Revised

NEW PATHWAYS
An Interactive Course in En
glish

LITERATURE READER

GAYATRI KHANNA
 3
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 About the Authors

Debjani Rudra has been a teacher in the pre-primary and kindergarten

sections of La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata, for over thirty years.
Gayatri Khanna has considerable experience in teaching English in schools
affiliated to the CBSE as well as to the Cambridge International Examinations
(CIE). She is an ELT consultant and a resource person for the development of
materials with the CBSE and the NCERT.
Mala Palani is a senior ELT consultant. She is currently the Director of a
reputed teacher education institution. Over the past twenty-five years, she
has taught in leading schools across the country teaching curricula prescribed
by the CBSE, ICSE, state boards and international boards (IB and CAIE).
Alongside, she has trained teachers teaching at all levels for the past decade.
She has qualifications from EFL University, Hyderabad, University of Warwick
and Cambridge.
Malathy Krishnan is a retired Professor at the Department of ELT, School of
Distance Education, EFL University, Hyderabad.
Pooja Kewlani has retired as Head of the Primary Wing of Sardar Patel
Vidyalaya, New Delhi. She has been an English language teacher for primary
classes for almost three decades. She has also been a facilitator for English
language learning in children with special needs. She is a mentor to special
educators in ELT and a resource person for the development of teaching aids.
Teresa Paul has been a facilitator for speaking and writing skills in various
organizations for seniors and has worked on curriculum development and
teacher training in Placid Vidya Vihar Senior Secondary School, Kristu Jyoti
Group, Changanassery, Kerala, enabling self-sufficiency in fluency and accuracy.
Usha Dutta is a former Professor of English with the NCERT.

Key to the icons in New Pathways

Audio in Oxford Educate and the additional digital resources

VB For Value-based Questions

For Oxford Areal

3
Preface
Revised New Pathways: An Interactive Course in English has been
designed to address the needs of educators for a comprehensive
input-rich curriculum that lays the foundation for spontaneous
language building.

Coursebooks
(Primers A and B;
1 to 8)

Digital Workbooks
Resources for (Activity Books
each level A and B; 1 to 8)
New Pathways
Course Package
includes

Teacher’s Resource Literature Readers

Books (Primers and (1 to 8)
1 to 8)

Literature Reader
The Literature Reader is an intrinsic component of the course
package as exposure to good literature is one of the most effective
ways of learning a language and assimilating its finer nuances.

4
The Literature Reader:

promotes reading as an enjoyable activity

and inculcates in the learner the habit of
reading widely

develops literary sensitivity in the learner through

a wide range of literary selections across genres
and periods

sharpens the learner’s interpretative skills and

encourages them to become conscious and
discerning readers

makes the learner aware of the multiplicity of

human responses to any given text by means
of exposing them to a range of themes and
emotions

This edition of the New Pathways Literature Reader includes a

variety of new stories and poems. The learner has the opportunity of
appreciating literary works that exemplify a variety of literary genres
such as fiction, autobiography, poetry and drama. In the socio-political
context of today’s world, it has become very important for the learner
to be sensitive and respectful towards ethnic and cultural pluralism. In
keeping with this, the selections in the Literature Reader range across
nations and cultures.
Every text in the Literature Reader is accompanied with a variety of
tasks and activities. They are designed to serve the dual purpose of
keeping learner involvement at the centre of the learning process
while reinforcing the elements of communicative competence.

5
 Reading comprises a variety of task types which require the
learner to focus on factual as well as inferential comprehension
of the text. In case of poetry, there is an emphasis on the formal
and linguistic characteristics of the verse to develop in the learner
a more nuanced response to poems. Highlighted value-based
questions promote critical thinking and allow a deeper
exploration of the values suggested in the text.

Vocabulary tasks provide practice in words derived from the

passage in order to extend and fine-tune the learner’s lexical
knowledge. The exercises are presented in a variety of forms such
as crossword puzzles, cloze texts, matching lists, tabulation,
missing letters and filling the blanks.

Writing tasks are linked to important themes in the texts and

therefore designed to retain the learner’s interest and foster their
imagination and creativity. They include posters, autobiographical
narratives, articles, letters, diary entries, stories, newspaper
reports and dialogues.

Speaking tasks range from role-plays and simulations to

interviews, and from debates and presentations to open class
discussions. With a focus on the productive skill of speaking,
listening is combined with it as its natural complement.

An Activity accompanies every poem. It builds on the theme

of the poem and encourages the learner to extend their
understanding of the poem to life beyond the classroom. The
focus of these activities is on the application of concepts and
skills in different situations and contexts.

New Pathways is a sincere attempt to fulfil the needs of educators as

well as learners today and to facilitate the teaching–learning process.
It is our hope that both teachers and students will enjoy the course
and provide us with valuable feedback in the years to come.

6
 Contents

Preface 4
Acknowledgements 8
1. Kali and the Rat Snake—Zai Whitaker 9
2. A Day’s Wait—Ernest Hemingway 17
How the Little Kite Learned to Fly— Katharine Pyle 25
3. Pret in the House—Ruskin Bond 28
4. Pandora and the Mysterious Box—Myths 35
The Magical Earth—Gulzar 44
5. The Cop and the Anthem—O. Henry 47
The Spider and the Fly—Mary Howitt 56
6. The Merchant of Venice—William Shakespeare 60
Daybreak—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 70
7. Say the Right Thing—G.C. Thornley 74

