Learn English with Stories ⭐ I am a farmer | Level 3 English Listening Practice — Transcript

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1. 0:00My name is Sam.
2. 0:01I am a farmer.
3. 0:03I live in a small village.
4. 0:06Every morning, I wake up early.
5. 0:09I wash my face and pray.
6. 0:12Then, I go to my fields.
7. 0:15The sky is still dark when I leave my
8. 0:17house.
9. 0:19The air is cool and quiet.
10. 0:22Only the birds are awake with me.
11. 0:25I walk along the narrow path between the
12. 0:28fields.
13. 0:29The earth feels soft under my feet.
14. 0:33I know every step of this path.
15. 0:36I have walked it for more than 30 years.
16. 0:40My fields are not large, but they are
17. 0:43mine.
18. 0:45My father worked this land before
19. 0:47[music] me.
20. 0:48His father worked it before him.
21. 0:51When I look at the soil, I feel they are
22. 0:54still with me. I begin my work as the
23. 0:57sun rises.
24. 0:59I cut the weeds. I check the water
25. 1:02channels.
26. 1:03I look at the young plants with care.
27. 1:06If the leaves are yellow, I worry.
28. 1:09If they are green and strong, I feel
29. 1:12happy.
30. 1:14At midday, the sun becomes hot.
31. 1:17My shirt sticks to my back.
32. 1:19Sweat runs down my face.
33. 1:22I sit under a small tree and eat the
34. 1:25food my wife packed for me.
35. 1:28Rice, some vegetables, and a little
36. 1:31fish.
37. 1:32I rest for a short time.
38. 1:34Then, I stand up and work again.
39. 1:38In the evening, I walk home.
40. 1:41My legs are tired.
41. 1:43My hands are dirty,
42. 1:45but my heart [music] feels calm.
43. 1:47My wife waits for me at the door.
44. 1:50She always has warm water ready for me
45. 1:53to wash.
46. 1:54Our two [music] children run to me and
47. 1:57hold my legs.
48. 1:59Their smiles make the hard day feel
49. 2:01lighter.
50. 2:03We eat together. [music]
51. 2:05We talk about small things, the weather,
52. 2:08the price of rice, the neighbor's cow
53. 2:11that ran away.
54. 2:13After dinner, I sit outside and look at
55. 2:15the stars.
56. 2:17The village becomes quiet. This is my
57. 2:20life.
58. 2:22It is simple.
59. 2:23It is hard.
60. 2:25And it is mine.
61. 2:28Many people from the city come to our
62. 2:30village sometimes.
63. 2:32They look at my old clothes and my rough
64. 2:35hands.
65. 2:36They ask me, "Sam, why do you stay here?
66. 2:40The work is too hard. The money is too
67. 2:44little.
68. 2:45Come to the city.
69. 2:46Life is easier there."
70. 2:49I smile and shake my head.
71. 2:52I went to the city once, many years ago.
72. 2:56The streets were noisy. The air was
73. 2:59dirty.
74. 3:00People walked fast and did not look at
75. 3:03each other.
76. 3:04I felt lost.
77. 3:06I returned to my village the next
78. 3:08[music] week.
79. 3:09When I saw my fields again, I knew I was
80. 3:13home.
81. 3:14One year, the rain did not come.
82. 3:18The earth became dry and hard.
83. 3:21The plants [music]
84. 3:22turned brown.
85. 3:24I woke up even earlier every day.
86. 3:27I carried water from the river in big
87. 3:30cans.
88. 3:31My shoulders hurt. My back hurt.
89. 3:35At night, I could not sleep because I
90. 3:38was worried. My wife said,
91. 3:41"Maybe we should sell the land."
92. 3:44I looked [music] at her and answered,
93. 3:46"This land fed my father.
94. 3:49It feeds us now.
95. 3:51It will feed our children one day.
96. 3:53I will not sell it.
97. 3:57We worked together. The children helped,
98. 4:00too.
99. 4:01Slowly the rain returned. The plants
100. 4:04[music] became green again.
101. 4:06That year our harvest was small,
102. 4:09but it was enough.
103. 4:11I learned something important then.
104. 4:14A farmer does not only grow rice or
105. 4:17vegetables.
106. 4:18A farmer grows patience.
107. 4:21A farmer grows hope.
108. 4:24Another time my son became very sick.
109. 4:28We needed money for the doctor.
110. 4:30I sold my best cow.
111. 4:33I did not cry.
112. 4:35A cow can be replaced.
113. 4:37A child cannot.
114. 4:40When my son got better, he held my hand
115. 4:42and said,
116. 4:43"Father, when I grow up, I will help you
117. 4:47in the fields."
118. 4:49I smiled.
119. 4:50In that moment, I felt richer than any
120. 4:53man in the city.
121. 4:55Now my son is older.
122. 4:58He goes to school in the town.
123. 5:00He is clever with books.
124. 5:02Sometimes he says he wants to work in an
125. 5:04office one day.
126. 5:06I do not stop him.
127. 5:08Every person must find their own path,
128. 5:11but I also tell him, "Whatever you do,
129. 5:14never forget the land.
130. 5:17The land does not lie. The land does not
131. 5:21cheat.
132. 5:22If you take care of it, it will take
133. 5:25care of you."
134. 5:27Some nights I sit outside after everyone
135. 5:31is asleep.
136. 5:32I listen to the wind in the rice plants.
137. 5:36It sounds like soft whispering.
138. 5:39I feel peace.
139. 5:42I think about my life.
140. 5:44I have no big house. I have no car.
141. 5:49I have no expensive clothes.
142. 5:52But I have land that I know by heart.
143. 5:56I have work [music] that gives meaning
144. 5:58to my days.
145. 6:00I have a family that waits for me every
146. 6:03evening.
147. 6:05I have clean air [music] and open sky.
148. 6:09Many people run after money and [music]
149. 6:12forget to live.
150. 6:14I live every day with my hands in the
151. 6:18soil and my heart in my village.
152. 6:22I am not a rich man.
153. 6:24I am not a famous man.
154. 6:27I am a farmer.