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