美國著名作家歐.亨利 (O. Henry, 原名 William S. Porter）於1907寫了一篇非常古典的小说: The Last Ivy Leaf 《最後的一片長春藤葉子》。講述了一個發人深省的故事。小說描寫患肺炎的窮畫家瓊西(Johsy)看著窗外對面牆上的常春藤葉子不斷被風吹落。她自言自語的說，最後一片葉子代表她，它的飄落，代表自己的死亡。貝爾曼(Behrman)，一個偉大的畫家，聽完蘇艾 (Sue) 講述完室友瓊西的故事後，在最後一片葉子飄落前，於暴雨的夜晚，用心靈之筆，在牆上畫出了一片「永不凋落」的常春藤葉子。
 
Johnsy has fallen ill and is dying of pneumonia. She watches the leaves fall from a vine outside the window of her room, and decides that when the last leaf drops, she too will die, while Sue tries to tell her to stop thinking like that.  在紐約市的藝術村裡，住着兩位貧困交加的年輕女畫家蘇艾和瓊西。瓊西渴望將来有一天能去Naples 美麗的海灣遊玩。但是，她現在却被嚴重的肺炎纏身。只因還有存活的一線希望，仍在茍延殘喘。為了喚起瓊西戰勝疾病的自信心，她的朋友蘇艾想盡辦法去鼓舞她。

An old, frustrated artist named Behrman lives below Johnsy and Sue. He has been claiming that he will paint a masterpiece, even though he has never even attempted to start. 在她們樓下住著一位失意的老画家，貝爾曼。雖然他還沒開始作畫，但他深信有一天他能畫出一副不朽的名畫。

Sue goes to him and tells him that her friend is dying of pneumonia, and that Johnsy claims she will die when the last leaf falls off of a vine outside her window.  蘇艾将瓊西的心態告訴了貝爾曼。並告訴他，在大病中的瓊西每天呆呆地望着窗外一株飘搖在瑟瑟秋風中的常青藤，数着它的葉子。經過一夜凄風苦雨的吹打，常青藤現在只剩下孤零零的一片葉子。瓊西悲傷的感歎：“等最後的一片葉子掉落下來，我也該走了！”瓊西已經将自己的最后一線希望寄托在那片葉子上。那片葉子成為她唯一的生命火花，她在等，静静地等葉子翩然落下，她就無牽無掛地走了。

In the night, a very bad storm comes and wind is howling and rain is splattering against the window. Sue closes the curtains and tells Johnsy to go to sleep, even though there is still one leaf left on the vine. Johnsy protests but Sue insists on doing so because she doesn’t want Johnsy to see the last leaf fall.
那天晚上，下了一場暴風雨。風在吼，海在嘯，大雨擊落在窗子上。蘇艾關起窗子，並相當堅定的叫瓊西去睡覺，因為她不願瓊西親眼看見最後一片長春藤的葉子落地。

In the morning, Johnsy wants to see the vine, to be sure that all the leaves are gone, but to their surprise, there is still one leaf left. While Johnsy is surprised that it is still there, she insists it will fall that day. But it doesn’t, nor does it fall through the night, nor the next day.
第二天清晨，瓊西打開窗簾，看窗外的長春藤，想確定那最後的一片葉子已經落地。但她卻驚奇的發現，最後的一片長春藤葉子仍然没有飘落，仍在風雨中孤獨地掙扎，好像它要與無情的風雨搏鬥，它要驕傲地活下去！雖然最後一片葉子仍在，但瓊西仍堅稱那片葉子當天會掉落。但它當天、當晚、隔天都沒掉落。

Johnsy believes that the leaf stayed there to show how wicked she was, and that she sinned in wanting to die. She regains her will to live, and makes a full recovery throughout the day. 因此瓊西開始相信那片葉子留在藤上，是為了證明她多麼淘氣，有想死的罪惡感。瓊西似乎看到了一線生機。那最後一片不落的常青藤葉子，增加了她的精神力量。他覺得自己的命運正像那片葉子，告訴她要有堅强的生命力，要有活着的毅力。瓊西因此恢復了存活的意願，她的病當天就好轉、康復了。

In the afternoon, a doctor talks to Sue. The doctor says that Mr. Behrman has come down with pneumonia and, as there is nothing to be done for him, he is being taken to the hospital to be made comfortable in his final hours. A janitor had found him helpless with pain, and his shoes and clothing were wet and icy cold. The janitor couldn’t figure out where he had been on that stormy night, though she had found a lantern that was still lit, a ladder that had been moved, some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it.
當天下午，一位醫生告訴蘇艾，貝爾曼得了不能醫治的肺炎，並已送到安養院。公寓的守門人隔天早上發現貝爾曼全身濕透、無助的躺在風雨中呻吟，旁邊放著燈籠、梯子、及散落的畫筆。

“Look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn’t you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it’s Behrman’s masterpiece – he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell.”
直到此時，蘇艾才告訴瓊西，挽救她生命的那最後一片長春藤葉子是貝爾曼的作品；他在最後一片葉子掉落以後，為了妳，冒著大風雨出門，爬上高高的梯子，在磚牆上畫了那最後一片永不掉落的長春藤葉子！你還記得吧，他一直想畫一幅傑作，現在真的完成了。只是誰也想不到，這幅傑作卻是畫在鄰家的磚牆上！
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幾十年來，無時無刻都想畫出一幅永垂不朽名作的貝爾曼，他一生都在追求成功，在他有生之年，畫在墙上的最後的一片長春藤葉子，挽救了一個濒臨死亡的年輕藝術家，鼓起了她生命的風帆。

在我們的軀体之外，總需要一種信念支撑着，這種信念雖然看似虛無缥缈，但對于支撐生命而言，却是不可或缺的，很多时候它會使我們絕地逢生。最後一片葉子啟示我們，當我們一時找不到出路，几乎絕望的時候，不妨用一種信念讓自己樂觀、堅強起來，不要輕生。生老病死自然事，要活得有價值、有意義、有尊嚴；死要得其所，無意義的自我結束生命那是一種逃避，是極端愚蠢的行為。

All storms will pass, the sun will shine again. 暴風雨終將過去，陽光仍然會普照大地。無論下多久的雨，最後都會有彩虹；無論你多麼悲傷，要相信幸福在前方等候，逆境時，不要回頭，因為幸福就在前方！山窮水盡疑無路，柳暗花明又一村。

— 信堅 10/23/2013