Based on a true event, this Nathaniel Hawthorne story illustrates the power of nature and the futility of man in trying to best it. A young man stops at an inn high on a mountain pass and boasts to the family inside about his ambition to do something great to be remembered by. Above the inn are towering mountains from which rocks and boulders are frequently dislodged. The family have built a safe house nearby in the event of an avalanche, but when the ‘slide’ comes, nature wins. Other themes include hubris, ambition, contentment, connection, fate.
The irony of the tale is that the story of the family has been told far and wide, and will for ever be a legend of these mountains, while the ambitious stranger dies an unknown.
Original Text / PDF / Audio (3,250 words)