7
 Acknowledgements

‘Kali and the Rat Snake’ by Zai Whitaker, published by Tulika

Publishers, Chennai, 2000; ‘Pret in the House’ by Ruskin Bond
published in Great Stories for Children, published by Rupa
Publications in 2011. Reprinted with permission of the author;
‘The Magical Earth’ by Gulzar, translated by Pavan K Varma from
Green Poems. Reprinted with permission from Penguin Random
House India Pvt. Ltd.
The publishers have applied for permission to the following:
The Hemingway Society for ‘A Day’s Wait’
Every effort has been made to contact the owners of the
copyright of the pieces published here. However, a few have been
difficult to trace. It would be appreciated if the copyright owners
of the following pieces could contact the publishers.
‘Say the Right Thing’ by G.C. Thornley

Photographs
image of kite flying, p.25, 26 © Jolliolly / Shutterstock; image of
watercolour floral illustration, p.44 © VerisStudio / Shutterstock

8
 Kali and the
1 Rat Snake

Kali walked along the thorny forest track. As slowly as he

could. He was on his way to school.
Kali’s father was one of the most famous snake-catchers among
the Irula tribe. He had caught over a hundred cobras just this
monsoon and bought many good things for the family.
The snake cooperative paid 150 for each poisonous snake. They
took out the poison from snakes to make anti-venom serum.
When Kali went snake-catching with his father, his legs worked
like machines. But now he slowed down.
“I hate school,” he told the bushes as his walk got slower and
slower, “and school hates me.”
The bushes did not seem to understand or feel sorry for him.
“It’s been two months since I joined school but I don’t have
a single friend. I get the feeling ... I think they think we Irulas
are weird.”
On the first day of school, each student had to stand up and tell
the whole class three things: his or her name, the name of the
village and what Father did. “My name is Ramu, my village is
Meloor, my father is a bus-conductor,” said the first child.
Then came, “Selvi, Orathoor, postman.”
When it was Kali’s turn, he was so proud he felt like a balloon.
“I am Kali, my village is Kanathoor, my father is a snakecatcher.”

9
 The children giggled and nudged one another as if
he had said something silly.
For the first time in his life, Kali did not feel
proud of being an Irula. He wished he
were just like the others—an ordinary
boy with a bus-conductor father.
Anyway, that was two months ago.
Kali was getting used to it but it
was hard. And his school walk got
slower and slower.
Kali reached the school gate as
the bell was ringing.
As usual, he sat in the back
row. Alone. Wishing he had friends.
Wishing he could fail and be thrown out of school. But failing
wasn’t easy. He had tried. But however badly he wrote his
lessons, the teacher was always happy with him.
This morning they had Maths and writing, and then it was
break time. The children rushed
outside to have their snack. Some
had idli, others had mixture,
a slice of bread, or two or
three biscuits.
Kali opened his tiffin box.
Oh no! Fried termites! His
favourite actually, but what if
someone saw?
He’d have to hide. He sat on
the wall, far away from all the
others, and finished his tiffin.

10
Termites didn’t taste as good here as at home. “Suppose
someone comes near me? Suppose someone asks what
I’ve brought?”
Kali worried.
The bell rang. Break was over. It was the same teacher but
another subject, English. They had to write the English alphabet
on their slates.
Teacher walked around the room with a stick, hitting the hands
that made bad mistakes.
“Lucky,” thought Kali. Lucky they could make the teacher angry!
He too would try and make a mess of his slate.
Teacher stood in front of Kali. But instead of a swish of the stick,
he got a pat on the back. Teacher held up Kali’s slate for the
class to see.
“Here! This is the sort of work I want to see from everyone,”
he said.
Now the others would hate him more than ever. Kali could
hear the whispering in the classroom. He’d never have friends
in school.
Just then, something happened in the room. At first Kali didn’t
understand. Arms and legs flew. Bodies ran, tumbled over
each other, fell, ran some more. There were shouts from all
directions.
“Help! Help! Teacher, help!” But Teacher was under his table.
Eyes and hands pointed to the ceiling. Now Kali understood.
There on the roof was a large rat snake. It must have smelt
the rats on the roof tiles and come after them. By mistake, it had
taken a wrong turn and come to class instead.

11
Kali’s father said that sometimes snakes smelt humans and
mistook them for rats. Maybe this one thought, “Wonderful,
here’s a roomful of rats!”
The rat snake was wrapped around a palmyra beam1 on the
roof. It stretched out its neck curiously. It must have been
surprised by all the excitement. Slowly more and more of its
body uncoiled from the beam. Kali, looking up, knew what was
going to happen 1palymra beam (here) a long piece of wood from a

next. And it did. kind of a palm tree to support the roof of a building

Dhopp! Down the rat snake fell. The noise and confusion grew
worse. Chairs crashed.
Heads banged. Bodies hit the wall, the floor, one another.
Teacher was now on, not under, his table, yelling, “Save me!
Save me!”
The rat snake was terrified. It went to one side of the room, then
the other. The children ran in the opposite direction.
For a few seconds Kali was too surprised to do anything. His
people, the Irulas, always went towards snakes, not away from
them. Had everyone gone mad?
He walked slowly to where the snake
was. He reached out his hand.
Suddenly, the room grew still.
No sound, no movement.
All eyes were on Kali.
The rat snake—it was over six
feet long—reared back like
a horse, opened its mouth
wide, hissed and struck.
Luckily, it missed Kali’s hand.

12
“The bite of a big rat snake is very painful.” This was the thought
that went through Kali’s mind as he grabbed the snake behind
the head. His other hand gripped the long muscular body. Soon,
Kali was all wrapped up in snake.
Kali thought he would find a big bag to put the rat snake in. He’d
take it home to Father. The Vandalur Zoo near Chennai paid
a good price for rat snakes. He’d buy his baby sister a new dress
... But what was this noise? What was happening? Was there
another snake in the room? Confused, Kali looked up.
Everyone was clapping and cheering. And then they were
chanting:
“Ka-Li! Nand-Ri! Ka-Li! Nand-Ri! Ka-Li! Than-Kyou! “ It was so
wonderful. Kali’s eyes soon became wet with happiness.
He grinned and the clapping grew louder.
“You saved us!” shouted one of the boys. “How brave you are!”
“From now on, you sit next to me!”
“No, me!”
And the children started quarrelling about who Kali would sit
next to.
“Who taught you to be so brave?” asked Ramesh, the class bully.
“Come on, name it. We’ll give you whatever you want, you saved
our lives.”
“Well, what I want now,” replied Kali, “is a bag. A big one. To put
this fellow into.”
Ten children ran off in ten different directions to find bags.
The others looked at Kali with admiration. From the corner of his
eye, Kali saw Teacher climb down from his desk.

