HAPPY RAMADAN

Source: neezaneedles.com 


Well, today I decided to talking about Ramadan, not exactly talking about that, I don't know anything about Islam, but I simply decided to homage my friends Muslims, readers from Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Gaza's Strip, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco  Singapore, India, etc.

This is the official Muslim Calendar Ramadan in 2011 will start on Monday, the 1st of August and will continue for 30 days until Tuesday, the 30th of August.

Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Ramadan on the sunset of Sunday, the 31st of July.

Although Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ramadan moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Ramadan may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.

The dates provided here are based on the dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America for the celebration of Ramadan. Note that these dates are based on astronomical calculations to affirm each date, and not on the actual sighting of the moon with the naked eyes. This approach is accepted by many, but is still being hotly debated. 




According to Wikipedia this is the meaning of Ramadan

The word Ramadan is derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like "ramiḍa" or "ar-ramaḍ" denoting intense heat,^[2] scorched ground and shortness of rations. Ramadan, as a name for the month, is of Islamic origin. Prior to Islam and the exclusion of intercalary days from the Islamic calendar, the name of the month was Natiq and the month fell in the warm season.^[3] The word was thus chosen as it well represented the original climate of the month and the physiological conditions precipitated from fasting. In the Qur'an, God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to a hadith, it might refer to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur .

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan#Origins_of_Ramadan and http://www.when-is.com/ramadan-2011.asp

In conclusion, I'm not Muslim, I'm Catholic but I respect my friends and honestly, I'm falling in love by the way of life, culture and diversity of Muslims, in conclusion, teachers, students, readers, thank you so much for giving me support. Carlos, from Brazil. 

The Devil and Tom Walker

The Devil and Tom Walker

Source:  www.manythings.org/voa/stories

Source of the picture: schillerinstitute.org

Download MP3

Our story today is, "The Devil and Tom Walker. " It was written by Washington Irving. Here is Shep ONeal with our story.

(MUSIC)

Storyteller: Before we begin our story, let us go back three hundred years to the late sixteen hundreds. In those years, one of the most famous men in the world was Captain William Kidd. Captain Kidd was a pirate. He sailed the seas, capturing any ships he found. He and his men took money from these ships. Captain Kidd hid this money in different places.

Captain Kidd was captured by the English in Boston, Massachusetts and executed in the year seventeen-oh-one.

From that time on, people all over the world searched in many places for Captain Kidds stolen money.

The people who lived in Massachusetts in the seventeen hundreds believed Captain Kidd buried some of his treasure near Boston. Not far from Boston was a small river which ran into the Atlantic Ocean. An old story said that Captain Kidd had come up this river from the ocean. Then he buried his gold and silver and jewels under a big tree.

The story said that this treasure was protected by the devil himself, who was a good friend of Captain Kidd.

In the year seventeen twenty-seven, a man named Tom Walker lived near this place. Tom Walker was not a pleasant man. He loved only one thing -- money. There was only one person worse than Tom. That was his wife. She also loved money. These two were so hungry for money that they even stole things from each other.

One day, Tom Walker was returning home through a dark forest. He walked slowly and carefully, so that he would not fall into a pool of mud.

At last, he reached a piece of dry ground. Tom sat down on a tree that had fallen. As he rested, he dug into the earth with a stick. He knew the story that Indians had killed prisoners here as sacrifices to the Devil. But this did not trouble him. The only devil Tom was afraid of was his wife.

Toms stick hit something hard. He dug it out of the earth. It was a human skull. In the skull was an Indian ax.

Suddenly, Tom Walker heard an angry voice: "Dont touch that skull!"

Tom looked up. He saw a giant sitting on a broken tree. Tom had never seen such a man. He wore the clothes of an Indian. His skin was almost black and covered with ashes. His eyes were big and red. His black hair stood up from his head. He carried a large ax.

The giant asked, "What are you doing on my land?" But Tom Walker was not afraid. He answered, "What do you mean? This land belongs to Mr. Peabody."

The strange man laughed and pointed to the tall trees. Tom saw that one of the trees had been cut by an ax. He looked more closely and saw that the name Peabody had been cut into the tree. Mr. Peabody was a man who got rich by stealing from Indians.

