i vividly recall my first visit, as a boy of twelve, to a big town. i had hardly been outside the confines (边缘) of the village where i was born and i had met and talked to no more than a few hundred people; but those few hundred i knew very well.
of course we did sometimes see a strange face, but visitors from the outside world, whose coming always aroused great excitement, were few and far between (稀少). wh
