Page 136 - English Grammar - 6

Mercury and the Woodcutter

Once there was a woodcutter who was very poor. He earned his livelihood by cutting trees in
the forest and selling wood in the market. One day when he was cutting trees near a riverbank,
his axe fell into the water. He tried to fish out his axe, but the river was very deep, and he could
not locate it. He was at a loss to know what to do. He sat near the bank and started crying.
Suddenly, God Mercury appeared before him and asked him why he was crying. The
woodcutter told him the whole story. God Mercury consoled him and assured him that He
would bring his axe back. He disappeared into the water and soon returned with a golden axe.
The woodcutter refused to accept it saying that it was not his. He again went into the water and
this time returned a silver axe. The woodcutter still refused to take it because it did not belong
to him. He then brought an iron axe. This one was his axe. The woodcutter was very happy
to see it. He thanked God Mercury for helping him and took his iron axe. His honesty pleased
God Mercury, and He rewarded him with the other two axes as well.

C. Read the story developed from the outlines given.

A mouse and a frog—friends—every morning frog visited mouse—frog felt insulted—tied
one end of the string—to the mouse’s tail—dived into pond—mouse drowned—the body
floated on the pond—hawk saw the mouse floating—the hawk grabbed the mouse—the frog
dangling from its leg—frog tried to free himself—hawk caught both

A Mouse and A Frog
A mouse and a frog were friends. Every morning the frog would hop out of his pond and go
to visit his friend who lived in a hole in the side of a tree, and would return home at noon.
Gradually, the frog started to feel insulted because he visited the mouse every day, but the
mouse, on his part, never made an attempt to visit him.
One day while taking leave of the mouse, the frog tied one end of a string around his own
leg and tied the other end to the mouse’s tail, and hopped away, dragging the hapless mouse
behind him. The frog dived deep into the pond. The mouse tried to free himself, but couldn’t
and soon drowned. His swollen body floated to the top of the pond.
Thereafter, a hawk while sailing over the pond saw the body of the mouse floating on the
water. On seeing the body, he swooped down, grabbed the mouse and flew to the branch of a
nearby tree with the frog dangling from its leg. The frog then desperately tried to free himself,
but couldn’t. Thus at one swoop he had caught both to eat for his dinner.

With the help of the outlines, write the stories in your notebook. Also give each story a suitable
title.
Writing Skills 2. A hungry lion—in search of food— visited a jackal’s cave—waited inside for night to
1. Three young men—set out on a journey—all are friends but dishonest—found a treasure—

agreed to divide it equally—when they were hungry—sent one to get food—other two
plotted to kill him—before coming back with the food—mixed poison—the other two
killed him on his return—they ate food and died of poison

come—jackal returned—found something wrong—paw marks—sensed danger—started
to call out to cave—no reply—again shouted “Hello cave, why don’t you answer?”—still
no reply—shouted again “Stupid cave! I taught you to speak. Now answer me.”—lion is
amused—roared loudly—jackal ran away
3. A man had a goose which lay a golden egg every day—the man collected fourteen eggs
in a fortnight—became impatient—greed overtook his thoughts—wanted to become rich
instantly—killed the goose
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