After Twenty Years

Before Reading
　O. Henry is an American short-story writer/whose tales romanticized the commonplace,/in particular,/the life of ordinary people/in New York City.// His real name was William Sydney Porter.// He was born on September 11, 1862/and died on June 5, 1910 in New York.// His stories expressed the effect of coincidence/on character through humor,/whether grim or ironic,/and often had surprise endings.//
　Sometimes,/one of the most difficult lessons for us to learn/is that people change.// Although we might be able to recognize/the physical features of people we once knew,/some of their other qualities could very well be altered/beyond recognition,/especially after 20 years.//
　“After Twenty Years” is a story of two men,/once close friends,/who follow different paths in life/and end up ‘worlds apart’/but meet again unexpectedly.//
　Please enjoy reading this story.//


　The police officer on the beat/moved up the avenue impressively.// The impressiveness was habitual and not for show,/for there were few spectators.// The time was barely 10 o’clock at night,/but chilly gusts of wind/with a taste of rain in them/had almost emptied the streets of people.//
　Trying doors as he went,/twirling his club/with many intricate and artful movements,/turning now and then/to cast his watchful eye/down the quiet thoroughfare,/the officer,/with his stalwart form and slight swagger,/made a fine picture of a guardian of the peace.// The vicinity was one/that kept early hours.// Now and then/you might see the lights of a cigar store/or of an all-night lunch counter;/but the majority of the doors/belonged to business places/that had long since/been closed.//