Yearly Archives: 2022

It is Christmas Eve and all the shoppers are returning home. Everyone is closing their shops but Ray’s old-clock shop is still open. He is working round the clock. The work now ends and Ray is about to leave when two men enter his shop.

One is in his twenties while the other is in his fifties. Ray looks at them and notices the young man remains at the door. The old man comes to the counter with a not-so-warm approach. He makes Ray realize that he is not a shopper.

After that, Ray gives him a notepad and a pencil. He tells the man that he is deaf and dumb in sign language. Then, the old man turns back and says something to his young companion. Soon, Ray notices the gun in the man’s pocket.

He realizes they are here to rob him. Ray calms himself and asks if he may help the man. The man looks at Ray and gives a cruel mocking smile. Ray writes whether he is here to pick up a clock or watch.

Through sign language, Ray tells him that he gives out loans to the needy against their watches. Even though Ray is not a pawnbroker, he cannot turn away the needy. When someone offers him his watch or clock, he loans them the money.

Soon, the man realizes an idea and shows Ray his old wristwatch. He asks how much will Ray pay him for it. Even though Ray knows the watch is cheap, he acts smartly and asks how much the man needs.

The old man tells him whatever the worth is, he will take it. Ray gives him a fifty-dollar note and the man feels grateful. Both realize that it was a good deal as the old man doesn’t have to hurt Ray and Ray has managed to save himself from getting robbed.

The man tells Ray that he will return soon for his watch and wishes him a merry Christmas. All the clocks start ringing to indicate completion of half-hour. Thus, the story ends on a peaceful note with a message of peace and goodwill.

Conclusion of The Old-Clock Shop Summary

The Old-Clock Shop Summary teaches us how we must always have goodwill in our hearts and help out the needy. Ray not only saved himself but also showed the right path to the robbers. Moreover, it also teaches us how an honest way and calm mind can help us get out of the wackiest situations.

A shepherd lives in Iran and even though he is not educated, he is quite wise. The Shepherds Treasure tells us his story and how he turns rich when the King identifies his strength. It explores the theme of humility and honesty.

A shepherd is a poor man who lives in a small village. As there were no schools at those times, he has not received an education. That does not stop him from being a wise and friendly man.

It is his common sense which helps other people out of their problems. As a result, many people visit him to get advice and he gains popularity. The news soon reaches the king who decides to meet him.

However, he disguises himself as a shepherd and goes to meet him at his cave. On seeing him, the shepherd gives him water and shares his meal. As the king stays the night at his place, he becomes impressed through his kindness and wise talks.

The next morning, as the king is about to leave, he thanks the shepherd for his generosity. Thus, the shepherd tells him he had recognized the king and was grateful to him for his visit.

This impresses the king and he appoints him as the governor of a small district. Soon, the people also start loving the shepherd because of his humility, wisdom and kindness. However, this does not go down well with the other governors.

They plot against him and feeds the king lies about the shepherd’s dishonesty. In order to make their lies concrete, they imply that the shepherd hides the treasure in his trunk, which he always carries with him.

When the king hears about all this, he decides to make the shepherd open the iron chest. When he opens it, he finds only an old blanket in it. This shocks everyone and the shepherd explains that the blanket is his only treasure.

Moreover, the shepherd values it as the blanket provides him protection and will continue to do so even if he loses all his possessions and position. Now, the king feels embarrassed but also impressed by his wisdom. Thus, he appoints him the governor of an even bigger district.

Conclusion of The Shepherds Treasure Summary

The Shepherds Treasure Summary teaches us that wisdom, modesty and candour are qualities of having great ethical conduct. Moreover, it tells us how anyone who possesses these traits will be awarded sooner or later

We will study how The Friendly Mongoose Summary takes us through the story of a rather unusual pet. It is about a mongoose which grows up as a baby boy’s companion. It starts with a farmer and his wife who love their newborn baby a lot.

The farmer thinks it is a good idea to get a pet for their son as a companion and the wife agrees. Thus, the farmers bring him a baby mongoose as a pet. As time passes by, within six months, the mongoose grows up to its full size.

On the other hand, the son of the farmer is still a baby who is in the cradle. Being an infant, the son mostly cries or sleeps. One fine day, the wife of the farmer decides to go to the market.

But, she asks her husband to not leave the baby alone as she has just fed and cradled him to sleep. So, she expects her husband to keep an eye on their baby boy. Moreover, what concerns her more is that the mongoose is fully grown now, so it is better to be cautious.

However, the farmer does not pay much heed to her. He assures her that as the mongoose and their son have grown up together, he is rather friendly. Thus, he asks her to not worry too much and stop overthinking.

As soon as the wife leaves for the market, the farmer also goes to the fields to meet his friends. But, his wife returns before him with a bagful of groceries. As usual, the mongoose greets her but to her horror, she sees blood on its mouth and paws.

This angers her and she assumes that the mongoose has killed her son so she throws the heavy grocery bag on the mongoose. After that, she goes running inside the house to check on her son.

