L48-3:The silent village
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.
dilapidated /dɪˈlæpɪdeɪtɪd/ 陈旧破烂的、倒塌的
fence /fens/ 篱笆、栅栏 wooden fence 木栅栏;木篱笆;
sardine /ˌsɑːrˈdiːn/ 沙丁鱼
rag /ræɡ/ 破烂衣服、破布
motionless /ˈmoʊʃnləs/ 不动的
by shy of 对。。畏缩，害怕
conclude /kənˈkluːd/ 断定;推断出;得出结论;
procession /prəˈseʃn/ 队列、 行列、成队的人群
shawl /ʃɔːl/ 披巾、围巾
peer /pɪr/ 凝视、盯着 n. 同龄人;同辈
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