[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.