OHenry欧亨利的英文介绍

1、O. Henry .William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862-June 5, 1910), known by his pen nameO. Henry, was an American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clevertwist endings.Early lifeWilliam Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in G

2、reensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898. His parents were Dr. Alger non Sidney Porter (1825-88), a physicia n, and Mary Jane Virgi nia Swaim Porter (18335). They were married on April 20, 1858. When William was three, his mother died from tuberculosis,

3、 and he and his father moved into the home of his pater nal gran dmother. As a child, Porter was always read ing, everythi ng from classics to dime no vels; his favorite works were Lan e's tran slati on oOne Thousa nd2and One Nights, and Burt on 'sA natomy of Mela ncholy.Porter graduated fro

4、m his aunt Evelina Maria Porter's elementary school in 1876. He then enrolled at the Lindsey Street High School. His aunt continued to tutor him until he was fifteen. In 1879, he started working in his uncle's drugstore and in 1881, at the age of nin etee n, he was lice nsed as a pharmacist.

5、 At the drugstore, he also showed off his natural artistic talents by sketching the townsfolk.Move to TexasPorter in Austi n as a young manPorter traveled with Dr. James K. Hall to Texas in March 1882, hop ing that a cha nge of air would help alleviate a persiste nt cough he had developed. He took u

6、p reside nee on the sheep ranch of Richard Hall, James' son, in La Salle County and helped out as a shepherd, ra nch hand, cook and baby-sitter. While on the ran ch, he learned bits of Spanish and Germa n from the mix of immigra nt ranch han ds. He also spe nt time reading classic literature. Po

7、rter's health did improve and he traveled with Richard to Aust in in 1884, where he decided to remai n and was welcomed into the home of the Harrells, who were frie nds of Richard's. Porter took a nu mber of differe nt jobs over the n ext several years, first as pharmacist the n as adraftsma

8、 n, bank teller and journalist. He also began writing as a sideline.Porter led an active social life in Aust in, in clud ing membership in singing and drama groups. He was a good sin ger and musicia n. He played both the guitar an dma ndoli n. He became a member of the "Hill City Quartet,"

9、 a group of young men who sang at gatheri ngs and sere naded young wome n of the tow n. Porter met and bega ncourt ing Athol Estes, the n seve ntee n years old and from a wealthy family. Her mother objected to the match because Athol was ill, sufferi ng from tuberculosis. On July 1, 1887, Porter elo

10、ped with Athol to the home of Revere nd R. K. Smoot, where they were married.旦Porter family in early 1890sAthol, daughter Margaret, WilliamThe couple continued to participate in musical and theater groups, and Athol en couraged her husba nd to pursue his writi ng. Athol gave birth to a son in 1888,

11、who died hours after birth, and the n a daughter, Margaret Worth Porter, i n September 1889. Porter's frie nd Richard Hall became Texas Land Commissio ner and offered Porter a job. Porter started as a draftsma n at the Texas Gen eral Land Office (GLO) in 1887 at a salary of $100 a mon th, draw i

12、ng maps from surveys an dfield no tes. The salary was eno ugh to support his family, but he con ti nued his con tributi ons to magaz in es a nd n ewspapers.EJPorter as a clerk at the First National Bank, AustinIn the GLO build ing, he bega n develop ing characters and plots for such stories as "

13、;Georgia's Ruling" (1900), and "Buried Treasure" (1908). The castle-like building he worked in was eve n wove n in to some of his tales such as "Bexar Scrip No. 2692" (1894).His job at the GLO was a political appo in tme nt by Hall. Hall ran for gover nor in the electi o

14、n of 1890 but lost. Porter resig ned in early 1891 whe n the new gover nor, Jim Hogg, was swor n in.The same year, Porter bega n work ing at the First Nati onal Bank of Aust in as a teller and bookkeeper at the same salary he had made at the GLO. The bank was operated in formally and Porter was appa

15、re ntly careless in keep ing his books and may have embezzled fun ds. In 1894, he was accused by the bank of embezzleme nt and lost his job but was not in dicted.He the n worked full-time on his humorous weekly called The Rolli ng Stone which he started while worki ng at the ban k.The Rolli ng Sto n

16、efeatured satire on life, people and politics and in eluded Porter's short stories and sketches. Although eve ntually reachi ng a top circulati on of 1500,The Rolli ng Ston efailed in April 1895 since the paper n ever provided an adequate in come. However, his writi ng and draw ings had caught t

17、he atte nti on of the editor at thedoust on PostPorter and his family moved to Houston in 1895, where he started writing for thePost. His salary was on ly $25 a month, but it rose steadily as his popularity in creased. Porter gathered ideas for his colu mn by loiteri ng in hotel lobbies and observ i

