I am teaching "There will come soft rains" to my English students. The version I am using is from a collection of short stories called "Spectrum One". The story starts, "The house was a good house..." The date the house repeats is "April 29 1985". However, I have come across another version of the story on the internet. This version starts "In the living room the voice-clock sang..." The date the house repeats is "August 5 2026". Both stories feature the same plot but the details vary slightly. Can anyone tell me why are there two versions available? Is one more authentic than the other?

The version in "Spectrum One" must be pretty old.

I have the story in: (1) THE VINTAGE BRADBURY. c. 1965, (2) THE STORIES OF RAY BRADBURY. c. 1980, and (3) THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. c. 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1958. w/note that c. was renewed. Intro to this version is c. 1997. There is also a note that, "This edition of "The Martian Chronicles" has been updated and revised."

The first two versions of the story start with:

"In the living room the voice-clock sang . . ." and show a date of "August 4, 2026".

In the newer version of the story in the revised "The Martian Chronicles" the date is "August 4, 2057" and has the same beginning text.

I would imagine the date was updated in subsequent printings to keep the date further out in the future, so the story would have some sense of possibility.

I've read that Bradbury doesn't "canonize" his work, and feels free to revise for new publications if he wants changes in the story.

If by authoritative, you mean, which was the original version, the older one is probably the more authoritative; but if you mean the one that reflects Bradbury's most recent preference, you may want to go with the newer versions.

Now that is odd... All the versions I have on hand start with the words "In the living room..." and end with the date being either August 5 2026 or August 5 2057.

I'm guessing that your "Spectrum One" version is the original story as it was printed in Collier's magazine from 6 May 1950. Does anyone here have a copy of the magazine to check? I assume the story was revised after its first appearance in the magazine, and before it was printed in book form. Of course, "The Martian Chronicles" (in which the story appears) was also printed in 1950, I don't know the exact date, so the publication of the magazine and the book are pretty close together to allow much time for revising...

Anyone else know the answer to this?