The Adventures in a Banyan Tree_Part 4

 Summary _ Part4

The grandfather was happy to hear that the mongoose had won the fight . He had encouraged the mongoose to live in the garden to keep the snakes away. He fed it regularly with scraps from the kitchen. He knew that a wild mongoose was more useful. He often saw the mongoose going round the garden. He knew that his grandmother would forgive it for stealing eggs from poultry house as it kept snakes away from the house.

The banyan tree was also the setting for a strange affair between a grey squirrel and a white rat. The white rat was bought from the market by grandfather. One day the boy discovered three white baby squirrels in a nest in the banyan tree. Grandfather told the boy that the white rat must be the father.

Glossary

straw - dry grass

 glinting - shining

crammed – completely filled, stuffed 

offspring-young ones 

scrap-  pieces of food left over after use.

tame - domesticate  .

Scaffolding Questions:

15. What prevented Grandfather from taming the mongoose?

    

     The grandfather knew that a wild mongoose was better than

 a domesticated one .

16. Why would grandmother forgive the mongoose for stealing the  eggs?

    

    The grandmother would forgive the mongoose for stealing the eggs

 because it kept snakes  away from the house. 

17. Who was the new friend of the squirrel? How did they enjoy their  friendship?

    

     The white rat was the new friend of the squirrel. They would go off 

together on little  excursions among the branches.

18. How did the boy come to know that the squirrel was building  a nest?

    One day the boy found some straw and grass falling out from his pockets. 

Then he came  to know that the squirrel was building a nest.

19. What was the wonder, that nature had kept for them in the nest?

   

  Three white baby squirrels for the grey squirrel.

----------------------------

Thank you

*******************************************************************

The Adventures in a Banyan Tree_Part 3

Summary _Part 3 ( 12-19)

The moment the cobra struck the mangoose, the crow and the myna flew towards the snake and mangoose. But they collided with each other twice and making a sharp cry, they returned to the cactus plant.The cobra struck again and missed the object.

The third round was different. The birds dived at the cobra, but they missed their aim. The myna went back but the crow flew towards the snake. The cobra whipped his head back and struck the crow with great force and it died soon.

The cobra was weakening but the mongoose continued his attack. He raised himself on his short legs and picked the cobra by its nose. The cobra  even coiled around the mongoose but all in vain. The mongoose hung grimly on, until the cobra had ceased struggling. The mongoose gripped around the hood and dragged it into the bushes. The myna, with a shrill cry of congratulation, flew away.

The boy  also got down from the tree and told the grandfather about the fight he had seen. The grandfather was happy to hear that the mongoose had won the fight . He had encouraged the mongoose to live in the garden to keep away the snakes.  He fed it regularly with scraps from the kitchen. He knew that a wild mongoose was more useful. He often saw the mongoose going round the garden. He knew that his grandmother would forgive it for stealing eggs from poultry hose as it  kept snakes away from the house.

Glossary

hurl - to throw with great force

collide -  crash into

shriek - sharp cry

glisten - to shine brightly 

sprang - jumped

bumped- smashed; hit

determined - having taken a strong decision 

Take part: participate

whipped - (here) hit or smashed forcefully

snout - the long nose of an animal 

thud - strike with a dull sound

flung - (fling, flung, flung)-  thrown

flutter - flap the winigs ( ചിറകടിക്കുക)

refrained - held back 

writhe - to twist the body in pain (വേദനകൊണ്ടു പുളയുക)

no avail – no use

quivering - trembling (വിറയ്‌ക്കുന്ന)

gripipng  - holding tightly

cautiously - carefully

hopped - jumped

peered – looked

descent - an act of moving downwards

scrap - (here) small pieces of food left over after use.

Tame- domesticate (ഇണക്കി വളർത്തുക)

patrol - go round 

Scaffolding Questions;

1. How did the cobra regard his opponent? Were they true warriors?

(The cobra regarded his opponent as a superb fighter, clever and aggressive. Yes, they were true

warriors.)

2. How did the mongoose manage to escape from the snake's bite?

(The thickness of the mongoose’ hair helped it to save itself from the snake’s bite.)

