| [00:01.080] |
--- lesson 48 The silent village |
| [00:05.320] |
--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below. |
| [00:10.800] |
--- Why was the village silent? |
| [00:15.840] |
In this much-travelled world, there are still thousands of places which are inaccessible to tourists. |
| [00:22.920] |
We always assume that villagers in remote places are friendly and hospitable. |
| [00:28.920] |
But people who are cut off not only from foreign tourists, but even from their own countrymen can be hostile to travellers. |
| [00:37.640] |
Visits to really remote villages are seldom enjoyable -- as my wife and I discovered during a tour through the Balkans. |
| [00:47.320] |
We had spent several days in a small town and visited a number of old churches in the vicinity. |
| [00:55.240] |
These attracted many visitors, for they were not only of great architectural interest, |
| [01:01.200] |
but contained a large number of beautifully preserved frescoes as well. |
| [01:06.600] |
On the day before our departure, several bus loads of tourists descended on the town. |
| [01:13.200] |
This was more than we could bear, so we decided to spend our last day exploring the countryside. |
| [01:21.320] |
Taking a path which led out of the town, we crossed a few fields until we came to a dense wood. |
| [01:29.240] |
We expected the path to end abruptly, but we found that it traced its way through the trees. |
| [01:35.760] |
We tramped through the wood for over two hours until we arrived at a deep stream. |
| [01:41.280] |
We could see that the path continued on the other side, but we had no idea how we could get across the stream. |
| [01:49.120] |
Suddenly my wife spotted a boat moored to the bank. |
| [01:53.320] |
In it there was a boatman fast asleep. |
| [01:56.600] |
We gently woke him up and asked him to ferry us to the other side. |
| [02:01.680] |
Though he was reluctant to do so at first, we eventually persuaded him to take us. |
| [02:07.680] |
The path led to a tiny village perched on the steep sides of a mountain. |
| [02:13.240] |
The place consisted of a straggling unmade road which was lined on either side by small houses. |
| [02:20.400] |
Even under a clear blue sky, the village looked forbidding, as all the houses were built of grey mud bricks. |
| [02:29.840] |
The village seemed deserted, the only sign of life being an ugly-looking black goat on a short length of rope tied to a tree in a field nearby. |
| [02:40.360] |
Sitting down on a dilapidated wooden fence near the field, we opened a couple of tins of sardines and had a picnic lunch. |
| [02:49.720] |
All at once, I noticed that my wife seemed to be filled with alarm. |
| [02:55.200] |
Looking up I saw that we were surrounded by children in rags who were looking at us silently as we ate. |
| [03:03.240] |
We offered them food and spoke to them kindly, but they remained motionless. |
| [03:09.720] |
I concluded that they were simply shy of strangers. |
| [03:14.040] |
When we later walked down the main street of the village, we were followed by a silent procession of children. |
| [03:20.600] |
The village which had seemed deserted, immediately came to life. |
| [03:25.680] |
Faces appeared at windows. |
| [03:28.040] |
Men in shirt sleeves stood outside their houses and glared at us. |
| [03:33.280] |
Old women in black shawls peered at us from doorways. |
| [03:37.800] |
The most frightening thing of all was that not a sound could be heard. |
| [03:42.840] |
There was no doubt that we were unwelcome visitors. |
| [03:46.720] |
We needed no further warning. |
| [03:49.120] |
Turning back down the main street, we quickened our pace and made our way rapidly towards the stream where we hoped the boatman was waiting. |