13
Teacher walked up to Kali, but he was careful not to get too
close.
“Silly children!” he scolded. “Why did you get so scared? Running
all over the place just because of a non-poisonous snake!”
Teacher walked back to his
desk. As soon as his back was
turned, Kali and the children
grinned at one another.
Secret grins, the kind that
friends use.

Zai Whitaker
Zai Whitaker is a well-known environmentalist and children’s writer.
She is currently the principal of Outreach School in Bengaluru and
spends her time educating the children in nearby rural areas. She has
written many books for young children and adults with Cobra in My
Kitchen, The Boastful Centipede and Other Creatures being some of
her most famous works.

Reading
Answer the following questions.
1. What did Kali’s father do for a living?
2. How did the students react to Kali? Why? Do you think their
attitude was fair?
3. What happened when the snake arrived? Why was Kali only
‘surprised’?
4. Irulas only went towards snakes, not away from them. Explain.
5. The snake has been described as a threatening one. Pick words and
phrases to justify this.
6. Kali and his friends grinned secretly at each other. What were they
grinning about?
7. Give one reason to justify each of these traits in Kali.
VB
perceptive  friendly  intelligent  courageous  loving

14
 Vocabulary
Irulas: the Daredevil Snake Catchers
Use the clue words in the brackets to fill in the blanks with the correct
words from the box.

advent  vocation  obscurity  tribe
adapting  menace  venomous  hazard

The (a) ...................... (a group of people with the same culture) gets its
name from the word irular meaning ‘the dark people.’

Catching (b) ...................... (poisonous) reptiles is part of their

day’s work for the Irulas. Historically this tribe survived by hunting
snakes that were a (c) ...................... (threat) to farmers. But of late
modernisation and the (d) ...................... (coming on) of new and
improved methods for dealing with this problem has almost destroyed
their livelihood.

The (e) ...................... (trade or profession) of the Irulas exposes them

to many occupational hazards. The Irulas use a traditional method
known as earthen pot fumigation, in which they blow smoke out of
their mouths to weed out snakes and rodents. This method poses a
serious health (f) ...................... (danger) and often leads to respiratory
problems.
After decades of near (g) ...................... (being unknown), the lives of
the Irulas have improved immensely over the recent years. Today,
most members of the Irula community work as part of the Irula
Snake-Catchers Cooperative, an organization that uses their skills to
capture poisonous snakes for the purpose of creating anti-venoms.

15
Irulas have been successful in (h) ...................... (adjusting) to
the modern world, but they undoubtedly remain one of the very
few communities that have retained their ancient knowledge and
traditions. This certainly makes them one of the most interesting
tribes in the world.

Writing
Imagine that you are Kali. Write a page in your dairy a few days after
the episode to describe how people’s attitude towards you has changed.
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..................................................................................................................
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Speaking
A stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category
of people.
For example: ‘Teenagers are irresponsible.’ or ‘Old people are forgetful.’
1. In this story Kali was a victim of stereotyping. Do you agree?
2. Think of any one stereotype that you have come across or read about.
How can this belief be dispelled?

16
 2 A Day’s Wait

He came into the room to shut the windows while we were

still in bed and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was
white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.
“What’s the matter, Schatz?”
“I’ve got a headache.”
“You better go back to bed.”
“No. I’m all right.”
“You go to bed. I’ll see you when I’m dressed.”
But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire,
looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put
my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.
“You go up to bed,” I said, “you’re sick.”
“I’m all right,” he said.
When the doctor came he took
the boy’s temperature.
“What is it?” I asked him.
“One hundred and two.”
Downstairs, the doctor left
three different medicines in
different colored capsules with
instructions for giving them.

17
One was to bring down the fever, another a purgative1, the third
to overcome an acid condition. The germs of influenza can only
exist in an acid condition, he explained. He seemed to know all
about influenza and said there was nothing to worry about if
the fever did not go above 104 degrees. This was a light epidemic
of flu and there was no danger if 1
purgative a pill to clear the stomach
you avoided pneumonia.
Back in the room I wrote the boy’s temperature down and made
a note of the time to give the various capsules.
“Do you want me to read to you?”
“All right. If you want to,” said the boy. His face was very white
and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed
and seemed very detached from what was going on.
I read aloud from Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates; but I could see
he was not following what I was reading.
“How do you feel, Schatz?” I asked him.
“Just the same, so far,” he said.
I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for
it to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural
for him to go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at
the foot of the bed, looking very strangely.
“Why don’t you try to go to sleep? I’ll wake you up for
the medicine.”
“I’d rather stay awake.”
After a while he said to me, “You don’t have to stay in here with
me, Papa, if it bothers you.”
“It doesn’t bother me.”

