EXAMEN

CHAPTER ONE THE MADMAN ON THE BEACH

Uen ai so: Rafael fo: de fe:st taim, ai wos tuelf ias ould.mai family lifd in e big taun, fa: ewei from de si:

But my uncle Miguel and his family lived in a little village on the coast. He had a café and a small farm there, and

Bat mai ancol Miguel end jis family lifd in e litol filich on de cost, ji jad e cafei end a smol fa:m de:, end

Sometimes my family visited him.

Somtaims mai family visitid jim

*there in that village I met poor mad Rafael. I didn’t know then who he was. I didn’t know why he was mad. I
knew

De: in dat filich I met po: ma:d Rafael. Ai dident nou den ju ji wos. I dident nou uai ji was ma:d. ai niu

nothing of his strange and terrible story. Now, fourteen years later, I know exactly what happened. But Rafael is

nozin of jis streinll end terribol stori. Nau, fo:ti:n ias leita, ai nou igsactli uat japend. Bat Rafael is

dead. Why should I tell people his terrible secret? Only I know what happened to Rafael. Only I know what

ded. Uai shud ait el pipol jis terribol sícret? Onli ai nou uat japend tu Rafael. Only ai nou uat

happened to the young and beautiful Anita. And to the soldier. Only I.

japend tu de iong end biutiful anita. End tu de solya. Only ai

*the people in the village told me what they knew. Their stories were all true. Every word. My uncle, his wife,

De pipol in de filich told mi uat dei niu. Dei: storis ue: ol tru. Efri we:d. mai ancol, jis uaif,

Rodrigo the shopkeeper- nobody lied to me. Nobody. Not even poor Clara, Rafael’s mother. And she was already

Rodrigo de shopki:pa nobady laid tu mi. Noubady. Not ifen po: clara, rafaels mada. End shi wos olredy

dead when I went back to the village. Their stories were all true. But they didn’t know what really happened.

Ded uen ai uent back tu de filich. Der: storis we: ol tru. Bat dey dident nou uat rili japend

*the first time I saw Rafael, I was walking along the beach, with my younger brother Pablo. Our parents were
talking

De fe:st taim ai so Rafael, ai wos wokin elon de bit:ch, uid mai ionga broda Pablo. Aua perents we: tokin

with my uncle and his family. We boys went along the beach to look around.

Uid mai ancol end his family. Ui bois uent alon de bit:ch tu lu:k arraun

*at the end of the beach there were high black rocks, where the mountains behind the village came down into the

At di end of de bit:ch de: we: jai black rocks, we: de mauntens bijaind de filich kein daum intu de

sea. Near them was an old wooden boat-house. It had no doors. The roof was broken at one end, and open to the

si:. Nia dem wos en ould u:den bout jaus. It jad no do:s. de ro:f wos brouken at uan end, end oupen tu de
sky. Inside there was an old wooden fishing boat.

Skai. Insaid de: wos en ould ú:den fishin bout.

*my brother and I looked inside. The sand was deep and soft on the floor. Suddenly, in a corner behind the boat,

Mai broda end ai lu:kd insaid. De sand wos dí:p end soft on de flo:. Sádenli, in a co:na: bijáin de bout

something moved in the shadows. It was a dirty young man with long hair and a beard. He stood up and looked
up

somzin mufd in de shadous.it wos e deti ion ma:n uid lon je: end bíad. Ji stu:d ap end lu:kd ap

us His eyes were opened but empty. He looked at us, but he didn’t see us. He was very thin.

As jis ais we: oupend bat empty. Ji lu.kd at as, bat ji dident si: as. Ji wos feri zin

*he put one hand to his neck. I saw something shining under the dark beard. There was something small and
bright

Ji put uan jand tu jis neck. Ai so somzin shainin anda de dark bíad. De: wos somzin smol end brait

on a thin fishing line round his neck. He pulled it out to show us. It was a small gold ring in the shape of a fish.

