1. in_ernet_dli_2015_53082_2015_53082_Progressive-Practice-book-In-English-Compostion-oral-And-Written

PROGRESSIVE ENGLISH COMPOSITION -ORAL AND WRITTEN-

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

THE SIMPLER PARTS OF SPEECH. Eleventh Edition

THE LOTUS BOOK OF ENGLISH VERSE Fifth Edition

STORY POEMS FOR COMPOSITION Sixth Edition

POETICAL SELECTIONS (First Series), with Notes. Eighth Edition

SHORT STORIES FOR REPRODUCTION Second Edition

SHORT ESSAYS ON SIMPLE SUBJECTS FOR REPRODUCTION Second Edition

ESSAY-WRITING—MODELS AND MATERIALS. Second Edition

K & J COOPER, HUGHES ROAD, BOMBAY

First Edition July 1911 Second Edition, November, 1911.

Third Edition, June, 1912. Fourth Edition December, 1912

Fifth Edition, April, 1913 Sixth Edition August, 1913.

Seventh Edition, March, 1914 Eighth Edition, June, 1914

Ninth Edition October, 1914 Tenth Edition, March, 1915

Eleventh Edition, July, 1915 Twelfth Edition, January, 1916

Thirteenth Edition, July, 1916 Fourteenth Edition, September, 1916

Fifteenth Edition April, 1917 Sixteenth Edition, July, 1917

Seventeenth Edition, April, 1918 Eighteenth Edition, August, 1918

Nineteenth Edition March, 1919 Twentieth Edition, May, 1919

Twenty-first Edition, Sept 1919 Twenty-second Edition, July, 1920

Twenty-third Edition, Dec 1920. Twenty-fourth Edition, June, 1921

JUNIOR COURSE FOR INDIAN BOYS

PROGRESSIVE PRACTICE-BOOK

IN

ENGLISH COMPOSITION

–ORAL AND WRITTEN–

BY

PERCIVAL CHRISTOPHER WREN

M. A (OXON), I E S.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, BOMBAY

AUTHOR OF "THE INDIAN TEACHER'S GUIDE,"

"INDIAN SCHOOL ORGANISATION," ETC

TWENTY-FOURTH EDITION

BOMBAY

K. & J COOPER

EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHERS

NOTE

The author of this book has no

interest whatsoever in its sale

All Rights reserved by the Publishers.

THE ATHENÆUM PRESS

TARDEO ROAD BOMBAY

NOTE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

Prejudices die hard, and the old type of the schoolmaster who insists upon teaching a living language through its dry-as-dust rules of Grammar is not as yet quite extinct But it augurs well for the future teaching of English in our secondary schools that at least a part of the time formerly wasted on lessons of formal Grammar is now devoted to Composition proper—i e, to practice in speaking and writing simple correct English How far this little class-book has helped in this direction one cannot say, but it is now generally admitted that in the past schoolmasters were greatly hampered in their work for want of a book suited to the requirements of their pupils, and that the publication of this book adequately filled that gap

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

English Composition is perhaps the most neglected subject in our school curriculum While a totally disproportionate amount of time is devoted to formal Grammar, practical lessons in Composition occupy a subordinate position in the scheme of teaching English to Indian boys Nor is this teaching in any sense systematic To quote from the Preface to the First Edition of this book —

"The teaching of English Composition needs systematising at once It is useless to expect either good speech or good writing from boys whose 'teaching' has consisted in hearing stories and reproducing them while hot in the memory, and in learning essays by heart."

"Composition must be largely oral, and must be a matter of practice and correction, from the simple (spoken) sentence to the abstruse (written) essay

"It must precede and not follow Grammar.

"English Composition should begin when English begins, and the story and essay stages should be the final marches of a very long

vi

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

journey, and not the whole thing in themselves You cannot begin

with stories and end with essays, unless such results are desired as

are at present obtained in the Matriculation and School Final

Examinations.

" Not five per cent of the candidates at these examinations do

even fair essays, save when they get a subject on which they have

learnt one by heart - and then the results are far too fair. Nor, as a

rule, can they speak a dozen consecutive words correctly "

This work aims at supplying a class-book of English Composition

written on approved modern lines for the special use of Indian boys

It is no disparagement to the merits of many good manuals of

English Composition prepared for boys whose mother-tongue is

English, to observe that they are not, and cannot be, suitable for

pupils who study English as a foreign language In the past, Indian

teachers had perforce to use text-books published in England for a

different class of learners, and the results obtained with such books

were far from satisfactory Quite naturally, therefore, the treatment

of the various topics of English Composition as given in this book,

had met with the approval of schoolmasters all over the country, as

attested by the rapid sale of two editions within a short time of its

publication

In order to get full advantage from the use of this book, it is

necessary that each pupil should be provided with a copy of it and

use it personally This alone will make it possible ( in these days of

over-burdened time-tables ) for the teacher to take his pupils through

the whole of the book in a systematic manner, and to ensure a

regular training in working out the copious exercises ( both oral and

written ) provide in the book There is absolutely no danger of

pupils misusing it as a cram-book, for the simple reason that this

is not possible in the case of a book, such as this, written for use

under the guidance, and with the help, of the teacher

As its title indicates, this book is written on a progressive plan

suited to the courses of all the high school standards, and contains

graduated lessons on English Composition, adapted to the actual

conditions and attainments of Indian pupils The earlier chapters

deal with the simplest forms of the sentence and proceed by easy

steps to the construction of the enlarged simple sentence and the

easy compound and complex sentences. The pupil is then shown

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

vii

the practical use of these sentences in holding conversation on com-

mon objects and ordinary topics without his experience and in writing

short stories, familiar letters, and simple essays, as also in explaining

and paraphrasing short unseen passages of various grades of difficulty.

STORY-WRITING. In Story-Writing, pupils are led very gradually

to that stage where they may be reasonably expected to reproduce

a short story in their own words Nearly all the (one hundred)

short stories are specially adapted to Indian use, on account of their

Indian colouring and the simple language in which they are written.

These stories also contain "some sufficiently obvious point or simple

moral,"—the absence of which is noticeable in the usual "Stories for

Reproduction"

The two chapters which follow are meant to provide additional

exercise of a somewhat different nature, the pupils being required at

this stage "to expand a short story where there is scope for a little

imagination and to contract a long one when there is room for judg-

ment"

LETTER-WRITING. The chapter on Letter-Writing, which precedes

that on Essay-Writing, is provided with larger number, and a greater

variety, of suitable exercises than are usually to be found Instead of

giving elaborate instructions about the arrangements of the different

parts of a letter, the boys are furnished with a model letter in script,

and then left to the guidance of the teacher.

ESSAY-WRITING The difficult subject of Essay-Writing has not

hitherto been given the close attention which its importance demands

The teacher will be able to secure better results in this subject than

he does at present, provided he carries his boys gradually through

the various stages indicated in Part II Chapter VII of this book

The subjects are varied, but not of a type unfamiliar to the young

learner The Outlines are designed to provide the boys with facts

They are advisedly meagre, but just sufficient to provide materials

for short essays of from 20 to 30 lines In some instances they are

little more than Hints or Headings, designed to set the boy thinking,

but in no case are these "points" of an unusual or unfamiliar

character.

