MOUNTSION SCHOOL

Sec-12/D, B.S.City

Session 2020-21

Class- IV

Sub- English II

Note: All assignment to be done in a English 2 copy

Assignment no. 4

Ruskin Bond-

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He lives with his adopted family in Landour, Mussoorie, India. The Indian Council for Child Education has recognised his role in the growth of children's literature in India.

LITTLE WORLD OF MUD

Chapter- 2

- Ruskin Bond

Some animals live in and around a pond-

I HAD never thought there was much to be found in the rain-water pond behind our

bungalow in North India, except for quantities of mud and the occasional water-buffalo. It was

my grandfather who introduced me to the pond’s diverse life, so beautifully arranged that

each occupant gained some benefit from the well-being of the others! To the inhabitants of

the pond, the pond was the world; and to the inhabitants of the world, commented grandfather, the world was just a muddy pond.

When grandfather first showed me the pond world, he chose a dry place in the shade of an

old peepul tree, where we sat for an hour, gazing steadily at the thin green scum on the

water. The buffaloes had not arrived for their afternoon dip, and the surface of the pond was

undisturbed.

For the first 10 minutes we saw nothing. Then a small black blob appeared in the middle of

the pond. Gradually it rose higher, until at last we could make out a frog’s head, its big eyes

staring hard at us. The frog did not know if we were friends or enemies so he kept his body out of sight. A heron, his mortal enemy, might have been wading about in search of a meal.

When Mr Frog had made sure that we were not herons, he passed this information on to his

friends and neighbours, and very soon there were a number of big heads and eyes on the

surface of the water. Throats swelled. We were treated to a chorus that went, "Wurk, wurk, wurk ...."

In the shallow water near the tree, we could see a dark shifting shadow. When I touched it

with the end of a stick, the dark mass immediately became alive. Thousands of little black

tadpoles wriggled into life, pushing and hustling each other.

"What do tadpoles eat?", I asked.

"They eat one another most of the time," said grandfather. "It may seem an unpleasant

custom, but if all the young tadpoles in this pond grew into frogs they would take up every

inch of the ground between here and the house. And they’d be all over the bedrooms and the bathrooms and the kitchen. Your grandmother wouldn’t be too pleased."

"Their croaking would drive her crazy!"

Grandfather told me that when he was a young man he had once brought home a number of

green tree-frogs. He put them in a glass jar and left them on a window-sill without telling

anyone of their presence.

At about four in the morning, the entire household was awakened by a loud and fearful noise.

Grandmother and other members of the household gathered on the verandah for safety. Their

fear turned to outrage when they discovered the source of all the noise. At the first glimmer

of dawn, the frogs had with one accord burst into a song. Grandmother wanted them thrown

out of the window, but grandfather gave the bottle a good shaking and that quietened them

for some time. Everyone went back to sleep, but grandfather was obliged to stay awake in order to shake the bottle whenever the frogs showed signs of bursting into a song.

The following day, one of my aunts took the cover off the bottle to see what was inside. The

sight of a dozen green tree-frogs so frightened her that she ran off without replacing the cover. The frogs jumped out and got loose in the garden and were never seen again.

But to return to the pond.... I soon got into the habit of visiting it on my own, to explore its

banks and shallows. Taking off my shoes, I would wade into the muddy water up to my knees, to pluck the water-lilies off the surface.

One day, when I arrived at the pond, I found it already occupied by buffaloes. Their owner, a

boy a little older than me, was swimming in the middle of the pond. Instead of climbing out

on the bank, he would pull himself up on the back of one of his buffaloes, stretching his slim brown body out on the animal’s glistening back.

When he saw me staring at him from across the pond, he smiled, showing gleaming white

teeth in his dark, sun-bronzed face. He invited me to join him for a swim. I told him I could

not swim, and he offered to teach me. He dived off the back of the buffalo and swam across

to me. And I, having removed my shirt and shorts, followed his instructions until I was struggling about among the water-lilies.

The boy’s name was Ramu. He promised to give me swimming lessons every afternoon.

Before long I was able to swim across the pond to join Ramu astride a contented, basking

buffalo. Ramu came from a family of milk-vendors and had received little schooling. But he was well-versed in folklore and knew a great deal about birds and animals.

I liked the buffaloes too. Sometimes we tried racing them, sitting astride different buffaloes.

But they were lazy animals, and would leave one comfortable spot only to look for another;

or, if they were in no mood for hectic activity, would roll over in the water, depositing us into

the mud and green scum of the pond. Emerging from the pond in shades of green and brown,

I would slip into the house through the back door, to avoid grandmother’s wrath; then hurriedly bathe under a tap before getting into my clothes.

