THE LAST LEAF

By O. Henry
This story is about Sue, Johnsy, and Mr. Behrman; Sue and Johnsy live in an apartment in
Greenwich Village, a favorite place for aspiring painters to live at. Sue and Johnsy had met at a
restaurant and became soul-mate friends.

In the winter pneumonia epidemic affected many people in that area; Johnsy also fell prey to it.
Her condition became worse from bad with each passing day. The doctor confided to Sue one day that
Johnsy was losing hope and desire to get well under the painful influence of the disease. She began to
harbor a belief that she would die the moment the last leaf fell from the ivy climber on the wall opposite
her window. She also shares her belief with her friend, Sue.

Sue discussed it with Mr. Behrman, an extremely talented painter living in obscurity in their
neighborhood. Mr. Behrman decided to save Johnsy’s life. He believed in the power of believing. One
night when it was extremely cold and raining, he painted a leaf on the ivy climber in such a manner that
it looked like a real leaf. When Johnsy saw that the last leaf on the ivy climber on the opposite wall had
not fallen, she was somehow filled with the desire to heal and get well. This desire helped her
recuperate fast. And she recovered.

However, Mr. Behrman who had worked in the cold, was affected by pneumonia and died. Thus
he laid his life to save Johnsy’s life.
 The Pardoner’s Tale
By Geoffrey

In Flanders, there were three young men who loved to amuse themselves by singing, reveling,
and drinking. The Pardoner launches into a long criticism about their sinful lives, citing many Biblical
examples as support. First, he denounces their gluttony, which he says caused the fall of Man. He next
decries their drunkenness, which makes men witless and lecherous. He then denounces their gambling:
dice, he says, are the mothers of lies. The Pardoner criticizes the swearing of false oaths, saying that
cursing and perjury are wretched.

Although the Pardoner himself hardly leads a spotless life, he bashes the protagonists of his tale
for their sinful ways, spelling out all the various reasons why gluttony, drunkenness, gambling, and cursing
are so terrible. He himself is a hypocrite, but he uses his Tale as a moral example.

Finally, after his long tirade, the Pardoner returns to the three young rioters, who are drinking at
a tavern when they hear the bell signaling the sound of a passing coffin. A servant tells them that the dead
man was a friend of the revelers who had been stabbed in the night by a thief called Death. The revelers
declare that they will seek and slay this false traitor Death. They pledge to be true to each other as
brothers in this quest.

The revelers’ belief that they can slay Death himself demonstrates their extreme hubris. Rather
than mourning their friend, they rashly seek their own glory. Although they here pledge that they will be
brothers in their quest, as the story progresses it doesn't take much to dissolve their own bond. "Rioters"
was a term for rambunctious young men.

The revelers meet an old man in rags who says that he must wander the earth restlessly because
Death will not take his life. He makes a move to leave, but the rioters demand that he tell them where
they can find Death. The old man says that he has just left Death a moment ago sitting under an oak tree.
The youths run down the crooked path to the tree, where they find not Death but eight bushels of gold.

The old man in rags is a typical character in a parable, a prophet-like figure who gives the travelers
information that turns out to be dangerous. Instead of the figure of Death that they expect to find, the
three revelers find bushels of gold that ultimately lead them to their deaths through their greed.

The worst of the rioters speaks first, saying that this is their lucky day, but if they take the treasure
down to the town by daylight, they will be accused as thieves, and therefore they must wait for nightfall
to move the gold. He proposes that they draw straws, and whichever one gets the short straw must go to
town to get food and drink so they can wait out the day.

The youngest draws the short straw and leaves. While he is away, the other two rioters plot to kill
the third when he returns so that the two of them will each get a bigger share of the treasure. Meanwhile,
the youngest decides to poison the other two revelers so that he can keep all the money for himself. He
goes to an apothecary, buys the strongest poison available, and pours it into two bottles, keeping a third
clean for himself.

A third of the treasure is not enough for the rioters: even though the third will make each of them
far richer than he was before, they each immediately see ways to become richer still. The bonds of
brotherhood that they swore to each other disappear in the face of their greed.
 When the youngest reveler returns, the two others slay him. Then, celebrating, they drink the
poisoned wine. Thus, all three of the revelers die. Everyone must therefore beware sins, says the
Pardoner, especially greed, which is the root of all evils.