On a zin fishin lain roun jis neck. Ji puld it aut tu shou as. It was e smol gol rin in de sheip of e fish

*suddenly he spoke. His voice was clear, but thin and high. He spoke words, but they didn’t mean anything, she

Sádenli ji spok. Jis fois woa clia, bat zin end jai. Ji spok we:ds, bat dey dident min enizin, shi

gave me the golden fish, he said, she gave it back to me. And I were very afraid. He laughed and laughed, but his

gueif mi de golden fish, ji sed, shi gueif it back tu mi. end ai we: feri efred. Ji lafd end lafd, bat jis

eyes were big and sad. We ran out of the boat-house. The thin young man came out behind us. He stood in the

ais we: big end sad. Ui ra:n aot of de bout jaus. De zin ion ma:n keim aut bijáin as. Ji stu:d in de

sunshine and laughed.

Sanshain end lafd

*she gave me the ring, he shouted. I still have it. Some little boys from the village came running. Some of them

Shi gueif mi de rin, ji choutid. Ai stil jaf it. Som litol bois from de filich keim ranin, som of dem

threw stones at the thin, dirty man. Crazy Rafael, they shouted. Crazy Rafael. He stopped laughing and screamed
at

zru stons at de zin, deti ma:n. creici Rafael, dey shautid. Creici Rafael. Ji stopd lafin end scrimd at

them. Then he went back inside the boat-house. The children laughed and ran away. We went to my uncle’s
house.

Dem. Den ji uent back insaid de bout jaus. De children lafd end ra:n ewei. Ui uent tu mai anclos jaus

Who is that crazy man on the beach? We asked. The children called him Rafael.

Ju is dat creci man on de bit:ch? Ui askd. De children cold jim Rafael

Jis onli a po: end ion man , sed mai ancol. Ji isint danyerous uent ma:d abaot e ia egou. Ui don’t nou uai

Nobody can help him, I’m afraid. His mother lives in the house at the end of the village. She brings him food every

Noubadi can jelp jim, am afred. Jis mada lifs in de jaus at di end of de filich. Shi brings jim fu:d efri

day. All the people in the village help her when they can.

Dei. Ol de pipol in de filich jelp je: uen dey can

*soon the adults began to talk about other things. But I never forgot poor mad Rafael. Every time I thought about

Su:n de adults bigan tu tok abaut oda zins. Bat ai nefa forgot po: ma:d Rafael. Efri taim ai zot abaut

the village, I remembered the poor mad man in the boat-house on the beach. Sometimes I saw him in my dreams.

De filich, ai rimémba de po: ma:d man in de bout jaus on de bit:ch. Somtaims ai so jim in mai drims

He looked at me with his big, empty, mad eyes. He called to me. He had the gold ring round his neck and he held it

Ji lu:kd at mi uid jis big, empty, mas ais. Ji cold tu mi. ji jad de gold ring raun his neck end ji jeld it

out to me. He called for me to help him.

Aut tu mi. ji cold fo: mi tu jelp jim

*my family went back to the town, after I left the school, I went to university in the capital, I studied to be a
doctor.

Mai family uent back tu de taun, afta ai lef de scu:l, ai uent tu iunifésiti in de capitol, ai stadid tu bi e docto

I spent two years in the USA. Finally, I went back to my home town and I found work in a big, new hospital there.

Ai slept u: ias in de iu es ei. Fainali, ai uent back tu mi jom taun end ai faund we:k in e big, niu jospital de:

*in all those years, I never went back to the village. But then one of my uncle’s sons got married and all my family

In ol dous ias, ai nefa uent back tu de filich. Bat den uan od mai ancols sons got marrid end ol mai famili

went there for a few days.

Uent de: fo: e fiu deis

*there were many changes in the village. Twelve years of changes. There were new stones house, there were new,

De: we: meni chenlles in de filich. Tuelf ias of chanlles. De: we: niu stons jaus, de: we: niu,

brightly-painted fishing boats along the beach, a lot of them with engines. My uncle had a big, clean, new café
with

braitli-peintid fishin bouts elon de bit:ch, e lot of dem iud enllins. Mai ancol jad e big, clin, niu cafei uid

tables and chairs, and a television in the corner, it was all very different from the village that I saw as a boy.