18、ng and talking to people there. This was a technique he used throughout his writing career.While he was in Houston, the First National Bank of Austin was audited by federal auditors and they found the embezzlement shortages that had led to his firing. A federal in dictme nt followed and he was arres

19、ted on charges of embezzleme nt.Flight and returnssPorter in his 30sPorter's father-in-law posted bail to keep him out of jail. He was due to stand trial on July 7, 1896, but the day before, as he was cha nging trains to get to the courthouse, an impulse hit him. He fled, first to New Orlea nsan

20、d later to Hon duras. While holed up in a Trujillo hotel for several mon ths, he wrote Cabbages and Ki ngs in which he coined the term "ba nana republic" to describe the coun try, a phrase subseque ntly used widely to describe a small, unstable tropical nation in Latin America with a narro

21、wly focused, agraria n economj3 Porter had sent Athol and Margaret back to Austi n to live with Athol's parents. Unfortunately, Athol became too ill to meet Porter in Hon duras as Porter had pla nn ed. When he lear ned that his wife was dying, Porter retur ned to Austi n in February 1897 and sur

22、re ndered to the court, pending an appeal. Once again, Porter's father-in-law posted bail so Porter could stay with Athol and Margaret.Athol Estes Porter died on July 25, 1897, from tuberculosis (the n known as consumption). Porter, having little to say in his own defense, was found guilty of em

23、bezzleme nt in February 1898, senten ced to five years in pris on, and impris oned on March 25, 1898 at the Ohio Pe nite ntiary in Columbus, Ohio. While in priso n, Porter, as a licensed pharmacist, worked in the prison hospital as the night druggist. Porter was given his own room in the hospital wi

24、ng, and there is no record that he actually spent time in the cell block of the prison. He had fourteen stories published under various pseud onyms while he was in pris on, but was beco ming best known as "O. Hen ry", a pseud onym that first appeared over the story "Whistli ng Dick

25、9;s ChristmasStocking" in the December 1899 issue ofMcClure's Magazine. A friend of his in New Orleans would forward his stories to publishers, so they had no idea the writer was impris on ed. Porter was released on July 24, 1901, for good behavior after serv ing three years. Porter reunite

26、d with his daughter Margaret, now age 11, in Pittsburgh, Penn sylva nia, where Ath ol's pare nts had moved after Porter's conv icti on. Margaret was n ever told that her father had bee n in prisojust that he had bee n away on bus in ess.Later lifePorter's most prolific writing period sta

27、rted in 1902, when he moved to New York City to be n ear his publishers. While there, he wrote 381 short stories. He wrote a story a week for over a year for theNew York World Sun day Magaz ine His wit, characterizati on, and plot twists were adored by his readers, but ofte n panned by critics. Port

28、er married again in 1907, to childhood sweetheart Sarah (Sallie) Lindsey Coleman, whom he met again after revisiting his native state of North Carolina.Porter was a heavy drinker, and his health deteriorated markedly in 1908, which affected his writi ng. In 1909, Sarah left him, and he died on June

29、5, 1910, of cirrhosis of the liver, complications of diabetes, and anenlarged heart. After funeral services in New York City, he was buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Asheville, North Caroli na. His daughter, Margaret Worth Porter, who died in 1927, was buried n ext to her father.StoriesPortrait o

30、f Porter from fron tispiece in his collecti on of short stories Waifs and StraysO. Henry's stories frequently have surprise endings. In his day, he was called the American answer to Guy de Maupassant. Both authors wrote plot twist endings, but O. Henry stories were much more playful. His stories

31、 are also known for witty n arrati on.Most of O. Henry's stories are set in his own time, the early 20th century. Many take place in New York City and deal for the most part with ordinary people: clerks, policeme n, waitresses, etc.O. Hen ry's work is wide-ra nging, and his characters can be

32、 found roam ing the cattle-la nds of Texas, explori ng the art of the con-man, or inv estigati ng the tensions of class and wealth in turn-of-the-century New York. O. Henry had an inimitable hand for isolat ing some eleme nt of society and describ ing it with an in credible economy and grace of Ian

33、guage. Some of his best and least-k nown work is contained in Cabbages and Kin gs,a series of stories each of which explores some in dividual aspect of life in a paralytically sleepy Central American town, while advancing some aspect of the larger plot and relating back one to another.Cabbages and K

34、ingswas his first collection of stories, followed by The Four Million . The sec ond collectio n ope ns with a refere nee to Ward McAllister's "asserti on that there were only 'Four Hun dred' people in New York City who were really worth no tici ng. But a wiser man has arisethe cen s

