[00:00.00]Text The Story of an Hour
[00:06.40]They knew that Louise Mallard had a weak heart.
[00:11.36]So they broke the bad news gently.Her husband,Brently,was dead.
[00:18.63]"There was a train accident,Louise,"said her sister Josephine,quietly.
[00:25.29]Her husband's friend,Richards,brought the news,but Josephine told the story.
[00:33.04]She spoke in broken sentences.
[00:37.49]"Richards...was at the newspaper office.
[00:43.36]News of the accident came.Louise..Louise,Brently's name was on the list.
[00:52.74]Brently...was killed,Louise."
[00:57.29]Louise did not hear the story calmly,like some women would.
[01:03.53]She could not close her mind or her heart to the news.
[01:09.56]Like a sudden storm,her tears broke out.
[01:15.21]She cried,at once,loudly in her sister's arms.
[01:21.87]Then,just as suddenly,the tears stopped.
[01:27.14]She went to her room alone.She would not let anyone follow her.
[01:33.68]In front of the window stood a large,comfortable armchair.
[01:39.11]Into this she sank and looked out of the window.
[01:44.15]She was physically exhausted after her tears.
[01:49.30]Her body felt cold;her mind and heart were empty.
[01:55.57]Outside her window she could see the trees.
[02:00.22]The air smelled like spring rain.She could hear someone singing far away.
[02:08.26]Birds sang near the house.Blue sky showed between the clouds.She rested.
[02:16.72]She sat quietly,but a few weak tears still fell.
[02:23.88]She was young,with a fair,calm face that showed a certain strength.
[02:31.93]But now there was a dull stare in her eyes.
[02:37.99]She looked out of the window at the blue sky.
[02:42.56]She was not thinking,or seeing.She was waiting.
[02:48.91]There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it with fear.
[02:56.07]What was it?She did not know.It was too subtle to name.
[03:03.14]But she felt it creeping out of the sky.
[03:08.79]It was reaching her through the sound,the smell,the color that filled the air.
[03:17.43]Slowly she became excited.Her breath came fast;
[03:23.28]her heart beat faster.She was beginning to recognize the thing that was approaching to take her.
[03:31.23]She tried to beat it back with her will,but failed.
[03:37.29]Her mind was as weak as her two small white hands.
[03:43.56]When she stopped fighting against it,a little word broke from her lips.
[03:51.31]"Free,"she whispered.
[03:55.36]"Free,free,free!"The dull stare and look of fear went from her eyes.
[04:05.42]They stayed keen and bright.
[04:09.97]Her heart beat fast,and the blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.
[04:18.72]A sudden feeling of joy held her.
[04:23.89]She did not ask if her joy was wrong.
[04:28.54]She saw her freedom clearly and could not stop to think of smaller things.
[04:36.61]She knew that she would weep again when she saw her husband's body.
[04:43.56]The kind hands,now dead and still.
[04:48.84]The loving face,now fixed and gray.
[04:54.11]But she looked into the future and saw many long years to come
[05:01.24]that would belong to her alone.
[05:05.97]And now she opened and spread her arms out to those years in welcome.
[05:13.84]There would be no one else to live for during those years.
[05:19.40]She would live for herself alone.
[05:23.45]There would be no powerful will bending hers.
[05:29.01]Men and women always believe they can tell others what to do and how to think.
[05:36.17]Suddenly Louise understood that this was wrong
[05:41.45]and that she could break away and be free of it.
[05:46.80]And yet,she had loved him sometimes.Often she had not.
[05:54.25]What did love mean now?
[05:58.32]Now she understood that freedom is stronger than love.
[06:03.78]"Free!Body and soul free!"she kept whispering.
[06:11.44]Her sister Josephine was waiting outside the door.
[06:16.16]"Please open the door,"Josephine cried.
[06:22.01]"You will make yourself sick.
[06:26.17]What are you doing in there,Louise?Please,please,let me in!"
[06:33.61]"Go away.I am not making myself sick.
[06:39.20]"No,she was drinking in life through that open window.
[06:45.26]She thought joyfully of all those days before her.
[06:50.91]Spring days,summer days.All kinds of days that would be her own.
[06:58.95]She began to hope life would be long.
[07:03.81]It was only yesterday that life seemed so long!
[07:09.87]After a while she got up and opened the door.
[07:14.63]Her eyes were bright;her cheeks were red.
[07:20.08]She didn't know how strong and well she looked so full of joy.
[07:28.76]They went downstairs,where Richards was waiting.
[07:33.30]Someone was opening the door.
[07:37.14]It was Brently Mallard,who entered,looking dirty and tired,
[07:43.91]carrying a suitcase and an umbrella.
[07:47.96]He was not killed in the accident.
[07:52.53]He didn't even know there had been one.
[07:57.28]He stood surprised at Josephine's sudden cry.
[08:02.43]He didn't understand why Richards moved
[08:07.39]suddenly between them,to hide Louise from her husband.
[08:14.16]But Richards was too late.
[08:19.20]When the doctors came,they said she had died of heart disease of joy that kills. |