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Author
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Comment
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aka Greensleeves
Registered User
(3/28/06 3:18 pm)
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ISO short story about army ants
I know this isn't folklore, but I figure we've got the best mix of possible people who can help me with this one.
I'm looking for the correct spelling of the title, and the author of a short story that my 8th grade English teacher read to our class. The story is called "Linegan Versus the Ants," (or Luynegan? Leinagen? She pronounced it "line again."), and it's about a European plantation owner in the tropics, trying to protect his property against an invasion of army ants. I had the sense that it was rather a classic.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Thanks!
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(3/28/06 3:39 pm)
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ants
Oh, jeez, yes, I'd forgotten all about that story! It's creepy, and showed up time and time again in short-story collections called "Alfred Hitchcock Presents Spint-Tingling Tales of Terror" (that's not a real one, but that's the kind of book I read it in). I think, though I wouldn't swear, that his name was...Lenehan? Lennehan? Oh, it was good. If you find it, tell me where it is!
Hah! Found it! Here
it is! I remember that last line, too. Wow.
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gails
Unregistered User
(3/29/06 8:17 pm)
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The Naked Jungle
This was made into a movie, with Charlton Heston as the lead.
From www.imdb.com/title/tt0047264/plotsummary
Plot Summary for
The Naked Jungle (1954)
It's 1901. At 19, tough, stubborn Christopher Leiningen came to South America and built levees to claim thousands of acres of Rio Negro river land for a chocolate plantation. Now 34, with no knowledge of women, he recruits a mail-order bride in New Orleans. She's beautiful, independent, and arrives ready to be his stalwart helpmate; however, no one has told him she's a widow. He rejects her. During the next week, as she awaits the boat to take her back to the US, they learn that legions of army ants will strike in a few days' time. She joins the fight to save the plantation; their courage and his probable loss of all he's worked for may crack his resolve to send her away.
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gails
Unregistered User
(3/29/06 8:24 pm)
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More
In addition, www.imdb.com/title/tt0047264/trivia
says there was a radio play.
Trivia for The Naked Jungle (1954)
William Conrad, who plays the commissioner in this movie, played the lead role of Leiningen in the 1948 radio play, "Leiningen vs. the Ants", the original story upon which this movie was based.
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(3/29/06 8:26 pm)
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ants
Heh. 34, and no knowledge of women? I don't buy it at all.
You just know some Hollywood exec said "Great story! Great! But...there's no sex! We can't do a movie just about a man trying to stave off carnivorous army ants! Where's the tension there? We need a mail-order bride!"
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GailS
Unregistered User
(3/30/06 10:48 am)
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Brides
An attractive, sophisticated mail-order bride.
No mention of what she got out of the deal.
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(3/30/06 11:51 am)
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the bride
Well, the honor of risking her life to defend the plantation of a man who wanted her only when he thought she was a virgin (which is what I assume the "widow" kerfuffle is about), obviously, and then, no doubt, the reward of being bound to him till death do them part at the end.
What more could a girl want? Hmm. Maybe he should look into how she ended up a widow the first time...
I would have so left him to the ants.
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AliceCEB
Registered User
(3/30/06 12:31 pm)
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Re: the bride
But Charlton Heston was a hunk.
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(3/30/06 10:25 pm)
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charlton heston
Well, each to her own, my dear, each to her own!
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aka Greensleeves
Registered User
(3/31/06 3:40 pm)
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Re: charlton heston
Good heavens, I leave this post for two days, and see what happens!
Thanks, Veronica, for tracking that down.
The rest of you... I'm worried. Deeply worried.
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