ENGLISH LITERATURE WORKSHEET

Grade : X Topic : THE BLUE BEAD

ANNOTATION 1
From the day, perhaps a hundred years ago, when the son had hatched him in a
sandbank, and he had broken his shell, and got her head out and looked around, ready
to snap at anything before he was even fully hatched – from that day when he had at
once made for the water, ready to fend for himself immediately, he had lived by his
brainless craft and ferocity.
1. How is the body of the crocodile strong enough to protect him? How was he
vulnerable to an attack?
- … because nothing could pierce the inch- thick armoured hide,
- not even rifle bullets, which would bounce off
- only the eyes and soft under arms could be attacked
2. How did the young crocodile get the food and store it? What did the big
crocodile feed on?
- he caught all the food he needed
- stored it till putrid in the holes in the bank
- fed on plenty of rotted food
3. What is said about the birth of the crocodile?
- born a hundred years ago
- when the sun had hatched him under a sandbank
- he had broken his shell and got his head out
- looked around, ready to snap at anything before he was fully hatched
ANNOTATION 2
In the shrill noisy village above the ford, out a mud house the same colour as the
ground came a little girl, a thin starving child dressed in an earth-coloured rag.
1. Where did the little girl come from? What did the little girl wear? What was
she eating?
- she came from the shrill noisy village above the ford, out of a mud house
- skirt and a sari
- the last of her meal, chapatti wrapped round a smear of green chili and rancid
butter.

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2. Describe the physical appearance of the little girl.
- had straight white teeth
- ebony hair
- great eyes
- skin of oiled brown cream
- was a happy immature child-woman about twelve years old
3. How was Sibia spend her time since her childhood?
- husked corn
- gathered sticks
- put dung to dry
- cooked and weeded
- carried and fetched water.

ANNOTATION 3
She knew what finery was, though. She had been with her parents and brothers all
through the jungles to the little town at the railhead where there was this bazaar.
1. Mention any three of the wonders Sibia had seen in the bazaar.
- satin sewn with real silver thread
- tin trays from Birmingham,
- a sari which had got chips of looking glass embroidered into the border
2. What was her experience at the sweet meat stall?
- She had paused
- was amazed,
- gazed at the brilliant honey confections, abuzz with dust and flies
3. What had she seen and heard while passing through the bazaar?
- all the milling people
- the dogs and monkeys full of fleas
- the idling gossiping bargaining humanity spitting betel juice
- the bell of a sacred bull clonking as he lumped along through the dust and
hubbub.

ANNOTATION 4
The Gujars were junglis, as Sibia was too, born and bred in the forest. For countless
centuries, their forebears had lived like this, getting their living from animals, from
grass and trees, as they scratched their food together, and stored their substance in
large herds and silver jewelry. They were Man in the wandering Pastoral Age, not
Stone Age Hunters, and not yet Cultivators.

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1. What is meant by ‘nomadic grazers’? Why are Gujars called the ‘men in the
wandering pastoral age’? How had the ancestors of the Gujars been getting
their living?
- those who move down from one place to another in search of food and water
- they were not yet cultivators
- from the forest
2. How did the women cross the river?
- they girded up their skirts, so as to jump from stone to stone
- they clanked their sickles and forks together over their shoulders to have ease
of movement.
- they shouted their quarrels above the gush of the river
3. Why are the Gujars called junglis?
- for countless centuries, their forebears had lived in forests
- got their living from animals, grass and trees
- they scratched their food together,
- stored their substance in large herds and silver jewellery
ANNOTATION 5
At the same moment a Gujar women came down with two gurrahs to the water on the
other side. In order to get the good clear water, which would quickly fill both gurrahs
to the top without sand, she walked onto the stepping stone.
1. What happened when the Gujar woman was within a yard of the crocodile?
What did the Gujar woman do to save herself?
- the crocodile lunged at her
- she screamed, and
- dropped both brass pots with a clatter on the boulder from whence they
bounced to the water
2. What did Sibia do when she saw the woman being attacked by the crocodile?
Why did Sibia come on wings? What did she use to attack the crocodile to save
the woman?
- she ran as swift as a rock goat in order to help her
- she wanted to help the shrieking woman
- homemade hayfork
3. What did the crocodile try to do after pulling her leg?
- threshing his mighty tail to and fro in great smacking flails as she tried to drag
her free
- and carry her off down into the deeps of the pool

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