Tom looked at the other trees. Every one had the name of some rich, important man from Massachusetts. Tom looked at the tree on which he was sitting. It also had a name cut into it -- the name of Absalom Crowninshield. Tom remembered that Mr. Crowninshield was a very rich man. People said he got his money as Captain Kidd did -- by stealing ships.

Suddenly, the giant shouted: "Crowninshield is ready to be burned! Im going to burn many trees this winter!"

Tom told the man that he had no right to cut Mr. Peabodys trees. The stranger laughed and said, "I have every right to cut these trees. This land belonged to me a long time before Englishmen came to Massachusetts. The Indians were here. Then you Englishmen killed the Indians. Now I show Englishmen how to buy and sell slaves. And I teach their women how to be witches."

Tom Walker now knew that the giant was the Devil himself. But Tom Walker was still not afraid.

The giant said Captain Kidd had buried great treasures under the trees, but nobody could have them unless the giant permitted it. He said Tom could have these treasures. But Tom had to agree to give the giant what he demanded.

Tom Walker loved money as much as he loved life. But he asked for time to think.

Tom went home. He told his wife what had happened. She wanted Captain Kidds treasure. She urged him to give the Devil what he wanted. Tom said no.

At last, Misses Walker decided to do what Tom refused to do. She put all her silver in a large piece of cloth and went to see the dark giant. Two days passed. She did not return home. She was never seen again.

People said later that Tom went to the place where he had met the giant. He saw his wifes cloth hanging in a tree. He was happy, because he wanted to get her silver. But when he opened the cloth, there was no silver in it -- only a human heart.

Tom was sorry he lost the silver, but not sorry he lost his wife. He wanted to thank the giant for this. And so, every day he looked for the giant. Tom finally decided that he would give the giant what he wanted in exchange for Captain Kidds treasure.

One night, Tom Walker met the giant and offered his soul in exchange for Captain Kidds treasure. The Devil now wanted more than that. He said that Tom would have to use the treasure to do the Devils work. He wanted Tom to buy a ship and bring slaves to America.

As we have said, Tom Walker was a hard man who loved nothing but money. But even he could not agree to buy and sell human beings as slaves. He refused to do this.

The Devil then said that his second most important work was lending money. The men who did this work for the Devil forced poor people who borrowed money to pay back much more than they had received.

Tom said he would like this kind of work. So the Devil gave him Captain Kidds treasure.

A few days later, Tom Walker was a lender of money in Boston. Everyone who needed help -- and there were many who did -- came to him. Tom Walker became the richest man in Boston. When people were not able to pay him, he took away their farms, their horses, and their houses.

As he got older and richer, Tom began to worry. What would happen when he died? He had promised his soul to the Devil. Maybe. . .maybe. . . he could break that promise.

Tom then became very religious. He went to church every week. He thought that if he prayed enough, he could escape from the Devil.

One day, Tom took the land of a man who had borrowed money. The poor man asked for more time to pay. "Please do not destroy me!" he said. "You have already taken all my money!"

Tom got angry and started to shout, "Let the Devil take me if I have taken any money from you!"

That was the end of Tom Walker. For just then, he heard a noise. He opened the door. There was the black giant, holding a black horse. The giant said, "Tom, I have come for you." He picked up Tom and put him on the horse. Then he hit the horse, which ran off, carrying Tom.

Nobody ever saw Tom Walker again. A farmer said that he saw the black horse, with a man on it, running wildly into the forest.

After Tom Walker disappeared, the government decided to take Toms property. But there was nothing to take. All the papers which showed that Tom owned land and houses were burned to ashes. His boxes of gold and silver had nothing in them but small pieces of wood. The wood came from newly cut trees. Toms horses died, and his house suddenly burned to ashes.

(MUSIC)

Announcer: You have heard the story, "The Devil and Tom Walker." It was written by Washington Irving. Our storyteller was Shep ONeal. Listen again next week at this same time for another AMERICAN STORY told in Special English on the Voice of America. This is Shirley Griffith.

