那是在1869年的11月19日，德国南部的人们将永远记得，一场倾盆大雨持续了20个小时，河水泛滥，周围都是小溪。大雨倾盆而下，这是前所未见的，似乎是第二次洪水，这是巨大的激流的咆哮，晚上九点钟，暴风雨咆哮着，卡尔·斯普林格尔独自拄着拐杖，从他住的漂亮的小茅屋出发，给他的父亲带了些食物，他非常关心他的父亲，他正在看着铁路桥，那是建在垂直的岩石山脊上的。这座桥是由铁和木块组成的，横跨魔鬼峡谷，那是一个巨大的岩石裂缝，两百英尺宽，一百五十英尺深，足以让人毛骨悚然。桥下远处的山溪沸腾隆隆，在那一夜疯狂地翻滚;哦!看到大瀑布从这么高的地方落下，一定很可怕。卡尔的父亲有责任在暴风雨的夜晚守着桥，用红灯警告驶来的火车有危险;因此，在这个暴风雨的夜晚，男孩卡尔拄着拐杖蹒跚而行，因为他不够强壮。他勇敢地奋力前行，穿过可怕的黑夜，被大雨淋得半瞎，但仍决心要爬上桥。但在离桥不到一百码的地方，桥轰隆一声倒塌了，落入下面咆哮的洪水中，发出可怕的水花，水花溅起，远远超过了暴风雨的喧嚣，这种勇敢的声音卡尔自出生以来从未听到过。 Then; 'Father! father!' cried Carl in his loudest tone, 'Father! father!' he shouted again in very pitiful moans; But no answering voice did reply, Which caused him to heave a deep-fetched sigh. And now to brave Carl the truth was clear That he had lost his father dear, And he cried, 'My poor father's lost, and cannot be found, He's gone down with the bridge, and has been drowned.' But he resolves to save the on-coming train, So every nerve and muscle he does strain, And he trudges along dauntlessly on his crutches, And tenaciously to them he clutches. And just in time he reaches his father's car To save the on-coming train from afar, So he seizes the red light, and swings it round, And cried with all his might, 'The bridge is down! The bridge is down!' So forward his father's car he drives, Determined to save the passengers' lives, Struggling hard with might and main, Hoping his struggle won't prove in vain. So on comes the iron-horse snorting and rumbling, And the mountain-torrent at the bridge kept roaring and tumbling; While brave Carl keeps shouting, 'The bridge is down! The bridge is down!' He cried with a pitiful wail and sound. But, thank heaven, the engine-driver sees the red light That Carl keeps swinging round his head with all his might; But bang! bang! goes the engine with a terrible crash, And the car is dashed all to smash. But the breaking of the car stops the train, And poor Carl's struggle is not in vain; But, poor soul, he was found stark dead, Crushed and mangled from foot to head! And the passengers were all loud in Carl's praise, And from the cold wet ground they did him raise, And tears for brave Carl fell silently around, Because he had saved two hundred passengers from being drowned. In a quiet village cemetery he now sleeps among the silent dead, In the south of Germany, with a tombstone at his head, Erected by the passengers he saved in the train, And which to his memory will long remain.