IT ALL BEGAN WITH DRIP-DRIP
Alka Sankar
&
Sharleen Mukundan
A tiger was caught in a storm, he had wandered into the fields
looking for something to eat. He huddled close to the wall of Naini’s hut for
shelter. Naini was an ill-tempered old woman who lived on the outskirts of the
village. She was feeling especially ill-tempered that day, because her roof
leaked badly.
“This drip-drip!” she muttered, pushing her tin trunks and bed
from place to place to keep them dry. “Is there no escape?” She slammed the bed
against a trunk, picked up a small wooden box and shoved it against the wall.
The wall shook.
The tiger felt the wall shake and heard Naini shout, “It’s
killing me, this drip-drip!”
The tiger was puzzled and frightened. “What could this drip-drip
be? It makes such a terrible noise. It must be a dreadful creature!”
Just then Bholenath, the potter, passed by. He was in a bad
mood, too. His donkey had run away. He suddenly saw an animal huddled against
the wall of a hut. “There he is!” he shouted and running to the tiger kicked
it. Then he pulled the tiger’s ears. “Move, or I’ll break your bones!”
The tiger was really frightened. “This must be that terrible
Drip-Drip,” he thought. Without a growl, he followed the potter home. When they
reached Bholenath’s hut, the potter tied the tiger outside with a sturdy rope.
“You can stay out in the rain!” he shouted.
The potter’s wife got up early the next morning. As she came out
of the hut she saw the tiger and screamed.
Bholenath came running out. He stopped short when he saw the
tiger. Then he turned and ran. His wife followed him still screaming. They shut
the door of their hut and pushed their bed and trunks against it.
Other people in the village were awake by now. They saw the
snarling tiger tied outside Bholenath’s hut. Astonished, they hurried off to
tell others about it.
The terrified tiger finally chewed through the rope, and ran
back to the jungle.
After a while Bholenath peeped through a small hole in the door.
“The tiger’s gone!” he whispered. Trembling with relief, he opened the door.
Many people came to visit Bholenath that day. “Did you really
kick him?” asked the carpenter.
Bholenath had recovered from his fright now. “I not only kicked
and slapped him, I even pulled his ears,” he replied with a laugh.
Word of the incident spread until even the king heard the story.
He sent for the potter and said, “I have never heard of such bravery! We need
men like you in the army. You shall be my General!”
One evening, when the whole court was gathered, a soldier rushed
in crying, “War! The neighbouring king has declared war. He’s at our borders
with eighty thousand men!”
The king called Bholenath, “The time has come to prove your
bravery. I appoint you my Commander-in-Chief.”
“I-I will do my best,” Bholenath stammered, his heart pounding
with fear.
That night Bholenath said in despair to his wife, “I don’t even
know how to ride a horse. What will I do?”
“Don’t worry,” she replied. “I’ll tie you to the horse. What
happens after that is in God’s hands.”
Early the next morning, a messenger arrived with a magnificent
black stallion. “It belongs to the king himself! He has sent it for you to ride
into battle.”
Bholenath glumly followed his wife out to the horse. Four
servants lifted him onto the black stallion, then his wife tied him securely to
the horse. She even tied one end of the rope to the horse’s tail. The horse
didn’t like the feel of all these ropes, and rearing up suddenly, galloped off
with Bholenath holding on desperately.
Suddenly, Bholenath realized that the horse was heading straight
for the enemy camp.
“No, no!” the potter shouted. He saw a banyan tree with its
aerial roots hanging over the road. As the horse galloped under it, Bholenath
reached up to pull himself free. But, the horse was going too fast and the
roots came right off the branches, and hung flapping in his hands.
“Help! Help!” the potter shouted, waving the roots to attract attention.
The horse galloped straight into the enemy camp. The soldiers
saw a wild-looking man, hair and clothes flapping, ropes all around him, on a
fierce black stallion, waving tree roots and shouting.
“It’s the advance guard!” a soldier yelled. “It’s a demon!”
screamed another. “The king has a demon army!” shouted a third. “Run!” cried a
fourth. “Run!” echoed the others and ran for their lives.
Bholenath’s horse reached the middle of the camp. The ropes
which had held the potter on the horse came apart and he fell off the horse. He
looked around the empty camp bewildered. Then, slowly and painfully, he stood
up and led the horse back home.
The king’s army had ridden out to join their Commander. They met
him walking wearily home. “The enemy has gone,” he told them.
The soldiers rode to the camp to see for themselves. The camp
was empty. The soldiers rode triumphantly into the city and told the king what
had happened.
“Scared away a whole army single-handed?” cried the king
delightedly. “What a man!”
And, even today, the people tell the story of the valiant potter
who caught a tiger and defeated an entire army all by himself.
-: বিশেষ দ্রষ্টব্য :-
এই Chapter-এর অনুশীলনী বা Exercise আংশটি কয়েকটি খণ্ডে ভাগ করে প্রত্যেক সপ্তাহে সোমবার এবং শুক্রবার পাবে। এইভাবে Class VI-এর প্রতিটি Chapter-এর ক্ষেত্রেও একই পক্রিয়া অনুসরণ করা হবে।
Exercise, part I আপলোড করা হয়ে গেছে ।
ধন্যবাদ ...
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