VIII

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

PARAPHRASING A few simple practical suggestions on "How to paraphrase" precede seven sets of graded exercises, containing passages which are generally short and not so difficult as to discourage any honest attempt on the part of the pupil to explain or paraphrase them

The exercise in "unseens," which now occupies such a prominent place in the General English paper of Indian Universities, should not be made absurd or impossible for school-boys by its requiring them to give the general purport of, or to turn into prose, passages from Shakespeare and Milton in many cases difficult of comprehension even by senior English boys.

Reference may here be briefly made to certain other special features of the book An exhaustive treatment of Interrogative and Negative sentences is given on account of the difficulties experienced by Indian boys in their use Chapter IX* (Part I) on Correct English marks a departure from the usual chapter on Incorrect English When the incorrect sentence is given with the correct one, it is highly probable that the pupil remembers the incorrect usage "When young learners go wrong it is because they have not had sufficient practice in what is right" The value of SYNTHESIS in the teaching of English Composition accounts for the large space devoted to it in Part I Were again the treatment will be found to be fresh and stimulating

Finally, it may be mentioned that great pains have been bestowed throughout the book in framing suitable exercises of a varied and interesting type at every stage of the pupil's work Many of these exercises are intended for oral work in its various forms, and will, it is hoped, appeal to teachers who use this book

It is gratifying to note that the book is now widely adopted as a text-book in high schools throughout India and Burma, and appears to be appreciated as a practical manual of English suited to the requirements of the new regulations of the Matriculation, School-Final, and School-Leaving Examinations.

P. C. WREN

POONA 1912

• It will be a good plan for the teacher, while correcting mistakes in Composition exercises to refer the pupil to the corresponding correct sentences given in this chapter, in which is incorporated as much Grammar as bears upon the correct use of the language

CONTENTS.

PART I.

CHAPTER

PAGE

I. THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES

3-17

Simple Sentence

3

Subject and Predicate

3

Oral Exercises 1-3

4

Object

5

Oral Exercises 4-7

6

Enlargement of the Subject

7

Oral Exercises 8-9

8

Enlargement of the Object

11

Oral Exercises 10-11

12

Extension of the Predicate-verb

13

Oral Exercises 12-13

14

Verbs of Incomplete Predication Complement

16

Oral Exercises 14-15

16

II. ANALYSIS OF SIMPLE SENTENCES

18-21

Exercise 16

19

III. FORMATION OF SENTENCES (Continued)

22-27

Negative Sentences

22

Oral Exercise 17

23

Double Negative

23

Exercise 18 for study

24

Interrogative Sentences

24

Exercise 19 for study

24

Oral Exercise 20

25

Question and Answer Negative-Interrogative

26

Oral Exercise 21

27

Exclamatory Sentences

27

Exercise 22 for study and comparison

27

X

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

PAGE

IV

SYNTHESIS

28-38

Combination of Simple Sentences by the use of "and," "as well as," "not only but also," "or," "either or," "neither nor," and "else or otherwise"

28

Oral Exercise 23

29

Combination of Simple Sentences by the use of "but," "still or yet," "though or although," "if or unless," "therefore or so," and "because or since,"

31

Oral Exercise 24

32

Combination of Simple Sentence by the use of "than" and "as as"

34

Oral Exercise 25

34

Combination of Simple Sentences by the use of "when," "as soon as," "after," "since," "until," etc

35

Oral Exercise 26

36

Combination of Simple Sentences by the use of "who," "whom," "whose," which," and "where"

37

Oral Exercise 27

38

V

SYNTHESIS (Continued)

39-51

Combination of Simple Sentences by the use of nouns or phrases in apposition, or participles, prepositions, etc

39

Oral Exercise 28

40

Combination of Simple Sentences Miscellaneous Examples

42

Miscellaneous Exercise 29 (100 sets of sentences)

42

Combination of Simple Sentences Rewriting of Stories in a readable form Model

48

Exercise 30

49

VI

ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION

52-69

Practice in the Formation of Sentences

52

Oral Exercise 31

52

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

PAGE

Conversation on

(i) Common objects ( A ball, a piece of chalk,

a clock or watch, etc )

52

(ii) Pictures ( A palm-tree, an elephant, a

camel, etc.)

54

(iii) Surroundings. ( The home, the street,

the class-room, etc.)

56

(iv) Games ( Cricket, football, hockey, etc )

58

(v) Trades and Professions (The sailor, the

soldier, the lawyer, etc.)

59

General Conversational Questions

61

Oral Exercises 32-33

61

Written Conversation. Models

67

Exercise 32a

68

VII. DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUOTATIONS

70-78

Sixteen Examples for careful study

71

Observations

73

Oral Exercises 34-36

75

Exercises 37-38

77

VIII PUNCTUATION, CAPITAL LETTERS, ETC

79-84

The Comma

80

Exercise 39

80

The Semicolon, the Full Stop, etc.

81

Capital Letters

81

Division of Words and Syllables

82

Exercise 40

82

Spelling

82

Exercises 41-42

83

IX. CORRECT ENGLISH

85-110

Section I Necessary Grammatical Rules bearing

on English Composition ( with illustrative

sentences )

85

Agreement of Subject and Verb

85

Case of Pronouns after "than" or "as"

86

Case after "to be"

86

A or An

87

Repetition of Articles

87

Distributives

87

CHAPTER

Relative and Interrogative Pronouns

Use of Tenses

Sequence of Tenses

Shall and Will

Participles

Adjectives Comparison

"Other" after Comparatives

Since, For, Before, In, Within, Ago

Very, Much

Section II Exercise 48 containing 10 sets of correct sentences for study

Section III Oral Exercise 44 containing 5 sets of sentences for filling up blanks

Section IV The Order of Words and Phrases

Exercise 45

The position of "only"

Exercise 46

The position of "not only" and "neither"

The Order of Words

The Position of Qualifying Phrases

Exercise 47

Section V Appropriate Prepositions

Oral Exercise 48 containing 16 sets of sentences for repetition

Exercise 49 for careful study

APPENDIX

Exercise 50 for repetition Singular and Plural of Nouns

Exercise 51 for repetition Masculine and Feminine of Nouns

Exercise 52 for repetition Degrees of Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs

Exercise 53 for repetition Present and Past Tense and Past Participle of Verbs

xi

CONTENTS

PAGE

88

89

89

90

90

91

91

91

92

93

98

101

101

101

101

101

102

102

103

103

109

111-115

111

111

112

112

CONTENTS.

PART II

CHAPTER

PAGE

I. STORY-WRITING

119-126

First Stage

119

Oral Exercise 1 containing questions on 14

Stories

120

Second Stage

123

Exercise 2 containing Outlines of 15 Stories

123

II. STORY-WRITING (Continued)

127-163

Third Stage Three Methods

127

One Hundred Short Stories (mainly Indian) for

Reproduction

128

Exercise 3

163

III. STORY-WRITING (Continued)

164-167

Fourth Stage

164

Stories in Outline

165

Exercise 4 containing 15 "Stories in Outline"

for writing in a readable and enlarged form

165

IV. STORIES FOR ABSTRACT-MAKING Model

168-175

Exercise 5 containing 8 Stories

169

V STORIES IN VERSE

176-184

Two Models reproducing Substance

176

Exercise 6 containing 4 "Stories in Verse"

for reproducing substance in prose

180

VI. LETTER-WRITING

185-203

Style in Letters

185

The Salutation and the Ending

185

Letter in Script showing the arrangement of the

different parts of a letter

186

Specimen Letter. (Acknowledging a Gift of Books)

187

Exercise 7 Outlines of letters to Relations

188

Specimen Letter (To a Friend who is absent.)

