بيان شفاهي داستان( oral reproduction of stories)

Old man at the bridge

Ernest Hemingway

A soldier (who is also the narrator) sees an old man resting on the side of a road near a pontoon bridge. Other civilians are crossing this bridge, but the old man is too tired to proceed any further. The old man tells the soldier that he is a native of San Carlos where he worked as a caretaker of animals.The old man seems more concerned for the safety of his animals than for his own safety. He has some relief in knowing that the cat will be able to fend for itself, and that since he has unlocked the cage, the birds can fly away, but the fate of the other animals is uncertain and the man is distraught by this.The soldier tries to encourage the old man to move a little farther along, for he knows the bridge is likely to be bombed. The old man, however, is simply too exhausted to proceed. The soldier then reflects on the overcast sky, which might prevent the planes from bombing the bridge. In this sense, the soldier seems to be engaging in the same type of wishful thinking as the old man, who must convince himself that the cats can take care of themselves and the birds can fly away. Death is imminent however. Deep down, the soldier and the old man both know this.

The story itself was written from notes Hemingway had kept during his visit to the Ebro River in April of 1938 as part of his coverage of the Spanish Civil War for the North American Newspaper Association (NANA). Along with military trucks and troops crossing a bridge over the Ebro, and civilians pulling carts with their belongings, he saw and talked to an old man who was sitting at the foot of the bridge. He was too tired to continue. Hemingway, perhaps realizing that his situation would make a better short story than a dispatch, filed the story with Ken Magazine instead of with NANA. The story, on its surface, is about an old man who has left his village because of potential enemy artillery fire, has walked some 12 kilometers, but can go no farther.

A certain degree irony that runs through the story and is based on the juxtaposition of the old man having left his animals and worrying about them dying, and the correspondent's having to leave the old man, knowing that if he does so, the old man will die. The irony is that a cat, a few doves, and two goats will have a better chance of survival than the old man.  But the old man doesn't complain that he is likely to die, he worries about the animals. He doesn't complain that he has no family, he worries about the animals. And he doesn't complain that he has no place to go, even if he managed to get onto a truck ("I know no one in that direction'). He simply continues to worry about the only "friends" he seems to have left.

The irony at the end is that the correspondent could help him but callously says, "There was nothing to do about him. It was Easter Sunday and the Fascists were advancing toward the Ebro. It was a gray overcast day with a low ceiling so their planes were not up. That and the fact that cats know how to look after themselves was all the good luck that the old man would ever have."  This meaning that there was no luck - the weather would sooner or later clear and the planes would fly and the old man would be killed. Cats may be able to take care of themselves, but old men, tired, alone in a war, cannot