The tree in Burgenland/Austria which stopped Hans Kratky's kite!
Strings
in the Wind - a story of an unusual kite!
This
story took place more than five years ago, but, for Hans Kratky it
was if it was only yesterday. It was the day that his kite
sailed away on the back of the wind – and with it -
something he didn't want to lose!
It
was a fresh January Austrian day. Hans was in his garage playing with
his brand new video camera which his wife had given him for Christmas
when he had an idea. And, it was a very good idea. And so, straight
after his typical Austrian country lunch of Wiener schnitzel, he
got going. And, three days later, there it was. In the middle
of his garage stood an amazing giant red kite, and, all Hans
had to do before releasing it to the winds was to attach his brand
new video camera. And that was only a matter of moments.
Now,
all was ready for launching. Han's idea of making a bird's
eye view film of his house was about to come true. And so, into the
field next door went Hans, his wife and one or two friends with the
red giant camera carrying kite! The count-down began.
And,
the take-off was perfect! Up into the sky went the kite, and
there it danced and swayed and did what kites generally do,
and, as Hans pulled the strings he was happy. His film, he was sure,
would be a success. But, then came the wind!
The
gust was so strong and so sudden that it took the strings
right out of his hands! There was nothing he could do except sadly
look-on as his kite and his camera flew away on the wind into the
bright blue cold winter sky. And, what was his wife thinking? The
camera, after all, had cost her very much money!
But,
all's well that ends well, and the kite soon found itself tangled
up in a tree with the camera still shooting as if nothing had
happened. All was not lost. And, that very same evening, Hans, his
wife, and their friends sat down to enjoy Hans's unforgettable film
making wonder. And, the surprises weren't long in coming!
The
beginning of the film was perfect. There were the wonderful graceful
pictures as the kite got higher and higher, and the views of the
surrounding countryside were impressive, and the images of
Hans's house were really amazing. All, so-far, incredibly good and
all according to plan. But, then came the gust, and there on
the screen were the aerial divings and swingings and tossings
and turnings being taken from Hans's out of control home made
beautiful giant red kite. But, the best was to come at the end. It
was a finale fit for an Oscar, and, it all took place in the tree
which was holding the kite!
Instead
of coming up from the ground to rescue his camera and kite,
Hans, instead, came down – headfirst - from the top! The camera,
still filming, was hanging upside-down in the tree, and
everything was back-to-front, upside-down, and the wrong way
round! And, so brilliant was this ending, that Petra, Hans's wife,
still believes - to this very day – and surprisingly so - that the
whole thing was a carefully planned and well carried out bit of film
making! Hans, not just a camera man with a future, but also a
genius with an eye for the very best shot!
Luck,
she still firmly believes, had no part to play!
You
can find more texts to listen to on my podcast, najvienna
Vocabulary
according
– laut
after
all – immerhin
back-to-front
– verkehrt
amazing
– erstaunlich
giant
– riesig
got
going - (to get going/got going/got going) – anfangen
graceful
– graziös
gust
– Windstoß/Bö
impressive
– beeindruckend
kite – Drachen
launching – abschießen
lose – (to lose/lost/Lost) – verlieren
rescue – (to rescue/rescued/rescued) –
retten
sailed (to sail/sailed/sailed) – segelt
shot – Bild
straight after – direkt
nach . ..
swayed – (to sway/swayed/swayed) ) -
schwanken
take off, the – Abflug
tangled – (to
tangle/tangled/tangled)
- eingewickelt
tossings – wälzen
upside-down – verkehrt