35、us takea nd his larger estimate of human interest has been preferred in marking out the field of these little stories of the 'Four Milli onTo O. Henry, every one in New York coun ted.He had an obvious affecti on for the city, which he called"Bagdad-on-the-Subway," and many of his stori

36、es are set thewhile others are set in small tow ns or in other cities.Among his most famous stories are:« "The Gift of the Magi" about a young couple who are short of money but desperately want to buy each other Christmas gifts. Un bek nownst to Jim, Della sells her most valuable poss

37、essi on, her beautiful hair, in order to buy a plat inum fob cha in for Jim's watch; while un bek nownst to Della, Jim sells his own most valuable possession, his watch, to buy jeweled combs for Della's hair. The esse ntial premise of this story has bee n copied, re-worked, parodied, and oth

38、erwise re-told coun tless times in the cen tury since it was writte n.* "The Ransom of Red Chief" in which two men kid nap a boy of ten. The boy turns out to be so bratty and obnoxious that the desperate men ultimately pay the boy's father $250 to take him back.* "The Cop and the

39、Anthem'about a New York City hobo named Soapy, who sets out to get arrested so that he can be a guest of the city jail in stead of sleep ing out in the cold win ter. Despite efforts at petty theft, van dalism, disorderly con duct, and "mash ing" with a young prostitute, Soapy fails to

40、draw the atte nti on of the police. Disc on solate, he pauses in front of a church, where an orga n an themin spires him to clea n up his life and is ironi cally charged for loiteri ng and senten ced to three mon ths in pris on.* "A Retrieved Reformation, which tells the tale of safecracker Jim

41、myValentine, recently freed from prison. He goes to a town bank to case it before he robs it. As he walks to the door, he catches the eye of the ban ker's beautiful daughter. They immediately fall in love and Valentine decides to give up his criminal career. He moves into the town, taking up the

42、 identity of Ralph Spencer, a shoemaker. Just as he is about to leave to deliver his specialized tools to an old associate, a lawman who recognizes him arrives at the bank. Jimmy and his fianc eland her family are at the bank, inspecting a new safe, when a child accide ntally gets locked in side the

43、 airtight vault. Knowing it will seal his fate, Vale ntine ope ns the safe to rescue the child. However, much to Vale ntin e's surprise, the lawma n denies recog nizing him and lets him go.* "The Duplicity of Hargraves'.' A short story about a n early destitute father and daughter&#

44、39;s trip to Washington, D.C.Pen namePorter gave various expla nati ons for the orig in of his pen namW In 1909 he gave an in terview to The New York Times in which he gave an acco unt of it:It was duri ng these New Orlea ns days that I adopted my pen n ame of O. Henry. I said to a friend: "I&#

45、39;m going to send out some stuff. I don't know if it amounts to much, so I want to get a literary alias. Help me pick out a good one." He suggested that we get a n ewspaper and pick a n ame from the first list of no tables that we found in it. In the society colu mns we found the acco unt

46、of a fashi on able ball. "Here we have our no tables," said he. We looked dow n the list and my eye lighted on the name Henry, "That'll do for a last name," said I. "Now for a first name. I want something short. None of your three-syllable names for me." "Why d

47、on ' t you use a plain initial letter, then?" asked my friend. "Good," said I, "O is about the easiest letter written, and O it is." A n ewspaper once wrote and asked me what the O sta nds for. I replied, "O stands for Olivier, the French for Oliver." And sever

48、al of my stories accordingly appeared in that paper under the name Olivier Henry.In the introduction to The World of O. Henry: Roads of Destiny and Other Stories (Hodder & Stought on, 1973),William Trevor writes that whe n Porter was in the Ohio State Penitentiary "there was a prison guard

49、named Orrin Henry, whom William Sydney Porter . . . immortalised as O. Hen ry".The writer and scholar Guy Dave nport offers ano ther expla natio n: "The pseudonym that he began to write under in prison is constructed from the first two5letters of Ohio and the sec ond and last two openite n

50、tia ry bold added."LegacyThe O. Henry Award is a prestigious annual prize n amed after Porter and give n to outsta nding short stories. Several schools around the country bear Porter's pseudonym.In 1952, a film featuring five stories, called O. Henry's Full House, was made.The episode g

51、arnering the most critical acclairfitation needed was "The Cop and the An them" starri ng Charles Laught on and Marily n Mon roe. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief" (starring Fred Alle n and Oscar Leva nt), and "The Gift of the Magi".The O. Henry House and O. Henry Hall, both in Austin