"The Aqueduct (A Martian Chronicle)" is a
short story by American writer
Ray Bradbury. Originally released as a limited edition
chapbook
A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch.
In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...
, the story was subsequently collected in ''
The Stories of Ray Bradbury
''The Stories of Ray Bradbury'' is an anthology containing 100 short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published by Knopf in 1980. The hundred stories, written from 1943 to 1980, were selected by the author himself. Bradbury's work ...
'' in 1980.
Since its release the short story has been used in educational institutions.
Summary
The story focuses on two lands, one in the North and one in the South. As the Southern lands lack ways to gain water, an aqueduct is built to ferry water from the North. When the construct is finally finished 1,000 years later, the Southerners are horrified when the promised water does not immediately arrive. They also learn that a war has broken out in the North that has resulted in a horrific slaughter, however the Southerners soon receive a message that the water was finally coming.
When the "water" arrives it is thick and red, however the Southerners rejoice and use it to bathe, irrigate their fields, and consume. A child points out the liquid was not water, however their mother urges the child not to ask questions. Rather than acknowledge that the water is actually blood, the Southerners instead request that their government exacerbate the war.
Release
"The Aqueduct" was initially published in 1979 by Roy A. Squires in a limited edition
chapbook
A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch.
In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...
that was limited to 230 numbered, signed copies. The following year the story was published in ''
The Stories of Ray Bradbury
''The Stories of Ray Bradbury'' is an anthology containing 100 short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published by Knopf in 1980. The hundred stories, written from 1943 to 1980, were selected by the author himself. Bradbury's work ...
'' and its subsequent editions.
"The Aqueduct" was translated into Romanian and published in the magazine ''Antarg SF'' in 1994.
[Bradbury, Ray. (1994) "Apeductul", ''Antarg SF'', Issue 1.]
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aqueduct, The
1979 short stories
Science fiction short stories
Short stories by Ray Bradbury
Chapbooks