ASHAQ HUSSAIN BHAT
GL TEACHER SCHOOL EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT JAMMU AND KASHMIR
Short story 5
THE STORY OF THE HILLS
TEXT-BASED EXERCISES
Q. 1. Where does the writer spend his summer vacation? How does he find the place ?
Ans. He spends his summer vacation in Basaintgarh. He finds this place cool and pleasant. The place has green fields of maize. Farmers sang rural folk songs.
Q. 2. How does the writer describe the beauty of the place ?
Ans. The writer finds the place very cool and pleasant. He felt transferred from a cauldron of hot oil to a bucket full of cold water. There were green maize fields. Deodar and Partal trees on the high hill ranges swayed in the breezes like some young boys dancing merrily. The place offered a lovely view of the river Ujh.
Q. 3. Whom does the writer meet ? What do they talk ?
Ans. The writer saw a girl of a very tender age. She thought that he was a man from the city. Then she began to talk with the writer about what he was writing. He told her that he was writing a story.
Q. 4. What is the name of the custom mentioned in the story? What type of custom is it?
Ans. This is the custom of dohri in the hilly regions. A widower could get another wife only if he gave a girl from his family into the family of his in-laws to be. It is a bad social custom. Sometimes very young girls get married with sick and elderly persons and they go on suffering for their lives.
Q. 5. What makes the little girl weep at the end of the story? What does she go on saying?
Ans. The little girl wept because it was the story of her own suffering. She goes on saying that this was her own story. Her voice echoed and each hill in the area was saying, "This is my own story."
LANGUAGE WORK
I. Rearrange the jumbled words to make them meaningful. The words are in the story.
disahos rddoea edoz
iohrd. Irebd nanstagt
earst. Mrrotow retiss
Ans.
deodar. Doze
Bride Sohadis. Stagnant
dohri. Sister
tears. tomorrow
II. Write down the meanings of the following phrases:
Come across
Ans. to meet someone
Pick up
Ans. to lift
Marry off
Ans. to arrange someone's marriage
Full of time
Ans. having a lot of time
Be in a fix
Ans :- To face a problem
Pen my story
Ans:-Write my story
GRAMMAR WORK
I. Study this sentence from the text : When the other wives of the king heard of this, they felt very jealous.
This sentence consists of two parts: one, 'When the other wives of the king heard of this' and two, 'they felt very jealous.' As you can see, the second part of the sentence gives a complete, meaning, therefore, it is called an independent clause. The first part depends on the second part for the completion of its meaning and is therefore called the dependent clause. Such sentences where one is an independent clause and the other is dependent on another one, are called complex sentences. They are different from compound sentences that you practised in an earlier lesson. Some of the words that connect the two clauses together are wh-words, that, if or whether, unless, until and many other that you will learn later. These can be used in the beginning or in the middle of the sentences.
Now join the following pairs of clauses together using connectives given in bracket.
(A) i. The king inspected the rooms of his six soldiers.
ii. The king was very pleased with them. (when)
When the king inspected the rooms of his six soldiers, he was very pleased with them.
(B) i. The crow brought a herb from the jungle.
ii. The crow gave the herb to the girl. (which)
Ans. The crow brought a herb from the jungle which he gave to the girl.
(C) i. The crow promised the girl.
ii. The crow would get a herb. (that)
Ans. The crow promised the girl that he would get a herb.
(D) i. I'll wait here.
ii. You come back. (until)
Ans. I'II wait here until you come back.
(E) i. You speak slowly.
ii. I can understand (if)
Ans. If you speak slowly, I can understand.
(F) i. I told him.
ii. I had finished my work. (that)
Ans. I told him that I had finished my work.
II. Fill in the blanks with what / which/ who :
1......................is your name?
2. You can have an ice-cream or a coke...........you want?
3...................is older, you or your brother ?
4...................is your favourite leader?
5 ..............colour is your umbrella. Mine is red.
6................hotel did you stay at in Delhi.
Ans. 1. What 2. Which 3. Who 4. Who 5. What 6. Which.
Let's Talk
Q. Did you like the above story? What are your feelings about the girl?
Ans. I feel moved by the story. I strongly feel that no girl child should be allowed to become a victim of bad social practices.
LET'S WRITE
The following jumbled sentences make up a complete story. Re-arrange them properly.
i. Saying these words the wolf attacked the lamb and ate it.
ii. A hungry wolf reached there.
iii. Now the wolf said, "Your father must have abused me then."
iv. Once upon a time a lamb was drinking water near the bank of a river.
v. The lamb replied respectfully, "Sir, the water is flowing down from your side. How can I make it muddy ?"
vi. "Why are you muddying the water?" asked the wolf.
vii. The wolf then said, "Why did you abuse me last year ?"
viii. On seeing the lamb, his mouth watered. He wanted to kill the lamb.
ix. The lamb replied. "But I was not born last
Ans. Arrange in the following order :
1. iv 2. ii. 3. viii 4. vi 5. v 6. vii 7. ix 8. iii 9. i
DO IT YOURSELF
Q. Folk-tales make an interesting reading. Read a folk tale from Kashmir or Ladakh and note down what similarities and / or differences that has from the above folk tale from Jammu.
Ans. For classroom discussion.
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