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.

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