18
“No, I mean you don’t have to stay if it’s going to bother you.”
I thought perhaps he was a little light-headed and after giving
him the prescribed capsules at eleven o’clock, I went out
for a while.
It was a bright, cold day, the ground covered with a sleet that
had frozen so that it seemed as if all the bare trees, the bushes,
the cut brush and all the grass and the bare ground had been
varnished with ice. I took the young Irish setter2 for a little walk
up the road and along a frozen creek, but it was difficult to
stand or walk on the glassy surface and the red dog slipped and
slithered and I fell twice, hard.
We flushed3 a covey4 of quail5 under a high, clay bank with
overhanging brush and I saw two as they went out of sight over
the top of the bank. Some of the covey hid in trees, but most of
them scattered into brush piles.
At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come
into the room.
“You can’t come in,” he said. “You mustn’t get what I have.”
I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left
him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed by
the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed.
I took his temperature.
“What is it?”
“Something like a 100,” I said. It was 102 and 4/10th.
“It was a 102,” he said. 2Irish setter a breed of dog   3flushed caused
a bird to rise and fly away suddenly in fear 
“Who said so?” 4covey a small flock of birds   5quail a small
species of bird
“The doctor.”

19
“Your temperature is all right,” I said. “It’s nothing to worry
about.”
“I don’t worry,” he said, “but I can’t keep from thinking.”
“Don’t think,” I said. “Just take it easy.”
“I’m taking it easy,” he said and looked straight ahead. He was
evidently holding tight onto himself about something.
“Take this with water.”
“Do you think it will do any good?”
“Of course it will.”
I sat down and opened the Pirate book and commenced to read,
but I could see he was not following, so I stopped.
”About what time do you think I’m going to die?” he asked.
“What?”

20
“About how long will it be before I die?”
“You aren’t going to die. What’s the matter with you?”
“Oh, yes, I am. I heard him say 102.”
“People don’t die with a fever of 102. That’s a silly way to talk.”
“I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can’t
live with 44 degrees. I’ve got a 102.”
He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o’clock in
the morning.
“You poor Schatz,” I said. “Poor old Schatz. It’s like miles
and kilometres. You aren’t going to die. That’s a different
thermometer. On that thermometer, 37 is normal. On this kind,
it’s 98.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “It’s like miles and kilometers. You know, like
how many kilometers we make when we do 70 miles in the car?”
“Oh,” he said.
But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over
himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack and
he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance.

Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899–1961) was an American journalist and
novelist. He also used to write short stories. Some of his most famous
works include A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea, for
which he won the Pulitzer prize. He was also awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1954.

21
 Reading
Answer the following questions.
1. What was wrong with Schatz? What were the symptoms?
2. How did Schatz react when his father read to him the first time?
Why did he behave that way?
3. Why did Schatz think that he was going to die?
4. Why do you think Schatz struggled with his fear alone and did not
want to share it?
5. At which point in the story is Schatz’s internal conflict resolved?
6. What is that one character trait that, according to you, may have
contributed to Schatz’s internal conflict?
7. Justify the title of the story ‘A Day’s Wait’.

Vocabulary
Antonyms
Tick the best choice of the antonyms of the words given in bold.
1. But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire,
looking a very sick and miserable boy of nine years.

a. fortunate

b. ecstatic

c. despondent

d. wretched
2. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached from what was
going on.

a. entangled

b. involved

c. indifferent

d. separated

22
3. I thought perhaps he was a little light-headed and after giving him
the prescribed capsules at eleven o’clock I went out for a while.

a. dizzy

b. groggy

c. slack

d. vigilant
4. He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something.

a. apparently

b. vaguely

c. distinctly

d. hazily
5. I sat down and opened the Pirate book and commenced to read,
but I could see he was not following, so I stopped.

a. instigated

b. dismissed

c. embarked

d. concluded
6. The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was
very slack and he cried very easily at little things that were of no
importance.

a. taut

b. hard

c. flexible

d. limp

23
 Writing
Imagine you are Schatz’s older brother or sister. After this episode you
wish to advise him. What would you say? Write an email.
You can include the following points:
• Children are often unable to deal with unfounded fears.
• At times adults unable to understand fears and emotions of children.
• The fears are more frightening, than the actual physical dangers
we face.
• Don’t believe all that you hear.
• Be open to asking questions.

From: ............................................................................
To: ............................................................................
Subject: ............................................................................
............................................................................
Body: ..........................................................................................
..........................................................................................
..........................................................................................
..........................................................................................
..........................................................................................
..........................................................................................
..........................................................................................
..........................................................................................

Speaking
In this story a small misunderstanding leads to a lot of mental agony.
Talk of a situation where a misunderstanding has made the situation
much worse than it ought to have been. What can you do to avoid
misunderstandings?

24
 How the Li�le Kite
Learned to Fly

“I never can do it,” the little kite said,

As he looked at the others high over his
head.

“I know I should fall if I tried to fly.”

“Try,” said the big kite, “only try!
Or I fear you never will learn at all.”
But the little kite said: “I’m afraid I’ll fall.”
The big kite nodded: “Ah, well, good-by;
I am off.” And he rose toward the tranquil1 sky.

Then the little kite’s paper stirred2 at the sight.

And trembling he shook himself free for flight.
First whirling3 and frightened, then braver grown,
Up, up he rose through the air alone,
Till the big kite looking down could see
The little one rising steadily.

1tranquil quiet 2stirred moved 3whirling moving quickly round and round

25
Then how the little kite thrilled with pride,
As he sailed with the big kite side by side!
While far below he could see the ground,
And the boys like small spots moving round.
They rested high in the quiet air,
And only the birds and clouds were there.

“Oh, how happy I am,” the little kite cried.

“And all because I was brave and tried.”

Katharine Pyle

Katharine Pyle (1863–1938)  was an American artist, poet, and

children’s writer. In 1879, while she was a 16-year-old student at
Wilmington’s Misses Hebb’s School, her poem ‘The Piping Shepherd’
was published in Atlantic Monthly. She wrote and illustrated about
thirty books and illustrated a number of books by other authors,
including Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty. Many of her stories were
drawn from fairy tales, ancient myths, nursery rhymes, and stories
about animals.