3. What did the crow and myna do?

(The crow and myna hurled themselves at the snake.)4. The cobra was a good fighter. Pick out one of his fighting techniques.

(The cobra stood on the defensive, swaying slowly from side to side. It was trying to mesmerize his opponent into making a false move.)

5. The mongoose proved that he was clever. Can you cite any instance of his cleverness?

(The mangoose knew the power of glassy unwinking eyes of the cobra . So he fixed his gaze below

the cobra's hood. Then it began the attack.)

6. What were the reactions of the spectators when the cobra struck?

(The spectators- the myna and the crow- hurled themselves at the cobra and collided heavily in

mid-air , returned to the cactus plant.)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Thank you All

***************************************************************

The Adventures in a Banyan Tree _ Notes 2

 The Adventures in a Banyan Tree

- Ruskin Bond

Summary of Part II ( Paragraphs 6to 11)

 Usually when the boy was in the banyan tree nothing exciting happened. But on that particular afternoon , there was an exciting event that lasted for a long time.He saw a mangoose and a cobra fight to death in the garden as he was sitting in the tree.

It was  an April afternoon. The warm breezes had kept everyone indoors, including Grandfather .He was feeling sleepy and was thinking of going to the pond behind the house for a swim . Soon he saw a black cobra coming out of a group of cactus looking for some cooler place in the garden. At the same time a mongoose  came out from the bushes and went straight for the cobra. They came face to face.Both of them were skilful fighters, clever and aggressive. 

    The cobra raised his body and spread his spectacled hood. He attacked the mongoose. The mongoose bushed his tail. The long hair on his spine stood up .The thickness of his hair  had saved him from fatal bites. Besides the boy, a myna and a jungle crow also were watching the battle. They had settled  on the cactus to watch the outcome.

    The cobra swayed slowly from side to side, trying to mesmerize the mongoose into marking a false move. But the mongoose knew the power of cobra's glassy eyes. So he did not look at them. He was looking at a point just below the cobra’s hood. It was a battle of champions.

Glossary .Part 2.

That was the time .......................... again out of reach.

mongoose – കീരി

approaching - coming near

drowsy - feeling sleepy

gliding --to move smoothly

clump - cluster or group of trees.

catctus -കളളിച്ചെടി

emerge -come out of

superb -  excellent

agressive - quarrelsome(ആക്രമണ സൗഭവമുള്ള)

fang - സര്‍പ്പത്തിന്റെ വിഷപ്പല്ല്‌ 

venom - poison

defiance - challenge to fight 

mesmerizing - hypnotising (മയക്കുക)

dart - move very quickly

bushed (v) - (here) spread out and made like a bush വിടര്‍ത്തുക

hood - പാമ്പിന്റെ പത്തി

spine - back bone

fatal - deadly (മാരകമായ)

combatants - fighters 

spectators - on- lookers

wily - cunning

content - satisfied 

defensive - self protective 

swaying -  moving back and forth

opponent -എതിരാളി

Activity 1

Possible Questions.

1. What was the incident that triggered a long lasting excitement for the boy in summer?

2. How did the cobra regard his opponent? Were they true warriors?

3. How did the mongoose manage to escape the from the snake’s bite?

4. Identify the word used for describing the snake’s tongue.

5.Why was the cobra swaying slowly from side to side?

Activity 2.

Watching the nature around us is really interesting. Each and every living being

has its own characteristics. The boy in the story narrates certain features of a few animals. List them out.

The Squirrel

The squirrel was very young. It was small and grey in colour. At first it was Indifferent to me. Later it  found that the boy was not harmful and it became very friendly with him. It trusted the boy and even took food from his hands.

The Snake

It was a huge black cobra gliding out of a clump of cactus. The cobra was skilful and experienced fighter . It could move swiftly and strike with the speed of light. The sacs behind his long, sharp fangs were full of deadly

venom. Cobra knew well that the grey mongoose was a superb fighter, clever and aggressive.

