Announcer: Now the VOA Special English program "American Stories". Ourstory today is called, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. " It waswritten by Ambrose Bierce.
The occurrence, or event, in our story takes place during the war ofthe eighteen-sixties between the American states of the north and thestates of the south. A group of soldiers is hanging a southern farmowner for trying to stop northern military movements across the OwlCreek Bridge.
In the last moments of his life, the southern prisoner dreams he hasescaped. And everything that happens in the story is really only theimages in the prisoner's brain just before he dies.
Here is Shep O’Neal with our story.
Narrator: A man stood on a railroad bridge in Alabama looking downinto the swift waters of the Owl Creek River below. The man's handswere tied behind his back. There was a rope around his neck. The ropewas tied to part of the bridge above him. Three soldiers of thenorthern army stood near the prisoner, waiting for their captain'sorders to hang him.
Everybody was ready. The prisoner stood quietly. His eyes were notcovered. He looked down and saw the water under the bridge. Now, heclosed his eyes.
He wanted his last thoughts to be of his wife and children. But, as hetried to think of them, he heard sounds -- again and again. The soundswere soft. But they got louder and louder and started to hurt hisears. The pain was strong. He wanted to shout. But the sounds he heardwere just those of the river running swiftly under the bridge.
The prisoner quickly opened his eyes and looked at the water. "If Icould only free my hands," he thought. "Then I could get the rope offmy neck and jump into the river. I could swim under the water andescape the fire of their guns. I could reach the other side of theriver and get home through the forest. My house is outside of theirmilitary area, and my wife and children are safe there. I would be,too…"While these thoughts raced through the prisoner's mind, the captaingave the soldiers the order to hang him. A soldier quickly obeyed. Hemade the rope firm around the prisoner's neck. Then he dropped himthrough a hole in the bridge.
As the prisoner fell, everything seemed black and empty. But then hefelt a sharp pain in his neck and could not breathe. There wereterrible pains running from his neck down through his body, his armsand his legs. He could not think. He could only feel, a feeling ofliving in a world of pain.
Then, suddenly, he heard a noise…something falling into the water.
There was a big sound in his ears. Everything around him was cold anddark. Now he could think. He believed the rope had broken and that hewas in the river.
But the rope was still around his neck, and his hands were tied. Hethought: "How funny. How funny to die of hanging at the bottom of ariver!" Then he felt his body moving up to the top of the water.
The prisoner did not know what he was doing. But his hands reached therope on his neck and tore it off.
Now he felt the most violent pain he had ever known. He wanted to putthe rope back on his neck. He tried but could not. His hands beat thewater and pushed him up to the top. His head came out of the water.
The light of the sun hurt his eyes. His mouth opened, and he swallowedair. It was too much for his lungs. He blew out the air with a scream.
Now the prisoner could think more clearly. All his senses hadreturned. They were even sharper than before. He heard sounds he neverheard before -- that no man's ears ever heard -- the flying wings ofsmall insects, the movement of a fish. His eyes saw more than just thetrees along the river. They saw every leaf on the trees. And they sawthe thin lines in the leaves.
And he saw the bridge, with the wall at one end. He saw the soldiersand the captain on the bridge. They shouted, and they pointed at him.
They looked like giant monsters. As he looked, he heard gunfire.
Something hit the water near his head. Now there was a second shot. Hesaw one soldier shooting at him.
He knew he had to get to the forest and escape. He heard an officercall to the other soldiers to shoot.
The prisoner went down into the river, deep, as far as he could. Thewater made a great noise in his ears, but he heard the shots.
As he came up to the top again, he saw the bullets hit the water. Someof them touched his face and hands.
One even fell into the top of his shirt. He felt the heat of thebullet on his back.
When his head came out of the water for air, he saw that he wasfarther away from the soldiers. And he began swimming strongly.
As he swam, the soldiers fired their rifles. Then they fired theircannon at him. But nothing hit him. Then, suddenly, he could not swim.
He was caught in a whirlpool which kept turning him around and around.
This was the end, he thought. Then, just as suddenly as it had caughthim, the whirlpool lifted him and threw him out of the river. He wason land!
He kissed the ground. He looked around him. There was a pink light inthe air. The wind seemed to make music as it blew through the trees.
He wanted to stay there. But the cannon fired again, and he heard thebullets above his head. He got up and ran into the forest. At last, hefound a road toward his house. It was a wide, straight road. Yet itlooked like a road that never had any travelers on it. No farms. Nohouses on its sides, only tall black trees.
In the tall black trees, the prisoner heard strange voices. Some ofthem spoke in words that he could not understand.
His neck began to hurt. When he touched it, it felt very large. Hiseyes hurt so much that he could not close them. His feet moved, but hecould not feel the road.
As he walked, he was in a kind of sleep. Now, half-awake, half asleep,he found himself at the door of his house. His lovely wife ran to him.
Ah, at last.
He put his arms about his beautiful wife. And just then, he felt aterrible pain in the back of his neck. All around him there was agreat white light and the sound of a cannon. And then…then…darknessand silence.
The prisoner was dead. His neck was broken. His body hung at the endof a rope. It kept swinging from side to side. Swinging gently under ahole in Owl Creek Bridge.
(MUSIC)Announcer: You have just heard the American story "An Occurrence atOwl Creek Bridge". It was written by Ambrose Bierce. Your storytellerwas Shep O’Neal . Listen again next week at this time for anotherAmerican story told in Special English on the Voice of America. Thisis Faith Lapidus.
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