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 Poem appreciation
1. “I never can do it,” the little kite said. What could the kite not do?
What was the apprehension?
2. What was the big kite’s advice to her?
3. Why did the big kite fly away?
4. How did the little kite react to this?
5. What did the little kite see as it flew?
6. How did the little kite’s mood change in the poem?
VB
7. What is the message of the poem?
8. Personification means giving human qualities to a non-human
thing (object or animal). What has been personified in the poem?
9. Mention the rhyme scheme of the poem.

Activity
The first kites were built in China about 3,000 years ago, using
materials, such as bamboo and silk. From China they were taken to
Japan and other Asian countries. Long ago kites were widely used in
religious festivals. It was much later that the popularity of kites spread
and these came to be used as a leisure activity.
In fact, scientists used kites for conducting scientific experiments.
1. Fill in the blanks with the names of well-known scientists who used
kites for various experiments. Use the Internet for help.
a. In the 15th century, .................................... discovered how to
use a kite to span a river.
b. In 1749, Scottish scientist .................................... used
several kites, attached in a row, to measure and compare air
temperature at different altitudes.
c. .................................... flew a kite during a thunderstorm to
demonstrate the connection between lightning and electricity.
d. In 1901, .................................... used a kite to help transmit the
first trans-Atlantic wireless telegraph message.

2. Frame ten rules for safe kite flying.

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 Pret1 in the
3 House

It was Grandmother who decided that we must move to

another house. It was all because of a pret, a mischievous ghost,
who had been making life intolerable for everyone.
In India, prets usually live in peepul trees, and that’s where our
pret first lived. He lived in the branches of an old peepul tree
which had grown through the compound wall. It had spread into
the garden on our side and over the road on the other side.
For many years the pret had lived there quite happily, without
bothering anyone in the house. I suppose the traffic on the
road had kept him fully occupied. Sometimes, when a tonga2
was passing, he would frighten the pony, and as a result
the little pony-cart would go speeding off in the wrong direction.
Occasionally, he would get into the engine of a car or bus, which
would have a breakdown soon afterwards.
He liked to knock the hats off the heads of sahibs. They would
then curse and wonder at the breeze that had sprung up so
suddenly and died down again just as quickly. Although the pret
could make himself felt, and sometimes heard, he was invisible
to the human eye. At night people avoided walking beneath
the peepul tree. It was said that if you yawned beneath the tree,
the pret would jump down your throat and ruin your digestion.
1pret Hindi word for an invisible and mischievous ghost
who moves furniture and throws objects around in a house 
2tonga Hindi word for light carriage pulled by a horse

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Grandmother’s tailor, Jaspal, who never had anything ready on
time, blamed the pret for all his troubles. Once, while yawning,
Jaspal had forgotten to snap his fingers in front of his mouth—
always mandatory when yawning beneath peepul trees—and
the pret had got in without any difficulty. Since then, Jaspal had
always been suffering from tummy upsets.
But it had left our family alone, until, one day, the peepul tree
had been cut down. It was nobody’s fault except, of course, that
Grandfather had given the Public Works Department permission
to cut the tree. It had been on our land and they wanted to
widen the road. The tree and a bit of the wall were in the way,
so both had to go. In any case, not even a ghost can prevail
against the PWD.
Hardly had a day passed before we discovered that the pret,
deprived of his tree, had decided to take up residence in
our bungalow. Since a good pret must be bad in order to
justify his existence, he was soon up to all sorts of mischief in
the house.
He began by hiding Grandmother’s spectacles whenever she
took them off.
“I’m sure I put them down on the
dressing-table,” she
grumbled. A little
later they were
found, balanced
precariously on the
snout of a wild boar
whose stuffed and
mounted head
decorated
the verandah

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wall. Being the only boy in the house, I was at first blamed
for this prank but a day or two later, when the spectacles
disappeared again, only to be discovered hanging from the wires
of the parrot’s cage, it was agreed that some other agency was
at work.
Grandfather was the next to be troubled. He went into
the garden one morning to find all his prized sweet-peas
snipped off and lying on the ground. It was then Uncle Ken’s turn
to suffer. He was a heavy sleeper, and once he’d gone to bed he
hated being woken up. So when he came to the breakfast table
looking bleary-eyed and miserable, we asked if he was feeling
all right.
“I couldn’t sleep a wink last night,” he complained. “Every time
I was about to fall asleep, the bedclothes would be pulled off
the bed. I had to get up at least a dozen times to pick them off
the floor.” He stared banefully at me. “Where were you sleeping
last night, young man?”
I had an alibi. “In Grandfather’s room,” I said.
“That’s right,” said Grandfather. “And I’m a light sleeper. I’d have
woken up if he’d been sleep-walking.”
“It’s that ghost from the peepul tree,” said Grandmother.
“It’s moved into the house. First my spectacles, then the
sweet-peas, and now Ken’s bedclothes! What will it be up
to next, I wonder?”
We did not have to wonder long. There followed a series of
disasters.
Vases fell off tables. Pictures fell from walls.
Things got worse when Aunt Minnie came to stay. The pret
seemed to take an immediate dislike to Aunt Minnie. She was
a nervous, excitable person, just the right sort of prey for a

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spiteful ghost. Somehow her toothpaste got switched with
a tube of Grandfather’s shaving-cream. She appeared in the
sitting-room, foaming at the mouth. Uncle Ken shouted that
she’d got rabies and we ran for our lives.
“We’ll have to leave this house,” declared Grandmother. “If we
stay here much longer, both Ken and Minnie will have nervous
breakdowns.”
“I thought Aunt Minnie broke down long ago,” I said.
“None of your cheek!” snapped Aunt Minnie.
“Anyway, I agree about changing the house,” I said breezily.
“I can’t even do my homework. The ink-bottle is always empty.”
“There was ink in the soup last night,” complained Grandfather.
And so, a few days and several disasters later, we began moving
to a new house.
Two bullock-carts laden with furniture and heavy luggage were
sent ahead.
The roof of the old car was piled high with bags and kitchen
utensils. Everyone squeezed into the car, and Grandfather took
the driver’s seat.
We were barely out of the gate when we heard a peculiar sound,
as if someone was chuckling and talking to himself on the roof of
the car.
“Is the parrot out there on the luggage-rack?” asked Grandfather.
“No, he’s in his cage on a bullock-cart,” said Grandmother.
Grandfather stopped the car, got out, and took a look at
the roof.
“Nothing up there,” he said, getting in again and starting
the engine. “I’m sure I heard the parrot talking.”

