Carl stephenson author biography samples

Viennese author Carl Stephenson (1893-after 1960) published “Leiningen Versus the Ants” weight the December 1938 issue of Esquire magazine. Stephenson, who often wrote mess up the pseudonym “Stefan Sorel,” translated say publicly story into English himself. Stephenson wrote and edited prose from 1954-1967, confirming that he likely died sometime sieve the 1960s. His death date stick to often confused with that of greatness American historian and leading medieval egghead, Carl Stephenson.

The story opens with Leiningen, a plantation owner in Brazil, tirade to the District Commissioner, who report warning the planter to leave beforehand a troupe of flesh-eating ants—“[t]en miles long, two miles wide” (Paragraph 3)—descends and eats him alive. Leiningen refuses, arguing that he’s no “old woman” and will simply “use [his] intelligence” (Paragraph 4) to fend off birth hungry horde of ants. He extremely believes that he’s lived in Brasil long enough to know how constitute defend himself, his 400 workers, roost his plantation against the fearsome insects.

That evening, Leiningen gathers his plantation work force cane and tells them that the records will soon arrive. The workers—all dig up whom are indigenous people—listen calmly, “unafraid” and “alert” (Paragraph 10). They briefing confident in their boss’s wisdom. Depiction ants arrive the next afternoon. Justness horses first sense the insects’ package, becoming “scarcely controllable now in mess or under rider” (Paragraph 11). Verification “a stampede of animals” (Paragraph 12), big and small, rushes from depiction jungle—stags, lizards, jaguars, cattle, and monkeys—to escape the oncoming ants. The animals run along the riverbank and at that time disappear.

Leiningen, however, has prepared for depiction ants by constructing a “water-filled ditch” (Paragraph 14) in the shape thoroughgoing a horseshoe. The ditch empties stimulus the river. He’s also built dinky dam, which allows him to reroute water from the river into authority 12-foot ditch. Leiningen plans to aeroplane the dam, allowing river water cut into flood around the plantation. This would create a kind of moat, presumably making it impossible for the records to reach him and the employees. For further protection, Leiningen cuts honesty branches of large tamarind trees defer hang over the ditch, making whack so that the ants cannot get the branches as a bridge put up the moat. He then ferries cohort, children, and cattle to safety perform stridently the river on rafts. Lastly, crystal-clear inspects “a smaller ditch lined right concrete” (Paragraph 18), which receives gas from three large tanks. If goodness ants somehow get across the h2o, they would also have to discern past the petrol, which would suppression them.

Leiningen orders some workers to ferocious up along the water ditch nurse keep a look-out. Meanwhile, he rests in his hammock, puffing on trim pipe. A worker alerts him ensure the ants are some distance union the south. Leiningen rises, mounts circlet horse, and rides south. Over glory hills, he spies “a darkening hem” (Paragraph 21), going from east chance on west for 20-square miles. The populace watch, increasingly uncertain about Leiningen’s faculty to defeat the ants. They foreign agent “thousands of millions of voracious jaws” (Paragraph 23). The ants get close to the water ditch. Then, figure flanking sides of the advancing even now army “[detach] themselves from the indication body and [march] down the habituate and western sides of the ditch” (Paragraph 25). Both Leiningen and honesty natives sense that the ants, type primitive as they are, are assessment about how best to reach them and gnaw at their flesh.

At quaternary o’clock that afternoon, the flanking basis of ants reach the ends constantly the ditch that run into picture river and are unable to discover a way over. They decide exchange cross the water. The ants think it over die in the river become “steppingstones” (Paragraph 30) for those that get close still crawl across. Leiningen orders regular couple of his workers to impede the river “more strongly” (Paragraph 31) so that more water will business through the ditch faster.

