No Story

O. Henry’s real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in Greensboro, a little town in North Caroline in l862. O. Henry worked as a bank office worker, cowboy, reporter, tramp, trying to find a means of existence. O. Henry is one of the most widely published American authors. His works have been translated into nearly every language. He has been called ‘the American Maupassant’ and is ranked among the world’s outstanding short-story writers. The literary heritage of O. Henry contains two hundred and seventy-three short stories. Most of them are filled with the writer’s warm human sympathy for common American people. The best of these were published in books: Cabbages and Kings, The Four Million, Heart of the West, The Voice of the City and others. The works by O. Henry reflect a specific period in American literature – the turn of the century. O. Henry was an outstanding humourist. He worked out and enriched all the types of the short story: the anecdote, the adventure story, tales and sketches. He was most famous for his stories of city life, writing about 150 stories with a New York city background. O. Henry could work out a plot that would keep the reader in suspense up to the surprising end. His love for humanity, for the common people, his critical attitude towards injustice attract readers to this day.

I was doing space-work on the Morning Beacon, hoping to be put on a salary. Someone had cleared a small space for me at the end of a long table, and there I did my work. I wrote whatever the city whispered or roared to me on my diligent wanderings about its streets. My income was not regular.

One day Tripp came in and leaned on my table. Tripp was something in the mechanical department. He was twenty-five and looked forty. Half of his face was covered with a short, curly red beard that looked like a door-mat. He was pale and unhealthy and miserable, and he was always borrowing sums of money – from twenty-five cents to a dollar. One dollar was his limit. When he sat on my table he held one hand with the other to keep both from shaking. Whiskey.

This day I had managed to get five dollars for my Sunday story. So I was feeling at peace with the world, and I was beginning to write a poetic description of the Brooklyn Bridge by moonlight.

“Well, Tripp,” said I, looking up at him rather impatiently. “How goes it?”

“Have you got a dollar?” asked Tripp looking at me with his dog-like eyes.

He was looking more miserable than I had ever seen him.

“I have,” I said. “And four besides. And I had hard work getting them. And I need them all.”

“I don’t want to borrow any,” said Tripp. “I thought you’d like to get a good story,” he went on. “I’ve got a really fine one for you. It’ll probably cost you a dollar or two to get the stuff. I don’t want anything out of it myself.”

“What is the story?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you,” said Tripp. “It’s a girl. A beauty. She’s lived on Long Island twenty years and never saw New York City before. I ran against her on Thirty-fourth Street. She’d just got in on the East River ferry. She stopped me on the street and asked me where she could find George Brown. Asked me where she could find George Brown in New York City! What do you think of that?

“I talked to her, and found that she was going to marry a young farmer named Dodd – Hiram Dodd – next week. But it seems that she can’t forget George Brown. Some years ago George set off for New York to make his fortune. He did not reappear. So this morning Ada – her name’s Ada Lowery – saddled a horse and rode eight miles to the railway station to catch the 6.45 a.m. train. She came to the city to look for George. She thought the first person she met would say: ‘George Brown? – why, yes – let me see – he’s a short man with light-blue eyes, isn’t he? Oh yes – you’ll find George on One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, right next to the grocery.’ That’s about how innocent and beautiful she is. You ought to see her!

“What could I do? I don’t know what money looks like in the morning. And she’d paid her last cent of pocket-money for her railroad ticket, except a quarter, which she had spent on candy. I took her to a boarding house on Thirty-second Street, and now she has to pay one dollar to the landlady. I’ll show you the house.”

“That’s no story,” said I. “I thought you said you had a story. Every ferryboat that crosses the East River brings or takes away girls from Long Island.”

Tripp looked disappointed. “Can’t you see what a fine story it would make? You ought to get fifteen dollars for it. And it’ll cost you only four, so you’ll make a profit of eleven dollars.”

“How will it cost me four dollars?” I asked, suspiciously.

“One dollar to the landlady,” Tripp answered, quickly, “and two dollars to pay the girl’s fare back home.”

“And the fourth?” I asked.

“One dollar to me,” said Tripp. “For whiskey. Are you on?”

I smiled enigmatically and started writing.

“Don’t you see,” he said, “that this girl has got to be sent home today – not tonight nor tomorrow, but today?”

And then I began to feel what is known as the sense of duty. In a kind of chilly anger I put on my coat and hat. But I swore to myself that Tripp would not get that dollar.

Tripp took me in a street-car to the boarding house. I paid the fares.

In a dim parlour a girl sat crying quietly and eating candy out of a paper bag. She was a real beauty. Crying only made her brilliant eyes brighter.

Tripp introduced us. I thought of a Scotch terrier at the sight of his shifty eyes in the glade between his tangled hair and beard. For one moment I felt ashamed of having been introduced as his friend in the presence of such a beauty.

