After his swim, Pablo decided that he was going to sit down and do some writing.
And when he sat down, he suddenly remembered that he had a dream the other night about a boat, and the boat was made from wooden spoons.
Why would a boat be made of wooden spoons?
That was an interesting idea. They must have been all glued together because the boat was bobbing along quite well in the water, and there was a small crew of sailors sitting in the boat having a lively chat.
What were they talking about? He wondered.
He hadn't remembered that part of the dream.
Was the discussion about coming to land or whether they had just left a big sailing boat and were heading out somewhere, or whether they were heading for land.
Not heading for the Li Galli Islands, he hoped—where enchanting songs lure passing sailors.
No, perhaps they were going to the land of the Wooden Spoons,
where they grew trees for the Wooden Spoons.
He wondered where the wooden spoon first came from.
He only had a few wooden spoons, two or three, and each one of them he loved dearly.
One of his wooden spoons had been given to him by a friend when she returned from somewhere far away, a small country he had never heard of.
Another one was given to him by the woman who lived upstairs—the old woman who sometimes reads the cards. That spoon had a great big wide head and was made from a very beautiful dark timber.
And the other one, he couldn't quite remember where that one came from.
That one he thought he picked up at a store that was closing down that was selling pots and all kinds of things, and they had lots of beautiful Chinese woks and other things.
He could afford just one wooden spoon on his way home, and that one was very long and thin and made of very light white timber.
Learn English with Cullen is an Australian podcast that has been recognised at the Australian Podcast Awards and listened to around the world for many years.
The episodes use short, calm listening exercises and original stories — including the ongoing Pablo series — to help learners develop natural English thinking.
With over 175 episodes available on Apple Podcasts and other major platforms, this work continues quietly, one small piece at a time.
