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Now the special English program American Stories.Our story today is Hard Rock Maple. It is about twopeople living in New England. They seemed like thehard rock maple trees, often found in that area.Nothing can make them move. Today's story was writtenby Fredric C. Heali. Here is Sharp O'Neal with ourstory.

Old man Cowben worked in a wheat mill, not farfrom his house. Cowben's wife had died many yearsbefore. Now he lived with his son Averite. Father andson were happy living together in the old familyhouse. They liked eating together and talking aboutwhat happened during the day. After eating, they wouldsit in the living room and read. Their life togetherwas warm and pleasant.

But one night after supper, Cowben and Averitesaid short things to each other. Averite quicklywalked out of the room, he said no more to his fatherthat night. The next morning, the old man awoke earlyand cooked his own breakfast, usually he would cookfor his son, too. But this morning, the father went towork without even talking to his son. Averite got outof the bed when he heard the door closed. He made hisown breakfast for the first time in many years. He wasstill angry with his father. The old man came homeafter a long day of work at the mill. Averite returnedfrom the store two hours later, neither man talked tothe other. They were still angry, and this night theydid not even eat together.

Many days and nights passed in the same way.Father and son did not talk, or even look at together.They still lived under the same roof. But they actedlike two strangers. After eating, Cowben sat in hischair and read a newspaper, Averite sat across theroom in another chair reading a book. Sometimes whilereading, Averite would slowly look up toward hisfather, he wondered what kind of a person his fatherreally was. He knew that he was a good worker and thathe was honest, but his father did not seem friendlywith anyone. He seemed to have no emotions. Averitecould not remember ever seeing his father kiss hismother, the son wondered "What kind of man is hereally?". Many more days and nights passed withfather and son saying nothing to each other. Daysbecame months, but the heavy silence between the twomen continued. They still lived in the same old house,but they did not talk.

One Sunday morning, Averite looked out of thewindow and saw that the ground was covered with snow.Someone would have to clean the snow of the sidewalk,either him or his father. If Averite offered to cleanthe sidewalk, his father might think he was trying tobe friendly. He did not want his father to think so,he was still angry with him. But if Averite did not dothe work, his father might think that he was being toocruel. Averite did not want him to think that either.While he was deciding what to do, Averite heard anoise outside. He looked out of the window again, hesaw his father cleaing the snow of the sidewalk. Theold man had been one step ahead of his son. Father hadmade the decision. More weeks passed, and father andson still did not talk to each other.

Then one day, Averite saw that his chair in theliving room was getting old. The seat was broken. Itneeded to be fixed. Averite remembered that this oldmaple wood chair had been in the house for many years,it had been there even before Averite was born. "It isstill a good chair" , he thought to himself, "I willnot throw it away, I will have it fixed". Averitecalled his friend Alfred on the telephone. Alfredworked in a store where he fixed old tables andchairs. Averite asked him please to come to the houseto look at his old broken chair. The old man was homewhen Alfred came to the house. "Hello, Alfred, I havenot seeing you for years. Not since you were a littleboy". Averite was in the kitchen while the two menwere talking. He was surprised to hear his father'svoice, he had not heard Cowben talk for almost fiveyears. Averite thought to himself, "so my father willtalk to other people", this made him angrier. "I willnever talk to him now", Averite said.

Eight more years passed, Cowben, the father, andAverite, the son, still had nothing to say to eachother. The days and nights were still the same. Thetwo men ate alone than they sat in the living room andread. Cowben was getting very old.

One day, he stoppedworking, then he was home all the time. One night,Averite looked at his father for the first time inweeks. Father looked tired and lonely. The old man'shair had become completely white just like snow. Theson felt sorry for his father. He said to himself "weare together, even though we do not talk. I am luckyto have someone here with me even though we do nottalk. It would be totally It would be terribly lonelywithout him. And then another winter came, the coldwind blew and theground was again covered with snow. Inside the oldhouse, father laid sick. He was very old now and itdid not seem he would live much longer. Averite drovehis father to the hospital in town. A young doctortook him to a private room. Averited waited outside inthe hall. A few minutes later, the doctor came out andsaid "you can see your father now". The doctor andAverite walked into Cowben's room. The son went , theold man was asleep. Cowben looked very tired. Averitesat down in the chair next to the bed and waited.After a time, Cowben moved a little, but he did notopen his eyes. Averite wondered if he would ever seehis father's eyes again. Then the doctor came back, hetold Averite that he knew that he and his father hadsaid nothing to each other for twenty years. "That isour personal business" Averite said. Then the doctortold him how sick his father was. "He might die soon,"said the doctor, "you should talk to him now, it wouldbe your last chance." Suddenly the old man opened hiseyes, he looked around the room, he looked at theyoung doctor, and he looked at his son. He smiledweakly at Averite, and Averite smiled back at the sickold man. Then Cowben opened his mouth and tried totalk. Averite quickly put his hand over his father'smouth. He did not want to hear Cowben's voice eventhough that was the last chance. The old man did nottry to talk anymore. His eyes closed again and he wasasleep for a long time. The doctor said "He will notwake again, he is dead".

Averite moved from his chairand got his hat and coat. He walked to the door andthen turned to the bed. He wanted to look at hisfather for the last time. The doctor said withanger,"He wanted to say something to you before hedied. Why did you stop him?" Averite answered "It wasmy father who first made the decision that we shouldnot talk. He was the one who felt we had nothingfurther to say to each other. I do not want to hearhim to say you are sorry who first made the decisionthat we should not talk. I did not want him to everthink he was wrong". Then Averite walked out of thehospital. He drove home very slowly. When he enteredthe old white house, everthing seemed strange. He saidto himself "This will be a lonely house now".

You have just heard the American story Hard RockMaple, it was written by Fredric C. Heali. It waspublished in Yankee Magazine in June, 1966. Yournarrator was Sharp O'Neal. The Voice of Americainvite you to listen next week at the same time foranother American story in Special English. This isSusan Klark.