To her surprise, she notices that a black snake is lying on the ground. It is torn up and bleeding while the baby is sound asleep. Soon she realizes that matter and comes outside to check on the mongoose.

However, she finds out that it has died and it leaves her devastated. The mongoose saved her baby from the snake but her impulsive reaction killed him. She breaks down crying and regrets acting too hastily without thinking first. Thus, it tells us that actions done in anger can mostly produce wrong results.

The Friendly Mongoose Summary

The Friendly Mongoose Summary teaches us that we must not be judgmental and act hastily. In fact, it tells us that we must think properly before reaching to a conclusion and understand everything with a calm mind

A tale of two birds summary is about a mother bird who lives in a forest. She has two babies who are new-born that also live with her. The nest in which the mother bird lives is in a tall tree.

On a stormy night filled with thunder, lightning and rain, the wind starts blowing fiercely. It causes the tree to fall down which result in the death of the mother bird. Consequently, the wind blows away the little birds.

After the storm passes, one bird finds itself near a cave. Near that cave, lives a gang of robbers. On the other hand, the second bird fell a little distance away, near the ashram of a Rishi.

Thus, the storm separates the two little birds. So, in order to survive, the first one makes their home on a tree which is near the cave of the gang of robbers. Whereas, the second one makes their nest on a tree near the ashram of the Rishi.

As time passes by, the little birds turn young. On one fine day, a king is visiting the area nearby as he follows a deer. This tires him and he decides to get off his horse and rest near the cave.

To his surprise, when he rests, he hears a bird’s voice. The big is brown in colour and it starts calling out to robbers. It invites them to come and snatch the jewels of the king and steal his horse.

This scares the King and he flees the area as soon as possible on his horse. He reaches the Rishi’s ashram soon and sits down under the tree once again to rest. What happens next surprises him.

He hears a bird which welcomes him and asks him to take rest inside the ashram. He looks at it and remembers it resembles the same brown bird which he saw earlier near the cave. Thus, it confuses him how similar-looking birds can be so contrasting in nature.

The Rishi clears his confusion and tells him that the one outside the cave was this bird’s sibling. He tells the king that they have different nature because they grew up with a different company.

As the first one grew up with robbers, so he talks like that and vice versa. Finally, Rishi says that our company matters and determine our nature.

Conclusion of A Tale of Two Birds Summary

A Tale of Two Birds Summary teaches us that we must make friends with good-natured people. If we live in the company of bad people, we will also turn out like them. But, if we stay with good people, we can build our character.

The poem “Whatif” is written by Shel Silverstein. It is a light verse where the speaker of the poem asks a series of  ‘what if’ questions to himself.

When the speaker was lying and thinking the previous night, a group of ‘whatifs‘ entered his head through the ears. They pranced, partied, and sang their old whatif song. In short, the speaker spent the entire night worrying over various absurd and possible scenarios that may or may not even take place.

The speaker has concerns that are common to students of his age. He is worried that he might be treated as a stupid person in his school or fail in his examination. But he also voices out the concerns faced by young kids, such as being ill-treated at school or elsewhere, hated or ignored by people, parents getting divorced, and such. Moreover, the poem reveals the insecurities of kids, such as whether they would grow taller or their teeth would grow even. Also, the speaker wonders what would happen if he never learns to dance as it has a huge role to play in him becoming popular and also stepping out to adulthood.

On the other hand, the poem also contains questions and concerns that are absurd. Green hair growing on his chest or head getting smaller are some of his pointless worries. However, they also reveal the imaginative side of kids.

Hence, a big list of ‘whatifs‘ runs through the speaker’s mind. As the night breaks into dawn, the whatif song also comes to an end. The speaker seems happy and relieved, but unfortunately, the ‘whatif‘-thoughts reappear during the night to keep him restless.

Vocation Poem Introduction

This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore and displays a child’s yearning and wishes. It speaks about how a child is unaware of the harshness connected to daily life and gets attracted to various things in life.
 

Vocation Poem Summary

In this poem a child speaks about his wishes and attractions. It shows the state of his wavering but innocent mind. The poem is about how a child gets attracted to the ways of people around him and finds different curiosities and attractions in their lives. He is not aware of the tough routine they have to go through. It also shows his innocence and lack of worldly sense.

At three different points of time during the day he notices different hawkers and gets impressed by their free choices and independent way of life.

When the gong sounds ten in the first part of the day, he goes to his school and sees the vendor crying “Bangles, precious stone bangles!” and he wishes he could be a peddler and move freely anywhere just like him.

At four in the evening, while returning from school at the same time, he sees the plant specialist burrowing the ground and he wanted to be a nursery worker. He wished to play in the dust.

