In his new book about life as a member of the royal family, Prince Harry of Great Britain says he was once knocked down in a fight with his brother, Prince William. Harry’s book, Spare came out this week in Spain. It is supposed to be put on sale in other countries on January 10. The prince is the youngest son of Britain’s King Charles III and Princess Diana. His older brother, William, is next in line to become King after their father. The name of the book comes from Harry’s position in the royal family. He is the spare, or extra, son. FILE - Britain's Prince Harry, Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Charles, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, King Constantine of Greece, Lady Susan Hussey, Princess Alexandra, Natalia Grosvenor, the Duchess of Westminster, and Lord Romsey pose for an official portrait in the white drawing room at Windsor Castle, Britain, March 9, 1997, after Prince William's confirmation at St Georges Chapel. (Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)[FILE - Britain's Prince Harry, Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Charles, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II, King Constantine of Greece, Lady Susan Hussey, Princess Alexandra, Natalia Grosvenor, the Duchess of Westminster, and Lord Romsey pose for an official portrait in the white drawing room at Windsor Castle, Britain, March 9, 1997, after Prince William's confirmation at St Georges Chapel. (Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)] The 38-year-old Harry made news in 2020 when he and his wife, Meghan Markle, decided to leave the royal family and move to California. The book tells of a 2019 argument between the brothers that became a physical fight at Harry’s home in London. Harry wrote that William called Meghan difficult, rude and abrasive. In the argument, Harry wrote, William grabbed him by the shirt, broke his jewelry and knocked him down. He had “scrapes and bruises” after falling into the food bowl of the dog and breaking it. Harry said William told Harry to fight back, but he would not. William later apologized, Harry wrote. FILE - Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend an official welcome ceremony in Albert Park on October 23, 2018 in Suva, Fiji. (Vantage News/IPx)[FILE - Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend an official welcome ceremony in Albert Park on October 23, 2018 in Suva, Fiji. (Vantage News/IPx)] Spokespeople for King Charles and Prince William did not comment about the story. William and Harry were once considered good friends, especially after the death of their mother in a car crash in Paris in 1997. The brothers have not been as close in recent years. Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties in 2022. At the time, they said the royal family did not support them after their 2018 marriage. In an interview with American television presenter Oprah Winfrey and during a recent six-part documentary on Netflix, Harry said his family gave reporters negative stories about Meghan. The negative stories and lack of support, he said, were a way to protect William. Ahead of the book’s wide release, Harry gave interviews to broadcasters ITV of Britain and CBS News of the United States. They are scheduled to come out next week. In a short video released by ITV, Harry said: “I don't know how staying silent is ever going to make things better.” Charles became king in September 2022 after his mother, Queen Elizabeth, died. However, the ceremony for his ascension to the throne will be in May. The event is called a coronation. FILE - King Charles III places the Queen's Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on the coffin at the Committal Service for Queen Elizabeth II, held at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, Sept. 19, 2022. (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP)[FILE - King Charles III places the Queen's Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on the coffin at the Committal Service for Queen Elizabeth II, held at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, Sept. 19, 2022. (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP)] Harry has not yet said if he will be there. When asked by ITV, he said: “I don’t know.” Harry also told ITV that he feels “betrayed” by his family for making him and Meghan “villains.” Harry is fifth in line to lead the royal family, behind his brother and William’s three children. People who follow the family say Harry has often seemed unable to find his place. He spent 10 years in the British Army before taking on royal duties in 2005. I’m Caty Weaver. Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reports by Reuters and the Associated Press. _____________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story knock down –v. (phrasal) to cause someone or something to fall to the ground rude –adj. showing an inability to treat others normally or in a civilized way abrasive –adj. unpleasant, intentionally causing problems grab –v. to seize scrape –n. a surface injury caused by rubbing bruise –n. an injury from force that discolors the skin and causes pain royal –adj. related to a king or queen interview –n. a formal discussion in which one person aims to get information from another person documentary –n. a film showing real events negative –adj. bad schedule –v. to plan for something silent –adj. not speaking, making on sound ascension to the throne –phrase to become king or queen betray –v. to feel hurt because of what one sees as a lack of support villain –n. a person who does bad things https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/prince-harry-s-new-book-details-fight-with-brother-william/6905985.html

