A Weekend Cabin in the Woods — Calm English Listening

Transcript

Introduction

A: Hello, and welcome.

A: This is slow, calm B1 English for a quiet afternoon or a quiet evening.

A: Today you’ll hear two gentle stories about a weekend in a small cabin in the woods.

A: Between them, we’ll review ten phrases. Then there will be some quiet practice and a slower final pass.

A: Here are a few of the phrases. Pine trees. The first frost. To light a fire.

A: And a few more. Thick socks. No signal. To read by the fire.

A: If you miss a word, let it go. Another one will come.

A: You can practice the phrases in Recursio another day. The link is in the description.

A: For now, just listen.

Friday evening

A: It is a Friday at the end of October.

A: Paul leaves work early. He puts a bag in the back of his old car and drives north.

A: He drives for two hours. The city gets smaller behind him, then the towns, then the farms.

A: The last part of the road is not paved. Paul drives slowly up a hill between tall, dark trees.

A: At the top of the hill, at the end of the road, there is a cabin in the woods.

A: It belonged to Paul’s grandfather. Now it belongs to the whole family, but most of the year, nobody uses it.

A: It is small. One room with a woodstove, a tiny kitchen, and a bedroom under the roof.

A: The walls are made of old logs, dark brown and a little uneven.

A: Paul turns off the engine and sits in the car for a moment.

A: It is almost dark. The sky above the trees is deep blue, with one bright star.

A: All around the cabin, there are pine trees — tall and straight, very close together.

A: When he opens the car door, he can smell them. Sharp and clean and a little sweet.

A: He takes out his phone to text his sister that he has arrived.

A: At the top of the screen, it says: no signal.

A: He holds the phone up, turns around, walks to the end of the path. Still no signal.

A: He laughs quietly and puts the phone in his pocket. He told his sister his plans before he left.

A: He takes his bag from the car and walks to the cabin door.

A: Inside, the cabin is very cold. It smells of wood, dust, and old books.

A: The first thing to do, always, is to light a fire.

A: Paul kneels in front of the old black woodstove. It has a small glass window in its door.

A: He puts in some old newspaper, then small dry sticks, then two bigger pieces of wood on top.

A: He lights a match. For a moment, nothing happens. Then a small yellow flame begins to climb.

A: He sits back and waits. The flame grows. The sticks catch.

A: Soon he can hear the crackle of the fire, soft and quick, like someone quietly breaking small sticks.

A: The cold room begins to change. First, the air near the stove. Then his hands. Then his face.

A: He takes off his boots and puts on his thick socks. Gray wool ones, knitted by his mother years ago.

A: The wooden floor is still cold, but in thick socks, he barely feels it.

A: He walks around the cabin slowly, turning on the old lamps one by one.

A: The water has been turned off for the cold season, so he fills the old kettle from a big bottle he brought.

A: He puts the kettle on the stove, right on the hot black top, next to the chimney.

A: Then he sits in the armchair and waits. A warm fire, a soft chair, a kettle on the stove. It is all he needs tonight.

A: After a while, the kettle starts to whisper, and then to sing.

A: He makes a big mug of tea and holds it with both hands.

A: Outside, the wind is getting stronger.

A: Paul turns off one of the lamps and sits very still.

A: He likes to listen to the wind here. It is different from the wind in the city.

A: In the city, it hits buildings and cars. Here, it moves through the pine trees, high above the roof.

A: It sounds like the sea, far away. It comes, and goes, and comes again.

A: On the shelf by the stove, there are old books — his grandfather’s books.

A: Paul takes one down. It is a book about birds, with small drawings and a green cover.

A: He puts another piece of wood in the stove and opens the book on his knees.

A: He likes to read by the fire. The light moves on the pages, orange and gold.

A: He reads slowly. Sometimes the same page twice. Nobody is waiting for him to finish.

A: At ten o’clock, his eyes are heavy.

A: He puts one last big piece of wood in the stove and closes the little door.

A: Then he climbs the narrow stairs to the bedroom under the roof.

A: The last thing he hears is the wind in the pines, and the soft crackle of the fire below.

