Arranged Marriage Learn English through story level 2

in some countries young people marry a

person chosen for them by their parents

sometimes these arranged marriages work

very well

and sometimes

they don’t

it becomes more difficult when there are

questions of money or of distance

perhaps the man’s family is rich

and the girl’s family is poor

perhaps the two families live in

different parts of the world

from greece

to south africa for example

is a long

long way

[Music]

coming into athens

the man in the next seat put away some

papers

looking bored

air travel has changed our idea of place

time country i said to him

in fact there aren’t countries anymore

in the way we used to think of them

nowhere is more than 24 hours away

soon the idea of having different

countries will just disappear

he laughed

what’s so strange about that i said

and yet where i came from there are

still people who measure distance by

days

he lives two days walk away they say

are we talking about life in this

century

he said

the man was an american

and i had to explain what things were

like in parts of africa

i’d lived in some of its wilder places

during my 50 years

and now we can travel at the speed of

sound i went on

but we’re like children

we don’t know what to do when we get

there

he thought i was a little crazy

if you come from south africa you should

be black and speak zulu

he said

i do speak zulu was my answer

he left the plane at athens and i was

not sorry to see him go

johannesburg was another 12 hours away

i had not traveled through athens before

so i ran down the steps from the plane

to put my foot for the first time on

greek soil

i thought back two and a half thousand

years

to the time of ancient greece

did those great writers

euripides

and aristophanes once walk where i

walked now

did they see these same white and gold

hills

breathe this same air

it was late afternoon

and a soft summer light lay on those

distant white hills

over the smell of hot engine oil around

the airport

i told myself i could smell the sweet

clean air of ancient greece

i was not looking at faceless passengers

hurrying into a crowded airport

but could see girls with flowers in

their hair

dancing to ancient music

for ancient gods

and away to the north of the airport

athens called to me

that city of light

the birthplace of the western world

but i had no time to visit

i had to board my plane again

at the entrance to the airport building

a few bright flowers grew in dry dusty

soil

a young man with bad teeth

stopped to offer me picture postcards of

athens

then a bewildered little group of men

and women came into the airport building

the men in poor best clothes had big red

hands

the women carried boxes and packets

and one of the men had a cheap suitcase

a young girl at their center wearing a

yellow suit which looked uncomfortably

new

stared around her at the strangeness of

everything

she looked straight at me with the same

bewilderment

smiled

and turned away

her face had a beauty that was centuries

old

large dark eyes

a short straight nose

and a lovely

mouth there was a circle of white

star-like flowers in her long black hair

the light still touched the ring of

hills

as the sun went down

when the same sun rose again for me it

would be red and wintry over south

africa

why not leave the plane here

and find a little house somewhere

maybe there was a deeper quieter peace

in these ancient hills than in other

places

but they were calling my flight

i ran for the plane and was the last to

board it

the next seat to mine left empty by the

american

was now taken by the young girl in the

yellow suit

she stood up at once to welcome me

speaking in her own language

and gave me her hand

she moved with all the naturalness of a

wild animal

there had been tears in her eyes

back in her seat

she was looking out of the window trying

to see the tiny figures far away across

the runway

she waved a hand that no one would see

the plane’s engines started up

i saw that a finger of the hand at the

window

carried the shining gold circle of a new

wedding ring

she cried in silence as the plane took

off and rose heavily into the sky