We continue the story of “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane. As we told you last week, the story is based on true events. In eighteen ninety-six, Crane was traveling to Cuba as a news reporter. On his way there, his ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean. Crane climbed into the last remaining lifeboat. Three men got into the boat with him. They were the ship’s captain, the cook and a sailor named Billie. For three days, the men steered the small boat through high waves along the coast of Florida. At last, they saw land. Here is Shep O’Neal with the final part of the story. A long stretch of coast lay before the eyes of the men. Slowly, the land rose up out of the mountainous sea. The men could see a small house against the sky. To the south, they could see a lighthouse. Tide, wind and waves were pushing the lifeboat northward. The men thought someone on land would have seen the boat by now. “Well,” said the captain, “I suppose we’ll have to attempt to reach the shore ourselves. If we stay out here too long, none of us will have the strength left to swim after the boat sinks.” So Billie the sailor turned the boat straight for the shore. “If we don’t all get ashore,” said the captain, “I suppose you fellows know where to send news of my death?” The men then exchanged some information. There was a great deal of anger in them. They thought: “If I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I permitted to come this far and think about sand and trees?” The waves grew stronger. They seemed always just about to break and roll over the little boat. The coast was still far away. The sailor said: “Boys, the boat won’t live three minutes more, and we’re too far out to swim. Shall I take her to sea again, captain?” “Yes! Go ahead!” said the captain. The sailor turned the boat and took her safely out to sea again. “It’s funny those life-saving people haven’t seen us,” one of the men said. Woodcuts by Robert Quackenbush[Woodcuts by Robert Quackenbush] “Maybe they think we’re out here for sport! Maybe they think we’re fishing. Maybe they think we’re fools.” Once more, the sailor rowed the boat and then the reporter rowed. Suddenly, they saw a man walking along the shore. The man stopped walking. He moved his hand in the air to wave at them. He saw them! Now he was running to the house. The captain tied a cloth to a stick and waved it. Now there was another man on the shore. The two men waved their hands in the air, as if they were saying hello to the men in the boat. Woodcut by Robert Quackenbush[Woodcut by Robert Quackenbush] Now, what was that moving on the shore? It was a bus – a hotel bus. A man stood on the steps of the bus and waved his coat over his head. The men in the boat wondered what he wanted to say. Was he attempting to tell them something? Should they wait for help? Should they go north? Should they go south? The men waited and waited but nothing happened. The sun began to go down. It got dark and cold. They could no longer see anyone on the beach. The sailor rowed, and then the reporter rowed, and then the sailor rowed again. They rowed and rowed through the long night. The land had disappeared but they could hear the low sound of the waves hitting the shore. This was surely a quiet night. The cook finally spoke: “Billie, what kind of pie do you like best?” “Pie,” said the sailor and the reporter angrily. “Don’t talk about those things!” “Well,” said the cook, “I was just thinking about ham sandwiches, and …” A night on the sea in an open boat is a long night. The sailor continued to row until his head fell forward and sleep overpowered him. Then he asked the reporter to row for a while. They exchanged places so the sailor could sleep in the bottom of the boat with the cook and the captain. The reporter thought that he was the one man afloat on all the oceans in the world. The wind had a sad voice as it came over the waves. Woodcut by Robert Quackenbush[Woodcut by Robert Quackenbush] Suddenly, there was a long, loud swishing sound behind the boat and a shining trail of silvery blue. It might have been made by a huge knife. Then there was another swish and another long flash of bluish light, this time alongside the boat. The reporter saw a huge fin speed like a shadow through the water, leaving a long glowing trail. The thing kept swimming near the boat. He noted its speed and power. The reporter wished the men would wake up. He did not want to be alone with the shark. The reporter thought as he rowed. He was angry that they had come so close to land and yet might still die at sea. Then he remembered a poem that he had learned as a child. It was a poem about a soldier of the French Foreign Legion. The soldier lay dying in Algiers. Just before he died, he cried out: “I shall never see my own, my native land.” And now, many years after he had learned this poem, the reporter for the first time understood the sadness of the dying soldier.

