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