188

Exercise 8 Outlines of letters to Friends

189

Specimen Letter (Describing a School)

190

Exercise 9 Outlines of letters relating to

School-life

191

xiv

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

PAGE

Specimen Letter (Giving an Account of a Prize Distribution)

192

Specimen Letter (Describing a Cricket Match)

193

Exercise 10 Outlines of letters relating to Sports, etc

194

Specimen Letter (Giving an Account of a Lecture)

194

Exercise 11 Outlines of letters on Miscellaneous Subjects

195

Specimen Letter (Asking for a Testimonial)

195

Exercise 12 Outlines of letters from the Pupil to his Teacher

196

Specimen Letter (First Impressions of Bombay)

196

Specimen Letter (Describing a Railway Journey)

197

Exercise 13 Miscellaneous Subjects

198

Specimen Letter (Application for a Clerkship)

199

Exercise 14 Replies to Advertisements

199

Specimen Letter (Ordering Goods)

200

Exercise 15 (Ordering out Articles)

200

How to address an Envelope

201

Five Specimen Addresses in Script

201

Exercise 16

203

VII ESSAY-WRITING Models, Outlines and Hints . 204-235

Eight Progressive Stages Outline of Scheme

204

General Rules to be observed

205

Outlines developed into short Essays (The Donkey, The Ant)

206

Outlines and Hints for short Essays on Common Objects

207

Exercise 17

210

Outlines developed into a short Essay (Rice and Wheat)

210

Outlines and Hints for short Essays on Common Objects

211

Exercise 18

212

Outlines developed into a short Essay (Iron)

213

Outlines and Hints for short Essays on Common Objects

213

Exercise 19

214

CONTENTS

CHAFTER

PAGE

Outlines dev eloped into a short Essay ( Water )

214

Outlines and Hints for short Essays on Natural Objects

215

Exercise 20

217

Outlines developed into short Essay s ( The Balloon, the Bicycle )

217

Outlines and Hints for shorts Descriptive Essays ..

218

Exercise 21

220

Outlines developed into a short Essay ( The Postman )

220

Outlines and Hints for short Descriptive Essays

221

Exercise 22

221

Outlines developed into a short Essay ( Asoka )

222

Outlines and Hints for short Narrative and Descriptive Essays

222

Exercise 23

223

Hints for short Descriptive Essays

224

Exercise 24

224

Outlines developed into short Essays ( Politeness, Idleness, Contentment )

224

Outlines and Hints for short Essays on Abstract Subjects

225

Exercise 25

230

Outlines developed into short Essays ( Sugar, Clothing )

231

Outlines and Hints for short Essays on Miscellaneous Subjects

231

Exercise 26

235

VIII. PARAPHRASING

236–256

Preliminary Remarks

236

How to Paraphrase Hints and Directions

236

Exercise 27

237

Exercise 28

240

Exercise 29

243

Exercise 30

246

Exercise 31 ( Prose passages )

252

Exercise 32

255

Miscellaneous Exercise 33

256

PART I.

SENTENCE-FORMING

ANALYSIS.

SYNTHESIS

ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION.

DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUOTATION.

PUNCTUATION, ETC.

CORRECT ENGLISH

P. C

CHAPTER I.

THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES

1. When one person speaks to another he or she use one or more sentences A Sentence is a set of words so placed as to make complete sense When a sentence contains only one finite verb it is called a Simple Sentence. There might be only one word in a Simple sentence or there might be many words If I give an order to a servant, such as "Come!", "Go!", "Stay!", "Answer!", in one word, I have used a Simple sentence; or, if I say "Upon a very wet and windy day during the monsoon I saw a poor beggar sitting in the mud by the road side in Bombay" I have still used a Simple sentence because I have used only one finite verb.

2. We cannot make sense without a verb,* and as the verb is the "doing" word, (the word which shows what was done by someone or something, or what was done to someone or something, or the state in which someone or something exists) it is clear that we must have another word (either said or understood) which tells who did the action, or to whom the action was done, or who exists

3. So every sentence must have two parts, and we call the part denoting the person or thing spoken about, the Subject, and we call the other part that tells us what the subject did, or what was done to it, the Predicate

If we say "Rama eats" we have a Simple sentence of which Rama is the Subject because something is said about Rama, and of which "eats" is the Predicate because it tells us what Rama does

• "Verb" in this book will mean "finite verb"

4

PROGRESSIVE

COMPOSITION

[PART

I.

If

we

say

"Bread

is

eaten"

we

have

a

Simple

sentence

of

which

"bread"

is

the

Subject

because

something

is

said

about

bread,

and

of

which

"is

eaten"

is

the

Predicate

because

it

tells

us

what

is

done

to

the

bread

Exercise

1

Let

Class

pick

out

the

Subjects

and

Predicates,

written

or

understood,

of

the

following

sentences,

orally

1

Men

speak

2

Horses

run

3

John

reads

4

Dogs

bark

5

Birds

sing

6

Edward

is

reading

7

Boys

came

8

Cattle

are

grazing

9

Pigs

grunted

10

Cats

will

mew

11

The

goats

are

bleating

12

Birds

have

sung

13

Richard

has

come

14

Fishes

have

swum

15

Horses

were

neighing

16

A

girl

is

singing

17

Soldiers

shouted

18

Children

were

playing

19

They

died

20

You

were

jumping

21

He

came

22

Everybody

heard

23

I

have

slept

24

He

is

talking

25

You

did

26

Said

he

27

Spoke

Horatius

28

Go

!

29

Replied

Krishna

30

Read

!

Exercise

2

Let

Class

supply

Predicates

to

the

following

Subjects

orally

1

Baby

—

2

Babies

—

3

Stars

—

4

Lions

—

5

Shopkeepers

—

6

Policemen

—

7

Thieves

—

8

The

ear

—

9

Rama

—

10

A

house

—

11

An

owl

—

12

Trees

—

13

Frogs

—

14

Children

—

15

A

ship

—

16

The

master

—

17

Asses

—

18

I

—

A

boatman

—

20

Clouds

—

21

Winds

—

22

Coolies

—

23

We

—

24

A

soldier

—

25

Bees

—

26

You

—

27

Eyes

—

28

He

—

CH 1 ] THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES.

29 Engines —

30 Thou —

31 Someone —

32 Many —

33 A tailor —

34 The mind —

35 Things —

36 A cock —

37 Clocks —

38 Pupils —

39. They —

40 Windows —

41 Nobody —

42 Women —

43 All —

44 The sun —

45 Pictures —

Exercise 3

Let Class supply Subjects to the following Predicates orally —

1 — jump

2. — reads

3 — is speaking.

4 — are crying.

5. — ran

6. — talk

7 — shall stand

8 — was walking

9. — have danced

10 — was shot

11. — are coming

12 — were punished

13 — will play

14 — has been raining.

15 — is setting

16 — flows

17. — have sung

18. — has flowed.

19. — has flown.

20. — will die

21 — is rising.