Teibols end che:s, end e televishon in de co:na:, it wos ol feri diferent from de filich dad ai so as a boi

*I went down to the beach on my first afternoon in the village, I wanted to see again the place where I first saw

Ai uent daunt u de bit:ch on mai fe:st afte:noon in de filich, ai uantid tu sii: eguein de pleis we: ai fe:st so
Rafael. I couldn’t believe it. The old boat-house and the boat were still there. The boat was in pieces now, but the

Rafael. Ai cudnt bilif it. De ould bout-jaus end de bout we: stil de:. De bout wos in pices nou, bat de

boat-house was bigger and stronger. There was some new wood on the walls and new roof on it.

Bout-jaus wos biga end stronga. De: wos som niu wu:d on de wols end niu ru:f on it

*I walked along the beach and felt the soft sand under my town shoes. There was a man sitting near the old boat-

Ai wokd elon de bit:ch end felt de soft sand anda mai taun shus. De: wos e man sitin nia de ould bout

house. He was looking at the sea. He had long hair and long, thin legs. I came closer and suddenly looked around

jaus. Ji wos lu.kin at de si: . ji jad lon je: end lon, zin legs. Ai keim clos end sádenli lu:k arraun

me. It was Rafael. I saw again those same wide, crazy, sad eyes from my dreams.

mi. it wos Rafael. Ai so eguein dous seim uaid, creici, sad ais from mai drims

*he was twelve years older. His hear and beard were beginning to go grey, but they weren’t as long and dirty as

Ji wos tuelf ias old. Jis he: end bíad we: biguinin tu gou grey, bat dey weren’t as lon end deti as

before. His face was very thin and he looked ill. His clothes were old, but clean. How are you Rafael? I called
smiling.

Bifo:. Jis feis wos feri zin end lu:k il. Jis clots we: ould, bat clin. Jou a: iu Rafael? Ai cold smailin

*he put his head on one side and looked at me. His mouth opened and smiled. A thin brown hand moved up to his

Ji put jis hed on uan said end lu:kd at mi. jis mouf oupend end smailin. E zin broun hend muf ap tu jis

neck. She gave me the golden fish, he said, his voice was flat and empty. He coughed suddenly- a deep, dry cough.

Neck. Shi gueif mi de golden fish, ji sed, jis fois wos flat end empty. Ji cafd sádenli a dí:p, drai caf

Then he looked with sad yellow eyes at the bright, empty sea.

Den hi lu:kd iud sad ielou ais at de brait, empyti si:

*I went back across the soft white sand to my uncle’s house. I had an idea in my head. I was a doctor now.
Perhaps

Ai uent back acros de sof wait sand tu mai ancols jaus. Ai jade n aidia in mai hed. Ai wos e doctor nau. pejaps

I could find out what was the matter with this poor man. I could give him the best help that modern medicine
could

Ai cud faind aut uat wos de mada uid dis po. Man. Ai cud guif jim de best jelp dat mode:n medidin cud

give him.

Guif jim

*I told my uncle what I wanted to do. There are special hospitals now in the capital for people like Rafael. I can
take
Ai told mai ancol uat ai uantid tu du. De: a: special jospital nau in de capitol fo: pipol laik Rafael. Ai can teik

him there. If I can make him well, I will, if not, he can stay in a hospital there. He will have a bed, good food,
nurses

jim de: if ai can meik jim wel, ai wil, if not, ji can stei in a jospital de:. Ji wil jaf e bed, gu:d fu:d, nu:ses

all the time. It’s not good for him to sleep on the beach. He looks ill.

Ol de taim. It’s not gu:d fo: jim tu sli:p on de bit:ch. Ji lu:ks il.

*I asked him to tell me about Rafael. He told me everything that he knew. It was a long and strange story. I wrote

Ai askd jim tu tel mi abaut Rafael. Ji told mi efrizin dat ji niu. It wos a lon end strenll stori. Ai rot

it all in a notebook. I wanted to help the madman to get well. For this, I had to know everything about him.

It ol in a bu:knot. Ai wanted tu jelp de ma:d ma:m tu guet wel. Fo: dis, ai jad tu nou efrizin abaut jim