(MUSIC)

English course 38 Videos, ING VIP

I have been talked about this days and recommended this awesome Brazilian Website, in my humble opinion, it's one of the best website available on audio, there you can find out different accents, that's why I've been recommended also, for those English learners, in particular for beginners to keep in touch different accents, even you have decided to speak British or American Standard, no matter, you have to adapt for different standards and speak British or American ones, but listening and keep in touch different standards. That's it, Fulvio C. Perini, Interpreter, Private Teacher in Sorocaba and Brazilian blogger http://www.ingvip.com/curso-de-conversacao.htm for example, in order to illustrate what I have been talked about ING VIP keep in touch through a Brazilian English course known as Pro-Jovem (For Young People). That project has been developed during the Lula's government, former Brazilian president. In other words, to conclude you can find more information visiting http://www.ingvip.com/ . Remember, not only for Brazilian, but Students from all over the world should access this awesome website and use it in order to improve your English skill. See you tomorrow, everyone. Have a wonderful day for Asia's friends and thank you for your audience, without you this blog doesn't make sense. Countries from other continents have a wonderful night, also you are too much important. Liked both blogs? Remember English tips and INGVIP are Educative ones, please use the social networking widgets and promote them for friends. You may also visit the Amazon affiliates programme and help us shopping one of the Amazon's product, thank you for your help in advance. 

The net isn’t as important as we think

The net isn’t as important as we think

source: palavrasmentais.blogspot.com


Source: www.speakup.com.br

Ha-Joon Chang, born in South Korea in 1963, is an economist based at Cambridge University specializing in development. He is the author of several books, including Kicking Away the Ladder (2002) and Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008). In his new book, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism (Alen Lane) Chang debunks many myths about the free market. In one chapter, he says. “The washing machine changed the world more than the internet.”

Is it really true that the washing machine has changed the world more than the internet? 

When we assess the impact of technological changes we send to downplay things that happened a while ago. Of course, the internet is great –I can now Google and find the exact location of a restaurant in Liverpool, or whatever. But when you look t the impact of this on the economy. It’s mainly in the area of leisure.

The internet may have significantly changed the working patterns of people like you and me, but we are in a small minority. For most people, its effect is more about keeping in touch with friends and looking up things here and there.  Economists have found very little evidence that since the internet revolution productivity has grown.

And the washing machine was more transformative?

By liberating women from household work and helping to abolish professions such as domestic service, the washing machine and other household goods completely revolutionised the structure of society. As women have become active in the labour market they have acquired a dfferent status at home –they will leave them and make an independent living. And this had enormous economic consequences. Rather than spend their time washing clothes, women could go out and do more productive things. Basically, it has doubled the workforce.

The washing machine is just one element here. Other factors have contributed to the liberation of women – feminism, the pill and so on.

Yes, but feminism couldn’t have been implemented unless there was this technological basis for a society where women went out and worked. Of course it’s not just the washing machine, it’s piped water, electricity, and so on.

Do we tend to overestimate the importance revolutions?

Not always. The invention of the printing press was one of the most important events in human history. But we overestimate the internet and ignore its downsides. There’s now so much information out there that you don’t actually have time to digest it.

SPEED

But what about the sheer speed at which it allows us to do things?

That is exaggerated too. Before the invention of the telegraph in the late 19^th century. It took two to three weeks to carry a message across the Atlantic. The telegraph reduced it to 20 to 30 minutes –an increase of 2.000 - 3.000 times. The internet has reduced the time of sending. Say, three or four pages of text from the 30 seconds you needed with a fax machine down to maybe two seconds – a reduction by a factor of 15. I can’t think of anything where it’s really so important that we send it in two seconds rather than a few minutes.

Do we fundamentally misunderstand the nature of capitalism, as the title of your book implies?

Let me start by saying that I am an advocate of capitalism. To paraphrase Winston Churchill. I think it’s the worst economic system except for all the others. So I’m not an anti-capitalism to work. But the version of capitalism that we have practised in the past two or three decades is a very extreme free market version which contrary to the claims of many economists, is not the only or best way to run things. There are many different ways and in the book I show that countries that I have run capitalism differently – even if they practise free-market capitalism today – have done much better. 

American History: After Second World War, a Baby Boom

Photo: AP

People move into new homes in Levittown, New York, in October 1947. Levittown served as a model for planned communities for the baby boom generation.

Source: www.voanews.com

STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I’m Steve Ember.

(MUSIC)

World War Two finally ended in August of nineteen forty-five. Life in the United States began to return to normal. Soldiers began to come home and find jobs. Factories stopped producing war materials and began to produce goods for peacetime.

At the same time, other changes began to take place in society. Many Americans were no longer satisfied with their old ways of life. They wanted something new and better. And many were now earning enough money to find that better life.