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Grandfather had driven some way up the road when the
chuckling started again, followed by a squeaky little voice. We all
heard it. It was the pret talking to itself.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” it squeaked gleefully. “A new house! I can’t
wait to see it. What fun we’re going to have!”

Ruskin Bond
Ruskin Bond (1934-present) is an Indian author of British origin.
He is best known for his writings for children—the most famous
stories being The Room on the Roof, The Blue Umbrella and The Flight
of Pigeons.

Reading
Answer the following questions.
1. Why did Grandmother decide to move to another house?
2. How did the pret cause mischief during the day while he lived on
the peepul tree?

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3. What was believed about the pret’s behaviour at night?

4. Why did the pret start troubling the family?

5. What did the pret do after it started staying in the writer’s
bungalow?
6. How did the writer’s family discover the pret was shifting
with them?
7. Do you like or dislike the pret? Give reasons.

Vocabulary
Tick the correct antonym of the underlined word from the choices
given below.
1. It was all because of a pret, a mischievous ghost, who had been
making life intolerable for everyone.
a. educated c. inactive

b. sober d. well-behaved

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2. I suppose the traffic on the road had kept him fully occupied.

a. restricted c. idle

b. boundless d. open
3. They would then curse and wonder at the breeze that had sprung
up so suddenly and died down again just as quickly.

a. bless c. bother

b. amuse d. annoyance
4. Hardly had a day passed before we discovered that the pret, deprived
of his tree, had decided to take up residence in our bungalow.

a. provided with c. privileged

b. driven out d. destitute

5. A little later they were found, balanced precariously on the snout
of a wild boar whose stuffed and mounted head decorated the
verandah wall.

a. happily c. securely

b. quickly d. dangerously

Writing
Imagine you visit this house haunted by this naughty pret. Write a letter
to you friend about what happened.

Speaking
The grandmother wants to sell the house because of the bothersome
pret. How would she convince a customer to buy it? Remember she
should not hold back the information about the pret. She can only
make him sound interesting.
Enact the role play.

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 Pandora and
4 the Mysterious
Box

Long, long ago, there was a child named Epimetheus who

had neither father nor mother. To keep him from feeling lonely,
another child, like himself, was sent to be his playmate—a girl
named Pandora. In those days, children didn’t need people to
look after them all the time because there was no danger. Food
grew on trees; there was no hard work to be done, no lessons
to be studied; there were only lots of happy games and dances.
What was most wonderful was that the children never fought
among themselves. Oh, those were such good times!
The first thing that Pandora saw when she entered the cottage
where Epimetheus lived was an enormous box. The first
question she asked him was this: “Epimetheus, what do you
have in that box?”
“My dear Pandora,” answered Epimetheus, “that is a secret,
and you must be kind enough not to ask any questions about it.
The box was left here to be kept safely, and I do not know myself
what it contains.”
“But who gave it to you?” asked Pandora.
“It was left at the door just before you came, by a person who
was dressed in an odd kind of cloak and wore a cap that seemed
to be made partly of feathers. It looked almost as if the cap had
wings,” replied Epimetheus.

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“I wish we didn’t have to keep looking 1pouting pushing out one’s
at that box!” exclaimed Pandora lips to show displeasure
pouting1.
“O come! Don’t think of it any more,” cried Epimetheus. “Let us
go out and play.”
But Pandora continually kept saying to herself and to
Epimetheus, “But what could be inside that box?”
Epimetheus had grown tired of the subject. “I wish, dear
Pandora, you would try to talk of something else!”
Pandora thought it best not to mention it any more because
Epimetheus’s face showed much horror at the idea of looking
inside the box. And yet she could not help thinking and talking
about it all the time.
One day, while Epimetheus was out alone, Pandora stood gazing
at the box. She noticed
that it was almost like
a piece of artwork.
It was made of beautiful
dark wood and was so
highly polished that little
Pandora could see her
reflection in it.
Around the edges
there were figures of
graceful beings and
the prettiest children
Pandora had ever seen.
In the centre of the box,
there was carved
the most beautiful face

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of all. It had very lively features but wore a slightly mischievous
expression. She noticed that the box was secured not by a lock
but by a very fine knot of gold cord. Pandora was certain that
there was something very beautiful and valuable in the box, and
she wanted to take a look.
She could not keep her curiosity under control any longer and
decided to open it. First, she tried to lift it. It was too heavy for
a slender child like Pandora. She raised one end of the box a
few inches from the floor and let it fall again with a loud thump.
The next moment, she heard something stir inside the box.
There seemed to be a kind of hushed murmur within! Her eyes
fell upon the knot of gold cord. It was cunningly twisted with so
many ins and outs. “It must have been a clever person who tied
this knot,” said Pandora to herself.
So she took the golden knot in her fingers and was soon busily
trying to undo it. Meanwhile, through the open window she
heard the merry voices of the children playing. What a beautiful
day it was! Would it not be wiser to leave the troublesome
knot alone, join her little playmates and think no more about
the box? But just then she gave the knot a twist and the gold
cord untwined itself as if by magic and left the box without
a fastening.
“What will Epimetheus say? And how can I possibly tie it up
again?” wondered Pandora. “When he finds the knot untied,
he will know that I have done it. How will I make him believe
that I have not looked inside the box?”
And then she heard the murmur of small voices within: “Let us
out, dear Pandora. Please let us out! We will be such nice, pretty
playmates for you! Only let us out.”
“What could that be?” thought Pandora. “I will take just one
peep. There can’t be any harm in just one little peep!”