Our story today is called “The Open Boat.” It was written by Stephen Crane and is based on what really happened to him in eighteen ninety-s Crane was traveling from the United States to Cuba as a newspaper reporter. One night, his ship hit a sandbar. It sank in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida. Most of the people on board got into lifeboats. Crane was among the last to leave. There were three others with him: the ship’s captain, the cook, and a sailor. Woodcut by Robert Quackenbush[Woodcut by Robert Quackenbush] These four men climbed into the only remaining lifeboat. The boat was so small that no one believed it could stay afloat for very long. None of the four men thought he would ever reach the shore. But the men fought the seas bravely, with all their strength. Would they finally reach land? Here is Shep O’Neal with the first part of the story. The small lifeboat bounced from wave to wave in the rough seas of the Atlantic. The four men in the boat could not see the sky. The waves rose too high. The waves with their white tops pushed at the open boat with angry violence. Every man thought each wave would be his last. Surely, the boat would sink and he would drown. The men thought that most adults would need a bathtub larger than the boat they were sailing. The waves were huge, and each created a problem in guiding the direction of the boat. For two days, since the ship sank, the four men had been struggling to reach land. But there was no land to be seen. All the men saw were violent waves which rose and came fiercely down on them. The men sat in the boat, wondering if there was any hope for them. The ship’s cook sat in the bottom of the boat. He kept looking at the fifteen centimeters which separated him from the ocean. The boat had only two wooden oars. They were so thin – it seemed as if they would break against the waves. The sailor, named Billie, directed the boat’s movement with one of the oars. The newspaper reporter pulled the second oar. He wondered why he was there in the boat. Woodcut by Robert Quackenbush[Woodcut by Robert Quackenbush] The fourth man was the captain of the ship that had sunk. He lay in the front of the small boat. His arm and leg were hurt when the ship sank. The captain’s face was sad. He had lost his ship and many of his sailors. But he looked carefully ahead, and he told Billie when to turn the boat. “Keep her a little more south, Billie,” he said. “A little more south, sir,” the sailor repeated. Sitting in the boat was like sitting on a wild horse. As each wave came, the boat rose and fell, like a horse starting toward a fence too high to jump. The problem was that after successfully floating over one wave you find that there is another one behind it just as strong and ready to flood your boat. As each wall of water came in, it hid everything else that the men could see. The waves came in silence; only their white tops made threatening noises. In the weak light, the faces of the men must have looked gray. Their eyes must have shone in strange ways as they looked out at the sea. The sun rose slowly into the sky. The men knew it was the middle of the day because the color of the sea changed from slate gray to emerald green, with gold lights. And the white foam on the waves looked like falling snow. As the lifeboat bounced from the top of each wave, the wind tore through the hair of the men. As the boat dropped down again the water fell just past them. The top of each wave was a hill, from which the men could see, for a brief period, a wide area of shining sea. The cook said the men were lucky because the wind was blowing toward the shore. If it started blowing the other way, they would never reach land. The reporter and the sailor agreed. But the captain laughed in a way that expressed humor and tragedy all in one. He asked: “Do you think we’ve got much of a chance now, boys?” This made the others stop talking. To express any hope at this time they felt to be childish and stupid. But they also did not want to suggest there was no hope. So they were silent. “Oh, well,” said the captain, “We’ll get ashore all right.” https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/open-boat-american-stories-part-one/2572601.html

