Americans love a scary story, and there is plenty of tragedy in the history of some of its towns to promote spirits and phantoms. Where Goyo lives, in Marietta, Georgia, hundreds and hundreds of Union and Rebel bodies lay in the town square, waiting for funerals. Listen to one ghost story based in local folklore about a young married couple doomed to be separated by war.
Este episodio emplea mucho español a lo largo de la narración. Aprenderás conceptos en inglés de Halloween y también un poco de la historia de nuestra Guerra Civil (1861-1865).
Vocabulario de El Halloween en español
La cultura e historia de los Estados Unidos
Teach English through stories
[00:00:00] Welcome to the No Te Rindas Intermediate English Podcast, home of the Tenaz Intermediate English App, disponible en noterrindaspodcast.us. Este es un podcast para hispanohablantes que quieren mejorar su comprensión auditiva del inglés de los Estados Unidos. Somos dos hermanos americanos con raíces mexicanas. Soy Gabo o Gabe, aquí con mi hermano mayor Goyo o Greg.
[00:00:33] Americans love the spooky traditions of Halloween and the thought of a good susto or scare. Tonight we will tell you a little tale set in the 1860s, los mil ochocientos sesentas, during a violent era of U.S. history. I'm talking about our Guerra Civil or Civil War and the years 1861.
[00:01:04] 1865.
[00:01:07] 1861 hasta 1865.
[00:01:10] 1861 hasta 1865.
[00:01:10] Oh, I want to hear about this.
[00:01:13] Mm-hmm.
[00:01:14] So, oyentes, in the years before the war, the U.S. had three large regions, primarily. The North, the South, and the West. The North was economically industrial, the South agricultural, and the West relatively new to American eyes. Now, the powerful in the South were landowners of enormous farms called plantations.
[00:01:47] And they wanted to maintain slavery, as the enslaved planted and harvested their crops, prepared food, and helped tend to the children.
[00:02:06] 1861.
[00:02:07] 1861.
[00:02:08] 1861.
[00:02:09] 1861.
[00:02:18] 1861.
[00:02:20] 1961.
[00:02:21] 1991.
[00:02:21] 1861.
[00:02:22] Now, it's way more complicated than that, but that's enough.
[00:02:29] Now, Gabe and I live in the South.
[00:02:32] And the South believed in maintaining that slavery.
[00:02:36] Now, thankfully, the South lost the word and the country was reunited.
[00:02:39] But not before around 600,000 people died.
[00:02:46] 600,000 personas.
[00:02:48] Man!
[00:02:50] Yeah.
[00:02:51] So I, Goyo, live in the area of the south where the Union, or federal army, marched through in 1864, 1864, as it began to win the war.
[00:03:06] Therefore, there was a great deal of death and suffering in my area.
[00:03:11] And so there are many stories of ghosts and hauntings or fantasmas.
[00:03:25] If you wish to look up the history of my town, it's called Marietta, Georgia.
[00:03:32] It has a kind of Plaza Mayor called the Marietta Square, where many dead bodies from the south and the north were stored until their burials.
[00:03:47] Yeah, checkalo in Google and YouTube.
[00:03:52] Let's begin in 1858.
[00:04:02] At that time, a child named Mary Root met a young Judah Mosby at a Baptist church just west of Marietta.
[00:04:13] He was two years older than she.
[00:04:16] By the time he left for the war in 1862, they were engaged to be married, o comprometidos.
[00:04:28] So they wrote letters back and forth as he followed the war.
[00:04:34] Mary pressed dried flowers into her letters.
[00:04:39] And he drew small pictures at the bottom of his of the children that they wanted to have, along with their future names, Nathaniel, Seamus, and Abigail.
[00:04:53] So, Gabe, obviously they didn't have any children.
[00:04:56] But they wanted to name them Nathaniel, Seamus, and Abigail.
[00:05:01] Okay.
[00:05:03] In 1863, Judah's unit was close enough to Marietta that Judah came home for a few days on leave, o vacaciones, which we talked about in our episode last week.
[00:05:18] Judah and Mary went before a preacher, o pastor, and they were married.
[00:05:24] The preacher had performed a funeral in another town called Lost Mountain, Georgia, in the morning that day.
[00:05:31] And so he had to travel between Lost Mountain and Marietta and could not marry them until sundown, al atardecer, as rain began to fall.
[00:05:42] It didn't matter, though.
[00:05:51] Finally, they were going to be united in marriage.
[00:05:54] Judah could tolerate the thought of returning to war, knowing that she was his bride.
[00:06:04] So, oyentes, everything started well, with a brief ceremony at the Baptist church and his mother on behalf.
[00:06:16] Their misery began as they exited the church and crossed the street in downtown Marietta.
[00:06:23] There was little light that night, as the city did not light its lamps.
[00:06:30] Lamp oil was, you know, precious due to the war.
[00:06:34] And, of course, it was raining.