37
In the meantime, Epimetheus decided to go back to Pandora.
Upon entering the cottage, he found Pandora with her hand on
the lid, ready to open the mysterious box.
The cottage grew very dark, as a black cloud swept over
and covered the sun. There was a heavy peal2 of thunder.
But Pandora ignored all this, lifted the lid upright and looked
inside. At that very moment a sudden swarm of winged
creatures burst out of the box and spread all over the dark room.
The next instant she heard Epimetheus crying out in pain.
“Oh, I am stung!” he screamed. “I am stung! Pandora, why have
you opened this wicked box?”
Pandora let the lid fall, and in a state of shock she looked about
her to see what had happened to Epimetheus. The thundercloud
had so darkened the room that she could not see very clearly
what was in it. But she heard a disagreeable3 buzzing, as if
numerous huge flies, or giant mosquitoes, were darting about4.
She saw a crowd of ugly little shapes, with bat’s wings, looking
very spiteful5 and armed with terribly long stings in their tails.
It was one of these that had stung Epimetheus. In another few
moments, Pandora herself began to scream in fright. An ugly
little monster had settled on her forehead and would have stung
her if Epimetheus had not run and brushed it away.
The hideous little shapes were the whole family of Earthly
Troubles. There were a great many kinds of Cares6; there were
more than a hundred and fifty Sorrows; there were Diseases, in
a vast number of miserable and painful shapes; there were more
kinds of Wickedness than one could talk about.
In short, everything that has ever troubled our minds and bodies
had been shut up in 2peal loud sound   3disagreeable unpleasant 
the mysterious box, 4darting about moving quickly   5spiteful with the
intention of doing harm   6Cares worries
and by Pandora’s

38
lifting the lid of that miserable box, these Troubles were
released in the world of humans. They have never left us since
that day long, long ago.
The two children, screaming in fear and pain, flung open
the doors and windows in the hope of getting rid of the horrible
creatures. But the winged Troubles flew out and started to
torment people everywhere. Their malicious effect was such
that all the flowers on earth, which had never faded before,
now began to droop and shed their petals within a few days
of blossoming. The children who had earlier always remained
young now began to slowly grow older and came to be men
and women.
Epimetheus and the naughty Pandora remained in their cottage.
Both of them had been dangerously stung and were in terrible
pain. Their pain seemed more unbearable to them because
it was the first pain any human being had felt since the world
began. They were also angry and depressed. Epimetheus sat
gloomily in a corner with his back towards Pandora, while
Pandora lay on the floor sobbing as if her heart would break.
Suddenly there was a gentle tap on the inside of the lid. “What
can that be?” cried Pandora, lifting her head.

39
Epimetheus refused to reply. “You are so unkind,” said Pandora,
sobbing louder, “All right. Don’t speak to me!”
Again came the tap! “Who are you, inside this wicked box?”
asked Pandora.
A sweet little voice spoke from within: “Lift the lid, and you shall
see.”
“No, no,” answered Pandora sobbing, “I have had enough of
lifting the lid!” “Ah!” said the sweet little voice again. “You won’t
regret letting me out. I am not like those cruel creatures that
have stings in their tails. Come, my pretty Pandora, let me out.”
There was a kind of cheerfulness in the tone that made it almost
impossible to refuse anything. Pandora’s heart had grown lighter
at every word that came from within the box. Epimetheus too,
though still in the corner, had turned half around and seemed to
be in better spirits than before.
“Epimetheus,” cried Pandora, “Did you hear the little voice?”
“Yes, I did,” he answered.
“Shall I lift the lid again?” asked Pandora.
“Do as you please,” said Epimetheus. “You have made so
much mischief already. One other Trouble can’t make much
difference.”
“Come, my dear Pandora, lift up the lid. I am so eager to comfort
you.” cried the little voice in a laughing tone.
“Epimetheus,” exclaimed Pandora, “no matter what happens, I
will open the box!”
Then Epimetheus came running across the room, “The lid is
heavy; let me help you!”

40
So the two children again lifted the lid. Out flew a bright and
smiling little being and hovered about the room, throwing a light
wherever she went. She flew to Epimetheus and gently touched
with a finger the spot where Troubles had stung him, and
immediately all his pain was gone. Then she kissed Pandora on
the forehead, and her hurt was also cured. “Please tell us who
you are, beautiful creature!” said Pandora.
“I am Hope!” answered the sunny figure. “I was packed into
the box too so that I could make up for that swarm of ugly
Troubles that have been let loose.”
“And will you stay with us,” asked Epimetheus, “for ever
and ever?”
“As long as you need me,” answered Hope, with her pleasant
smile, “and that will be as long humans live in the world.
There may be times now and then when you will think that I
have vanished. But again, and again, when everything around
you seems dark and gloomy, you shall see the glimmer of my
rainbow wings on the ceiling of your cottage. From now on,
you’ll never be alone because Hope will never leave you.”

Myths
Myths are stories about heroes who are the sons and daughters of
the gods. According to ancient Greek mythology, Pandora was the first
woman, created on the order of Zeus—the most powerful of all Greek
gods. Pandora was meant to be a punishment for humankind. Her box
contained many evil things, such as toil, illness and despair, but it also
contained hope. When the box was opened, these evils, as well as hope,
were released into the world.

