When my great grandma Anna came to America. She wore the same thick coat and big boots she had worn when she worked on her family's farm. But her family did not farm anymore. In New York City her father carried things on a wagon. The rest of the fam...
The snow kept coming down, quietly, ghostlike, covering the land deeper and deeper. It seemed as if it would go on forever. It was the first snowfall of the year. Billy looked through the kitchen window. He felt like diving into the snow and burying...
John Lyman stood on the steps of the summer house, watching his wife climbing into the car and drive off along the lake road. She was going to the village to get some boxes for his manuscripts and books. He looked unhappy, he had done little work on...
The old Indian was sitting in the snow. It was Koskoosh, former chief of his tribe. Now all he could do was sit and listen to the others. His eyes were old, he could not see. But his ears were wide open to every sound. Aha, that was the sound of his...
G sat in the bedroom and looked at the paper that covered the walls. He felt strange. He and his wife had slept in this room all of their married life. Yet he could not remember what the walls looked like. He had been blind. Now he could see again....
Our story today is The Riverman. It was written by Stewart Edward White. Here is Shep O' Neal with our story. I first met him in a small lumber town. I was sitting in front of a hotel watching people pass by. It was a warm day. Now and then a group...
Today we complete the story Benito Cereno written by Herman Melville. As we told you in earlier parts of our story, rebel slaves seized the ship San Dominick off the coast of Chile. They killed many of its officers and crew. The Captain Benito Ceren...
Today we continue the story Benito Cereno. It was written by Herman Melville. Last week we told how African slaves on a Spanish ship rebelled in 1799. They killed most of the Spanish sailors, only the Captain Benito Cereno and a few others were left...
Captain Benito Cereno hurried aboard his ship. It was ready to sail. A bright sun in a soft breeze promised good weather ahead. The ships anchor was raised and the San Dominick, old but still seaworthy, moved slowly out of the harbor of Valparaiso o...
Long ago, the people who settled in undeveloped areas of America first told tall tales. After a hard day's work, people gathered to tell each other stories. Each group of workers had its own tall tale hero. An African-American man named John Henry w...
It was raining as I got off the train in Nashville Tennesee, a slow grey rain. I was tired, so I went straight to my hotel. A big heavy man was walking up and down in the hotel lobby. Something about the way he moved made me think of a hungry dog lo...
Carter Druse was born in Virginia. He loved his parents, his home and the South. But he loved his country too. And in the autumn of 1861, when the United States was divided by a terrible Civil War, Carter Druse, a Southerner, decided to join the Uni...
Today we complete the story Paul's Case. It was written by Willa Cather. Here is Kay Gallant with the story. Paul was a student with a lot of problems. He hated school. He didn't like living with his family on Cordelia Street in the industrial city...
Now the VOA Special English program American Stories. Our story today is called Paul's Case. It was written by Willa Cather. Paul's Case will be told in 2 parts. Here is Kay Gallant with part one of the story. Paul hated school. He did not do his ho...
Announcer: Now the VOA Special English program American Stories. Our story today is called, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. It was written by Ambrose Bierce. The occurrence, or event, in our story takes place during the war of the eighteen-sixtie...
