Class-8 English Reader (Special), Lesson-9 The Sacrifice / M.P. Board

Lesson-9

The Sacrifice

Glossary

Awful-  Unpleasant

Righteousness -  morally right and good

Prey -  animal, bird etc.  hunted for food

Betray -  to be Unfaithful

Pant -  breed quickly with short breaths

Flutter -  move the wings quickly and lightly

Piercing -  look in a way that affects you very strangely

Startle -  to surprise suddenly in a way that slightly shocks or frightens

Summon -  to call or send for

Dismay -  sad feeling after you have received an unpleasant surprise

Vanish-  disappear suddenly

Yield -  to surrender

Disguise -  to change the appearance, etc. in order to deceive or hide identity

Chase-  to run after somebody in order to catch

Steady-   in an even and regular way

Robe-  along loose piece of clothing

Scales-  an instrument for weighing things

Word Power

(A) Match column A with column B for finding the meaning of words in column A:

A	B
Sacrifice	To be unfaithful to someone
Disguise	To pursue in order to catch
Betray	To call  or send for
Summon	Animal, bird etc. killed as part of ceremony
Yield	To give up
Chase	To change the appearance, etc. of, in order to deceive or hide identity
Righteousness	Disappear
Vanish	Doing what is morally good
Fate	An animal caught by another animal and eaten
Prey	fortune

Ans-

A	B
Sacrifice	Animal, bird etc. killed as part of ceremony
Disguise	To change the appearance, etc. of, in order to deceive or hide identity
Betray	To be unfaithful to someone
Summon	To call  or send for
Yield	To give up
Chase	To pursue in order to catch
Righteousness	Doing what is morally good
Vanish	Disappear
Fate	fortune
Prey	An animal caught by another animal and eaten

(B) Tick the word in box A that are associated with king Shibi. Tick the word in box B that are associates with the eagle. Tick the word in Box C that are associated with the Dove.

A	B	C
Kind, cruel,  righteous, justice, strong, fool, calm,  noble,  trust, sacrifice, gentle, sad,  cheerful	Indra, piercing, innocent,  trustworthy, strong,  hungry, wicked, thundering, prey, anger	Innocent, white,  anger, panting,  trembling, Agni,  rushing, thunder, sad,  flutters

A	B	C
Kind(✓), cruel,  righteous(✓),  justice(✓),  strong(✓),  fool,  calm(✓),  noble(✓),  trust(✓), sacrifice(✓),  gentle(✓),  sad,  careful(✓)	Indra(✓), piercing(✓),  innocent,  trustworthy, strong(✓), hungry(✓), wicked(✓),  thundering(✓),  prey,  anger(✓)	Innocent(✓), white(✓),  anger,  panting(✓),  trembling(✓), Agni(✓), rushing,  thunder, sad(✓),  flutters(✓)

Comprehension

(A) Answer the following questions:

Q1.       What were the two qualities of King Shibi?

Ans- Justice and righteousness were the two qualities of King Shibi for which he was known.

Q2.       Why was the eagle angry?

Ans- The eagle was angry because the king gave shelter to the dove it had been chasing for prey.

Q3.       Why did the king refuse to surrender the dove?

Ans- The king refused to surrender the dove because he did not betray the trust of dove who was in his shelter. King considered the protection of dove, his foremost duty.

Q4.       What did the eagle demand in place of dove?

Ans- The eagle demanded king’s flesh equal to the weight of the dove.

Q5.       The eagle made the king’s sacrifice more difficult by laying down certain conditions. What were these?

Ans-  The eagle made the king’s sacrifice more difficult by laying down certain conditions. These were:

1-  The flesh must be cut from the right side of the body only.

2-  King’s wife and sun must be present at the sacrifice.

Q6.       Why did a tear drop from the left eye of the king?

Ans-A tear dropped from the left eye of the king for the weak and unprotected dove.

Q7.       What happened to the eagle and the dove?

Ans- The form of the eagle and the dove vanished and Indra and Agni stood in their place.

(B) Choose the correct answer:

1. What did the king say when he saw the dove?

a) Oh! what nonsense!

b) Oh! what an innocent bird! (✓)

c)  Oh! what a poor bird!

d) Oh! take this bird away!

2. What did the eagle ask the king?

a)   Keep the dove with you.

b)   Give me shelter.

c)    Surrender my prey. (✓)

d)   I want to rest.

3. What did the queen say to the king?

a)     We are not with you.

b)     We don’t like your decision.

c)      I am very scared.

d)     We are with you and may all the gods be with you. (✓)

4. What did God Indra grant King Shibi?

a)     You have the highest place in heaven. (✓)

b)     You don’t have a place in heaven.

c)      You have a place in hell.

d)     You will live on the earth only.

 Let’s Learn

     (A) Look at the word from the lesson:

calmly, firmly, slowly, carefully, wickedly, gently

These are ‘adverbs’. They tell us something more about the verbs. 

Rewrite the following sentences by changing the underlined words (adjectives) into adverbs as given in the example:

Example- Hari speaks to his servant in a kind manner.

