[00:-1.00]About three years ago,something terrible happened to me.
[00:-2.00]Those six hours of terror.
[00:-3.00]have broken my body and soul.
[00:-4.00]You think I am avery old man-but I am not.
[00:-5.00]It took less than a single day to change my hair from black to white.
[00:-6.00]One day,my two brothers and I were coming back from the islands,
[00:-7.00]our boat full of fish.
[00:-8.00]All at once,the horizon was covered with a cloud
[00:-9.00]and in less than a minute we were in a terrible storm.
[00:10.00]An enormous wave covered our boat and my younger brogher fell overboard.
[00:11.00]Our boat survived,
[00:12.00]and I was trying to recover when my elder brother put his mouth close to my ear,
[00:13.00]and screamed out the horrifying word"Whirlpool!"
[00:14.00]With the wind and waves we were going in the direction of the whirlpool,
[00:15.00]and nothing could save us!
[00:16.00]It may seem strange,but at that moment,
[00:17.00]when we were on the edge of the whirlpool,
[00:18.00]I felt calmer than when we were moving towards it.
[00:19.00]We went round and round,nearer and nearer to the horrible edge of the whirlpool.
[00:20.00]Suddenly,we went over the edge.
[00:21.00]I said a prayer to God;I thought my life was over.
[00:22.00]But moment after moment passed,and I was still safe.
[00:23.00]The boat was on the inside of the enormous whirlpool
[00:24.00]and we were going round in circles at great speed.
[00:25.00]I saw clearly that there were other objects in the whirlpool-trees and barrels.
[00:26.00]I noticed that the heavien objects went down more quickly than the smaller,ligher ones.
[00:27.00]So I tied myself to a barrel to help me float.
[00:28.00]I tried to make my brother understand,
[00:29.00]but he was terrified and stayed in the heavy boat.
[00:30.00]Without waiting,I dived into the sea to try and escape.
[00:31.00]As you can see,I did escape.
[00:32.00]I will bring my story quickly to a conclusion.
[00:33.00]Some time after I left the boat,with my brother in it,
[00:34.00]it sank into the bottom of the whirlpool.
[00:35.00]Soon afterwards,the whirlpool became violent.
[00:36.00]Then the sky was clear,the wind calmer and the moon was shining.
[00:37.00]I was still tied to the barrel
[00:38.00]and the waves soon carried me to an area where the other fishermen were.
[00:39.00]In the end,a boat picked me up.
[00:40.00]I was exhausted.
[00:41.00]The fishermen were my old companions,but they did not recognise me.
[00:42.00]When I told them my story,they did not believe it.
[00:43.00]Now I have told you,
[00:44.00]and I cannot expect you to believe me more than the fishermen did |