The Red Badge of Courage

By Stephen Crane

Ultra-Condensed by Samuel Stoddard (More here.)

---

The Young Soldier

I want to be a hero, but I'm scared.

(He gets hit in the head.)

Now I am marked a hero, but I don't deserve it.

(He becomes a hero.)

Now I have truly earned my "red badge of courage."

THE END

---

Crane's sequel to the Red Badge of Courage, entitled "The Veteran," is here.