One day, a poor woodman was cutting a tree on the bank of a river. By chance, his iron axe slipped from his hand, fell into the water and sank immediately. The woodman sat down and began to cry about his loss. The God who lived in the river, felt sorry for him. He dived to the bottom and brought up a golden axe.
But the honest woodman said that it was not his. The river god dived again and this time brought up a silver axe; but again the woodman refused to take it. After a third dive into the water, the river god brought up the iron axe. “That is mine”, cried the woodman, in great delight. The river god was so pleased with the truthful way in which the man had behaved that he gave him the gold and silver axes also. The woodman went home to his cottage rejoicing.
Comprehension Questions
1. Where did this incident happen? In a woodman’s garden; on a mountain top; near a river?
2. What happened to the woodman’s axe?
3. The woodman was helped by whom?
4. After which dive did the river god bring up the woodman’s axe?
5. How was the woodman rewarded for being honest?
6. The river god brought up other axes because ..why?
7. The woodman was : honest ? cunning? well to do? truthful? straightforward?
Work out:
He’s in a sentence means he is. He’s a big lad.
What do the following mean?
1. that’s 2) who’ve 3) o’er 4) doesn’t 5) o’clock 6) ’tis
Add ed to the verbs (Past tense form): eg. dive – dived
rain, bark, play, fill, ask, open, chew, pick, wait, act, help, end, live
When we add ed to doing words ending with y, we change the y to i – eg. try-tried
pay, lay, say, dry, tidy, cry, carry, hurry, copy, bury, empty, fry
When we add ed to some doing words, we double the last letter – eg. clap-clapped
pin, hug, wag, stop, chop, beg, hum, tap, sip, tug, rob, skip
©Swagat Children Library, www.kidsfreesouls.com – Grammar Through Stories by ilaxi patel, Ahmedabad.INDIA