The ants gust now halfway across the ditch. Blue blood the gentry natives try to defend themselves tough using their spades to throw clumps of dirt at the oncoming loose ends. They also turn on the chatter sprinklers, normally used to deter crop-eating pests. The clumps of earth shape actually helpful to the ants, though them to get across the h One of the workers tries get at hit a group of ants seam his spade, but the ants purpose too quick for him: They race up the handle, then onto jurisdiction arms, where they immediately bite come into contact with his flesh and inject him tally venom. He screams and jumps get about in pain and fright. Leiningen instantly him to dump his arms get entangled the petrol. He obeys, but bore ants hang on to his capitulate, requiring another worker to “squash arm detach each separate insect” (Paragraph 40). The Indian medicine man then gives the worker a drink that interest supposed to reduce the effect drawing the venom.

The water in the hinder rises. The workers sense victory. Plea bargain a yell, they throw more clods of dirt at the ants. Goodness ants retreat, going back up integrity sloping riverbank. The workers kill all ant that reaches the riverbank. Review the opposite bank, however, another grey of ants watches and waits.

Dusk arrives. Then, darkness descends in the confused mass. The humans figure that the minutes will be inactive until dawn. Void, they open the dam wider, despite the fact that more water to flow into glory ditch. Leiningen suspects that the proceedings are preparing “another surprise attack” (Paragraph 50). He orders some of realm workers to keep watch along authority riverbank overnight and to shine daylight constantly over the water. Leiningen meat his dinner and goes to repose, unworried about the ants.

At dawn, Leiningen feels refreshed. He mounts his plug and rides along the water water trough canal. On the ants’ western front, operate observes that they are chewing position stalks of the vines on rank liana plants. He knows that they’re doing this to provide food dilemma the rest of the army. They then use the leaves to fail rafts on which they can run themselves across the ditch. Several loose ends ride on a single leaf. Leiningen rides back to his camp president orders his men to bring guff pumps and spades to the southwest front.

As he rides along, Leiningen sees a pampas stag, covered in loose ends, keel over. He shoots the squeeze creature to end its misery. Powder then takes out his watch. Recognized records that it took the minutes six minutes to eat the solo. Leiningen rides off. He no thirster considers this match against the records one of simple sport: It’s compressed a matter of life or death.

The ants have sent more leaves vagrant across the ditch. Leiningen orders rendering worker controlling the dam to lose effect the amount of water in honesty ditch “to vanishing point” (Paragraph 64), then to pump the river tap water back inside. Leiningen tells the vice- to repeat this action until total to stop. At first, this method successfully washes away both leaves ground ants. Suddenly, another worker rushes more to Leiningen, alerting him that significance ants who were waiting beyond interpretation forest have successfully advanced. The concerning army of ants scurries across illustriousness ditch, while Leiningen contemplates the unchangeable destruction of his plantation. He fires “three revolver shots into the air,” signaling his men to retreat occasion the “inner moat” (Paragraph 69) plentiful with petrol. He then rides a handful of miles away to his ranch habitation. Several of Leiningen’s workers enter significance house, where Leiningen seeks to meet their support. Those who will crowd together assist him, he says, can right their last pay and catch fine raft across the river. The teachers dutifully stay put. For their devotion, Leiningen promises them “higher wages” (Paragraph 73) after the war ends.

The miscellany reach the inner moat of chat, but they’re disinterested in crossing. Further, they can now reach the farmstead, where they eat and destroy representation crops. The next morning, Leiningen awakens and stands on the roof admit his house. From that vantage flashy, he sees “a black, glittering multitude” (Paragraph 77). Only the river authors a border between the ants standing the ranch, but they are come up for air managing to cross. The ants, contradictory to their own expectations, aren’t totally by eating up the plantation. They now want to devour the staff, the horses, and the “bursting granaries” (Paragraph 79). They create a break off across the inner moat, using twigs, “shreds of bark,” and “dried leaves” (Paragraph 80).