41
 Reading
Answer the following questions.
1. Before Pandora opened the box, Epimetheus’s world had no
troubles; it was near-perfection, but it was stagnant, with nothing
new to look forward to. Pandora, therefore, brings Hope and
anticipation to this world, along with some troubles. Comment on
this and give reasons for your answer.
2. Why did Pandora not open
the box in the beginning even
though she had wanted to look
inside it from the first moment?
3. How did Troubles tempt Pandora
into opening the box?
4. Why did Pandora and Epimetheus
open the box the second time?
5. What did Hope promise the children?
6. Do you think this story tries to give us a message?
VB
What is it?
7. Why is Hope so important to human beings? VB

Vocabulary
The words given in the box represent different emotions. Use them to fill
in the blanks in the sentences given below the box.

overjoyed  ashamed  grieving  guilty  sorry
concerned  confident  confused  shocked  scared

1. I shouted because I was angry. Later I felt .................... of the way

I had behaved.
2. I was .................... for being rude to my mother.
3. I was .................... because my father was coming home after a
year’s posting abroad.
4. I was .................... the death of my pet parrot.
5. The doctor was .................... about the well-being of his patient.

42
 6. My elder brother felt .................... for having bullied me.
7. I am .................... of going out alone in the darkness.
8. My sister was .................... of getting a job because she knew her
subject well.
9. When everyone questioned me, I was .................... and couldn’t
answer anyone.
10. Her rudeness .................... us all because we had believed her to
be the best-behaved girl in the class.

Writing
1. Pandora feels guilty because she opened the box which released so
many troubles and evils into the world. With sadness, she writes a
short note for Epimetheus, leaves it next to him while he is asleep
and quietly goes away.
Imagine that you are Pandora. Write a note for Epimetheus, telling
him that you are sorry, but also present your point of view; your
only fault was curiosity, so was it really so wrong to open the box?
Hasn’t the box also given Hope to the world? VB
2. Epimetheus is deeply concerned for his friend and goes out
to search for her. After hours of searching, he finds her sitting
under a tree—alone and crying. He talks to her, comforts her and
persuades her to come back home.
Write a short dialogue between Pandora and Epimetheus in this
situation. Does she agree to go back with him?

Speaking
Form groups of six—five Evils (e.g. child labour, war and poverty) and
Hope. Plan a role-play. Each Evil will emerge and threaten Pandora,
while Hope will provide a solution to deal with these evils. VB

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 The Magical Earth

There is something indeed in the earth of my garden

Is this earth magical?
The earth knows how to do magic!
If I sow a guava seed, it gives me guavas
If I put in a jamun kernel1 it gives me jamuns
A bitter gourd for a bitter gourd, a lemon for a lemon!
If I ask for a flower, it gives me pink flowers
Whatever colour I give to it, it returns that to me
Has it hidden all these colours in the soil below?
I dug a lot but found nothing
The earth knows how to do magic!
The earth knows how to do magic
It shows so many tricks
When it balances these long coconut trees on its fingers
It does not even let them fall!
The wind does its best, but the earth does not let them fumble2!
A sherbet3, or milk, or water
Anything may fall, it absorbs them all
How much water does it drink?!
It gulps down whatever you give
Be it from a jug or a bucket
Amazingly, its stomach never fills
I have heard that it can even hide a river inside!
The earth knows how to do magic!
1kernel inner part of a nut or seed  2fumble (here) fall 
44 3sherbet (here) a fruit drink
 Are there sugar godowns4 under the earth?
Or rocks of lime5?
How does this earth put sweetness into fruits?
From where does it get all this?
Pomegranates, plums and mangoes—in all of them
Sweetness, but different kinds
The leaves tasteless but the fruits sweet
The musambi sweet, the lemon sour
Undoubtedly, it knows magic!
Otherwise, why is the bamboo tasteless, and the sugarcane sweet?
4godown a building where goods are
stored   5lime (here) a substance
that is used to help plants grow
Gulzar
(translated by Pavan K. Varma)
Sampooran Singh Kalra (b.1934), known popularly by his pen name
Gulzar, is an Indian film director, lyricist and poet. He has won several
Indian National Film Awards, one Academy Award and one Grammy
Award among others.

Poem appreciation
1. Complete the table with the amazing or magical things that
the earth performs on each of these items.
Item The magic the earth performs on them

1. Seed
2. Flowers
3. Trees
4. Water
5. Fruits

45
2. Hypophora is a figure of speech in which a writer raises a question,
and then immediately provides an answer to that question. Give
two examples of hypophora in the poem.
3. Refrain refers to a phrase, line, or group of lines repeated at
intervals throughout a poem. Give an example of a refrain from the
poem. Why do you think has this line been repeated?
4. Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing—an idea or
an animal—is given human attributes.  How has the ‘earth’ been
personified in the poem?
5. Imagery consists of descriptive language that helps the reader to
better imagine the world through five senses, namely the details
of taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound. This poem has examples of
sight and taste images. Give three examples of each.

Activity
Go out and observe nature. Then just as the poet writes about plants and
trees, write a diamond poem on any one object in nature.
The DIAMOND POEM is seven lines long. It begins with one idea and
end with the opposite.
Line 1- NOUN A
Line 2- 2 ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE NOUN A
Line 3- 3 GERUNDS (VERB+ING) FOR NOUN A
Line 4- 4 NOUNS
Line 5- 3 GERUNDS (VERB+ING) FOR NOUN B
Line 6- 2 ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE NOUN B
Line 7- NOUN B
Example:
SUNLIGHT
LARGE BRIGHT 
SHINING WARMING LIGHTING
TREES BIRDS CHILDREN FLOWERS
SOOTHING SMILING COOLING
BEAUTIFUL COLOURFUL
MOONLIGHT

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