Today, we begin a series from a book by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. The book is called “A Princess of Mars.” It is the first book in a series that Burroughs wrote about a man who travels to Mars during the last years of the 1800s. There, the man meets strange beings and sees strange sights. At first he is a captive, then a warrior, and after many battles, a prince of a royal family. The voice of John Carter was Shep O’Neal. Paul Thompson produced the program. Adam Brock and Dr. Jill Robbins developed the video and supplemental materials. JOHN CARTER: I am a very old man. How old I do not know. It is possible I am a hundred, maybe more. I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men do. So far as I can remember, I have always been a man of about 30. I appear today as I did 40 years ago. Yet, I feel that I cannot go on living forever. Someday I will die the real death from which there is no escape. I do not know why I should fear death. I who have died two times and am still alive. I have never told this story. I know the human mind will not believe what it cannot understand. I cannot explain what happened to me. I can only tell of the ten years my dead body lay undiscovered in an Arizona cave. My name is John Carter. I am from the state of Virginia. At the close of the Civil War I found myself without a home, without money and without work. I decided the best plan was to search for gold in the great deserts of the American Southwest. I spent almost a year searching for gold with another former soldier, Captain James Powell, also of Virginia. We were extremely lucky. In the winter of eighteen sixty-five we found rocks that held gold. Grand Canyon, Arizona[Grand Canyon, Arizona] Powell was trained as a mining engineer. He said we had uncovered over $1 million dollars worth of gold in only three months. But the work was slow with only two men and not much equipment. So we decided Powell should go to the nearest settlement to seek equipment and men to help us with the work. On March 3, 1866, Powell said good-bye. He rode his horse down the mountain toward the valley. I followed his progress for several hours. The morning Powell left was like all mornings in the deserts of the great Southwest -- clear and beautiful. Not much later I looked across the valley. I was surprised to see three riders in the same place where I had last seen my friend. After watching for some time, I decided the three riders must be hostile Indians. Powell, I knew, was well armed and an experienced soldier. But I knew he would need my aid. I found my weapons, placed a saddle on my horse and started as fast as possible down the trail taken by Powell. I followed as quickly as I could until dark. About 9 o’clock the moon became very bright. I had no difficulty following Powell’s trail. I soon found the trail left by the three riders following Powell. I knew they were Indians. I was sure they wanted to capture Powell. Suddenly I heard shots far ahead of me. I hurried ahead as fast as I could. Soon I came to a small camp. Several hundred Apache Indians were in the center of the camp. I could see Powell on the ground. I did not even think about what to do, I just acted. I pulled out my guns and began shooting. The Apaches were surprised and fled. I forced my horse into the camp and toward Powell. I reached down and pulled him up on the horse by his belt. I urged the horse to greater speed. The Apaches by now realized that I was alone and quickly began to follow. We were soon in very rough country. The trail I chose began to rise sharply. It went up and up. I followed the trail for several hundred meters more until I came to the mouth of a large cave. Cave formations near Carlsbad, New Mexico[Cave formations near Carlsbad, New Mexico] It was almost morning now. I got off my horse and laid Powell on the ground. I tried to give him water. But it was no use. Powell was dead. I laid his body down and continued to the cave. I began to explore the cave. I was looking for a safe place to defend myself, or perhaps for a way out. But I became very sleepy. It was a pleasant feeling. My body became extremely heavy. I had trouble moving. Soon I had to lay down against the side of the cave. For some reason I could not move my arms or legs. I lay facing the opening of the cave. I could see part of the trail that had led me here. And now I could see the Apaches. They had found me. But I could do nothing. Within a minute one of them came into the cave. He looked at me, but he came no closer. His eyes grew wide. His mouth opened. He had a look of terror on his face. He looked behind me for moment and then fled. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/a-princess-of-mars-by-edgar-rice-burroughs-part-one/4773681.html