22 — were written.

23 — is grazing

24 — froze.

25 — have grazed

26. — were working

27 — was frightened

28 — are drowned

29 — escaped.

30 — bites

31 — shave

32 — are lying.

33. — washes

34 — are galloping

35 — lie

36 — lay

4 So far we have considered sentences in which

the Predicate consists of a verb only, as "Time flies,"

"The cock crew" In such sentences the verb is said

to be Intransitive There is a class of verbs, how-

ever, called Transitive verbs, which cannot stand alone

with the Subject They require an Object to complete

the sense Thus if I say to you "I saw " and then

stop, you will say "Well, what did you see?" because

the sentence as incomplete. If I say "I killed "

6

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I.

you want to hear what it was I killed, because the statement is unfinished I must therefore say, e g.

"I saw crocodiles," "I killed snakes"

It will be now seen that when the Verb is Transitive the Verb and the Object together make up the Predicate

When the Predicate does not consist of a Verb only the Verb is sometimes called the Predicate-verb, to distinguish it from the full Predicate

Exercise 4

Let class pick out the Objects in the following sentences orally —

1 Mice fear cats

2 Edward threw a stone

3 We saw you

4 Boys are playing football

5 Birds eat seeds

6 All want money

7. The sun gives light

8 I am writing a letter.

9 Soldiers fight battles,

10 They have won prizes

11 I received a book

12 A dog bit me

13 You saw us

14 James has broken the slate

15 Farmers are ploughing the fields

16 Bring the book.

17. Ice cools water

18 Answer me

19 Mend the pencil.

20 Did you see him ?

Exercise 6

Let Class supply Objects to the following Verbs orally —

1 Cats catch —

2 Masons build —

3 Cows give —

4 Sheep eat —

5 Parents love —

6. Teachers help —

7 The postman has brought —

8 He earns —

9 Rama bought —

10 I like —.

11 Crows are making —

12 Carts carried —

13 Priests have written —

14 I found —

15 Wolves kill —

16 He took —

17 Milk pleases —

18 Food gives —

19 Temples contain —

20 Shut —

21 The sailor rows —

22 Obey —

23. Authors write —

24 Ring —

CH. 1] THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES

7

Exercise 6

Let Class supply Verbs orally —

1 Booksellers --- books

2 The servant --- the house.

3 The girl --- a story

4 Cats --- milk.

5 Mary --- the cow.

6 The policeman---the thief

7 The snake --- the gar-

8 Postmen --- letters

dener.

9 The tiger --- the child

10 The teacher --- the boy.

11 The tailor --- clothes

12 --- the inkstand.

Exercise 7

Let Class supply Subjects orally —

1 --- Print books

2 --- has sowed seeds

3 --- like honey

4. --- shot a wolf.

5 --- are ploughing fields

6. --- eat grass.

7 --- is making a table.

8. --- stole money

9 --- love children

'10. --- love dancing

11 --- have finished their

lessons

12 --- has cured the patient.

5 Further, the Subject, Predicate-verb and Object

may ( any or all of them ) be enlarged by words or

adjuncts which describe the Subject or Object, or

show how, when or where, the action told by the

Predicate-verb was done.

6. If I say “ Men work,” the Subject “men ” has

no word which describes it, but if I say “ Wise men

work ” the Subject is now enlarged and the adjective

“ wise ” is called the Enlargement of the Subject.

7 The Enlargement of the Subject may consist of one word only, or of many words. Thus I can enlarge the Subject “ men ” in the sentence “ Men work ” into

“ Those | men work,” “ All wise | men work,” “ All

those very wise | men work,” “ All the wise | men | in

this place | work,” “ The | men | having wives and females

to support | work,” and so on All the added words

which describe the men are adjuncts or Enlargements

of the Subject

8

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I

In the following sentences, the words printed in italics are the Enlargements of the Subject —

(a){Cruel men are hated

That boy likes to play all the time

(b){Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist religion,

lived in the sixth century before Christ

(c){Michael Angelo, the great painter, lived in the

fifteenth century

(d){I, Sohrab, have written it with my own hand

(e){Robert's friends were present

Our opinion is the same

(f){The man of wealth should help the poor

(g){Napoleon, having conquered the Prussians,

marched straight into Austria.

Attached by the tiger, he screamed for help

(h){His desire to learn is great

(i){The poor sick old man is dead

The owner of the farm, having returned from a

long holiday, is hard at work once more

Exercise 8

Let Class pick out the Enlargements of the Subject in each of

the following sentences orally —

1 Wise parents punish

2 A furious storm upset the boat.

3 The old man is dead.

4 This snake bit the gardener

5 William the Conqueror died in 1087

6 My brother Rustum his gone to England

7 Many men rushed upon the thief

8 A strange tale was told

9 The king's body was placed in a costly coffin

10 His friend lives near my house

11 A boy of great intelligence is envied by everyone

12 Dancing round the maypole was an old English sport

13 The kind father loves his children.

14 Her singing delighted the other ladies

CH 1.] THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES

9

15. The boy, having worked his sum, brought it to me

16 Having been awake all the night, he felt very sleepy

17 The father of a family of fifteen children needs to have a good

income

18 The boat, struck by a great wave, sank.

19 A cool breeze from the sea is refreshing

20. The dog, seizing the man by the collar, dragged him out

21 My brother's book is stolen.

22 The early hours of the morning are cool

23 The sun, shining like a red ball of fire through the mist, rose at

6 o'clock

24 Cicero, the orator, wrote many books

25. The title of the Protector was bestowed on Cromwell

26. The king, murdered in his own castle, was buried privately.

27 The hour to prepare lessons has arrived.

28. An attempt to kill the king was unsuccessful.

29 A good and industrious boy is greatly liked

30 The cool air of the sea had a great effect on his health

31 The little child, tired of play, is sleeping

32 Our endeavours to educate the Indians have been great.

33 The two handsome brothers, Rama and Krishna, were great

friends

34 That sword, hanging on the wall, belonged to his grandfather

35. These books, the property of my friend, are left here

36 An earnest effort to educate Indian women must be made.

37. The young child, badly fed and quite naked, soon died.

38 A wise boy, on finishing his play, will sit down to study again

39. The brave British soldier of the Royal Artillery, struck by the

bullet, fell dead

40 A heavy shower of rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning,

falling over the district, flooded the village

41 The three clever boys of the Matriculation class, John, Edward

and William respectively aged 16, 18, and 17 years, wishing

to get through their examination, worked hard.

Exercise 9

(1) Let Class enlarge the Subject orally after the manner shown

in (a) —

1. — boys study

2 — horses gallop

3 — winter has set in

4. — smell is injurious to health

'10

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

5 — soldiers do not run away

6 — mountains are called volcanoes

7. — boys are punished

8. — boy must get more marks

9 — traveller enjoyed sound sleep

10 — wind took the roof off the house

( ii ) Let Class enlarge the Subject orally after the manner shown

in ( b ) —

1 He,—, told me so

2 Akbar,—, loved justice

3 Victoria,—, reigned for 64 years.

4 Wellington,—, defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo

5 Columbus,—, sailed over every ocean of the known world

6 Shakespeare,—, wrote the Merchant of Venice

7 Alexander,—, conquered nearly the whole world

8 My friend,—, met me on the road

( iii ) Let Class enlarge the Subject orally after the manner

shown in ( c ) —

1 — orders must be obeyed

2 — ears are long

3 — father died two years ago.

