Waltey
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178 A Ghostly Avenger
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
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- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 3 min branja
- Obseg
- 2 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 178 A Ghostly Avenger
O izvirniku
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
Obsežna zgodovinska zbirka ameriških legend, ki jih je Skinner zbral in avtorsko rekonstruiral. Bralni jezik je Slovenščina, izvirnik pa prihaja iz vira Myths and Legends of Our Own Land v jeziku English.
Besedilo
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V Cuthbertu v Georgii stoji nagrobnik z napisom: »V spomin Jimu Brownu.« Brez datuma, brez epitafa — kajti Jim Brown je bil obešen. In takšna je njegova zgodba: Ob koncu državljanske vojne je bila v Cuthbertu nastanjena četa zveznih vojakov, ki naj bi skrbela za red, dokler se prebivalci ne bi vrnili k mirnodobnim opravilom. Charles Murphy je bil poročnik v tej četi. Njegovega brata, častnika, nastanjenega v bližnjem mestu, so nekega dne poslali v Cuthbert po denar za izplačilo vojakov; proti večeru je zapustil tabor in se odpravil nazaj k svoji enoti. Tisto noč je Charlesa Murphyja prebudilo silovito plahutanje šotorskega platna. Slišati je bilo, kakor da se bliža vihar, toda ko je vstal, da bi preveril, ali so klini in drogovi njegovega platnenega bivališča dobro pritrjeni, je hrup ponehal in presenečen je ugotovil, da je nebo jasno in ozračje mirno. Ko se je vrnil v posteljo, se je plahutanje znova začelo; tokrat se je oblekel in odšel ven, da bi stvar temeljiteje raziskal. V senci drevesa je stal moški in mu pomignil. Bil je njegov brat, ki mu je s tihim, resnim glasom povedal, da je v težavah, in ga prosil, naj gre za njim, kamor ga bo vodil. Poročnik je z bratom prehodil nekaj milj po poljih in gozdovih — nemudoma je namreč zaprosil za nekajurno odsotnost in dobil dovoljenje zanjo — nato pa sta se skupaj spustila po pobočju do roba močvirja, kjer se je ob nekaj spotaknil. Ko je pogledal navzdol, da bi videl, ob kaj se je spotaknil, je zagledal bratovo truplo — ne sveže umrlo, temveč mrzlo in otrplo — z izropanimi žepi in obleko, prepojeno z blatom in krvjo.
Omamljen in prestrašen se je vrnil v tabor, prebudil nekaj svojih mož in ob svitu poskrbel, da so prinesli truplo. Takoj so začeli iskati sled, ki bi jih pripeljala do morilca. Kmalu so zbrali dokaze, na podlagi katerih so aretirali Jima Browna, in govorilo se je, da je njegovo krivdo za zločin razkrila ista nadnaravna sila, ki je poročniku Murphyju naznanila bratovo smrt. Brown je bil neuk kmečki delavec, ki si je vtepel v glavo, da je prav ubijati Jenkije, njegova lakomnost pa se je prebudila, ko je izvedel, da ima častnik pri sebi skrit denar. Za neznatno vsoto se je ponudil, da bo svojo žrtev po bližnjici odpeljal do tabora, namesto tega pa jo je zvabil v močvirje in ji tam prestrelil srce. Ko so krivca pripeljali v Cuthbert, so ga vojaki linčali z obešenjem, vendar je njihov poveljnik prerezal vrv in ga snel, preden je izdihnil. Naslednji teden so ga po sojenju in obsodbi uradno in dokončno obesili.
Izvirnik
178 A Ghostly Avenger
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
In Cuthbert, Georgia, is a gravestone thus inscribed: “Sacred to the memory of Jim Brown.” No date, no epitaph--for Jim Brown was hanged. And this is the story: At the close of the Civil War a company of Federal soldiers was stationed in Cuthbert, to enforce order pending the return of its people to peaceful occupations. Charles Murphy was a lieutenant in this company. His brother, an officer quartered in a neighboring town, was sent to Cuthbert one day to receive funds for the payment of some men, and left camp toward evening to return to his troop. That night Charles Murphy was awakened by a violent flapping of his tent. It sounded as though a gale was coming, but when he arose to make sure that the pegs and poles of his canvas house were secure, the noise ceased, and he was surprised to find that the air was clear and still. On returning to bed the flapping began again, and this time he dressed himself and went out to make a more careful examination. In the shadow of a tree a man stood beckoning. It was his brother, who, in a low, grave voice, told him that he was in trouble, and asked him to follow where he should lead him. The lieutenant walked swiftly through fields and woods for some miles with his relative--he had at once applied for and received a leave of absence for a few hours--and they descended together a slope to the edge of a swamp, where he stumbled against something. Looking down at the object on which he had tripped, he saw that it was his brother's corpse--not newly dead, but cold and rigid--the pockets rifled, the clothing soaked with mire and blood.
Dazed and terrified, he returned to camp, roused some of his men, and at daybreak secured the body. An effort to gain a clue to the murderer was at once set on foot. It was not long before evidence was secured that led to the arrest of Jim Brown, and there was a hint that his responsibility for the crime was revealed through the same supernatural agency that had apprised Lieutenant Murphy of his bereavement. Brown was an ignorant farm laborer, who had conceived that it was right to kill Yankees, and whose cupidity had been excited by learning that the officer had money concealed about him. He had offered, for a trifling sum, to take his victim by a short cut to his camp, but led him to the swamp instead, where he had shot him through the heart. On the culprit's arrival in Cuthbert he was lynched by the soldiers, but was cut down by their commander before life was extinct, and was formally and conclusively hanged in the next week, after trial and conviction.
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