[00:06:38] Judah, focusing on keeping the rain off of his new wife,
[00:06:44] stepped heavily on the foot of the widow Agatha Davenport,
[00:06:52] the elderly aunt of the famous physician Dr. Carrie Cox.
[00:06:57] Now, though Carrie Cox is known today as the very first physician in Georgia,
[00:07:05] he practiced what we might call alternative medicine.
[00:07:11] Oh, his teas and his potions seemed more magic than medical to some.
[00:07:18] And many quietly suggested that he was no doctor,
[00:07:22] but instead a mystical wizard.
[00:07:26] Mago o echicero.
[00:07:29] Whoa!
[00:07:31] So Dr. Cox was not the only one in the family with these mysterious talents.
[00:07:37] Old Agatha Davenport apparently had the same healing abilities of her nephew, Carrie Cox.
[00:07:46] But there was one difference.
[00:07:48] She lacked his kind personality.
[00:07:52] She had suffered an accident on a horse in her twenties,
[00:07:58] and it left her walking with a limp,
[00:08:01] la dejó con una cojera,
[00:08:03] and unable to have children of her own.
[00:08:07] She became bitter, o amarga,
[00:08:10] and mean-spirited,
[00:08:13] as she watched her friends grow their own families.
[00:08:18] Furthermore,
[00:08:19] she had become even more cruel and impatient
[00:08:23] after her husband's recent death.
[00:08:27] So by 1863,
[00:08:29] the children of Marietta called her a mean old witch,
[00:08:33] una vieja bruja.
[00:08:35] Dang!
[00:08:36] That sounds scary.
[00:08:38] Uh-huh.
[00:08:42] Watch where you're going,
[00:08:44] you clumsy ox,
[00:08:46] she hissed.
[00:08:48] Judah apologized
[00:08:49] and began to explain.
[00:08:52] I beg your pardon, madam.
[00:08:54] I did not see you there.
[00:08:57] Yes, we were just married,
[00:09:00] and Judah returns to the war tomorrow,
[00:09:02] said his wife,
[00:09:04] defending him.
[00:09:06] We have so much on our minds.
[00:09:10] Silence!
[00:09:12] She shrieked.
[00:09:14] So happy are you,
[00:09:16] the young couple.
[00:09:18] I was once like you.
[00:09:20] So happy are you together.
[00:09:23] But unhappy shall you be.
[00:09:27] And apart!
[00:09:28] She muttered some words in another language
[00:09:36] and crossed the muddy street.
[00:09:39] I would have been out of there.
[00:09:42] Well,
[00:09:43] as they made their return
[00:09:45] on the road west,
[00:09:47] Mary,
[00:09:48] you know,
[00:09:49] who should have been
[00:09:49] full of joy,
[00:09:51] was instead
[00:09:52] full of fear
[00:09:53] and dread.
[00:09:55] We are cursed,
[00:09:57] she said.
[00:09:58] O nos ha hecho un embrujo.
[00:10:01] Sooner or later,
[00:10:03] that woman's spell
[00:10:05] will work its evil
[00:10:07] on us.
[00:10:09] There, there,
[00:10:11] Judah consoled.
[00:10:13] Tranquila,
[00:10:14] tranquila.
[00:10:15] We are married now,
[00:10:17] and the war will end soon.
[00:10:20] We shall be happy forever.
[00:10:22] And forget about that,
[00:10:24] old woman.
[00:10:30] By the next morning,
[00:10:32] Mary's fears were realized.
[00:10:34] As the sun rose
[00:10:37] al amonacer,
[00:10:39] so did her fever,
[00:10:41] su fiebre,
[00:10:43] and she could not
[00:10:44] get out of bed.
[00:10:46] Judah,
[00:10:47] for his part,
[00:10:48] was in agony
[00:10:50] with worry
[00:10:50] over his new bride.
[00:10:52] Yet he couldn't
[00:10:53] stay with her
[00:10:54] because his leave
[00:10:56] was over
[00:10:56] and he had to return
[00:10:58] to the Confederate army,
[00:10:59] or the southern army,
[00:11:02] north of there.
[00:11:04] At midday,
[00:11:06] in tears,
[00:11:07] they said goodbye.
[00:11:09] Judah going north
[00:11:10] by train
[00:11:11] to his army unit,
[00:11:15] and Mary heading east
[00:11:16] to a temporary hospital
[00:11:18] in the center
[00:11:19] of Marietta.
[00:11:25] Many wounded
[00:11:26] southern soldiers,
[00:11:28] also called rebels,
[00:11:30] occupied the eyes
[00:11:31] and the hands
[00:11:32] of the few doctors
[00:11:33] and nurses
[00:11:34] who were available.
[00:11:38] And Mary lay alone
[00:11:39] and neglected
[00:11:40] for many hours
[00:11:42] without being seen.
[00:11:45] To pass the time,
[00:11:46] she read and re-read
[00:11:49] a few of the letters
[00:11:50] that Judah,
[00:11:51] her now husband,
[00:11:52] had written to her,
[00:11:55] tracing her finger
[00:11:56] over the drawings
[00:11:57] of little boys
[00:11:58] and girls
[00:12:00] sketched in the margins
[00:12:01] and at the corners
[00:12:03] of the pages.