4 — novels are of great interest

5 — claws are sharp

6 — policy was to befriend the Hindus and the Mahommedans

7 — tusks furnish us with ivory

8 — reign is the longest in English history.

( iv ) Let Class enlarge the Subject orally after the manner

shown in ( d ) —

1 Showers — will prevent famine.

2 Walking — is good for the health

3 A word — might have saved the foolish young man

4 A flock — went by me

5 A hedge — prevented the cattle from eating the plants

6 Waves — rose during the storm

7 The man — should educate the ignorant

6

CH. 1 ] THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES 11

(v) Let Class enlarge the Subject orally after the manner shown in (e) —

1. The dog, —, saw himself in the water

2 A telegram,—, is disliked

3 The people,—, rose against the tyrant

4 The coolies,—, went home quite fatigued

5 —, he sat down to rest.

6 —, the student felt ashamed before his school-fellows

7. The letter,—, made the father feel proud of his son.

8 A packet,—, was given away as the first prize.

8 In the same way, if I say “I saw people” the Object “people” has no word which describes it But if I say “I saw many people” the Object is now enlarged, and the adjective “many” is called the Enlargement of the Object)

9 This Enlargemen tof the Object may again con- sist of one word only or of many words Thus I can enlarge the Object “boys” in the sentence “I like boys” into “I like these | boys,” “I like these very good | boys” or “I like all the good hardworking | boys | in this school,” and so on. All the added words which describe the boys are adjuncts or Enlargements of the Object,

In the following sentences the words printed in ita- lics form the Enlargements of the Object —

(a) I like ripe mangoes.

(b) The other day I met our friend, Dadiba.

(c) I have seen Robert’s house.

(d) He threw a vessel of boiling water at the panther

(e) I have just received a letter addressed to you.

(f) She had the goodness to offer me a seat.

(g) I found the poor ill-clad boy sitting under a tree, with a piece of stale bread in his hand.

12

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

Exercise 10

Let Class pick out the Enlargements of the Object in each of the following sentences orally —

1 I shot a roaring lion

2 Rama broke the glass window

3 I know Mr Edwards, the Collector

4 He seized the driver's hand

5 The servant dusted every room

6 The carpenter sharpens his tools

7 He recited a poem about the Queen's Jubilee

8 He likes beans cooked in butter

9 I hear you talking

10 I know this boy

11 The accused must accept the judge's decision

12 The engineer built a bridge of pucka brick with steel girders and stone pillars

13 I have an ambition to be a wealthy merchant

14 He wrote a fine large book of travel and adventure

15 Many people admire the lion, the king of animals

16 He saw a baby with very little clothing playing in the mud

17 The crocodile seized the beautiful daughter of the headman of the village

18 We use books written to help us in our tasks

19 The lecturer had much to say on the interesting subject of Female Education.

20 An accident happened to Mr Jones, one of the assistant teachers in the English High School of Poona.

21 He spent many years studying English

22 The chowkidar gave evidence against the thief caught by him a few days ago

23 I remember the kind words spoken to me by my kind teacher

24 The Collector was riding a big horse with a long mane and a tail

25 She plucked the red roses growing in abundance in her garden

26 They found an old ruined temple in the jungle, built in honour of some god

27 He is working a difficult sum in Arithmetic, set by his teacher

28 I drove my friend's four-seated motor-car, recently bought by him in Bombay

29 The teacher dictated some important questions in History to his pupils, to be carefully studied by them for their examination

30 Yesterday I received three books, Ivanhoe, Kenilworth and The Talisman, all novels written by Sir Walter Scott

CH 1] THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES

13

Exercise 11.

Let Class enlarge the Object orally after any one of the ways

shown above (so as to make good sense) —

1 The crow has — wings

2 Parents love — children

3 They clapped — hands

4 Nobody likes — boys

5 All admired — speech

6 I heard the ringing —.

7 My friend caught — parrot

8 Two Englishmen ascended Mount Everest,—

9 I saluted Mr Banerjee,—

10 The flood has destroyed — huts

11 The teacher punished the boy —

12 I have no money —

13 The police found the watch —

14 He had the courage —.

15 The constable caught the thief —

16 I have hardly the time —

17 The father punished — son —

18 The child wanted — horse —.

19 He bought — watch —

20 The elephant saw — tailor,—

10. In the same way the Predicate-verb may be

enlarged by some word showing how, when, where or

why, the action was performed Thus if I say “ He ran ”

I do not say whether he ran fast, or when he ran, or

where he ran, or why he ran But if I say “ He ran

quickly ” the Predicate-verb is enlarged and the

adverb “ quickly ” is called the Enlargement of the Pre-

dicate-verb or, more often, the Extension of the Pre-

dicate-verb √

11. This Extension may also consist of one word

only or of several words Thus I can extend the

Predicate-verb “ ran ” in the sentence “ He ran ”; into

(a) He ran very fast (showing how he ran)

(b) He ran this morning (showing when he ran)

(c) He ran into the jungle (showing where he ran).

14

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION. [PART I.

(d) He ran to catch a thief (showing why he ran)

(e) This morning he ran very fast into the jungle to catch a thief (showing when, how, where, and why, he ran)

Exercise 12

Let Class pick out extensions of the Predicate-verb orally in each of the following sentences and state if the extensions show how, when, where or why the actions are (will be, were) performed:-

1 This boy writes well

2 Rama plays football very cleverly

3 I get up early in the morning

4 I saw him in the garden

5 My friend has travelled all over the world

6 The soldiers marched in line

7 The warrior died bravely

8 Always speak truthfully.

9 This soldier will fight most bravely of all

10 The Rajah rode with great skill

11 The sea ebbs and flows twice a day

12 Queen Victoria reigned for more than sixty years.

13 The wind blows westwards

14. They came home

15 He drives with both hands

16 The beggars waited impatiently for alms

17 He reads the newspaper while having breakfast

18 In the darkness of night the thief stole away

19 The ink ran all over the desk down on to the floor

20 He gave me back the book without thanking me at all

21 The short man walked with quick steps

22 Take leave of your father without fail

23 Our school is well-known in Bombay

24. He writes kindly and lovingly to his son every day.

25. He writes a little better now

26. I shall go straight to Europe, next year, after passing the examination

27. For a long time he lay senseless

28 My friend will start shortly.

29. He drove down the road immediately at full speed

30 The madman ran here, there and everywhere, all day long

31. The sun stood high in the sky.

CH 1 | THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES 15

32 The Viceroy left India for England three weeks ago.

33 Never go to swim alone

34 They play daily in the rich man's compound when the weather is fine

35 It rains in the Bombay Presidency all through the months of June, July and August

36 On account of the heat of the sun the cows are lying under the banyan tree

37 The boy passed by the graveyard at night in silent horror

38 The holy man prayed silently with his face turned towards the sky

39 Hearing the cry of "Fire!" the whole family came downstairs undressed.

Exercise 13.