Saturday morning

A: When Paul wakes up, the cabin is quiet, and the light is very white.

A: He goes to the small window and looks out.

A: Everything is silver. The grass, the path, the roof of his car.

A: It is the first frost of the year.

A: He puts on his coat and his boots over his thick socks, and goes outside.

A: The frost crunches under his boots. His breath makes small white clouds in the air.

A: Each blade of grass has a thin white edge, like it was drawn with a pencil.

A: The pine trees are dark green, and completely still.

A: Then the sun comes up over the hill.

A: Slowly, the silver turns to wet green. The frost disappears first in the sunny places. It stays longer in the shade.

A: A small gray bird lands on the fence, looks at Paul, and flies away.

A: Paul thinks of his grandfather’s book. He will look for that bird later.

A: He stays outside until his fingers hurt a little from the cold.

A: Then he goes back inside to light the fire again and put the kettle on.

A: There is nothing else he has to do today. Nothing at all.

A: In the afternoon, he takes a long walk through the woods.

A: The path is soft with brown pine needles, and it smells of pine and cold earth.

A: It is very quiet. He can hear his own steps, and sometimes a woodpecker knocking on a tree, far away.

A: He walks down to a small stream where he used to play as a boy.

A: The water is clear and very cold. He puts his hand in it for a second. Then he takes it out quickly, laughing.

A: The same stones are there, in the same places. Only the trees are taller.

A: When he comes back, the sun is already low, and the cabin windows are gold.

A: He finds the bird book and turns the pages slowly until he sees it.

A: A small gray bird with a black cap and a white face. A nuthatch.

A: In pencil, next to the drawing, there is a note in his grandfather’s handwriting.

A: It says: “Saw one on the fence. October.” There is no year.

A: Paul sits for a long time with the book open on his knees.

A: Then he takes a pencil from the kitchen drawer and writes under it: “Me too.”

A: In the evening, he makes soup on the woodstove, and eats it in the armchair.

A: He reads by the fire again, until the book slides down onto his lap.

A: Outside, the wind is back in the pines, soft and steady.

A: Tomorrow, he will drive home. But not yet. Not tonight.

Phrase review

A: Now, slowly, the ten phrases.

A: A cabin in the woods. A small wooden house among the trees, often far from towns.

A: “We rented a cabin in the woods for the weekend.”

A: Pine trees. Tall trees with long, thin needles that stay green all year.

A: “The path goes through the pine trees down to the lake.”

A: The first frost. The first morning of the cold season when you see a thin white layer of ice on grass or cars.

A: “The first frost came early this year.”

A: “We bring the plants inside before the first frost.”

A: To light a fire. To start a fire in a stove or fireplace.

A: “It’s cold. Let’s light a fire.”

A: The crackle of the fire. The soft, quick sound that burning wood makes.

A: “I fell asleep to the crackle of the fire.”

A: Thick socks. Warm, heavy socks, often made of wool.

A: “Bring thick socks. The floors are cold.”

A: A kettle on the stove. A kettle is a pot for boiling water. Here, it sits on top of the stove, heating water for tea.

A: “There’s always a kettle on the stove at my grandmother’s house.”

A: No signal. Your phone cannot connect to a cell network. Paul cannot send his text from the cabin.

A: “Sorry I didn’t answer. There was no signal in the mountains.”

A: “At the cabin, there’s no signal at all.”

A: To listen to the wind. To be quiet and hear the wind outside.

A: “At night, I like to listen to the wind in the trees.”

A: To read by the fire. To read a book sitting near a fire, in its warm light.

A: “On winter evenings, she likes to read by the fire.”

A cabin for two

A: In another part of the country, two friends from the city, Nora and Eli, rent a cabin for the weekend. It is their first time.

A: They found it online. The photos showed a porch, a lake, and a lot of trees.

A: The description said: “Perfect for a quiet weekend. Please note: no signal.”

A: They didn’t think it would matter. They were wrong.

A: On Friday evening, they both keep taking out their phones.

A: They hold them up at the window. They walk down to the lake. Nothing.

A: At nine o’clock, Nora puts her phone in a drawer in the kitchen. After a moment, Eli puts his there too.