we could see the dark blue sea below

and far to the west

the path of the dying sun on the water

flying was clearly a new experience for

her

she said something quietly shaking her

head in wonder

the sadness left her and a minute later

she touched my arm and excitedly pointed

out something

athens was disappearing into the sea and

the night

already we were rising through the

clouds

i decided to go back to reading my

magazine

there was no way of making polite

conversation

and it seemed useless to look at her

just because she was very good to look

at

but she seemed not to realize there was

a language difficulty

a katarina she said pointing to herself

i told her my name

neil gordon

we shook hands again and she was

delighted that we could understand each

other so easily

we continued our conversation using

expressions and hand movements

and in answer to her questions i

explained that i was not an englishman a

german or an american i was a south

african living in johannesburg

ah johannesburg

that was where she was going

she looked very pleased and went on

talking

there was a warm feeling between us we

seemed like close friends

sometimes her face changed and she

looked sad

as she turned the ring on her finger

and suddenly she smiled and became

cheerful again

i did not understand her words

but that did not matter

she was like a child talking to herself

in the night

or a mother telling her thoughts to her

baby

the air hostess was passing and i said

to her

do you understand greek

a word she replied but one of the other

passengers looks greek so i’ll ask him

a minute later she was back

i’m sorry she said he isn’t greek he’s

italian

but he says he’d be very pleased to

change seats with you and talk to the

young lady

tell him i said to stay in his own seat

i’m very happy where i am

the lights inside the plane had come on

the girl took off her jacket

and smiling asked my opinion of the

blouse that she was wearing

unlike her factory-made suit

it was a beautiful thing

clearly she had made it herself

and hours of careful work had gone into

the patterns of flowers and leaves

i told her how lovely it was

she watched my expression carefully

her face blushing a little

her eyes became serious

she sat thinking for a moment and then

she decided

she took her passport from her bag and

put it into my hands

it was a passport of my own country

with ekaterina’s frightened little face

looking out of the photograph

how did she come to have a south african

passport

she had never left greece

but explaining this to me wasn’t

difficult

she had married a south african

married him that morning in fact

and her husband

he was in johannesburg

she was going to meet him there

she had never seen him

the marriage had been by proxy

her parents had arranged it

i began to understand the whole thing

the husband had paid for everything

he had paid for her

he had sent money for the plane ticket

i asked the air hosters to bring a

bottle of wine to drink to ekaterina’s

happiness

the italian passenger came to see her

i told him ekaterina had been married

that morning

and invited him to join us in a drink

he tried italian

spanish and german on her

but she only looked at him surprised

he drank to her happiness and kissed her

hand

which was small and strong

a working girl’s hand

she is too beautiful he said to me

are you taking her to her husband

certainly not in fact i wanted to run

away with me and there’s a good chance

she’ll agree to it

she’s just that child

i know how old she is i’ve seen her

passport

do you still want to talk to her

he shook his head and went back to his

seat

a katarina said something and smiled

she drank her wine slowly

and in a moment was lost in her own

thoughts again

her beauty was timeless

centuries old

untouchable

but the soft light in her eyes

and the shine of her dark hair

brought her into the present for me

here and now

sitting beside me

a warm

living

breathing girl

she turned to me looking serious

she put her hands together in front of

her

to show that she was asking for my help

with something very important

then she calmly handed me a photograph

it was of a young man about 28 or 30.