“My friend, Mr. Chalmers,” said Tripp, “will tell you, Miss Lowery, the same that I did. He’s a reporter, and he can hand out the talk better than I can. That’s why I brought him with me.”

“Why – er – Miss Lowery,” I began. “I am at your service, of course, but – er – as I don’t know the circumstances of the case, I – er –”

“Oh,” said Miss Lowery, “it isn’t as bad as that – there aren’t any circumstances. It’s the first time I’ve ever been in New York except once when I was five years old, and I had no idea it was such a big town. And I met Mr. – Mr. Snip on the street and asked him about a friend of mine, and he brought me here and asked me to wait.”

“I advise you, Miss Lowery,” said Tripp, “to tell Mr. Chalmers all. He’s a friend of mine and he’ll tell you what’s best to do.”

“Why, certainly,” said Miss Ada. “There isn’t anything to tell except that – well, everything’s fixed for me to marry Hiram Dodd next Thursday evening. He’s got one of the best farms on the Island. But this morning I saddled my horse – he’s a white horse named Dancer – and I rode over to the station. I told them at home I was going to spend the day with Susie Adams. And I came to New York, and I met Mr. – Mr. Flip on the street and asked him if he knew where I could find G – G –”

“Now, Miss Lowery,” broke in Tripp, “you like this young man, Hiram Dodd, don’t you? He’s all right, and good to you, isn’t he?”

“Of course I like him,” said Miss Lowery. “He’s all right. And of course he’s good to me. But last night I started thinking about G – George. G – George Brown and I were sweethearts since he was eight and I was five. When he was nineteen – that was four years ago – he went to New York. He said he was going to be a policeman or a railroad president or something. And then he would come back for me. Something must have happened to him or he’d have written. On the day he left, he got a hammer and a chisel and cut a cent into two pieces. I took one piece and he took the other, and we promised to be true to each other and always keep the pieces till we saw each other again. I’ve got mine at home. I guess I was silly to come here. I never realized what a big place it is.”

“Oh, the boys from the country forget a lot when they come to the city,” broke in Tripp. “He has probably met another girl or something. You go back home, and you’ll be all right.”

In the end we persuaded Miss Lowery to go back home. The three of us then hurried to the ferry, and there I found the price of the ticket to be only a dollar and eighty cents. I bought one, and a red, red rose with the twenty cents for Miss Lowery. We saw her aboard her ferry-boat and stood watching her wave her handkerchief at us.

And then Tripp and I faced each other.

“Can’t you get a story out of it?” he asked.

“Not a line,” said I.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. There was disappointment in his tone. Tripp unbuttoned his shabby coat to reach for something that had once been a handkerchief. As he did so I saw something shining on his cheap watch-chain. It was the half of a silver cent that had been cut in halves with a chisel.

“What?!” I exclaimed looking at him in amazement.

“Oh yes,” he replied. “George Brown, or Tripp. What’s the use?”

I took out from my pocket Tripp’s whiskey dollar and put it in his hand.

Allusions

the Brooklyn Bridge – a bridge connecting Brooklyn with Manhattan.

New York City – a large city and port in the northeastern US, on the southeast coast of New York State and east of the Hudson River. The city is divided into five Boroughs (a town, or a division of a large town, with some powers of local government): Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

Long Island – an island in the US that contains the New York City Boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Further east it has many other towns and cities, some of which are by the sea and popular in summer.

the East River – a river flowing into New York Harbor, separating Manhattan from Long Island.

1. Translate the following word combinations into Russian. Describe the situations in which they were used.

• to do space-work

• to be put on a salary

• regular income

• mechanical department

• look like a door-mat

• to feel at peace with the world

• to make a fortune

• to saddle a horse

• boarding house

• to look disappointed

• to make a profit

• to smile enigmatically

• chilly anger

• shifty eyes

• tangled hair

• to hand out the talk

• to unbutton one’s shabby coat

• to look at smb in amazement

2. Study the following:

1. to whisper – to speak or say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your voice, e.g. Fran leant over and whispered something in her sister’s ear.

2. to roar – to make a deep, very loud noise, e.g. The lions roared in their cages.

3. diligent – someone who works hard and is careful and thorough, e.g. I know all of you are hardworking, diligent people, and I respect you for that.

4. wandering (wander) – a short relaxed walk, e.g. I had a bit of a wander round the shops.

5. curly – having a lot of curls (a piece of hair that hangs in a curved shape), e.g. Mike is the boy with the curly blond hair.

6. miserable – extremely unhappy, for example because you feel lonely, cold, or badly treated, e.g. Why do you make yourself miserable by taking on too much work?

