El día de la niebla (The day of the fog)
MCER A2111 palabras
One morning in November we could not see the church from our window. The fog was so thick that the village disappeared.
My mother drove me to school at twenty kilometres an hour, with the window open, listening. She was not afraid, but she was serious, and my mother is never serious.
At school only nine children arrived. The teacher did not open the books. She turned off the lights and asked us to listen: a car, a dog, a tractor far away. Then she asked us to draw what we heard.
The fog went away at twelve.
I do not remember any lesson from that year. I remember the drawings.
Palabras que quizá no conozcas
- fogniebla
- thickespeso, denso
- to disappeardesaparecer
- to turn offapagar
- drawingdibujo
Preguntas
Se contestan con el texto delante. No es memoria: es entender.
What was the weather like that morning?
The village was covered in thick fog — The fog was so thick that the village disappeared: tanta niebla que no se veía ni la iglesia desde la ventana.
The mother drove fast that morning.
False — Falso: a veinte kilómetros por hora, que es menos que una bicicleta rápida.
How did the teacher adapt the lesson to the fog?
She used sounds as material for pictures. — Escucharon y dibujaron los sonidos. La profesora no abrió los libros y apagó las luces.
Why did the mother drive with the window open?
To hear traffic hidden by the fog — El texto lo dice con una sola palabra, listening, y no lo explica. Con niebla los ojos no sirven: se conduce con el oído.
Why does the writer say 'my mother is never serious'?
To show that this morning was really dangerous — El dato no está puesto para describir a la madre: está puesto para medir la niebla. Si la persona que nunca se pone seria se pone seria, es que la cosa era grave.
What does the last line mean?
The unusual listening lesson stays in the writer’s memory — Las dos frases se oponen: de las clases no queda nada; del día que apagaron la luz y dibujaron lo que oían, todo.