[00:12:04] Las esquinas
[00:12:05] de las páginas.
[00:12:11] Gabe,
[00:12:12] she did not live
[00:12:13] through the night.
[00:12:13] Oh,
[00:12:15] at dawn,
[00:12:16] her body was found
[00:12:17] in the corner
[00:12:17] of a dirty room,
[00:12:19] normally used
[00:12:20] for keeping wood dry
[00:12:22] for the fireplace.
[00:12:24] She was holding
[00:12:25] his letters
[00:12:26] against her chest.
[00:12:31] Now Judah,
[00:12:32] for his part,
[00:12:32] did arrive
[00:12:33] back to his unit
[00:12:34] near Chattanooga,
[00:12:35] Tennessee.
[00:12:37] Five days
[00:12:38] after his arrival,
[00:12:39] Union troops,
[00:12:40] also called
[00:12:41] Federal troops,
[00:12:42] attacked his company
[00:12:44] with rifle,
[00:12:45] cannon fire,
[00:12:47] and Judah,
[00:12:48] rowing a boat
[00:12:49] with five other soldiers,
[00:12:50] or remando un bote
[00:12:51] con cinco otros,
[00:12:53] died on the Tennessee River.
[00:12:57] May Root!
[00:12:58] May Root!
[00:13:00] Where are you?
[00:13:01] He was heard
[00:13:02] to call by the survivors,
[00:13:05] as May Root
[00:13:06] was his nickname,
[00:13:08] or apollo,
[00:13:08] for Mary Root,
[00:13:10] his love.
[00:13:14] This is not the end
[00:13:15] of the story,
[00:13:16] Gabo.
[00:13:16] Hmm.
[00:13:17] Hmm.
[00:13:18] The war ended,
[00:13:20] and businesses
[00:13:21] came and went
[00:13:21] through the region
[00:13:22] as history
[00:13:23] marched on in time.
[00:13:26] The temporary hospital,
[00:13:28] where Mary perished,
[00:13:30] it's now called
[00:13:31] the Marietta Museum of Art,
[00:13:34] and is said to be
[00:13:35] haunted,
[00:13:36] o embrujado.
[00:13:38] At night,
[00:13:40] the staff sometimes
[00:13:41] hear a woman's voice,
[00:13:42] and see a ghostly figure
[00:13:44] in the shadows of rooms,
[00:13:46] crying out,
[00:13:47] Nathaniel,
[00:13:48] Nathaniel,
[00:13:49] Seamus,
[00:13:49] and Abigail.
[00:13:51] Nathaniel,
[00:13:52] Seamus,
[00:13:53] and Abigail.
[00:13:54] The names of the children
[00:13:56] that she never had,
[00:13:59] and appropriately
[00:14:00] for an art museum,
[00:14:03] simple illustrations
[00:14:04] of three children
[00:14:05] are drawn
[00:14:06] in the fog of the glass
[00:14:07] on the windows,
[00:14:09] or left on pieces
[00:14:13] of paper,
[00:14:14] brown with age,
[00:14:16] found next to cups
[00:14:17] from Starbucks,
[00:14:18] or napkins
[00:14:19] for McDonald's
[00:14:20] from a rushed
[00:14:21] staff breakfast.
[00:14:24] Does a weeping ghost
[00:14:26] leave drawings for them
[00:14:28] as she cries
[00:14:29] for her children?
[00:14:35] Up north of Marietta,
[00:14:37] in Chattanooga,
[00:14:38] Tennessee,
[00:14:38] oyentes,
[00:14:40] Judah's presence
[00:14:41] makes its mark, too.
[00:14:43] On the southern bank
[00:14:44] of the Tennessee River,
[00:14:46] La Orilla,
[00:14:47] close to the
[00:14:48] Chattanooga Aquarium,
[00:14:50] visitors report
[00:14:51] seeing a large rowboat
[00:14:53] in the water
[00:14:54] on moonlit nights.
[00:14:57] From the boat,
[00:14:58] an apparition
[00:14:59] on a spectro
[00:15:00] with the form
[00:15:01] of a young man
[00:15:03] pulls the oars
[00:15:04] and cries out,
[00:15:06] Merut,
[00:15:07] Merut,
[00:15:08] where are you,
[00:15:09] my love?
[00:15:14] Thank you for listening
[00:15:15] to our story.
[00:15:16] Although based
[00:15:18] in local traditions
[00:15:19] and history
[00:15:19] that you can read about
[00:15:20] on the internet,
[00:15:21] this story is fiction.
[00:15:23] We hope that you feel
[00:15:25] more comfortable
[00:15:26] with words like
[00:15:26] haunting,
[00:15:27] witch,
[00:15:29] wizard,
[00:15:30] ghost,
[00:15:32] and apparition.
[00:15:34] Happy Halloween!