The Mongoose

The mongoose was grey in colour and three feet long. It was a superb fighter, clever and aggressive. It had a bushy tail. It bushed it tail to resist the attack from the cobra.The long hair on his spine was thick enough to save him from fatal bites.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you

Unit 1_The Adventures in a Banyan Tree

 

Lesson 1

Adventures in a Banyan Tree

- Ruskin Bond

The Adventures in a Banyan Tree’ is a beautiful short story. It is written by Ruskin Bond, an Indian author of British origin. In this story we see a single banyan tree creating much beauty and harmony. The author tells that we should preserve nature to make this world a beautiful place.

About the Author

Ruskin Bond

The famous Indian author Ruskin Bond was born on 19 may 1934 at Kasauli,

Himachal Pradesh, in India. He is famous as a novelist and short story writer. His

notable works are ‘The Room on the Roof’, ‘The Angry River’ and our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. Ruskin Bond won the Sahithya Akadami Award in 1992, Padma Shri in 1999 and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Ruskin Bond now lives in Mussoorie.

Summary of Part 1 ( Paragraphs 1 to 5)

When the author was a boy, he used to enjoy his vacations in his grandfather’s house in Dehradun. It was at the foot of the Himalayas. There was an old, magnificent banyan tree in the garden. He used to spend most of his leisure time in that tree. His Grandfather was very old. So he could not climb the tree. Thus the tree became the boy’s domain. 

       In the tree the boy be-friended a young grey squirrel. He didn’t harm it. So it became friendly with him.When the boy started giving him pieces of cake and biscuits, it became  more courageous to take food from his hand. Its friends and relatives thought that the squirrel was foolish for trusting a human.

       In the spring, when the banyan tree was full of red fruits, all kinds of birds would flock into the branches. During that season the banyan tree was the noisiest place on the road. The boy had built a platform halfway up the tree to spend the afternoons when it was not too hot . There he used to read books and watch the surroundings.He could see grandmother hanging up or taking down the washing, the cook quarreling with the fruit seller or grandfather complaining that the  Indian marigold growing up all over his English garden.

Glossary

Part I

Though the house....................... last me through the summer.

domain - lands owned by a particular person.(സാമ്രാജ്യം)

magnificent – splendid, beautiful

tease - to make angry with funny remarks

maze -complex system of paths (അനേകം ചുറ്റുകളുള്ള വഴി)

nestle- to be located in a safe position

sniffing- sensing a smell by inhaling through the nose( മണം പിടിക്കുക)

resent - to feel bitter about (ഇഷ്ടക്കേടുതോന്നുക)

invasion - encroachment /entry without consent ( കടന്നുകയറ്റം)

catapult - a Y-shaped stick with elastic between the arms (കവണ)

delve - to search thoroughly

headstrong - self-willed

fig – the soft sweet fruit

flock - a group of birds

gossip - an idle talk

rosy pastors -a bird

squabbling - quarrelling

prop -to support

bole - the main stem of a tree

fruit vendor – fruit seller

grumbling – complaining/murmuring

hardy - strong

Possible Questions from Part 1.

Activity 1

1. What gave the boy endless pleasure?

2. Who was the boy’s first friend?

3. Why was the squirrel not happy with the boy at first ?

4. How did the author try to make friend with the squirrel?

5. Identify the word from the passage which means ‘dislike’.

6. Why does the boy say that the banyan tree was the noisiest place ?

7. Name the birds that would flock into the banyan tree during the fig season.

8. Where would the boy like to spend his afternoons?

9. Name the books that made up the boy’s bag for mixed reading.

Activity 2

The boy was very much thrilled by his acquaintance with the squirrel. He writes a letter to his friend telling him about his new friend. Help him to complete the letter. (Refer Course book ,page 16).

Possible answer.

Ivy Cottage,

Dehradun.

28 April 1997.

Dear Sravan, 

     Hope you are fine and enjoying your vacation there. I am doing the same here, at grandpa’s house.By the way, I have got a new friend here, a grey squirrel. At first it was resent my presence. When he confirmed that I was not harmful, it became my friend. I gave him pieces of cakes and biscuits. He is a very young squirrel. He is very playful. I am very happy in his company. I wish, you also could enjoy it. 

      Hope all of you are keeping fine there. Convey my regards to uncle and aunty.

Yours lovingly,

sd/-

Ruskin

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you.