Greece (Hellas) Two - Text
Although born in Sydney, Australia in 1968, this speaker has lived in Greece since the age of 5. He moved back to Australia in 1995, so he is probably classified as a speaker from a non-English speaking background. His tune is probably more "Australian" than Greek but he has certain speech characteristics which would classify him as a second language speaker. At the time of this recording by Geraldine Cook in November 2002, the subject was completing a postgraduate course in the School of Drama at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne. Edited by Paul Meier December 15, 2003. Running time 00:04:42.
Transcription of Unscripted Speech
I'll tell you a little story of the possessed man. When I was 11 years old, I went with my father to spend...Easter uh, ceremonies and the Easter break in a Greek monastery near the town where I grew up. It was Friday, and we entered the monastery about 7 a.m. for the morning uh, mass. There were rumors in the monastery that a man will come uh to--to admin--uh, to partake in the ceremony that was uh, possessed by spirits. As we were all gathered in the church, and the ceremony had started, this man came in, uh, accompanied by 2 other men, who were just standing behind him. When he entered the monastery--the--when he entered the temple of the monastery, he starts screaming abuse towards the priest and the nuns that were there. And suddenly he started becoming very violent. People at that moment started running outside ah--outside of the temple in terror. As he was--he started smashing candelabras and kicking chairs really, really violently. I remember my father and 4 other men trying to subdue him, and it was really impossible. I remember they, pushed him down on the floor, 5 strong men holding him, and he, with just a shrug, threw him all the way, and then the deep voice started cursing the, the--cursing the priest. At that time, while he was kind of spinning violently, his whole body levitated for a few seconds in the air. I remember that very clearly, even today. After that was happening, uh, the head man run and brought a very old cross from the monastery and put it on his chest. The man immediately fell down on the floor, and he was subdued. After that, he kind of like, woken up from a deep sleep, and walked out of the monastery.
Unscripted Speech Transcribed by Faith Harvey 19 March 2008