                   Hari speaks to his servant kindly.

1.    The dog gave a loud bark.

Ans- The dog barked loudly.

2.    Beena narrated the incident in a cheerful mood.

Ans- Beena narrated the incident cheerfully.

3.    She danced in a graceful manner.

Ans- She danced gracefully.

4.    Hari is an efficient worker.

Ans- Hari works efficiently.

5.    Ravi made a strong appeal.

Ans- Ravi made an appeal strongly.

    (B) Look at the following sentences from the lesson:

(a) Protecting is my foremost duty.

(b) My cooks are famous for their cooking.

The words ‘protecting’ and ‘cooking’ are gerunds. Gerund is a noun (also called a ‘verbal noun’) in the form of the present participle of a verb (that is ending in –ing)

Use the verbs given below as gerunds in the following sentences:

Pace, make, swim, collect, sleep, walk, play, paint

1.    Swimming is a good exercise.

2.    Reha’s hobby is collecting stamps.

3.    Making fun of others is not a good thing.

4.    Children love playing cricket.

5.    Walking in the morning is good.

6.    Sleeping during the daytime is not good for health.

7.    Painting is an art.

8.    They started packing their luggage.

     (C) Supply the missing punctuation marks in the following sentences:

1.   Be careful said the officer.

Ans- “Be careful’, said the officer.

2.   What are you doing

Ans- What are you doing?

3.   He said I shall go to bhopal.

Ans- He said, “I shall go to Bhopal”.

4.   my dinner is ready to be served.

Ans- My dinner is ready to be served.

5.   Its wonderful

Ans- It’s wonderful!

6.   wow what a beautiful thing

Ans- Wow! what a beautiful thing!

Let's Talk

You meet an old class fellow at the railway station.  read the first part of the dialogue. Then complete the dialogue using the correct tense form.

Rhea :  Hello Priya! Is that really you!

Priya : Rhea! Oh! What a surprise!

Rhea : Tell me about myself. What have you been doing all these years?

Priya : My father got transferred. I am studying in Indore now.

Rhea : You have changed, Priya. I remember you used to be a bookworm. Tell me, do you still read a lot?

Priya : Oh no, Rhea! I have not read a book for months now. What about you? Do you still love music?

Rhea : Yes, I still love music .

Priya : Are you learning from a teacher?

Rhea : Yes, I am going to the Academy of Classical Music.

Priya : Which for of music are you learning?

Rhea : I have been learning Hindustani music for three years. What is it in English that you find difficult?

Let’s Read

King Nanda of Magadh is holding court in his palace. He is surrounded by half a dozen courtiers who keep flattering him.  They are listening to a musician.

Nanda :  This fellow sings very well.

First Courtier : He is a talented singer, your Highness!  he has come from the far South to sing at your court.

Second Courtier :  The best man and woman in Bharat come to this court.

Third Courtier : That’s true. The best men and women come to the best king.

Fourth Courtier : The court of Magadh is better than the court of Indra.

Nanda : I’m glad to hear that. I’m proud of Maharaja Ghana Nanda, the greatest of the Nandas.

Now answer the following questions:

Q1.   What is King Nanda doing in the court?

Ans- King Nanda is listening to a musician in the court.

Q2.   Where has the musician come from?

Ans- The musician has come from the far south.

Q3.   Whose court is better than the court of Indra?

Ans- The court of the king Nanda of Magadh is better than the court of Indra.

Q4.   Does the king like flattery?

Ans- Yes the king likes flattery.

Let’s Write

A)        The following passage has not been edited. There is an error in each line. Underline the error.

Polio is cause by three different viruses. A virus is a disease causing organism so small that it could pass through a filter which stops bacteria. A virus will live in a living cell. When polio virus entered the body, it travels by nerves and in the blood to the spinal cord and brain. There it growing in cell in the gray matter of a spinal cord. When these nerve cells is swollen and sick, the muscles they control will not operate. They are paralysed. If the nerves recover, a muscle can move again. Otherwise they were paralysed forever.

B) Now rewrite the passage that you have corrected.

Polio is caused by three different viruses. A virus is a disease causing organism, so small that it could pass through a filter which stops bacteria. A virus lives in a living cell. When polio virus enters the body, it travels by nerves and in the blood to the spinal cord and the brain. There, it grows in cell in the gray matter of a spinal cord. When these nerve cells are swollen and sick, the muscles they control will not operate. They are paralysed. If the nerves recover, a muscle can move again. Otherwise they are paralysed forever.

Let’s do it

Imagine that your class is going to act the play ‘ The Sacrifice’  for the school function. Before you go ahead you will need to plan and prepare yourself. Choose a team you will need for the play.

   * A director who will be the overall incharge.

       * the cast,  some actors and actresses,  to play the various roles.

         * a stage manager,  who will be incharge of costumes

         * a prompter

The team should discuss and agree on the stage directions, read and discuss characterization and hold regular rehearsals before the actual presentation.

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