Q1 of 19 Page 16

Imagine you are king. Narrate the incident of your meeting the hermit. Begin like this :

The wise men answered my questions, but I was not satisfied with their answers. One day I decided to go and meet the hermit, famous of his wisdom, in the forest. I put on plain clothes to the hermitage and left the horse with the bodyguard at some distance from the hut. Walking towards the hermitage, I found the wise man digging flower beds. He was old, weak and looked tired, taking deep breaths as he laboured. I went up to meet him and asked him the three questions — what is the right time to do something, who’re the people I needed most and what is the most important thing that I should do. The hermit listened in silence and went on digging. Pitying the old man, I decided to do the digging myself and let him rest. After digging two beds, I repeated my questions but the hermit did not answer and I was ready to take a disappointed leave. Just then a bearded man, bleeding profusely, came running towards us. We washed the wound and I did the dressing until he stopped bleeding, taking him inside to rest. Being tired for the day’s work I too fell asleep. Next day, I discovered that the wounded man that in fact planned on killing me. Humbled with the care I had take of him, he sincerely asked for my forgiveness and was glad to forgive him. Ready to take my leave, I asked the hermit one last time to answer my questions and was told that I know the answer already — ‘Now’ is the most important time, the person one is with at the moment is the most important person and to do that man good is one’s most important duty. After deeply considering his answer, I was satisfied and took his leave.


More from this chapter

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1

Match items in list A with their meanings in list B.



































A



B



(i) wounded



got up from sleep



(ii) awoke



give back



(iii) forgive



small patched of ground for plants



(iv) faithful



severely injured



(v) pity



pardon



(vi) beds



loyal



(vii) return



to feel sorry for



Use any three of the above words in sentences of your own. You may change the form of the word.

2

Each of the following sentences has two blanks. Fill in the blanks with appropriate forms of the word given in brackets.

Example : He has promised to help me. Do you think he will remember his promise? (Promise)


(i) The _______ said that only fresh evidence would make him change his _______? (judge)


(ii) I didn’t notice any serious _______ of opinion among the debaters, although they _______ from one another over small points. (differ)


(iii) It’s a fairly simple question to _______, but will you accept my _______ as final? (answer)


(iv) It isn’t _______ that _______ should always be the mother of invention. (necessary)


(v) Hermits are _______ men. How they acquire their _______, no one can tell. (wise)


(vi) The committee had _______ to make Jagdish captain of the team. The _______ is likely to please everyone. (decide)


(vii) Asking for _______ is as noble as willingness to _______. (forgive)

2

Imagine you are the hermit. Write briefly the incident of your meeting the king. Begin like this :

1

Why does the poet say the squirrel “wore a question mark for tail”? Draw a squirrel, or find a picture of a squirrel sitting on the ground. How would you describe its tail?