he had thick dark hair

the face was generous in its way strong

if not handsome

and eyes were pleasantly gentle

the photo had been cut out of a larger

photo

but enough was left to show that behind

the young man

was a shining new car

who

it was her husband of course whom she

had never seen

she told me his name

sabas atanasayadis

i hadn’t looked up from the photograph

but i knew she was watching me carefully

standing next to the car

service looked unusually short

i had owned a car like that myself many

years ago but why did savas want a

photograph of himself in front of a 30

year old chevrolet shiny or not

a good man i said let’s drink to sabas

atanaciades

i avoided her eyes pouring more wine

into our glasses

but her woman’s instinct told her

something was wrong

i could feel that she didn’t believe me

slowly and miserably she put away her

photograph

and she noticed her glass and lifted it

johannesburg she said

athena i replied

she repeated it

and added with a sad smile

vary

i did not know the town of vari

but wherever it was it was the place

where she had left her dreams

dinner was the usual kind of tasteless

meal that you get on planes

i showed ekaterina how to hold a knife

and fork

and she got through it by watching and

copying from time to time she looked

happily at me

her face a little pink from the wine

to her it was all new and strange

and wonderful

we came down at khartoum and left the

plane for an hour

a katarina kept close to me as we walked

to the airport building through the hot

breathless african night

there were sleepy flies on the dirty

tables in the restaurant

we drank a warm sweet drink that tasted

of soap

a man came through the restaurant

selling things

he showed a katarina a piece of cheap

silk

and her eyes shone with delight

i offered to buy it for her

she thanked me but no it was impossible

not because i was a stranger no that

wasn’t it

perhaps because she couldn’t give

anything back

then the man put a fan into her hand

it was worth almost nothing

and i paid too much for it but that was

different

a fan was necessary in the heat

the plane took off again

lifting up over sleeping africa

for a short time the river nile looked

silver in the moonlight

until it was lost in the darkness

we went on climbing alone into the milky

sky

the passengers started preparing

themselves for sleep

a katarina turned towards the window

and i lay back in my seat

horribly uncomfortable

about half an hour later i woke up

like a newborn animal

a katarina had moved as close as

possible to me

one arm was round my neck

and her face was half hidden in my

shoulder

she smelled sweet and warm

like wild flowers

or deep newly turned soil

she was asleep

and in her dreams she had returned to

vari

to a street of quiet little houses

to a single room full of sisters and

brothers

with animals to take care of perhaps

had she ever slept alone

who was i in her sleep

who was held in her poor arms

a little brother who was always crying

a sister restless with hunger

how could her family have sold this

lovely child

to an unknown husband

perhaps he was an honest man who had

earned his place in south africa

and now he was looking back into the

past

to take a wife of his own country

of the blood of greece

i only hoped he was good enough for her

i tried to tell myself she’s nothing to

me

what does it matter who she marries

but it wasn’t easy to say that

when she was actually asleep and warm

and living against my body

i slept a little

and when i woke up a katarina had not

moved

but she was now awake and her large eyes

were fixed darkly on me

how long had she stared at me like that

hello katarina i said

hello

she closed her eyes preparing for sleep

again

hey katarina i’m talking to you

a little movement of her head showed

that she was awake

listen

it may be a good thing that you don’t

understand

listen ekaterina you shouldn’t be here

go back

take the first chance to go back

this marriage may work but it may not

it’s all wrong

you’re not a thing for a man to buy

you’re not a prisoner

it’s so important to be free

go back and learn to be free

they’ve taken the past from you

and you’re throwing away the future

a katarina it’s always better to die

fighting

you must know that

i was talking almost to myself

she could not understand a word

but something in my voice frightened her

she began to cry

the great plane went on into the silken

blackness

under us lay africa

sleeping in the long night wind

she cried quietly but not for long

i think she was used to having sadness

in her life

she took my hand and kissed it before i

could stop her a little show of grateful

feeling which i found very moving

then she dried her eyes

and talked brightly for a few minutes

like a playful

child soon she fell asleep and her arms

reached out again towards me

in that instinctively loving way of hers

we came in over south africa before

daylight

people began to wake up

i went to have a wash

and when i got back i found a caterina

very unhappy

she and the air hostess were looking

everywhere for something

the italian was there too down on his

hands and knees to help with the search

what are you looking for i asked him

he stood up looking angrily at me

the girl’s miserable what have you done

to her

you haven’t slept well i suppose

slept i never sleep well on a plane

you should find another way of traveling

he went crossly back to his seat

a katarina asked me to help

but i had no idea what was missing

and it disappeared at khartoum

cartoon

she threw up her hands in the air

yes perhaps the people at khartoum had

robbed her

and suddenly a passenger a few seats

away held up a packet of newspapers

ah that was it yesterday’s greek papers

for the good service to read

the evening news from antenna

arriving in johannesburg the next

morning

lucky man

i helped decatarino off the plane with

her bags and packets

the air was cold

and she looked around her frightened

i lost her in the crowd at the passport

desks

and did not see her again until we were

in the main hall of the airport building

there she was in a group of four or five

people

her head was low and her face was hidden

in her hands

i could not see which was service there

was nobody who looked like the man in

her photograph

she lifted her head and stared around

then she saw me and came running down

the hall

she put her head like a child on my

shoulder

crying miserably

the little group of strangers watched

from a distance

now i saw that savas the new husband

himself was there

it was certainly the man from the

photograph

but he was bald and old

and very short

and fat

i had half expected

it a katarina i’ll help you get back if

you wish to attend to vari

i gave her my business card with my

address and phone number

and she stared at it through tearful

eyes

she took my hand

and held it for a moment

and she dried her eyes and walked slowly

back to the waiting group

her head held high

my son and his wife lorraine

found me standing there

i had not moved

and was staring after ekaterina

who’s that beautiful little thing

lorraine asked

a katarina

is it a love story

i don’t know

i think it’s more like an unhappy ending

they were amused and laughed about it

while we had breakfast in the airport’s

large cheerful restaurant

it’s possible you’ve got it all wrong

said lorraine

remember you couldn’t understand what

she was saying

my instinct tells me i’m right

your instinct only a woman can be sure

of her instinct

why didn’t i speak to savas athanasiadis

at the airport

i do not know where to find him

his name is not in the phone book

i have waited to hear from ekaterina but

nothing

not a word

where is she

i remember how she walked calmly away

with her head up

a dark shining hair

the yellow of her suit

choosing to go

walking freely into a darkened future

but after all

perhaps lorraine is right

i have heard

nothing and it is now

four

days

[Music]

you