SS The Bridge on the Drina Here, where the Drina flows with the whole force of its green and foaming waters, stands a great clean-cut stone bridge with eleven wide arches. From the bridge spreads the valley with the little oriental town of Visegrad and all its surroundings. This great stone bridge, a rare st- ructure of unique beauty, was the one real and permanent crossing in the whole mid- dle and upper course of the Drina and a link on the road between Bosnia and Ser- bia and further, beyond Serbia, with ot- her parts of the Turkish Empire. ‘The bridge was about two hundred and fifty paces long and about ten pa- ces wide. In the middle it widened out into two completely equal tetraces. This was the part of the bridge known as the ”kapia”. The terrace on the right as one came from the town was called the ” sofa”. It was raised by two steps and bordered by benches. There was a plaque of white marble with a Turkish inscription which told the name of the man who built the bridge and the year in which it was built. Near the foot of this stone was a fountain, a thin stream of water flowing from the mouth of a stone snake. On the bridge and its kapia flowed and developed the life of the townsmen Indeed on the bridge over the Drina were the first steps of childhood and the first games of boyhood. Taken from ”The Bridge on the Drina” by Ivo Andric (translated by Lovett F. Edwards) Ivo Andric (1892 - 1975) was born near Travnik. He atten primary school in Visegrad and secondary school in Sarajevo. He studied literature and history in Zagreb, Vienna, Krakaw and Gratz. Most of his books are about Bosnia and Bosnians. His most important works are THE BOSNIAN STORY, THE BRIDGE ON THE DRINA, MISS. In 1961 he received the Nobel Prize for literature. .COMPREHENSION: I I Ask and answer. . Where is Visegrad situated? . What is the bridge on the Drina made of? . How many arches does the bridge have? . Which part of the bridge is known as the ”kapia”? Which terrace was called the ”sofa”? What was written on the plaque? . Where was the fountain? . What did the bridge link? . What did the bridge mean to the people of Visegrad? OBI SMR Which words in the text mean the opposite of the following: narrow upper short left near big villager thick ugliness Ill Answer the following questions by making a choice. 1. Was the bridge made of wood or stone? 2, Did the bridge link Bosnia with the east or the west? 3, Were the arches narrow or wide? 4, Was the plaque made of metal or of marble? 5. Was the ”kapia” in the middle of the bridge or at the beginning? SPEAKING PRACTICE: I 112 Work in pairs — Ask your friend: ~ if he has read any novel by Ivo Andri¢ — how he/she liked it ~ what it is about — when and where the story takes place — if he would recommend the novel to you Describe in a few sentences one of the bridges in your town. If there are no bridges in your town, describe one of these: Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco ‘Tower Bridge in London