A legend from the coast, just as my grandmother tells it.
In Sorrigán, when a child turns seven, they go down to the breakwater with their family and throw a small piece of metal into the sea: a button, a nail, an old key. My grandmother says it’s so that the bell gets to know them. And this is the story she tells.
A long time ago, the village wanted a bell to warn of storms. As there was no money to buy bronze, every villager handed over something made of metal: rings, thimbles, horseshoes, buckles. Martín, a boy who had nothing else, gave the key to his father’s boat; the sea had taken his father the winter before. Only the lord of the tower, who lived on the other side of the bay, gave nothing. “When it’s made,” he said, “it will be mine.”
Aldara, the bell-founder, worked for three days and three nights. When she had finished, she said: “This bell will only sing for those who put something of themselves into it.”
The lord, who boasted that he could hear a falcon three miles away, laughed. A week later, his men carried the bell off on a barge to hang it in his tower. Halfway across the bay a storm broke and the barge sank with its cargo. The men swam to safety; the bell stayed on the seabed.
Ever since, before every storm, the villagers hear the bell tolling beneath the water, and nobody goes out to fish. One autumn, with the sky still clear, the lord mocked the fishermen who were tying up their boats and went out fishing alone.
That night, Martín, now a young man, heard the bell louder than ever. He ran to the breakwater with a lantern, and what he saw on the horizon was a tiny boat struggling against the waves.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
Why did the lord go out fishing on the day of the storm? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) Because he was a bit deaf and didn’t hear the bell.
- ✓b) Because the bell didn’t sing for him, so he didn’t know the storm was coming.
- c) Because he wanted to recover the bell from the bottom of the bay.
- d) Because the bell didn’t ring that day.
Which rule of the legend explains it? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
Correct hypothesis: b). That’s it: the bell rang, but he couldn’t hear it.
Key clue: “Aldara said it would only sing for those who put something of themselves into it, and he was the only one who gave nothing.” That’s the rule of the legend, and it also explains why the children throw metal into the sea.
2 The Loom Order of events
Grandmother starts with the present. Put the legend in order from the beginning. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- 4 The lord goes out fishing alone under a clear sky.
- 3 The lord’s barge sinks with the bell.
- 1 The villagers hand over their metal objects.
- 6 The children of Sorrigán throw metal into the sea when they turn seven.
- 5 Martín runs to the breakwater with a lantern.
- 2 Aldara announces who the bell will sing for.
Correct order:
- The villagers hand over their metal objects.
- Aldara announces who the bell will sing for.
- The lord’s barge sinks with the bell.
- The lord goes out fishing alone under a clear sky.
- Martín runs to the breakwater with a lantern.
- The children of Sorrigán throw metal into the sea when they turn seven.
The children’s custom is told first, but it belongs to the present: the legend explains where it comes from. The first thing was handing over the metal; the last thing before today, the night Martín runs to the breakwater.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
Which ending fits the legend? Tick only one option.
- ✓a) Martín warns the fishermen, who rescue the lord. The next day, the lord throws his gold ring into the sea.
- b) The lord hears the bell in time and gets back to port before the storm.
- c) In the end the storm never comes: the bell had got it wrong.
- d) Martín dives down, rescues the bell and they hang it in the village church.
Answer: a). It fits the rules: throwing metal into the sea is the way to “put something of yourself” into a bell that’s already under the water.
- b) The bell doesn’t sing for him: he put nothing of himself into it.
- c) Martín sees the boat “struggling against the waves”: the storm had already arrived.
- d) If the bell were in the church, today’s custom of throwing metal into the sea wouldn’t make sense. It’s still at the bottom.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three statements don’t fit the legend. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- a) Every villager except the lord handed over something made of metal.Only the lord gave nothing.
- b) The bell sank on its way to the lord’s tower.Halfway across the bay.
- ✗c) The lord had very poor hearing.He boasted that he could hear a falcon three miles away.
- ✗d) The bell rings after every storm.It rings before: that’s why it works as a warning.
- e) Martín handed over the key to his father’s boat.It was all he had.
- ✗f) Aldara kept the bell for herself.The lord’s men took it away on a barge.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which illustration shows what Martín saw from the breakwater that night?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.
What should appear: A storm, a tiny boat with just one person on board, the bell ringing under the water and Martín with his lantern.
Reward drawings that include the details from the text, not artistic skill.
Ending
To read aloud once the answers have been checked.
Martín woke the fishermen and, although the sea was roaring, they set out in two boats, following the light of his lantern. They rescued the lord just as his boat was taking on water.
They say that when he set foot on land, shivering, he asked how they had known the storm was coming when the sky was clear. Martín simply answered: “The bell.”
The next morning, the lord went down to the breakwater and threw his gold ring into the sea. Nobody knows whether the bell ever sang for him. But since then, every child in Sorrigán throws in their piece of metal. Just in case.
Suggested marking
Each activity is worth 2 points (10 in total). In 1, one point for the hypothesis and one for the clue. In 2, give one point if only a couple of events are swapped. In 4, half a point for each correct cross and minus half a point for each true statement crossed out.