Millions of Americans moved out of cities and small towns. They bought newly built homes in suburban communities outside busy cities. Today, we look at the growth of suburbs and other changes in the American population in the years after World War Two.

WIFE: “And we’ll have the living room right in here, and the kitchen right here so we can see the children playing in the yard.”

HUSBAND: “Yeah, the children … Children? Say, how many are you planning on? Not more than six, I hope. Maybe I better add a few more rooms back here.”

A couple in a marketing film for the home building industry.

The United States counts its population every ten years. The first census took place in seventeen ninety. At that time, the country had about four million people. One hundred years later, in eighteen ninety, the population was sixty-three million.

By nineteen fifty, there were more than one hundred fifty million people living in the United States.

In the early years of America, the average mother had eight to ten children. Living conditions were hard. Many children died at an early age. Families needed a lot of help on the farm. So it was good to have many children.

But over the years birth rates fell. Families began to have fewer and fewer children. By nineteen hundred, the average woman had only three or four children. In nineteen thirty-six, during the Great Depression, the average American mother gave birth to only two children.

Things changed after World War Two.

(SOUND)

Suddenly, it seemed like every family started having babies. Parents were hopeful about the future. There were lots of jobs. People felt the need for a family and security after the long, difficult years of the war. From nineteen fifty to nineteen sixty, the number of children between the ages of five and fourteen increased by more than ten million.

The increase in births after the war produced what became known as the baby boom generation. An estimated seventy-eight million Americans were born between nineteen forty-six and nineteen sixty-four.

Many of the new parents moved to homes in the new suburbs built outside the urban environment of cities.

AP

Part of Levittown in 1948

Usually a developer would buy land, maybe from a farmer, then clear it, level it and build houses on it. Young families would buy the houses with money that they borrowed from local banks.

(MUSIC)

Life was different in the suburbs – calmer, less crowded than life in the big city. There were all sorts of group activities. There were Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Parent-Teacher Associations at school. Outdoor cooking where families gathered in someone’s backyard to eat hamburgers hot off the grill.

Historian William Manchester described life in the suburbs in this way: The new suburbs were free, open, and honestly friendly to anyone except black people, whose time had not yet come.

Manchester wrote, Families moving in found that their new friends were happy to help them get started. Children in the suburbs exchanged toys and clothing almost as though they were group property. When little Bobby outgrew his clothes, his mother gave them to little Billy across the street.

People felt safe enough to leave their doors unlocked.

Parents did everything they could to make life good for their children. Between nineteen fifty and nineteen sixty, the number of boys playing on Little League baseball teams increased from less than one million to almost six million. The number of Girl Scouts increased by two million. Bicycle sales doubled.

(SOUND: Chevrolet commercial)

And it wasn’t just two-wheeled transportation that experienced a post war boost.

US new car production was stopped during World War Two, to allow those factories to produce airplanes, tanks, and other military vehicles for the war effort.

With the prosperity of peacetime, many Americans visited auto dealerships for the first time in years, to replace that tired family car with something more up to date -- even luxurious.

For many years, popular singer Dinah Shore invited optimistic post-war Americans to take to the highway and see their country in a Chevrolet.

(MUSIC)

Post war prosperity also led Americans to replace outdated home appliances, buy a new refrigerator, or a television set.

ANNOUNCER: “Come closer, sweetheart. Say, I don’t think that’s fair, because we can’t get closer.”

BETTY FURNESS: “Oh, but you could, if you had one of the new Westinghouse television sets with the exclusive Electronic Magnifier that gives you a big close-up image whenever you want it.  All you do is turn the Electronic Magnifier knob, and there -- you get the heart of the picture. And see? I’m close enough to say, ‘Hello, good looking!’”

Actress Betty Furness was commercial spokeswoman for Westinghouse.

RONALD REAGAN: “And every Sunday night, General Electric brings you the finest motion picture stars on TV -- the great names in comedy … mystery … romance.  Every week, a star, all summer long, on the General Electric Theater.”

STEVE EMBER: Over at competitor General Electric, actor Ronald Reagan -- later the fortieth president of the United States -- and often referred to as the Great Communicator, was for many years an effective commercial spokesman every week on the GE Theater.

(MUSIC)

Parents also tried to improve their children's education. In nineteen sixty, parents bought almost three times as many educational books as they did ten years before.

Parents also bought millions of dollars’ worth of pianos, violins and other musical instruments for their children.