( i ) Let Class fill up orally the blanks with words which show how the actions are ( were ) performed —

1 The weary traveller sleeps —

2 The hare runs —

3 His mother loves him —

4 The sun shines —

5. The lecturer spoke —

6 The disobedient boy was punished —

7 The north wind blows —

8. Bind this book —.

9. The patient is — improving.

10 The father wept — over his sick child

11 The pupils listened —

12 The beggar thanked the rich man —.

( ii ) Let Class fill up orally the blanks with words which show when the actions are ( will be, were ) performed —

1. I prepare my lessons —

2 King George V was born —

3 The cock crows — -

4 The servant will — return.

5. The trees become green —

6 Careless boys — make mistakes.

7 The stone building lasted —.

8. An honest man will — tell a lie

9. The magazine is published —

10. The patient lay awake —.

16

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

(iii) Let Class fill up orally the blanks (so as to make good sense) with words showing either where or why the actions are (were) performed —

1 My aunt lives —

2 Tigers are met with —

3 I went to Surat —

4 The accused was sent —

5 I entered the market —

6 The blood circulates —

7 The police have entered his house —

8 Instead of retreating, the brave soldiers died —

12 There are a few Intransitive verbs which, although they cannot have an Object, cannot stand alone, as the sense is incomplete, so also there are some Transitive verbs which require, in addition to the Object, some word or words to complete the sense Such verbs are the verb to be, to become, to seem, to feel, to name, to think, to call, to make, to appoint, etc., and are called Verbs of Incomplete Predication

I cannot say “Rama is,” “Krishna became,” “He seems,” “I feel,” or “The people made him,”—and be understood To make the sense complete these verbs must have a Complement

I must say “Rama is a good boy,” “Krishna became a clerk,” “He seems very happy,” “I feel ill.” “The people made him their king,” or add some such complement to complete the sense

Exercise 14

Let Class pick out the Complements of the Verbs of Incomplete Predication in the following sentences orally —

1 Rama is my friend

2 He looks silly

3 Rustum is a fine cricketer

4 That man is of unsound mind

5 The traveller seems tired

6 The horse looks sick

7 I shall be at your house this evening

CH. 1] THE FORMATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES

17

8. Jim grows a tall lad

9. His father is ill at present

10 I shall be better in a few days.

11 These three books are his

12 That fat man seems to be rich

13 I shall become a member of that club in a few days

14. My friends were present at the meeting

15 I am he

16 I have been ill since Friday last

17 He is thought very clever

18 He was elected President of the Congress

19 Sakharam has been appointed captain of the football team.

20 The recent exhibition at Allahabad was a success

21. This mango tastes sour

22 The little girl turned pale with fear

23 The accused appears to be innocent

24. He called me names.

25 I consider this house too small for my family

26. I believe him to be quite honest.

Exercise 15

Let Class add Complements to the following Verbs of Incomplete

Predication orally —

1 'He is named —

2 London is —

3 The sky is —

4 The days are getting —

5 His brother has fallen —

6 Winter is —.

7 My favourite game is —

8 Bombay has become —.

9 Lord Kitchener was appointed —.

10 The patient is rapidly growing —

11 The enemy took him —.

12 John called James —

13 The jury declared him —.

14 His bad conduct made the teacher —

15 He considers himself —

16 The magistrate set the prisoner —.

17 The meeting appointed Mr. Jones —.

18 The people elected him —.

P C11

CHAPTER II

ANALYSIS

13 We can now make up, or break up, Simple Sentences and the best way to do either is first to think of the Predicate-verb which expresses the action, then of the Subject-word which does the action, thirdly of the Object which suffers the action ( in the case of a Transitive Verb ) and then of the Extension of the Predicate-verb, telling us more about the action

14 In breaking up sentences the best form to use is the following —

Subject

Subjec - word

Enlarge- ment

Predicate- verb

Object

Enlarge- ment

Extension

Boy

a wise

learns

lessons

all his

tho- roughly

Men

some

give

money

their

freely

Tiger

the hungry

ate

calf

the poor little

in the jungle

I

shall see

friend

my

to- morrow

• Note carefully that the Predicate is the whole of the telling-part and carefully distinguish it from the telling-word which is here called the Predicate-verb

CH 2]

ANALYSIS

19

15 The above is the Analysis of the sentences —

A wise boy learns all his lessons thoroughly

Some men give their money freely.

The hungry tiger ate the poor little calf in the jungle

I shall see my friend to-morrow

16 In analysing a sentence containing a Verb of Incomplete Predication we put the Complement in the same column with the Predicate-verb

The sentences,

My friend soon became a very busy man,

The older people there were then thought wiser men,

He was always a good boy,

would therefore be analysed thus —

Exercise 16

Let Class analyse the following sentences —

1 The old man left a very large sum of money

2 I saw a very old man this morning.

3 One day a young frog saw an ox in a meadow

4 We all ran quickly to the spot

20

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

5 One hot day, a hungry wolf met a little lamb by the side of

a brook

6. Good and dutiful children are always loved

7. Boys like running and jumping

8 At what time do you go to bed ?

9 Bring my book here

10 A little child fell into a deep well

11 Two men once saw a bear coming towards them

12 Sohrab has a clever dog called Floss

13 While riding across the country on a bicycle, I met one of my

friends

14 One evening a man was skating on a river near his house in

North America

15 Where is the new ship ?

16 The fruiterer is carrying a large basket full of ripe mangoes

17 Did you receive the book sent by me yesterday ?

18. The little boy living next door comes to our house daily

19 Write a letter of about fifteen lines on the recent cricket match

20 Yonder is that little bird

21 Ganpat, the school sepoy, died yesterday

22 Hearing the roar of a lion close at hand the stag rushed off to

the mountains

23. The boy has forgotten the sums taught him last year

24 A thousand years ago, very few people were able to read and

write

25 Having talked to me for a while, he left me all of a sudden.

26 I consider that man a brute

27 You have made the water muddy

28 At the battle of Plassey, Clive defeated the Nawab's army of

50,000 infantry, 18,000 horse and 53 guns

29 His ambition to become a great and good man is worth imitating

30 The accused, hearing the heavy sentence passed by the magis-

trate, wept loudly and bitterly

31 Dressed in black and attended by two trusty servants, the king

left the palace at night

32 The Black Prince made John, King of France, prisoner

33 My little child often falls ill in the rainy season

34 One cold day in winter, a poor boy, named Dick, was seen

wandering alone along the street

35. Our little bird does not seem to be happy in its cage

36 A maid was carrying a pail of milk on her head, intending to

sell it at the market

37. Humayun collected an army to win back his lost throne at Delhi

38. The emperor Akbar's son, Jehangir, was fond of wine

CH. 2.]

ANALYSIS.

21

39 One day a number of school-boys were at their lessons in an upstairs room.

40 The eldest son of Edward the Third was called the Black Prince on account of the dark colour of his armour

41 The king went to the forest with his only son to hunt the deer.

42 Florence Nightingale went out to the Crimea with a staff of nurses to attend to the wounded soldiers

43. At the end of the garden stands a beautiful statue carved in white marble

44 Many years ago, William Darling, the keeper of a lighthouse, off the coast of Northumberland, saw a steamer wrecked on the rocks about a mile away.

CHAPTER III

FORMATION OF SENTENCES (Continued.)

NEGATIVE SENTENCES

17 The following sentences illustrate the way of forming negative sentences —

Affirmative.

