Cuento de nivel A2 a B1 - La Campanera.

When Pilar rang the bells in the church of Santa María in the village of Arcos, she could see the people in the square 1, (below / under) . During the summer months, there were always a lot of people especially 2, at / on twelve o’clock, midday. They looked up at the church bell-tower and talked and pointed but they could not see her. The window was too small and too high. Pilar was a tourist attraction. Perhaps it was truer to say Pilar’s bell-ringing was a tourist attraction because the tourists rarely saw Pilar. But 3, everybody / anybody knew about Pilar. They knew she was deaf.

Occasionally, the tourists tried to see her. The priest or one of the choirboys sometimes left the door of the sacristy open. From the sacristy a curious tourist could open the door of the bell-tower and climb the stairs to the 4, top / bottom . That was where Pilar lived and spent the days of her 5, life / live . When she felt the vibration of somebody climbing the wooden stairs, she ran to the door at the top of the stairs and locked it with a large heavy key. But sometimes she did not detect their footsteps or she thought it was Mrs Sanchez, 6, that / who came once a week to check her wall clock was right. Then the tourists came in and 7, took / made her photo. They smiled and 8, told / said things. But Pilar could not hear them. She did not smile. She covered her face and looked away.

Pilar rang the bells in Santa María every hour from eight o’clock in the morning 9, at / to six o’clock in the evening. Her great grandmother started the family tradition of bell-ringing. She 10, usually / used to ring the bells in the clock tower to pay the rent for the small apartment at the top of the tower. Her grandmother followed in the tradition and then Pilar’s mother. When her mother died, Pilar became responsible for telling everybody the time in Arcos by the clock bells.

But Pilar was different. The previous bell-ringers in her family used to rest at weekends and the bells were silent. But Pilar stayed in her tower 11, every day / all the days . She never forgot to ring the bells of the village church clock every hour and on the hour, seven days a week. And she never forgot to pull the bell rope the right number of times; eight times at eight o’clock, nine times at nine o’clock… Pilar never heard the bells but she felt them though the ropes in her hands. After six o’clock, Pilar could go out and buy her food at the grocery shop 12, near / near of the village square. Then she came home and cooked her dinner.

Once, the mayor and the councillors from the village hall came to see Pilar. They explained she did not need to ring the bells if she did not 13, want to / want . Pilar found what they said very difficult to understand. So, they showed her a picture of a church clock with an electric motor. The bells would ring automatically. They would not need a bell-ringer. Pilar 14, shook / nodded her head and cried. What would happen if she did not ring the bells? What would the people think of her? The mayor and the councillors sighed and left. That happened many years ago. Few people visited Pilar now. She had 15, no / any friends.