SOME YEARS AGO I came upon the historical story of the discovery of America by Leif Ericsson in A Read Online Free PDF

for farming.
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    The Ship
    ( They are sailing down the coast of Greenland, southwards, in fine weather. The barren nature of the coast should be shown, with the glaciers running down from the icecap. There is floating ice in the sea. )
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    The Classroom
    CALLENDER So they sailed on down the coast, hoping to find 38
    a warmer and a better country further to the south. And presently they came to the end of the land, Cape Farewell, here, and rounded it, and came to the south-west corner of Greenland—here.
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    The Next Room
    ( The Headmaster is looking exceedingly dissatisfied. )
    HEADMASTER All this is very interesting, but it's nothing to do with the History of the United States.
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    South-west Greenland
    ( The ship is sailing into a wide fiord; there are mountains in the far distance at the head of the fiord. The land on each side of the fiord is fairly flat moorland, bleak and desolate, and without trees. Callender's voice continues as a commentary. )
    CALLENDER It was possible farming country, this—not good, but as good as some that they had left in Iceland. It was possible for them to settle here and live; cattle could graze here in the summer, and they could raise crops. Eric settled here at a place that they called Brattahlid in Ericsfiord. They built stone houses in this place, roofing them over with driftwood; wood was very scarce, because there were no trees. Their houses are still there to-day, after nearly a thousand years.
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    LEIF I'll remember that, Father. I'm glad you're going to let me take old Tyrker.
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    The Ship
    ( This may be the same ship that Eric came to Greenland in. It is setting out from the fiord at Brattahlid, loaded with a few bales of fur and hides. There are about fifteen or twenty men on board. Leif is at the steering oar. Beside him is the small, ugly man Tyrker, now older than when we saw him before. The camera dwells on him. Callender's voice is heard in commentary. )
    CALLENDER This man Tyrker was a German, who had somehow wandered out to Greenland with the Vikings. He had been a slave but he was now a free man; the Norsemen usually made their slaves free in middle age, as a reward for good service. This Tyrker had stayed on with Eric as a paid servant; he was shrewd and experienced, and he had helped to bring up Leif. He was a trusted old family retainer, and as ugly as sin.
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    The Classroom
    CALLENDER (Callender is indicating on the map) So they sailed eastwards round Cape Farewell and then northwards up the coast of Greenland till they found the latitude of Iceland by the mark upon the thwart, and then along till they reached Iceland. They stopped there for stores and fresh water, and they got rather a chilly reception.
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    A Beach in Iceland
    ( The ship is beached upon the sand, and Leif and his party are talking to a group of hostile, elderly men. These are Thingmen. )
    A THINGMAN I know you. I remember you when you were a little boy, when your father was outlawed at the Thing.
    ANOTHER Is this the boy who spat?
    THINGMAN This is the one. You are an outlaw to this country still. You may buy food and take water for your ship, and then you'd better get away. We will suspend your outlawry for twenty-four hours while you do that. After that time, you must go. We don't want people like you or your father in this country.
    LEIF Twenty-four hours is plenty. Nobody in his senses would want to stay longer in a cold, desolate place like this, with cold, desolate people. I come from a far better land than this one. I wouldn't stay here if I was paid to.
    THINGMAN (Scornfully) A far better land! Gunnbiorn told us about it, years ago. He said it was all ice and rocks and glaciers.
    LEIF That's all you know. Gunnbiorn didn't go down to the south of it. Where we live, it's a fair, sunny, smiling land, with rich fields and warm winters. We hardly ever see snow there, and there is no ice in the sea.
    (