急求歐亨利的中英雙語介紹

原名威廉·西德尼·波特（William Sydney Porter），是美國最著名的短篇小說家之壹，曾被評論界譽 為曼哈頓桂冠散文作家和美國現代短篇小說之父。他出身於美國北卡羅來納州格林斯波羅鎮壹個醫師家庭。 他的壹生富於傳奇性，當過藥房學徒、牧牛人、會計員、土地局辦事員、新聞記者、銀行出納員。當銀行出 納員時，因銀行短缺了壹筆現金，為避免審訊，離家流亡中美的洪都拉斯。後因回家探視病危的妻子被捕入 獄，並在監獄醫務室任藥劑師。他在銀行工作時，曾有過寫作的經歷，擔任監獄醫務室的藥劑師後開始認真 寫作。1901年提前獲釋後，遷居紐約，專門從事寫作。 歐·亨利善於描寫美國社會尤其是紐約百姓的生活。他的作品構思新穎，語言詼諧，結局常常出人意 外；又因描寫了眾多的人物，富於生活情趣，被譽為“美國生活的幽默百科全書”。代表作有小說集《白菜 與國王》、《四百萬》、《命運之路》等。其中壹些名篇如《愛的犧牲》、《警察與贊美詩》、《帶家具出 租的房間》、《麥琪的禮物》、《最後壹片藤葉》等使他獲得了世界聲譽。

歐·亨利晚年開始酗酒，身體情況惡化。1907年他再次結婚，但和妻子不和，壹年後即離婚。他的經濟情況也不好，為了緩解生活壓力，他不得不以很快速度創作小說來換取稿費，這也導致了他的作品的質量參差不齊。1910年歐·亨利因肝硬化去世。

O. Henry (1862-1910) - pseudonym of William Sydney Porter

Prolific American short-story writer, a master of surprise endings, who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City. Typical for O. Henry's stories is a twist of plot which turns on an ironic or coincidental circumstance. Although some critics were not so enthusiastic about his work, the public loved it.

O. Henry was born William Sydney Porter in Greenboro, North Carolina. His father, Algernon Sidney Porter, was a physician. When William was three, his mother died, and he was raised by his parental grandmother and paternal aunt. William was an avid reader, but at the age of fifteen he left school, and then worked in a drug store and on a Texas ranch. He continued to Houston, where he had a number of jobs, including that of bank clerk. After moving in 1882 to Texas, he worked on a ranch in LaSalle County for two years. In 1887 he married Athol Estes Roach; they had one daughter and one son.

In 1894 Porter started a humorous weekly The Rolling Stone. It was at this time that he began heavy drinking. When the weekly failed, he joined the Houston Post as a reporter and columnist. In 1894 cash was found to have gone missing from the First National Bank in Austin, where Porter had worked as a bank teller. When he was called back to Austin to stand trial, Porter fled to Honduras to avoid trial. Little is known about Porter's stay in Central America. It is said, that he met one Al Jennings, and rambled in South America and Mexico on the proceeds of Jenning's robbery. After hearing news that his wife was dying, he returned in 1897 to Austin. In 1897 he was convicted of embezzling money, although there has been much debate over his actual guilt. Porter entered in 1898 a penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio.

In 1907 O. Henry married Sara Lindsay Coleman, also born in Greensboro. The marriage was not happy, and they separated a year later. O. Henry died of cirrhosis of the liver on June 5, 1910, in New York. Three more collections, SIXES AND SEVENS (1911), ROLLING STONES (1912) and WAIFS AND STRAYS (1917), appeared posthumously. In 1918 the O. Henry Memorial Awards were established to be given annually to the best magazine stories, the winners and leading contenders to be published in an annual volume.