BIRLA VIDYA NIKETAN

Class IX- English

Date: 19 April, 2020 Duration: 1 Hour

The Lost Child

The Lost Child is the story of a small child who gets lost in a fair. The story highlights the pain of
separation and the bond of love he shares with his parents. Before losing them he had been
demanding different things like toy, sweets, garland, balloons, swings etc. but after distancing from
them everything loses charm and he longs to be reunited. He is picked up by a stranger who tries
to comfort the child by offering him all those things that he had demanded from his parents but the
child does not want them anymore. He wants his parents.
Summary
• It was the season of spring.
• The family clad people of the village came out of their houses and walked towards the fair.
• One little boy going along with his parents, was brimming with life and laughter.
• He was attracted to the stalls of toys and sweets. Though, his father was red eyed but his
mother pacified him and diverted his attention towards other things. The child moved forward but
once again lagged behind because his eyes were caught by one thing or the other every now and
then.
• As they moved forward, the child wanted the various things on the stalls. He wanted his
favourite ‘burfi’ but knowing that his parents would refuse on the ground that he was greedy, he
walked ahead. Then he saw beautiful garlands of ‘gulmohur’ but didn’t ask for it, then he saw
balloons but he knew very well that his parents would deny saying that he was too old to play with
balloons, so he walked away.
• Then he saw a snake charmer and a roundabout swing. When he stopped to ask his
parents for permission to enjoy the swing, there was no reply. Neither his father nor his mother
was there. Now the child realized that he was lost.
• He ran helter-skelter but could not find them. The place was overcrowded. He was terrified
but suddenly a kind hearted man took him up in his arms and consoled the bitterly weeping child.
• The man offered him sweets, balloons and garland but the child kept sobbing “I want my
father, I want my mother.”

Exercises

A. Reference to context
1. But he half knew as he begged that his plea would not be heeded because his parents would
say he was greedy.
a) What was his ‘plea’?
b) What do you understand by 'he half knew’?
c) What did he do after this?

2. The poor child struggled to thrust a way between their feet but, knocked to and fro by their
brutal movements, he might have been trampled underfoot, had he not shrieked at the highest
pitch of his voice.
a) Where was the child?
b) What was he trying to do?
c) What could have happened to him?
d) Why did he shriek?

B. Short answer questions (30-40 words)

1. What are the things the child sees on his way to the fair?
2. What happens when the child sees the flower seller?
3. Describe the boy’s reaction to the snake charmer?
4. When does he realise that he has lost his way? How have his anxiety and insecurity been
described?
.

Answers to the adverb clause worksheet uploaded on 12 April

1. usually 2. certainly 3. never 4.even 5. once 6. always
7. only 8. tomorrow 9. often 10. quickly 11. happily 12. how
13. mostly 14. unless 15. probably 16. definitely
17. very 18. completely 19. sometimes 20. neatly 21.when 22.
although 23. occasionally 24. slowly 25. rarely 26. upstairs 27. because

II. Underline the adverbs in the following paragraph.

I talk to my friends regularly over the phone. I talked to Saira yesterday. She stays nearby. She
sounded pretty unwell. I almost felt sorry for her and asked her to get tested quickly. She replied
that she was quite sure that her condition had nothing to do with the extremely dangerous
circumstances these days. I told her that everywhere it’s the same conversation and that it was
very annoying. This virus had mysteriously come into our lives and was rapidly spreading all over
the world. We needed to deal with it sensibly.