新概念英語第三冊（美音版）The silent village

[ti:未知] [ar:] [al:] [by:https://www.lrc.com.cn] [00:02.09]Lesson 48 [00:03.95]The silent villageWhy was the village silent? [00:07.33]In this much-travelled world, [00:08.68]there are still thousands of places which are inaccessible to tourists. [00:13.44]We always assume that villagers in remote places are friendly and hospitable. [00:18.66]But people who are cut off not only from foreign tourists, [00:22.22]but even from their own countrymen can be hostile to travellers. [00:27.10]Visits to really remote villages are seldom enjoyable-- [00:30.74]as my wife and I discovered during a tour through the Balkans. [00:34.66]We had spent several days in a small town [00:37.65]and visited a number of old churches in the vicinity. [00:41.13]These attracted many visitors for they were not only of great architectural interest [00:46.24]but contained a large number of beautifully preserved frescoes as well. [00:50.38]On the day before our departure,several bus loads of tourists descended on the town. [00:55.66]This was more than we could bear, [00:57.49]so we decided to spend our last day exploring the countryside. [01:01.65]Taking a path which led out of the town, [01:04.09]we crossed a few fields until we came to a dense wood. [01:07.94]We expected the path to end abruptly, [01:10.53]but we found that it traced its way through the trees. [01:13.46]We tramped through the wood for over two hours until we arrived at a deep stream. [01:18.48]We could see that the path continued on the other side, [01:21.57]but we had no idea how we could get across the stream. [01:25.32]Suddenly my wife spotted a boat moored to the bank. [01:29.33]In it there was a boatman fast asleep. [01:32.63]We gently woke him up and asked him to ferry us to the other side. [01:36.72]Though he was reluctant to do so at first, [01:39.22]we eventually persuaded him to take us. [01:42.30]The path led to a tiny village perched on the steep sides of a mountain. [01:46.93]The place consisted of a straggling unmade road [01:50.03]which was lined on either side by small houses. [01:53.77]Even under a clear blue sky,the village looked forbidding, [01:57.51]as all the houses were built of grey mud bricks. [02:00.96]The village seemed deserted, [02:02.63]the only sign of life being an ugly-looking black goat [02:06.20]on a short length of rope tied to a tree in a field nearby. [02:10.57]Sitting down on a dilapidated wooden fence near the field, [02:14.06]we opened a couple of tins of sardines and had a picnic lunch. [02:18.31]All at once,I noticed that my wife seemed to be filled with alarm. [02:22.22]Looking up I saw that we were surrounded by children in rags [02:26.24]who were looking at us silently as we ate. [02:28.72]We offered them food and spoke to them kindly,but they remained motionless. [02:34.11]I concluded that they were simply shy of strangers. [02:37.56]When we later walked down the main street of the village, [02:40.70]we were followed by a silent procession of children. [02:43.97]The village which had seemed deserted,immediately came to life. [02:47.87]Faces appeared at windows. [02:50.06]Men in shirt sleeves stood outside their houses and glared at us. [02:54.39]Old women in black shawls peered at us from doorways. [02:58.41]The most frightening thing of all was that not a sound could be heard. [03:03.07]There was no doubt that we were unwelcome visitors. [03:06.20]We needed no further warning. [03:08.20]Turning back down the main street, [03:10.37]we quickened our pace and made our way rapidly towards the stream [03:14.38]where we hoped the boatman was waiting.

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