7. limit – the greatest or least amount, number etc that is allowed, e.g. There’s a limit on the time you have to take the test.

8. ferry – a boat that carries people or goods across a river or a narrow area of water, e.g. Extra ferries are needed to bring them back home.

9. innocent – done or said without intending to harm or offend anyone, e.g. He was startled by their angry reaction to his innocent remark.

10. candy – a sweet food made from sugar or chocolate, e.g. Pink and yellow candies were sold from trays.

11. landlady – a woman who rents a room, building, or piece of land to someone, e.g. My landlady keeps complaining about the noise.

12. suspiciously – in a way that shows you do not trust something or someone, e.g. The girl studied her new neighbour suspiciously.

13. fare – the price you pay to travel somewhere by bus, train, plane etc, e.g. How much is the train fare from Toronto to Montreal?

14. to swear – to promise that you will do something, e.g. Do you swear to tell the truth?

15. streetcar – a type of bus that runs on electricity along metal tracks in the road (= tram in British English), e.g. And then they saw him getting off the streetcar and raced to meet him.

16. parlour – (old-fashioned) a room in a house which has comfortable chairs and is used for meeting guests, e.g. After supper Mrs. Hendry ushered everyone into the parlour.

17. reporter – someone whose job is to write about news events for a newspaper, or to tell people about them on television or on the radio, e.g. She works as a junior reporter on a local paper.

18. circumstance – the conditions that affect a situation, action, event etc, or the combination of facts, events etc that influence your life, and that you cannot control, e.g. He was a victim of circumstance.

19. sweetheart – a way of speaking to or about someone you love (= darling), e.g. Sweetheart, I’ve got good news for you.

20. chisel – a metal tool with a sharp edge, used to cut wood or stone, e.g. Carvers’ chisels differ from carpentry chisels in the way they are sharpened.

3. Make up as many sentences as you can using the words from exercise 2.

4. Choose the right ending.

1. Mr. Chalmers was doing space-work on the Morning Beacon, hoping _____________

A. to get promoted.

B. to change his job.

C. to be put on a salary.

2. He wrote whatever _____________

A. his boss told him.

B. the city whispered to him.

C. seemed sensational to him.

3. Tripp was always borrowing sums of money. His limit was _____________

A. 5 dollars.

B. a dollar.

C. twenty-five cents.

4. Ada said that some years before George Brown had set off for New York _____________.

A. to make his fortune.

B. to become a famous artist.

C. to inherit a large factory.

5. Tripp took Ada to _____________

A. his house.

B. Mr. Chalmers’ office.

C. a boarding house.

6. Everything was fixed for Ada _____________

A. to marry Hiram Dodd.

B. to go to New York City.

C. to get acquainted to Mr. Chalmers.

7. Since George Brown was eight and Ada was five they were _____________

A. best friends.

B. sweethearts.

C. soul mates.

8. Before George left he and Ada had promised _____________

A. to write letters to each other.

B. to become wealthy and successful.

C. to be true to each other.

9. Tripp supposed that George Brown _________

A. had probably met another girl.

B. had probably died.

C. had probably been put into prison.

10. In the end Mr. Chalmers and Tripp persuaded Ada _____________

A. to continue her searches.

B. to go back home.

C. to tell Hiram Dodd that she didn’t love him.

11. When Tripp unbuttoned his coat Mr. Chalmers saw _____________

A. a golden watch-chain.

B. a dirty handkerchief.

C. a silver cent cut in halves with a chisel.

Answers: 1. C; 2. B; 3. B; 4. A; 5. C; 6. A; 7. B; 8. C; 9. A; 10. B; 11. C

5. Describe the main characters of the story (Tripp, Ada, Mr. Chalmers – the narrator). Pick up all words, word combinations and quotations where the characters become mostly revealed.

6. Say why:

1. Tripp was twenty-five and looked forty.

2. The narrator was feeling at peace with the world.

3. Ada came to New York City from Long Island.

4. Ada looked for George Brown.

5. Mr. Chalmers decided to help Ada.

6. Tripp didn’t tell Ada that he was George and persuaded her to go back home.

7. Mr. Chalmers gave Tripp a dollar after he had seen the half of a silver cent.

7. Explain Tripp’s words:

‘The boys from the country forget a lot when they come to the city.’ (Did he really forget Ada?)

8. Tell the story of George Brown and Ada Lowery’s love from the point of view of

– Ada

– Tripp

– Hiram Dodd

– Ada’s mother

9. Comment on the title of the story.

10. Imagine that you are Mr. Chalmers and you have made up your mind to describe the events of the day when he met Ada and learnt Tripp’s story. Write an article and entitle it. Try to make your article as mysterious and interesting as possible.

11. Continue the story. Imagine what will happen to the characters in 10-20 years.