Sitting on our favourite buffalo, Ramu and I watched a pair of Sarus cranes prancing and

capering around each other. They were tall, stork-like birds with naked red heads and long

red legs. These birds are always devoted companions, and it is said that if a Sarus is killed, its

mate will haunt the scene for weeks, calling sadly, and sometimes even pining away and dying of grief.

They are held in great affection by village folk and will often "adopt" a village, living on its

outskirts. And they are as good as watch-dogs, giving loud trumpet-like calls if strangers approach.

This particular pair of Sarus cranes seemed to have adopted our pond and bungalow, for we

were to see them often in the coming months. Both grandfather and Ramu felt that people should be more gentle with birds and animals, and not kill them for sport or commerce.

"It is also important that we respect them," said grandfather. "We must acknowledge their

rights on the earth. Everywhere birds and animals are finding it more difficult to survive because we are destroying their forests. They have to keep moving as the trees disappear."

Ramu and I spent many long summer afternoons at the pond. The buffaloes and the frogs and

the Sarus cranes shared our friendship. They had accepted us as part of their own world, their

muddy but comfortable pond.

Summary

The Little World of Mud by Ruskin Bond portrays through the rainwater pond which existed behind the author's bungalow that there was a whole diverse life inside the pond where creatures benefited from each other. The pond is the world for them. The author had never noticed it until his grandfather made him observe that. He found how the frogs and tadpoles lived inside the silent pond in which he had occasionally seen buffaloes only. Later on, he befriends Ramu who comes to the pond with his buffaloes. He teaches the author swimming. They also spot a pair of crane sarus which became a part of the pond and their bungalow gradually. The author was pleased that they had become a part of the muddy world of the mud.

Hard words-

(i) Occasional (ii) Appeared (iii) heron (iv) tadpoles (v) unpleasant

(vi) awakened (vii) quietened (viii) frightened (ix) hurriedly (x) prancing

(xi) companions (xii) companions

Word meanings-

(i) bungalow- a large house

(ii) heron- a large bird with a long neck and long legs, that lives near water

(iii) wade- to walk with an effort through something, especially water or mud

(iv) prancing- moving quickly with exaggerated steps so that people will look at you

(v) commerce- trade

1. 1. What was the narrator’s misunderstanding about the pond? Ans. The narrator had never thought there was much to be found in the rain-water pond behind his house. He had always seen a large quantity of mud and occasionally, a few water-buffaloes.

2. 3. 4. 2. What does the narrator mean by the diversity of the pond? 5. Ans. By the diversity of the pond, the narrator means the variety of life that existed in the

pond. It was so beautifully arranged that each individual gained some benefit from the well-being of the others.

6.

3. Explain the line, “To the inhabitants of the pond, the pond was the world; and to the

inhabitants of the world, the world was but a muddy pond.” Ans. This means the different ways animals and human beings look at the world. The animals in the pond are happy being in the muddy pond. It is their world where they enjoy their life irrespective of the disorder in it. On the other hand, human beings seldom notice the beauty of the world. we look at the world but see only the unpleasant side of it. 4. What does the narrator mean by ‘pond-world’?

Ans. By pond-world, the narrator refers to the diversity of life in the pond which we usually do not see. There are so many unknown and unseen creatures in a pond other than the usual mud and water and the big animals like the buffaloes.

1. 5. How does the author narrate his experiencing the pond-world? Ans. When Grandfather first showed the narrator the pond-world, he chose a dry place in the shade of an old peepul tree, where the two of them sat for an hour, gazing steadily at the thin green scum on the water. The buffaloes had not arrived for their afternoon dip, and the surface of the pond was undisturbed. For the first ten minutes they saw nothing. It was after a while a small black blob appeared in the middle of the pond. Gradually it rose higher until at last the narrator spotted a frog’s head. The frog had its big eyes staring hard at them as if it

did not know if the narrator and his grandfather were its friend or enemy. For a while the frog kept its body out of sight and looked for its enemies such as a heron, who could have been wading about in search of it. When the frog had made sure that the narrator and the grandfather were not herons, it passed this information on to its friends and neighbours, and very soon there were a number of big heads and eyes on the surface of the water. The narrator ends the narration with the endless croaking of the frogs.

2. 3. 6. How did tadpoles amaze the narrator?

Ans. When the narrator saw a mass of tadpoles in the pond, he could not believe that the shadow-like thing was a mass of tadpoles. When he touched the shadow-like mass with the end of a stick, the dark mass immediately became alive. Thousands of little black tadpoles wriggled into life, pushing and hustling one another. What amazed the narrator the most was to learn that tadpoles eat other tadpoles.