At the point when night falls his mom sends him to bed and he sees the guardian through the window and he wishes he could be a gatekeeper so that he could also move here and there in the streets at night freely

Man is a gifted animal who can think and speak. Every man knows at least one language as it is a must to give expression to thoughts, ideas and feelings. All people think as well as speak. The poet advises the readers to work on their language and learn it skillfully. The poet says that we all know one language at least. We all have a mother tongue so we must have good command over it. We should not let any idea go or fade just because we don’t find the right words for it, rather conscious effort should be made to find words to express it clearly. It might be possible that idea does wonders. English is a wonderful and rich language. One can express one’s thoughts in this language without any hassles clearly and flawlessly. The need is to look for the correct and right words to express our ideas clearly. It is wrong to think that there are no more good thoughts left to be expressed. The most beautiful way to give expression to our thoughts or ideas is our words. Everyone loves to hear new and good things. The only thing is that we need to master the language and find the right words. Every thought is like a prisoner or a caged bird in our mind. We can set that idea free with the help of words. It is quite possible that the thought may be marvellous.

The Wonderful Words Poem Explanation

Never let a thought shrivel and die
For want of a way to say it
For English is a wonderful game

Shrivel: to wither, shrink, wrinkle and contract
Wonderful:extremely good, marvellous, inspiring delight
Game: it is used here for enriched language

Here, the poet is saying that never let any idea or thought die, in other words, never let it go without giving it expression. Just because you don’t know how to speak or how to use the right words. English is a very rich language full of treasures.

The Wonderful Words Poem Explanation

Never let a thought shrivel and die
For want of a way to say it
For English is a wonderful game

Shrivel: to wither, shrink, wrinkle and contract
Wonderful:extremely good, marvellous, inspiring delight
Game: it is used here for enriched language

Here, the poet is saying that never let any idea or thought die, in other words, never let it go without giving it expression. Just because you don’t know how to speak or how to use the right words. English is a very rich language full of treasures.

It is difficult for a small child to accept that a teacher is also any common man or woman living around him. The child wonders and questions if teachers also behave like other people, If they also do all the work or things, other people do? Like do they live in houses, do they wear pyjamas (clothes), wash socks or watch T.V? Do they also have parents and children to live with? All these questions bother a child’s mind and out of curiosity, one day the child decides to follow his teachers to keep a check  and to write a poem about them so that the teachers read that poem to their students.It shows the cuteness, purity, curiosity and dilemma a young mind has for his teachers. It also shows their expectations from teachers.

Poem Explanation

Where do all the teachers go
When it’s four o’clock?
Do they live in houses
And do they wash their socks?

The child wonders and questions where all the teachers go after school hours. When it is 4 0’ clock. He wants to know if like any other ordinary being they also live in houses and wash their socks, means do they also do all the routine work like other people.

Do they wear pyjamas
And do they watch TV?
And do they pick their noses
The same as you and me?

pyjamas here is used for clothes
pick their noses; an activity to waste time, poking and inserting finger in the nose to clear

The poet is trying to say in this poem that beauty is in everything. All the small things we do or the environment around us, everything has beauty in it. Everything has its own importance. All things are beautiful in their own unique way. Sunlight has its own beauty. Beauty can be seen in the growing corns, people who are working and dancing for getting good harvest. Beauty is not only seen but can also be heard or felt. For instance, when night falls, wind blows slowly, the sound of rainfall, or when a singer sings. They all give pleasure to the mind and make it feel happy.Beauty is not just outside, it is within. Beautiful is the self. Our good deeds, happy thoughts please everyone are all beautiful.Our dreams are also beautiful as they give us reason to advance and work with zeal. Beauty is in your style of work, the way you take rest and sleep.Beauty is everywhere. It is in attitude, the way we look at things. Actually, everything is beautiful in its own unique manner, the need is to feel it.

Beauty Poem Explanation

Beauty is seen
In the sunlight,
The trees, the birds,
Corn growing and people working
Or dancing for their harvest.

Corn: the chief cereal crop of wheat, oats,maize, barley  etc.
Harvest : the time of the year when the crop is ready

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. It is the attitude of a person. Beauty is everywhere. It can be seen in the Sunlight, the trees, the birds, the growing crops, people who dance to show their happiness when their crops are ready.

Beauty is heard
In the night,
Wind sighing, rain falling,
Or a singer chanting
Anything in earnest.
Earnest  sincere and honest  conviction

Sighing: sound of a deep, loud breath or exhale taken in relief
Chanting: singing

Beauty is a thing to be felt.It can be heard means one can listen to it. Like one can hear its sound when night falls, when the wind blows and creates a sound, when rain falls on the earth, when a singer sings. One can even feel it in sincere and honest conviction of a person.

Beauty is in yourself.
Good deeds, happy thoughts
That repeat themselves
In your dreams,
In your work, And even in your rest

The Quarrel Summary In English

The poet quarrelled with his brother on some very petty matter. It was so petty that now he does not remember what it was. One thing led to another. Both of them felt that they were right. It had started as something small. It had become big in the end. So they began to hate each other. The afternoon became very tense and unpleasant for both of them.

Then suddenly, the poet’s brother patted him on the back. He said that the two of them could not go along like that for a long time. It would be difficult to pass the night in that manner. He said that it was his mistake, Just then the poet felt that his brother was right. In fact he himself was wrong.