It was true that the average number of children per family was increasing. But the total population of the United States did not increase as much during this period as one might have expected.

The reason for this was that fewer immigrants were coming to the United States. In fact, the number of immigrants had been dropping for many years. In nineteen ten, eleven immigrants were coming to America for every thousand Americans already living here. By nineteen fifty, less than two immigrants were coming for every thousand Americans.

Where immigrants were coming from also changed. In the past, most came from northern and western Europe. But now, growing numbers of people came to the United States from southern and eastern Europe and from Latin America and Asia.

Other changes in the United States population were also taking place. In the nineteen fifties, most Americans still lived in the eastern, central and southern parts of the country. But growing numbers moved west. The population of the western states increased by almost forty percent during the nineteen fifties.

Remember we said the United States population gets counted every ten years? One reason is because populations are used to decide how many members each state will have in the House of Representatives. Population changes can mean changes in the political influence of individual states in Congress.

(MUSIC)

Another population change after World War Two was in life expectancy. An American born in the early nineteen hundreds could only expect to live about forty-seven years. By the nineteen fifties, however, most Americans could expect to live well past their sixtieth birthday.

Life expectancy continued to increase with improvements in living conditions and medical care.

The United States was a changing country, a nation on the move after World War Two. Next week on our program, we look at political events that shaped the post-war period.

Our program was written by David Jarmul. You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember, inviting you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

___

This was program #198. For earlier programs, type "Making of a Nation" in quotation marks in the search box at the top of the page.

Paul Bunyan

All credits for: American Stories in VOA Special English
www.manythings.org/voa/stories 

Today we tell a traditional American story called a "tall tale." A tall tale is a story about a person who is larger than life. The descriptions in the story are exaggerated – much greater than in real life. This makes the story funny. Long ago, the people who settled in undeveloped areas in America first told tall tales.  After a hard day's work, people gathered to tell each other funny stories.

Each group of workers had its own tall tale hero. Paul Bunyan was a hero of North America's lumberjacks, the workers who cut down trees.  He was known for his strength, speed and skill.  Tradition says he cleared forests from the northeastern United States to the Pacific Ocean.

Some people say Paul Bunyan was the creation of storytellers from the middle western Great Lakes area of the United States.  Other people say the stories about him came from French Canada.

Early in the twentieth century, a writer prepared a collection of Paul Bunyan stories.  They were included in a publication from the Red River Lumber Company in Minnesota.  It is not known if the stories helped the company's sales, but they became extremely popular.

Here is Shep O'Neal with our story about Paul Bunyan.

Many years ago, Paul Bunyan was born in the northeastern American state of Maine.  His mother and father were shocked when they first saw the boy.  Paul was so large at birth that five large birds had to carry him to his parents.  When the boy was only a few weeks old, he weighed more than forty-five kilograms.

As a child, Paul was always hungry.  His parents needed ten cows to supply milk for his meals.  Before long, he ate fifty eggs and ten containers of potatoes every day.

Young Paul grew so big that his parents did not know what to do with him.  Once, Paul rolled over so much in his sleep that he caused an earthquake. This angered people in the town where his parents lived.  So, the government told his mother and father they would have to move him somewhere else.

Paul's father built a wooden cradle -- a traditional bed for a baby.  His parents put the cradle in waters along the coast of Maine.  However, every time Paul rolled over, huge waves covered all the coastal towns.  So his parents brought their son back on land.  They took him into the woods.  This is where he grew up.

As a boy, Paul helped his father cut down trees.  Paul had the strength of many men.  He also was extremely fast.  He could turn off a light and then jump into his bed before the room got dark.

(MUSIC)

STORYTELLER:  Maine is very cold for much of the year. One day, it started to snow.  The snow covered Paul's home and a nearby forest.  However, this snow was very unusual.  It was blue.  The blue snow kept falling until the forest was covered.

Paul put on his snowshoes and went out to see the unusual sight.  As he walked, Paul discovered an animal stuck in the snow.  It was a baby ox.  Paul decided to take the ox home with him.  He put the animal near the fireplace.  After the ox got warmer, his hair remained blue.

Paul decided to keep the blue ox and named him Babe.  Babe grew very quickly.  One night, Paul left him in a small building with the other animals.  The next morning, the barn was gone and so was Babe.  Paul searched everywhere for the animal.  He found Babe calmly eating grass in a valley, with the barn still on top of his back. Babe followed Paul and grew larger every day.  Every time Paul looked, Babe seemed to grow taller.

