Liam O'Flaherty's story of two soldiers on two roofs — and the terrible surprise at the end.
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Ten words open the story. Do the four short activities. Say your answer out loud before you reveal it.
Three words: wound · trick · cap. Say the right word for each meaning, then reveal.
Read each part. Then answer the quick questions from memory, and talk about the discussion question.
It was a June night in Dublin, Ireland, about a hundred years ago. There was a civil war in the country: Irish people were fighting Irish people. In the dark city, you could hear big guns and, sometimes, single shots.
A young soldier — a sniper — lay on a roof near a bridge. A sniper is a soldier who shoots from a hidden place, and he was a very good one. He had a rifle, a small gun (a revolver), and a pair of field glasses to see far away. His face was young, like a student's face. But his eyes were cold. He was hungry, and very tired.
He wanted a cigarette. It was dangerous — but he took the risk. He lit a match. A second later, a bullet hit the wall next to his head! On a roof across the street, there was an enemy sniper. Now each man knew where the other was. Then a big army car came up the street, and an old woman spoke to the soldier in the car. She pointed up at the sniper's roof. She was telling the enemy where he was.
1. Where is the sniper, and what kind of war is happening?
2. Why was the cigarette a big mistake?
1. He is on a roof in Dublin. It is a civil war — Irish people are fighting Irish people.
2. The light of the match showed the enemy where he was. A bullet nearly hit him.
The soldier in the army car looked out. The sniper fired, and the soldier fell. The old woman ran, but she also fell. Then — a shot from the other roof! The sniper felt a terrible pain. A bullet had hit his right arm. He could not lift his rifle any more. He was in great danger: when morning came, the enemy would see him easily.
But the sniper had an idea — a trick. He put his cap on top of his rifle and lifted the cap slowly above the wall. The enemy saw it and shot a hole right through it. Then the sniper let the cap fall into the street, dropped his hand over the edge of the roof, and let the rifle fall too. After that, he lay very still.
The enemy believed the trick. He thought: "I have killed him." He stood up on his roof — now everyone could see him against the evening sky. The sniper took his small revolver in his left hand. He aimed very carefully… and fired. The enemy fell from the roof, down and down, into the street. He did not move again.
1. What did the sniper do with his cap and his rifle? Why?
2. Why did the enemy stand up?
1. He put the cap on the rifle so the enemy would shoot at it. Then he let the cap and the rifle fall, and lay still — so it looked like he was dead.
2. He believed the trick. He thought the fight was over and he was safe — so he stood up, and the sniper could see him and shoot.
The fight was over — but the sniper did not feel happy. He started to shake. He looked at the dead man lying in the street and felt terrible. He hated the war. He hated himself. He hated everything.
Then he felt something strange: he wanted to know who the enemy was. The man was a very good shot. Maybe the sniper knew him — from before the war, when they were all in the same army. He decided to look, even though the street was dangerous. He ran across the road while a machine gun fired at him. He was lucky — he reached the body safely.
Then the sniper turned the body over — and looked into his brother's face.
1. How did the sniper feel after the fight?
2. Why did he cross the dangerous street?
1. He felt terrible. He shook, and he hated the war and himself.
2. He was curious — he wanted to see who the enemy was. It was his own brother.
We tell stories in the past simple. Many of the most important verbs are irregular — they do not take -ed. This story is full of them.
Write the past simple of the verb in brackets.
1. The sniper (hear) a shot in the dark.
2. A bullet hit his arm, and he (feel) a terrible pain.
3. The enemy (fall) from the roof into the street.
1. heard 2. felt 3. fell
Careful: feel → felt, but fall → fell. Don't mix them up!
Write the past simple of the verb in brackets.
1. He (put) his cap on top of the rifle.
2. The enemy (see) the cap and (shoot) a hole through it.
3. He (think): "I have killed him."
1. put (put never changes!) 2. saw · shot 3. thought
Write the past simple of each verb in brackets. Then read the paragraph aloud.
The sniper (take) his revolver in his left hand. After the fight, he (know) he had to see the dead man's face. He (run) across the street. He turned the body over and (see) his brother's face.
took · knew · ran · saw
Keep these verbs ready — you'll need all of them to tell the story in the Speak tab.
Liam O'Flaherty was an Irish writer and a soldier. He wrote this story in 1923, during the real Irish Civil War. The story is only three pages long, but people still read it all over the world, one hundred years later.
This is the heart of the lesson — do all of it out loud. Use the timer, and fill the time with detail.
Tell the story of The Sniper in your own words: the soldier on the roof → the cigarette and the enemy → the wound → the trick with the cap → the shot → the brother.
Use at least five past simple verbs from today (saw, heard, felt, shot, fell, took, put, ran) and at least four key words (roof, enemy, bullet, wound, trick, cap, dangerous).
The sniper won the fight, but lost his brother. Talk about these questions: Was he a hero, a victim, or both? How do you think his life continued after that night?
The sniper crossed a dangerous street because he had to know who the enemy was. Tell a story — real or invented — about curiosity.
Need an idea? Choose one: