Unit 1

Chapter 1 - ADVENTURES IN A BANYAN TREE

Describe the cobra in the story "Adventures in a Banyan Tree".

The cobra in the story "Adventures in a Banyan Tree" by Ruskin Bond is huge and black in colour. It is a poisonous one. The sacs behind its long, sharp fangs are full of deadly venom. He can move swiftly and strike with the speed of light. Its forked tongue darted in and out. It swayed slowly from side to side and tried to mesmerize the mongoose. Even though it fights bravely with its opponent it doesn't succeed.

Describe the mongoose in the story "Adventures in a Banyan Tree "

The mongoose is a small one compared to the cobra. It is three feet long and grey in colour. But it is a superb fighter, clever and aggressive. It refused to meet the glassy unwinking eyes of the snake. At the end of the fight it aggressively wins the battle.

Activity 4

Narrate the fight scene in your own words

The boy was sitting on the platform half way up the tree. He saw a small mongoose and a huge black cobra fighting to death beneath the banyan tree. Both of them were skilful fighters. At first the cobra struck. But the mongoose avoided it and bit the snake on the back. In its turn the cobra darted away out of reach.

The cobra struck again and missed the object. When the cobra was weakening, the mongoose vigorously took it by the snout. The cobra writhed and lashed

about in a frightening manner. It even coiled itself about the mongoose but all in vain. The mongoose hung grimly on, until the snake had ceased to struggle. It then smelt it and gripped around the hood and dragged it into the bushes.

Besides the boy, there were two other spectators, a myna and a crow. They tried to intervene in the fight which led to the death of the crow. The myna wisely refrained from interfering again.

ACTIVITY -5

DIARY

8th July 2006 Saturday.

What a surprise ! How could we believe our eyes! White baby squirrels! We had never seen white squirrels before. Gazed at them in wonder. We were puzzled too. But Grandad assured that the White rat must be the father.White offsprings for Grey squirrel ! What a great amazement ! Nature may have more wonders in stock for us.

NARRATIVE

The squirrel became a good friend of the small boy. It was not afraid even to take food from his hands. The boy built a small platform half way up the banyan tree and started to spend his leisure time in the afternoons in reading. One day while he was sitting on the tree he came to see a fight between a cobra and a mongoose. A crow and a myna were the spectators of the fight. When the cobra struck, both the crow and the myna hurled themselves at him and collided heavily in mid- air. At the end of the fight the mongoose won and dragged the cobra into a bush by holding its hood.

Then one day grandfather brought a white rat from the bazar and it became a friend of the squirrel in the tree. One day the boy understood that the squirrel was trying to make a nest for the birth of its babies. To his surprise, one day, when he looked in the nest of the squirrel , he could see three white baby squirrels. It was the first time that he saw white squirrels.

Character- sketch of Grandfather

Grandfather is the eldest member of the family. He is sixty five. Yet he is active and vigorous. He loves his grandson very much. He is happy at the victory of the mongoose in the single combat. He encourages the mongoose to live in the garden. Because it would keep the snakes away. He is a man of wisdom. He has never tried to tame the mongoose because he knows that a wild mongoose is more useful than a domesticated one. When he sees the little baby- squirrels he is astonished and tells that the white rat must be the father. He knows that rats and squirrels are related to each other. He is also a lover of nature like the boy in the story.

DEGREES OF COMPARISON

1, Rama's mango is sweet.

2, Hari's mango is sweeter than Rama's.

3, Govind's mango is the sweetest of all.

Adjectives change in form to show comparison. They are called the three Degrees of Comparison.

The adjective 'sweet' is said to be in the Positive Degree.

The adjective 'sweeter' is said to be in the Comparative Degree.

The adjective 'sweetest' is said to be in the Superlative Degree.

The positive degree of an adjective is used when no comparison is made.

Eg: No other metal is so useful as iron.

The comparative degree is used when two things are compared.

Eg: Iron is more useful than all other metals.

The superlative degree is used when more than two things are compared.

Eg: Iron is the most useful metal.

Chapter 2 - THE SNAKE AND THE MIRROR

Activity 3, page no 29

Basheer was a humanist who considered other creatures on the earth as his fellow beings. He thought that all beings on the earth has the same right as human beings to live and survive. The co- existence of man and other beings was his doctrine.

This story also shows his concern towards creatures in a humorous way. The homeopath shares his room with the rats. He never tries to hurt any of the creatures that lived there. Though the cobra coiled around his body, the author stands still and never tries to disturb the activities of the cobra. The universal love towards the other creatures is beautifully presented in this lesson.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF THE HOMEOPATH

Homeopath was a handsome bachelor. He had just started his practice. His earnings were meagre. So he was very stingy. He had only sixty rupees in his suitcase. He had only one coat and some shirts and dhotis. He took for rent, a non electrified room. It was full of rats. He paid much attention to beauty. Even when he opened a book to study, he was tempted to look into the mirror. He wanted to make himself handsome by shaving daily, and keeping a smile on his face. When a snake fell on him, he was frozen with fear. He was not at all courageous. That is why, the following day he came along with some other men, to his room.

GLOSSARY

Reedy- thin

Simultaneous - happening or done at the same time

Slither -to move like a snake

Smear - to spread oil

Unwound - to take off something that is coiled around

Stingy- miserly

PHRASES

A group of words which makes sense but not complete sense is called a phrase.

Eg: The sun rises in the east.

He has a chain of gold.

TYPES OF PHRASES

Noun phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, prepositional phrase and verb phrase.

NOUN PHRASE

Noun phrase is a word or group of words that does the work of a noun. The words which come before a noun in a noun phrase are called pre modifiers.

Eg: I want a spotted puppy.

The words which come after a noun in a noun phrase are called post modifiers.

Eg : An extremely beautiful girl without make-up.

Pre modifiers

Determiners

The, a, an, my, her, whose, which, what etc...

Ordinals

First, second etc..

Intensifiers

Words which intensify the meaning.

Eg: veryhard, most, etc...

Quantifiers

One, two, a great deal of etc....

Affirmative sentences

Sentences which state positive facts are called affirmative sentences.

Eg: I will pray for you.

Negative sentences

Sentences that express negative ideas are called negative sentences.

Eg: There is no water in the well.

The words "barely, never, neither, few, none, little, rarely, scarcely, nowhere, seldom, hardly, nothing, no,not and nobody" are considered as negative.