VESUVIUS COMES ALIVE

August 24, ad 79

The morning began very hot hotter than a normal August But
pompeli’s market traders did not notice this, and began up their stalls
in the forum.

A few curious citizens watched from under the shade of a a leaf tree.
A wealthy woman went past on a chair that was arried four
attendants.traders prepared themselbes for a day of good tools.
Favric, pottery, wool, bread, and honey were all arranged on carts for
sale.

The sallrs looked anxiously for buyers. They would soon be there. No
one noticed that the sun looked unsually hazy in the sky.

By ten o’clockm the market was busy and full of noise. Traders called
out their wares, and people wandered from stall to stall, buying,
asking and talking.

In the far corner of the square, an old man with a stoop busily added
his own note to Pompeli’s local ‘notice board’, a city wall.
There were no telephones or post then, and this was h0ow people in
Pompeii left massages for each other.

The man didn’t like the massages on the wall. He decded to let the
others know that.

He felt pleased now and turned away. Suddenly, his chisel slipped
and fell to the ground with a clatter. He was looking towards the
horizon in horror, and raised a limp finger to point at what he saw
before him. Someone brushed past him but he did not move. He
stood frozen with fear.

It was a long time before he moved. Then, he turned to the people.

“look ! the volcano is stirring!” he shouted.
Passers- by looked back over their shoulders to see what he was
pointing at. Gasps and nervous laughs filled the air. But no one
listened. They smiled to themselves and thought, “The gods are angry
again!” and they went back to whatever they were doing.

“ why aren’t they listening to me?” thought the man worriedly. Then
he knew why. The people of Pompeii were used to vesuvius
rumbling and spewing out smoke now and then. Only he
rememberedthe earthquake which took place a few months ago.
Only he now realized that the two events were somehow connected.

For a while, he stood watching the thin column of smoke which

came out o the top of Muount vesuvis. Then suddenly, he turned and
ran fearfully towards his house. As he ran, a flake of ash fell onhis
tunic, s gently of a flake of snow. He brushed it away. It left a dark
smear on the pale linen.

When he reached home at last, he found his wife sitting next to the
fountain in their garden. He pulled her roughly to her feet. “leave,”
he said, “ we must leave now! Get everything you can and let’s run!”

“but where ? “ she asked him in surprise.

“Away from that!” he shouted. She followed his finger. He was

pointing at Mount Vesuvis far behind them.

An hour later, they hurried down the street towards one of the city
gates. From one of the doorways, a woman called to her children to
come in.

“we’re taking shelter,” she told the old man and woman as thy passed
by. “With luck, we will be safe in the house,”

“No, you won’t be, no you won’t.

leave, leave with us shouted the old man. He always predicts treeible
happenings, people thought. Theis is one of them. And no one except
his wife believed thy would come true.

Kbut the others wre wrong.

As the hours went by, the column of smoke which streamed out of
the volcano grew stronger and larger. Then vesuvius began to
explode. Pumice stones rained down. The sky turned dark and the
earth shook.

But the people of Pompeii were used to quakes and tremors. All they
did was go indoors as they always did when Vesuvius rumbled.

They did not know then that they and their city would soon be
buried under sixty feet of ash and mud.

saubah hao ga[- pr bahut garmaI qaa. [tnaI

garmaI qaI kI laga rha qaa kI Agast ka mahInaa Aa
gayaa hao.pr paOmapIsa maarkoT ToDrsa yah
nahIM saaocaa qaa kI ]saka maarkoT baZ,
jaaegaa.
ekdma kma kaoiryasa doK rha qaa poD, maoM
jaao p%ta lagaa rhta hO hra Bara ]sako naIcao
doK rha qaa. ek maaoTI laD,kI ek kursaI maoM jaa
rhI qaI AaOr vaao kursaI kao caar laaoga pkD,o
huAa qaa. ekdma AcCa ibajanasa hao rha qaa
AaOr dUukanadar laaoga AcCa AcCa caIja, rKa
qaa. jaao jaUta caPpla baocata qaa vaao samaana
kao [satmaala kr rha qaa.fobairk PaOTrI vaula
baroD AaOr Sahd vaao saba saola maoM ibak rha
qaa.

jaao saola kr rha qaa vaao Apnao @saTmar kao

doKo jaa rha qaa.

ek AadmaI dusaro AadmaI kao maosaoja idAa.

tuma baaolaao saba kao[ saunao gaa.

vaao igar gayaa AaOr baaolaa kI hmakao ]za laao.

jaba dusara AadmaI ]sakao ]zanao Aayaa tao
vaao BaI igar gayaa. vaao laaoga daonaaoM ek
dusaro kao doKnao laga gae vaao samaJa gayaa
kI ]saka ilamp ]MgalaI maoM pyaaooM[MT ikyaa
huAa hO. iktnaa laaoga ]sakao barSa ikyaa pr
vaao naihM ]za. ]sakao jaba Dr lagaa tao hI vaao ]
za.

iktnaa dorI maoM vaao jaba ]za vaao doKnao

lagaa ik jvaala mauiK sao Qau^MAa inakla rha hO
vaao sabakao baaolaa kI Baagaao Aacaanak vaao
Apnao Gar gayaa jaba vaao igar gayaa qaa AOSa
maoM vaao caup caap sao barf ilaAa.

jaba vaao Gar gayaa vaao doKa ik maorI p%tnaI

fa]unaTona Kot maoM qaI. vaao ]sakao Zkolaa
AaOr ]sakao pOr maoM jaaor sao maara.

]sako baad vaao baaolaI @yaa huAa.

jaba vaao baaolaI @yaa huAa vaao icallaa kr
baaolaa maora ]MgalaI doKao.

GaMTo baad vaao ]sakao raoD maoM lao gayaa.

jaba vaao raoD maoM Aa[- vaao baala hma

tumakao SaolaTr ko baro maoM bata rho qao
laD,kI
calao ga[- Agar hmalaaoga ka iksmat saaqa idAa
tao hma laaoga baca jae gao.

nahIM tuma mat jaaAao tuma hmalaaoga ko

saaqa $k jaaAao bauD,a icallaaya yao baar baar
QauAa inakalata hO laaoga saaocao. yah ek
maoM sao ek hO.

pr dusaro galat qao.

jaba GaMTa huAa tao jvaalaa mauiK fT gayaa.

Q-4 Answer these question

1. Why was the sun hazy in the sky?

Ans The sun was hazy in the sky because of the smoke
coming out of the volcano and because of the terrible heat.
2. How did the old man know that the volcano was going to
erupt?
Ans The old man knew that the volcano was going to erupt
because he remembered the earthquake which took place a
few months ago. And new he realized that two events were
some how connected.
3. The old man shouted to his wife and pulled her roughly
to her feet. Why din’t he speak to her more gently?
Ans The old man shouted to his wife and pulled her roughly
to her feet. He did’nt speak to her more gently because he
knew that the volcano would erupt in a moments and they
had very little time to leave the place.