In those days, much of North America was filled with thick, green forests.  Paul Bunyan could clear large wooded areas with a single stroke of his large, sharp axe.

Paul taught Babe to help with his work.  Babe was very useful.  For example, Paul had trouble removing trees along a road that was not straight.  He decided to tie one end of the road to what remained of a tree in the ground.  Paul tied the other end to Babe.  Babe dug his feet in the ground and pulled with all his strength until the road became straight.

(MUSIC)

STORYTELLER:  In time, Paul and Babe the Blue Ox left Maine, and moved west to look for work in other forests.  Along the way, Paul dug out the Great Lakes to provide drinking water for Babe.  They settled in a camp near the Onion River in the state of Minnesota.

Paul's camp was the largest in the country. The camp was so large that a man had to have one week's supply of food when walking from one side of the camp to the other.

Paul decided to get other lumberjacks to help with the work.  His work crew became known as the Seven Axemen.  Each man was more than two meters tall and weighed more than one-hundred-sixty kilograms.  All of the Axemen were named Elmer.  That way, they all came running whenever Paul called them.

The man who cooked for the group was named Sourdough Sam.  He made everything -- except coffee -- from sourdough, a substance used in making sourdough bread.

Every Sunday, Paul and his crew ate hot cakes.  Each hot cake was so large that it took five men to eat one.  Paul usually had ten or more hot cakes, depending on how hungry he was.  The table where the men ate was so long that a server usually drove to one end of the table and stayed the night.  The server drove back in the morning, with a fresh load of food.

Paul needed someone to help with the camp's finances.  He gave the job to a man named Johnny Inkslinger.  Johnny kept records of everything, including wages and the cost of feeding Babe.  He sometimes used nine containers of writing fluid a day to keep such detailed records.

The camp also was home to Sport, the Reversible Dog.  One of the workers accidentally cut Sport in two.  The man hurried to put the dog back together, but made a mistake.  He bent the animal's back the wrong way.  However, that was not a problem for Sport.  He learned to run on his front legs until he was tired.  Then, he turned the other way and ran on his back legs.

(MUSIC)

STORYTELLER:  Big mosquitoes were a problem at the camp.  The men attacked the insects with their axes and long sticks. Before long, the men put barriers around their living space.  Then, Paul ordered them to get big bees to destroy the mosquitoes.  But the bees married the mosquitoes, and the problem got worse.  They began to produce young insects.  One day, the insects' love of sweets caused them to attack a ship that was bringing sugar to the camp.  At last, the mosquitoes and bees were defeated.  They ate so much sugar they could not move.

Paul always gave Babe the Blue Ox a thirty-five kilogram piece of sugar when he was good.  But sometimes Babe liked to play tricks.  At night, Babe would make noises and hit the ground with his feet.  The men at the camp would run out of the buildings where they slept, thinking it was an earthquake.

When winter came, Babe had trouble finding enough food to eat.  Snow covered everything.  Ole the Blacksmith solved the problem.  He made huge green sunglasses for Babe.  When Babe wore the sunglasses, he thought the snow was grass.  Before long, Babe was strong and healthy again.

One year, Paul's camp was especially cold.  It was so cold that the men let their facial hair grow very long.  When the men spoke, their words froze in the air.  Everything they said remained frozen all winter long, and did not melt until spring.

Paul Bunyan and Babe left their mark on many areas.  Some people say they were responsible for creating Puget Sound in the western state of Washington.  Others say Paul Bunyan and Babe cleared the trees from the states of North Dakota and South Dakota.  They prepared this area for farming.

Babe the Blue Ox died in South Dakota.  One story says he ate too many hot cakes.  Paul buried his old friend there.  Today, the burial place is known as the Black Hills.

Whatever happened to Paul Bunyan?  There are lots of stories.  Some people say he was last seen in Alaska, or even the Arctic Circle.  Another tradition says he still returns to Minnesota every summer.  It says Paul moves in and out of the woods, so few people ever know that he is there.

You have just heard the story of Paul Bunyan.  It was adapted for Special English by George Grow.  Your narrator was Shep O'Neal.  Join us again next week for another American story, in Special English, on the Voice of America.  This is Faith Lapidus.