Negative

a He likes the parrot

a He does not like the parrot

b. We did our best.

b We did not (or didn’t*) do our best

c Do it quickly

c Do not (or don’t*) do it quickly

d. I have had some tea

d I have not (or haven’t*) had any tea, or, I have had no tea

e Tell everybody —

e Do not (or don’t ) tell everybody, or, tell nobody

f I knew something about it

f I did not know anything about it, or, I knew nothing about it

*The shortened forms don’t, didn’t, can’t, won’t (will not), and others are used in conversation and must not be used in written composition

CH 3.] FORMATION OF SENTENCES 23

Exercise 17

Let Class make the following affirmative sentences negative (orally) -

[ Indicate any alternative forms of expressing negation ]

1. I am going away

2 He ran slowly.

3 See me daily

4 Chandra does his lessons well

5 We were all there

6 I have been writing in red ink

7 Govind could have done it.

8. I like to write in green ink.

9 Run quickly.

10 There is milk in the jug.

11 This bad boy can be improved

12 I told some one about you

13 They both must go

14 Everyone knows it

15 I hope to show some progress this year.

16 Hari was greatly surprised at the sight.

17 You must have earned much money.

18 I must do something for that poor man

19. All of them can read

20. There are many boys in our school.

21 Anybody can do it

22 We saw mangoes in the market.

23 He has brothers and sisters

24 The thief will be found somewhere near my house.

25. Bimala is clever and hard-working.

26 His father has estates in Bombay as well as in Calcutta.

DOUBLE NEGATIVE.

18. The Class will have already noticed that in each of the above negative sentences only one negative word is used In fact, when another negative is added, the negative sentence becomes affirmative again

For instance, when the negative "not" is added to the negative sentence,

He is unfit for the work, ( Negative)

the-latter becomes affirmative; thus

He is not unfit for this work. ( Affirmative )

24

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I

Exercise 18

Let Class carefully study the following negative sentences —

1 I have received no letter either from my father or my mother.

2 I will not send you money any longer

3 He cannot read or write

4. I have never written or spoken to him

5 I cannot bear to see him suffer any longer

6 He did not wish to read the book or even to buy it

7 He has not eaten any food or drunk any wine for two days

8 I forbId you to read this novel

9. Not one of his books has ever been printed

10. I will not do this either now or ever

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

Exercise 19

19 Let Class study the following questions* (interrogative

sentences) and carefully note the positions of the subject, the verb,

and the object —

1 Does he like you ?†

2 Father, may I go to the fair ?

3 Are these two boys your brothers ?

4 Who struck you ?

5 Whom did you see yesterday ?

6 To whom does this slate belong ?

7 Whose carriage do you want ?

8 Which is the better car ?

9. Which boy broke your slate ?

10 Which of these three dogs do you like ?

11 In which subject do you take most interest

12 What will you read ?

13 What books do you study ?

14. What trees grow in India ?

15 Of what are you thinking ?

16 When do you go to bed ?

17 Where can I see the manager ?

18 Why did you give him your book?

19 How māny boys were there on the cricket-field?

20 How much milk does this jug hold ?

• The teacher must insist on having answers to these questions in complete

sentences

† Note that ‘?’ (the mark of interrogation) is placed after every question

CH 3.] FORMATION OF SENTENCES 25

Exercise 20.

20 The following sentences are answers to certain questions.

Let Class frame these questions orally The nature of the questions

will usually be suggested by the word or words in italics For in-

stance, "My brother attends the Government School" is the answer

to the question, "Which school does your brother attend?"

1. I usually read at night. ( When do you read?)

2. My sister intends going to Europe.

3 Rama's sister is dead.

4 The drawing was done by John.

5. I expect some one

6 He was sitting beside me.

7 I require three hours to answer this paper.

8 This is my book

9 This book was bought for me

10. I have won the second prize

11. There are 600 boys in this school

12 He went to Calcutta to see his uncle.

13. My name is Vithoba

14 You may use my pencil

15 Rama gave his watch to his friend

16 My brother's teacher is a young Parsi.

17 The carriage must wait for one hour.

18 He died of fever

19 I was born in 1896

20 My house is very far from yours

21 The cow is fed mainly upon grass

22 The sun rose to-day at 5

23 I was all alone in the class-room.

24 The boys did their lessons well.

25 The baby always likes this toy

26. I can work this example in two ways

27 The teacher punished him for making a noise

28 He eats food only once a day

29 I have come from Cawnpor

30 He is my best friend

31. My eldest brother can do it

32. I saw some one passing this way.

33 Carriages must go by the Queen's Road

34 Old people generally walk slowly

35 A grown-up person should drink about two quarts of water daily

36. Yes, the Governor has visited our school

26

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[ PART I

37 Yes, you must prepare your lessons now

38 The blind man was uttering some words

39 My father will come with you willingly

40 Babu or Dhondu will get the prize

41 All of you may go to play

42 Yes, he writes a neat hand

43 That boy was expelled from the school for disobedience.

44 Bricks are made of clay

45 The giant was very tall

46 I like mangoes as well as oranges

47 My uncle will see you at the Howrah station

48 That straight road leads to the Queen's statue

49 Yes, my father is glad to hear the news

50 Rama prepares his lessons quickly

51 Air and light are necessary to all animals

52 I have been asked to prepare this lesson

53 The tiger can leap to the height of twenty feet

54 I am afraid of the dog on account of its bite

55 I could have done it without his assistance

56 Babu has borrowed some books

57 The Governor's speech appeared in The Times of India

58 I have never seen a tiger

59 Bombay is 1350 miles distant from Calcutta

QUESTION AND ANSWER

NEGATIVE-INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES.

21 Let Class study the answers to the following questions —

Question

Answer

Is your father ill ?

Yes, he is ill

No, he is not ill

Is not your father ill ?

Yes, he is ill

No, he is not ill

The student must carefully note that whatever be the form of the

question ( affirmative or negative ), the answer is yes or no, accord-

ing to whether his father is ill or is not ill

CH 3] FORMATION OF SENTENCES 27

Exercise 21

Let Class give answers to the following questions in the manner

shown above -

[Sometimes the answer may consist simply of Yes or No !

1 Have you not prepared your lesson ?

2. Don't you like this flower ?

3 Is not every man mortal ? [Answer "Yes," which is really a

short way of saying "Every man is mortal"]

4 Were you not present yesterday ?

5 Aren't you well ? [Answer "No," i e "I am not well"]

6 May I not go out for a walk ?

7 Did you not hear the noise ?

8 Have you no books ?

9. Did you ever see such a rogue ?

10 Cannot any one of you work this sum ?

11 Isn't he blind ?

12 Can't you promise me the book ?

13 Won't you come this evening ?

14. Haven't you ever seen such fine horses ?

15 Don't you think him a good boy ?

16 Didn't you see at least one boy ?

17 Couldn't you come in time ?

18 Will neither of you go with me ?

19 Could he not be found anywhere ?

EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES

Exercise 22

22. Let Class study the following exclamatory sentences care-

fully and compare them with the interrogative forms -

1 How very cold the night is !

2 What a foolish boy you are !

3 How green the grass is !

4 What a lovely child it is !

5 How careful she is about her dress !

6 How merrily the children are playing !

7. What a fuss you are making over it !

8 With what cleverness the spider weaves his web !

CHAPTER IV

SYNTHESIS

23. Instead of saying "Mangoes are lying on the table Oranges are lying on the table," we usually say "Mangoes and oranges are lying on the table "

To express our idea in this shorter and neater way we join separate sentences together by the use of suitable conjunctions, as shown in the following examples

Separate Sentences

Combined Sentences

a John is clever. John is industrious

a John is clever and industrious

b I can read English I can write English

b I can read and write English

c We were examined in analysis We were examined in parsing

c We were examined in analysis as well as in parsing

d The accused was fined Rs 200 He was sentenced to three months' imprisonment

d The accused was not only fined Rs 200 but also sentenced to three months' imprisonment

e Is he asleep? Is he awake?

e Is he asleep or awake?

