A Picnic

Last month my cousin came from Karachi. He was very eager to see the beautiful
places of Lahore. I thought that a visit to the beautiful Moghal gardens, Shalamar, would
be an excellent beginning to the sight-seeing tour [1] of Lahore. I invited two of my
friends, and one fine morning we went to the garden. We had packed a big lunch basket.
My friend Shafique had his guitar with him. On our way we bought some fruit and ice-
cream from the bazar.

The sky was overcast, but not heavily. It was an ideal day for a picnic. A gust [2]
of cool and fresh air greeted [3] us as we entered the main gate if the Shalamar gardens.
A great number of picnickers were there. They had spread their carpets and mats all over
the place and put their things there. Now they were walking in the garden. A large number
of children were running about in every corner, shouting and laughing and holding multi-
colored [4] balloon in their hands.
 After some time, we found a small lawn in a corner of the garden which was still
unoccupied [5]. So we put our things there. A garden watchman promised us to look
after our things in our absence.

We strolled [6] about the garden. It was so beautifully lait out that we could not
find words to express our admiration [7]. The beautiful trees, especially the tall, graceful
cypresses [8], the well-kept lawns, the typical Moghal fountains [9] so different from the
modern ones, and the different tiers [10] of the garden cast a spell [11] over us. My
cousin from Karachi was tongue-tied [12] with delight. He had not seen anything like it
in Karachi.

We were so absorbed [13] in the beauty of the garden that we forgot everything.
A group of people eating their lunch reminded us that we were hungry. We returned to
the place where the garden watchman was guarding our things from the birds etc. we
thanked him and invited him to share our lunch. He gratefully accepted our offer.

After lunch we thought that a little sleep would do us a lot of good. So we lay down
on the grass and fell asleep. It was three oclock when my cousin shook my shoulder. My
friends were already up, I washed my face and poured [14] some cold water on my head.
Now I was fully awake.

My cousin wanted some tea. Our friend, the watchman, came to our help and
brought us some very good tea. This put my cousin in high spirits [15]. He asked
Shafique to play his guitar. Shafique did not wait for the second request, and played a
beautiful tune [16]. All of us were spellbound [17].

Suddenly a peal of thunder [18] broke the spell. The clouds were thick and low.
Most of the people had left. We collected our things and rushed out of the garden.
Fortunately, we found a taxicab at the gate.

A memorable day had ended.

 Words Meanings
[1] tour
[2] gust
[3] greeted
[4] multi-colored
[5] unoccupied
[6] strolled
[7] admiration
[8] cypresses
[9] fountains
[10] tiers
[11] spell
[12] tongue-tied
[13] absorbed
[14] poured
[15] spirits
[16] tune
[17] spellbound
[18] peal of thunder

Words Meanings
[1] tour a journey for pleasure
[2] gust a sudden strong blow of wind
[3] greeted give a polite welcome when
meeting
[4] multi-colored Having different colors
[5] unoccupied empty
[6] strolled walk in a leisurely way
[7] admiration praise
 [8] cypresses cold
[9] fountains Pool from which jets of water are
pumped into the air.
[10] tiers levels of a structure
[11] spell acts as magic
[12] tongue-tied silent
[13] absorbed soak up
[14] poured flow in a steady stream
[15] spirits very excited
[16] tune A piece of music
[17] spellbound hold the attention of (someone)
as though by magic
[18] peal of thunder Sound of thunder

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