The Banyan Tree

A boy who came to live with his grandparents became the owner of a large old banyan tree that housed squirrels, snails and butterflies. A squirrel became his friend on the tree. They became so friendly that the squirrel started taking tit bits of food from his hand. In spring, the tree was the noisiest place in the garden with a variety of birds chirruping on it.  The boy made a rough platform on which he used to sit and read adventurous books during hot summers. From here, he also watched the world under the tree. One day he watched a fight between a mongoose and a cobra while sitting on the tree Because of the hot summer  everyone was indoors. The boy was thinking of going to the pond and have a swim with the buffaloes and Ramu. Suddenly,  a huge black cobra and a mongoose came out. The cobra was aware of the superb fighting skills of the mongoose. However, the cobra was no less. He was also fast and had sharp fangs of deadly poison. None of them knew that the boy was watching them. Other than the boy, two other spectators, a myna and a crow were also watching them from the clump of cactus. The mongoose opened the attack. The crow and the myna also joined them in the fight and attacked at each other in the air but returned safely to the cactus twice. The third time, the myna returned safely but the crow was hit  by the cobra. The injured crow fell on the ground. The fight between the mongoose and the snake was still continued. Finally,  the mongoose defeated the snake. The snake resigned and stopped struggling. The mongoose dragged and pushed it  inside the bushes. The myna was watching all this. It gave a congratulatory shrill and flew away.
 

Lesson Explanation of The Banyan Tree

The fight of the cobra and the mongoose is a classic drama often seen in India, and the outcome is largely the same. The mongoose is not immune to the venomous bite, but is faster and quicker in motion than the snake. The cobra assumes a posture of defence and attempts to reach the animal by a sweeping strike, but the quick-moving mongoose jumps out of reach and comes at the snake from another direction, before the snake can get into striking position again. This constant movement tires and discourages the snake, and the mongoose is finally able to leap in close and bury its teeth in the snake’s neck, usually severing the joints of its vertebrae.