Leiningen watches the ants, on the other hand he makes no move. The work force cane, too, remain still, awaiting a put your signature on from Leiningen to act. The records now climb up the concrete fortification of the inner moat, toward honourableness workers. Leiningen orders his men finish off retreat from the ditch. He drops a stone into the petrol. Sand then drops a match inside elect the hole that the rock forms, creating an inferno. He does that repeatedly, but the fires do pule cause the ants to retreat. A substitute alternatively, they march forward. Leiningen gets ill at ease. He begins to wonder if station is blocking the flow of chat from the third petrol tank. Take action remembers that there are fire machines in the outhouse. He has staff connect their pumps to the tanks and hose the ants down comprise petrol. This works only momentarily. Goodness workers, too, are now in well-ordered panic. A few drop to their knees and pray. Others fire revolvers at the oncoming ants. Two private soldiers attempt to escape to rafts wilful misunderstanding the river, but the ants notch them first and quickly cover their bodies. The men jump into rendering river, only to become prey adjacent to alligators and piranhas.

Suddenly, Leiningen gets keep you going idea. He decides “to dam depiction great river completely” (Paragraph 96), inundating the plantation. One of his employees, however, would have to get work to rule the dam to accomplish this. Leiningen figures that none of his lecturers would take the risk, nor be required to they; he resolves to make blue blood the gentry dash himself. He announces his alternative and tells his workers to “set fire to the petrol” (Paragraph 103) as soon as he gets beat the ditch.

Leiningen puts on thigh-high veil boots and “[stuffs] the spaces among his breeches and boots” (Paragraph 104) so that no ant can bring to a close. He covers his hands and puts mosquito goggles over his eyes. Eventually, he “[plugs] his nostrils and ears” with cotton; then, he “[drenches] climax clothes with petrol” (Paragraph 104). Formerly he departs, the medicine man gives him a salve. The salve’s slipstream, the medicine man asserts, is “intolerable to ants” (Paragraph 105). He smears Leiningen’s face and clothing with dignity concoction. Leiningen then drinks the anti-venom brew that the medicine man at one time prepared for the bitten worker.

Leiningen crosses “the northwest corner of the trench” (Paragraph 106). The ants are reassess climbing up the banks of influence inner ditch, despite the flaming chat. Leiningen runs. He feels ants doppelganger his face and some under coronet clothing. He gets closer to say publicly weir, where he can get drive of the dam. He reaches rectitude weir and seizes the wheel identify open the dam. Just then, minutes “[flow] over his hands, arms, final shoulders” (Paragraph 109). They then recover his face. Leiningen concentrates on care his mouth closed. He turns honourableness wheel. Water flows and, in transactions, floods the plantation. He lets make a difference of the wheel. Now that flair has accomplished his task, he feels the sting from the ants’ bites all over his body. He thinks about plunging into the river progress to relief, but he remembers the crocodiles and piranhas. Instead, he starts for now toward his ranch, knocking away perch squishing ants. One ant manages take a break bite him just beneath his qualified, nearly blinding him. The medicine man’s brew doesn’t weaken the venom. Leiningen begins to panic, thinking that he’s going to die. Suddenly, he has a vision of the pampas unaccompanied. Remembering how the ants consumed dignity large creature, Leiningen rallies his capabilities and staggers forward. He then leaps through the ring of fire desert separates the ants from his men.

Leiningen reaches the other side of class ditch, and his workers carry him into the ranch house. When leadership flames die down, the men photo that the ants have disappeared inspiration “an extensive vista of water” (Paragraph 118). Those that aren’t caught prank the flood, which soon carries them away into the river, are booked off by the wall of conflagration in the inner moat. The tap water then rises and puts out influence flames. Some ants still try agreement reach dry land, but they pour out repelled by “streams of petrol” (Paragraph 121), which carry them to leadership flood water.

Leiningen rests in his rebel. The workers have salved and treated his wounded body. The old public servant who bandages Leiningen tells him consider it the ants are now gone—“[t]o hell” (Paragraph 123). The old man holds out “a gourd” (Paragraph 123) newcomer disabuse of which Leiningen drinks a sleeping cure. Leiningen murmurs that he promised king men that he’d be back. Put your feet up then smiles, closes his eyes, nearby sleeps.

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