The silent village
原文
Lesson 48
The silent village
Why was the village silent?
In this much-travelled world, there are still thousands of places which are inaccessible to tourists.
We always assume that villagers in remote places are friendly and hospitable.
But people who are cut off not only from foreign tourists, but even from their own countrymen can be hostile to travellers.
Visits to really remote villages are seldom enjoyable--as my wife and I discovered during a tour through the Balkans.
We had spent several days in a small town and visited a number of old churches in the vicinity.
These attracted many visitors, for they were not only of great architectural interest, but contained a large number of beautifully preserved frescoes as well.
On the day before our departure, several bus loads of tourists descended on the town.
This was more than we could bear, so we decided to spend our last day exploring the countryside.
Taking a path which led out of the town, we crossed a few fields until we came to a dense wood.
We expected the path to end abruptly, but we found that it traced its way through the trees.
We tramped through the wood for over two hours until we arrived at a deep stream.
We could see that the path continued on the other side, but we had no idea how we could get across the stream.
Suddenly my wife spotted a boat moored to the bank.
In it there was a boatman fast asleep.
We gently woke him up and asked him to ferry us to the other side.
Though he was reluctant to do so at first, we eventually persuaded him to take us.
The path led to a tiny village perched on the steep sides of a mountain.
The place consisted of a straggling unmade road which was lined on either side by small houses.
Even under a clear blue sky, the village looked forbidding, as all the houses were built of grey mud bricks.
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.
Sitting down on a dilapidated wooden fence near the field, we opened a couple of tins of sardines and had a picnic lunch.
All at once, I noticed that my wife seemed to be filled with alarm.
Looking up I saw that we were surrounded by children in rags who were looking at us silently as we ate.
We offered them food and spoke to them kindly, but they remained motionless.
I concluded that they were simply shy of strangers.
When we later walked down the main street of the village, we were followed by a silent procession of children.
The village which had seemed deserted, immediately came to life.
Faces appeared at windows.
Men in shirt sleeves stood outside their houses and glared at us.
Old women in black shawls peered at us from doorways.
The most frightening thing of all was that not a sound could be heard.
There was no doubt that we were unwelcome visitors.
We needed no further warning.
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.
译文
第48课
寂静的村庄
为什么这个村庄如此寂静？
在这个充满旅行的世界里，仍然有成千上万的地方对游客来说是无法到达的。
我们总是认为偏远地区的村民友好且好客。
然而，那些不仅与外国游客隔绝、甚至与本国人隔绝的人，可能会对旅行者怀有敌意。
真正偏远村庄的游览往往并不愉快——我和妻子在巴尔干半岛旅行时就深有体会。
我们在一个小镇上待了几天，还参观了附近的几座古老教堂。
这些教堂吸引了许多游客，因为它们不仅在建筑上很有价值，而且还保存着大量精美的壁画。
出发前一天，一大批游客乘巴士来到了这个小镇。
这让我们难以忍受，于是我们决定在最后一天去乡村探索一番。
我们沿着一条小路离开小镇，穿过几片田野，最终来到了一片茂密的森林。
我们原本以为这条小路会突然结束，但实际上它蜿蜒穿过树林，继续延伸下去。
我们跋涉穿过森林，花了两个多小时的时间，终于来到了一条湍急的小溪边。
我们可以看到小路在另一边继续延伸，但我们完全不知道该如何穿过那条小溪。
突然，我的妻子发现有一艘船停靠在岸边。
里面有一个正在熟睡的船夫。
我们轻轻地唤醒了他，然后请他带我们到另一边去。
虽然他一开始并不愿意，但我们最终说服了他带我们一起去。
这条小路通向一个坐落在陡峭山坡上的小村庄。
这个地方有一条蜿蜒曲折、尚未铺好的道路，道路两旁排列着一些小房子。
即使是在万里无云的蓝天下，这个村庄看起来依然令人望而生畏——所有的房屋都是用灰色的泥砖建造的。
这个村庄看起来像是被遗弃了。
唯一的生命迹象是一只长相丑陋的黑色山羊，它被用一根短绳子拴在附近田野里的一棵树上。
我们坐在田野旁边那道破旧的木栅栏旁，打开了几罐沙丁鱼，然后享用了一顿野餐午餐。
突然间，我注意到我的妻子似乎充满了恐慌（或：显得非常焦虑）。
我查了一下后发现，我们周围围着一群衣衫褴褛的孩子们；当我们吃饭时，他们静静地注视着我们。
我们给了他们食物，并用温和的语气与他们交谈，但他们依然一动不动。
我得出结论：他们只是对陌生人感到害羞而已。
后来，当我们沿着村庄的主街走去时，有一群沉默的孩子们跟在我们后面。
这个原本看似荒无人烟的村庄立刻变得热闹起来。
人们的身影出现在窗户前。
那些只穿着衬衫、没有穿外套的男人们站在自家房子外面，怒视着我们。
那些披着黑色披肩的老妇人从门缝里向我们张望。
最可怕的是，竟然一点声音都听不到。
毫无疑问，我们是不受欢迎的访客。
我们不需要任何进一步的警告。
拐回主街道后，
我们加快了步伐，迅速朝小溪走去，希望船夫正在那里等着我们。