A: “Okay,” says Eli. “Now what do people do?”

A: It is getting cold, so they try to light a fire in the fireplace.

A: The first time, there is only smoke. The second time, a small flame, and then nothing.

A: The third time, it works. They both cheer, too loudly, and then laugh at themselves.

A: They sit on the floor in front of it, in thick socks and big sweaters.

A: They find an old deck of cards in a drawer and play a game that Nora’s grandmother taught her.

A: Eli loses four times. He says the cards are old and it doesn’t count.

A: They make pasta in the tiny kitchen and eat it from the pot, because they can’t find the plates.

A: Then they find the plates. They laugh again.

A: Later, they stop talking. They just sit and listen to the wind over the lake.

A: The fire is low now, orange and quiet.

A: “I can’t remember the last time I did nothing,” says Nora.

A: “Me neither,” says Eli. “I think I like it.”

A: A log breaks in the fireplace, and a few sparks fly up the chimney.

A: Nobody gets up to check the time. There is no clock in the room, and the phones are in the drawer.

A: On Saturday, they walk along the lake and find a little wooden bridge they missed in the photos.

A: That evening, they play cards again. This time Eli wins, and Nora says the cards must like him better today.

A: On Sunday morning, there is frost on the porch. They drink coffee in their coats. They watch the lake turn from gray to blue.

A: When they drive home, and their phones find a signal again, the messages come in, one after another.

A: Neither of them reads the messages until they get home.

Quiet repetition

A: Now a few quiet questions. Try them in your mind, or just listen if you prefer.

A: It belonged to Paul’s grandfather. Small, with log walls, at the top of a hill. What is it?

A: A cabin in the woods.

A: Tall and straight, very close together around the cabin. Paul can smell them when he opens the car door. What are they?

A: Pine trees.

A: At the top of the screen, Paul’s phone says something. What does it say?

A: No signal.

A: Newspaper, small sticks, bigger wood, and a match. What does Paul do first in the cold cabin?

A: He lights a fire.

A: Soft and quick, like someone quietly breaking small sticks. What does Paul hear?

A: The crackle of the fire.

A: Gray wool ones, knitted by his mother years ago. What does Paul put on?

A: Thick socks.

A: After a while, it starts to whisper, and then to sing. What is it?

A: A kettle on the stove.

A: It sounds like the sea, far away, high above the roof. What does Paul like to do?

A: He likes to listen to the wind.

A: The light moves on the pages, orange and gold. What does Paul like to do?

A: He likes to read by the fire.

A: On Saturday morning, everything is silver — the grass, the path, the roof of the car. What is it?

A: The first frost of the year.

A weekend in the woods, more slowly

A: Now the cabin again, very slowly. You don’t need to answer anything. Just listen.

A: At the end of a long road, there is a cabin in the woods.

A: All around it, there are pine trees, tall and straight.

A: You look at your phone. No signal.

A: You put it away.

A: Inside, it is cold. You light a fire in the old black stove.

A: A small flame climbs, and grows.

A: Soon you can hear the crackle of the fire.

A: You put on thick socks. The floor is cold, but you barely feel it.

A: There is a kettle on the stove. After a while, it begins to sing.

A: You hold a warm mug in both hands.

A: Outside, the wind moves through the pines, high above the roof.

A: You sit very still, and listen to the wind.

A: It comes, and goes, and comes again.

A: You take an old book from the shelf, and read by the fire.

A: The light moves on the pages, orange and gold.

A: In the morning, everything is silver. The first frost.

A: The pine trees are dark green, and completely still.

A: For a moment, there is nowhere you have to be.

Final phrases and goodbye

A: The ten phrases, one last time.

A: A cabin in the woods.

A: Pine trees.

A: The first frost.

A: To light a fire.

A: The crackle of the fire.

A: Thick socks.

A: A kettle on the stove.

A: No signal.

A: To listen to the wind.

A: To read by the fire.

A: That’s all for today. Thank you for listening.

A: If you’d like to practice these phrases later, the link is below.

A: Enjoy the rest of your day, or have a peaceful evening. Goodbye for now.