1. 7. How did the narrator see that tadpoles feeding on other tadpoles was a useful system? Ans. Although it was a little unacceptable to the narrator, he saw that tadpoles feeding other tadpoles brought a balance in the breeding of too many tadpoles because of this system, thousands of tadpoles that are hatched do not grow up to frogs. If they are not eaten up by other tadpoles, they would take up every inch of ground.

2. 3. 8.WHAT DID THE NARRATOR LEARN ABOUT THE LIFE OF FROGS?

Ans. The narrator learnt many things about the life of frogs. Frogs are very careful about their mortal enemies such as herons. They are very clever to avoid their enemies. To make sure they are safe, one of the frogs appears on the surface of the water while others remained underwater. All the frogs come to the surface only when the first frog gave them signal.

4. 9. “TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE POND, THE POND WAS THE WORLD; AND TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD, THE WORLD WAS BUT A MUDDY POND.” WHAT DOES GRANDFATHER MEAN BY THIS? Ans. Grandfather is trying explain the difference between human beings and animals. The animals do complain about their own world. They are happy wherever they live. On the other hand, humans are not happy with the world they live in. They always want to move new places, move from their small houses to bigger house and from villages to cities.

Articles

Definite Article 'The'

Definite Article (the) points out to a particular person, animal, thing or place. The is used before a noun beginning with a consonant or a vowel sound.

This is the girl who came first in the race.

The Bible is a holy book of the Christians.

Analysis

In the above given sentences, the has been used before girl, race, Bible and Christians (all nouns) which are definite or particular person or thing. These particular person or thing may begin with both sounds - consonant or vowel.

Uses of Definite Article 'The'

The' is used before the following:

1. A class of noun.

Ex. - The dog is a faithful animal.

2. Superlative Degrees of Adjective.

Ex.- Steve is the best player in the team.

3. Words that express quantity.

Ex.- Wheat is sold by the kilogram.

4. A noun which has already mentioned earlier.

Ex.- Steve saw a bird. The bird was beautiful.

5. Names of national, religion and caste.

Ex.- The Hindu, The Indian.

6. The name of famous building.

Ex. The Red Fort.

7. The name of sea and river valley.

Ex. The Arabian sea, The Brahmaputra valley

8. Name of few countries.

Ex. The U.S.A., The U.K.

Name of religious books.

Ex. The Ramayana.

10. Name of Heavenly bodies. .

Ex. The Venus

11. Name of Rivers.

Ex. The Ganga

12. Name of Mountain.

Ex- The Himalaya

13. The name of ocean.

Ex - The Indian Ocean, The Pacific Ocean.

14. Historical buildings.

Ex . The Taj Mahal, The Victoria Memorial, The Red fort.

15. English newspaper.

Ex. The Times of India, The Hindustan times, The Hindu

A and AN are called indefinite articles. "Indefinite" means "not specific". Use A(AN) when you are talking about a thing in general, NOT a specific thing.

Examples:

I need a phone. Not a specific phone, any phone Mark wants a bicycle. Not a particular bicycle, a bicycle in general Do you have a driver's license? In general

Use A(AN) when talking about a thing which is new, unknown, or introduced to a listener for the first time. Also use A(AN) when you are asking about the

existence of something.

I have a car. The car is being introduced for the first time. Tom is a teacher. This is new information to the listener. Is there a dictionary in your backpack?

THE is called a definite article. "Definite" means "specific". Use THE when talking about something which is already known to the listener or which has been

previously mentioned, introduced, or discussed.

Examples:

I have a cat. The cat is black. There is a book in my backpack. The book is very heavy. Do you know where I left the car keys? The listener knows which

specific car keys you are talking about. Do you own a car? Is the car blue? You assume they do have a car

after asking about it in the first sentence. Nobody lives on the Moon. The Moon is known to everyone.

IMPORTANT: You can use THE with both singular nouns and plural nouns.

Examples:

I saw the bear in Yellowstone National Park. Correct I saw the bears in Yellowstone National Park. Correct

Page 23-

1. a 2. the 3. a 4. the 5. a 6. an , a, a 7. an 8. a

HOW TO PLAN AND WRITE A COMPOSITION

The first step is to know the story structure – what are the important story elements that each composition must

include.

With Primary 1 pupils, the SPACE planning strategy is a simple yet effective planning tool for pupils to

understand the planning of story structure

1) S FOR SETTING

Using the ‘W’s , the setting tells the reader the the time (When), place (Where) and main character (Who) of the

story.

To identify the setting elements, we generally look at Picture 1 of the given topic.