • Johnsy stared listlessly out the window.

  • There was some ivy on the opposite wall and she could see the leaves dancing in the harsh wind.

  • What are you looking at?

  • Just leaves.

  • What about them, Johnsy?

  • They are just like me

  • Stop looking at them. You are nothing like them!

  • Distressed by Johnsy’s notion, Sue closed the curtains.

  • No Sue, don’t do that, I want to see the leaves

  • Sue ignored Johnsy’’s protests and closed the curtains anyway.

  • When the last leaf withers and falls, I will die too.

  • Johnsy said helplessly.

  • Hmm.. I don’t know what to say..

  • What do you think Doctor, is there any hope she will get better?

  • I don’t see much hope for the moment. She has no will to live.

  • What? But isn’t there anything I can do?

  • She must believe that she can live and get better.

  • The best you can do now is give her hope and encouragement.

  • That is the only medicine that can help her now.

  • I understand. (Sigh)

  • Sue had to sit up day and night making illustrations for magazines just to make enough for Johnsy’s medicine.

  • Johnsy lay in bed beside her and gazed sadly out of the window.

  • Eight, seven, oh.... one more has fallen. ................ Six.

  • Johnsy, what are you doing?

  • See, only six left now. When the last leaf falls, I will die too.

  • How can you say that? That’s ridiculous! You are not a leaf.

  • The wind must be very strong outside. Two more have just fallen.

  • Sue gently took Johnsy’s hand.

  • Please Johnsy, be strong. The Doctor says you will be alright, Johnsy.

  • I am so tired of coughing all the time, and of seeing you work so hard to support me

  • I want to rest, to drift away quietly like those falling leaves. Like that...

  • Sue had nothing to say. She could only look at Johnsy and cry softly.

  • Sue and Johnsy had a neighbor called Mr. Behrman.

  • He was a painter too, but he hadn’t painted anything in a long time.

  • Some people believed he simply had no talent. Sometimes he would pose for other artists.

  • He helped Sue with her magazine illustrations.

  • Tell me Sue, how is Johnsy?

  • She is so ill and week.

  • She insists that she will die when all the leaves from the Boston ivy outside have fallen.

  • The doctor says she can still recover, if she finds the will to live,

  • but all she wants to do is stare at the leaves.

  • I wish we could find a way to give her strength

  • Heavy winds howled through the streets that night, and raindrops pattered against the windowpane.

  • Mr. Behrman watched the storm outside.

  • That looks bad. I don’t know if the leaves can hold up against this weather

  • Mr. Behrman wanted to find a way to help Johnsy, but he was very poor himself and couldn’t think of anything.

  • Sue was nervous as well, and sat by Johnsy’s side all night until she fell asleep.

  • When morning dawned, Sue woke with an anxious feeling.

  • What if all the leaves had fallen from the Boston ivy overnight?

  • Oh Sue, youre awake.

  • Johnsy, are you up already?

  • The leaves must all be gone now, right? Sue, please open the curtains and let me see them.

  • Sue hesitated, she was afraid of what would happen.

  • Please Sue, I want to see the last leaf.

  • No, I can’t! Don’t ask me.

  • Please, Sue.

  • No. You will get better, and then you will go and open them yourself.

  • Sue didn’t want to open the curtains, but when she saw the tears in Johnsy’s eyes, she knew she had no choice.

  • Slowly, she went up to the window and grasped the curtains with trembling hands.

  • Closing her eyes, she pushed them open.

  • Sue and Johnsy were both stunned.

  • Despite the rainstorm and the strong winds, the last leaf was still there, holding on to its branch.

  • Look at that, Sue. The last leaf has survived!

  • You see Johnsy, it was strong, and it lived through the rainstorm! Johnsy!

  • Sue, I will be like that leaf. I will get better, I will have the will to live now!

  • Johnsy and Sue embraced, crying tears of joy.

  • I am glad to see her so much improved.

  • It seems she has found the will to live and she will be able to recover very very soon.

  • Thank you so much, Doctor.

  • It is Johnsy who has conquered this illness, not me.

  • The doctor smiled as he turned to go. As he was about to leave he suddenly remembered something

  • You know, your neighbor Mr. Behrman was brought to the hospital this morning.

  • He was found lying out in the street, drenched and half-frozen.

  • His hands were stained with paint. Could he have been painting something?

  • Oh, I don’t think so. Why would he be out painting in the pouring rain?

  • I don’t know. In any case, the poor old man had been lying out in the cold and rain all night.

  • His health was weak already.

  • So how is he? Please, tell me.

  • He didn’t make it, I’m sorry.

  • Oh, no!

  • (Cough, cough) I hope Johnsy can find her strength in this painting… (Cough, cough)

  • Sue looked again at the last ivy leaf, and suddenly realized that it wasn’t moving in the wind.

  • She began to cry quietly, mourning for Mr. Behrman and his sacrifice.

Once upon a time, there was a town of poor painters on a high hill.

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