CH. 4.]

SYNTHESIS

29

f. Harry has broken the slate. William has broken it One of them has done it

f Either Harry or William has broken the slate

g. He is not telling a lie She is not telling a lie

g Neither he nor she is telling a lie

h. You must return at once You will be late.

h You must return at once, otherwise you will be late

Exercise 23

(i) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by using the conjunction and (orally) —

1. Rama came to my house. Krishna came to my house

2 We get milk from the cow. We get butter from the cow

3. My brother got a prize. My sister got a prize

4 William is a fat child Jane is a fat child.

5. Honest boys are loved by their teachers. Diligent boys are loved by their teachers.

6 He is invited to the party You are invited to the party

7 Wheat grows in the United States. It grows in Russia. It grows in India.

8 Glass is smooth It is brittle. It is transparent

9 The carpenter makes tables He makes chairs He makes other pieces of furniture.

10 The sun rises in the east. The sun sets in the west

11 A crow stole a piece of bread It flew to a tree

12 Ceylon is very fertile It grows tea. It grows coffee

(ii) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by using the conjunction as well as (orally) —

1 Gopal was preparing his lessons. Laxman was preparing his lessons

2 Rustum was fast asleep Sohrab was fast asleep

3 The little child likes nuts It likes sweets

4 The actress danced on the stage She sang on the stage.

5 We should honour our parents. We should obey them

6 I have come to give you these books. I have come to see you

7. He is in error You are in error

30

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

(111) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by using the conjunction not only but also (orally) -

1 He is tired He is hungry

2 The engine ran off the rail It overturned

3. Abdul is mischievous He is cruel

4 The soldiers scaled the wall They took the fort

5 The cruel fellow whipped the horse He kicked the horse

6 The master should speak kindly He should act kindly

7 Ahmed will take me to the bazzar He will take you to the bazzar

(1v) Let Class join together theseparate sentences in the following groups by using the conjunctions or, either or, neither nor (orally) -

1 Do you like crichet? Do you like tennis?

2 Is that min fat? Is that man thin?

3 My book is lost My book is stolen

4 The child is deaf The child is dumb

5 The king must attend the ceremony The queen must attend the ceremony

6 Ramdeo cannot lift this stone Kalu cannot lift this stone

7. Speak clearly Be quiet *

8 The teacher will punish you He will expel you

9 Would you not like to be here? Would you not like to be there?

10 One man is drowned Two men are drowned

11. The old man cannot see He cannot hear

12 The captain is not to be blamed The sailors are not to be blamed

13 Do not run Do not jump

14 The boy does not read well He does not write well

15 Should I not punish him? Should I not punish you?

16 You are in the wrong He is in the wrong

17 The boys could not do their lessons The girls could not do their lessons

18 The teacher did not beat me The teacher did not beat him

19 He will not help me He will not help you

20 The girl does not wish to sing She does not wish to dance

21 You must take him with you You must leave him behind

• Note that in certain cases, as here, the word "either" may be omitted

CH. 4 ]

SYNTHESIS.

31

( v ) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by using the conjunction else or otherwise ( orally ) -

1 We must hasten The robber will overtake us

2 Give him water immediately He will die

3 Behave well You will be dismissed.

4. I climbed up the tree The bear would have eaten me

5 I received help from a passer-by. The man would have robbed me

6 We must prepare our lessons carefully The teacher will be angry with us

24 OTHER EXAMPLES OF SEPARATE AND COMBINED SENTENCES

Separate Sentences Combined Sentences

a Bapat is an intelligent boy He is not honest. a Bapat is an intelligent boy, but he is not honest.

b You have insulted me I pardon you b. Though you have insulted me, I pardon you

c I shall give you leave Prepare your lessons carefully. c I shall give you leave if you prepare your lessons carefully

d I shall be angry with you You must keep your promise. d Unless you keep your promise I shall be angry with you

32

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

PART I

e It is a long journey e It is a long journey,

You should start therefore you should

early start early

f The gun burst f The gun burst, because

It was worn out it was worn out

Exercise 24

(1) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following

groups by using the conjunctions but, still or yet (orally) —

[ Note A slight change in the sentence is sometimes necessary ]

1 I called on him He was not at home

2 The traveller tried to walk He was quite tired

3 Work hard Do not overwork yourself

4 He was rich He was not generous

5 I lay down to rest I did not get sleep

6 A bad boy disobeys his parents A good boy obeys his parents

7 Jane has got the prize Jane is not satisfied

8 He is strong He refuses to work hard

(ii) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following

groups by using the conjunctions though or although (orally) —

1 He would not eat He was starving

2 The student worked hard He could not succeed

3 The poor man was very weak He was eager to work

4 He is seventy years old He is strong

5 Robert wastes a lot of time. He does well in examinations

6 My brother is quite well He does not go about his work.

(iii) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following

groups by using either but or though (orally) —

1 He goes to school He learns nothing

2 Rama gave Krishna much advice It had very little effect

3 My uncle has every comfort He is not content

4 Jack is strong He is not courageous

5 His aunt is rich His aunt is not proud of her wealth

6 He loves his son. He punishes him severely for his faults

7 We have lived in the same house for thirty years We have

never spoken to each other

8 The baby is given toys It cries

9 The roof has just been mended The rain comes in freely.

CH. 4 ]

SYNTHESIS.

33

(iv) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by using the conjunction if or unless ( orally ) :-

1 Do it well You wish to please me

2 I shall go Pay me

3. All will respect you You must be honest

4 I will shoot you Give me money.

5 Sit idle You can never succeed

6. I will believe you Speak the truth.

7 It is impossible for me to study. You should keep quiet

8 Come Are you ready ?

9 The motor-car will arrive in time It may not break down.

10 You should go very carefully over this slippery ground You will fall down

11 I hope to reach Tibet safely I may meet with an accident

12 You should improve your hand-writing You will not be able to secure a good post.

( v ) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by using the conjunction therefore or so ( orally ) -

1 I have a cold I shall stay-indoors

2 I missed the train I was late for school

3. He has helped me I shall help him.

4 One evening the children did not return home Their parents were alarmed

5 The book-seller has never sent in his bill. I have not paid him.

(vi) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by the use of the conjunction because or since ( orally ) -

1 I trust him He is honest.

2. I frequently eat curry I like curry.

3. The headmaster gave him the prize He deserved the prize.

4 He was drowned He could not swim a stroke

5 The man was quite tired He had walked all day long.

(vii) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by using the conjunction therefore or because ( orally ) -

1 I could not attend the school yesterday. I had a headache.

2. The lion and the bear fought Each wanted the piece of meat

4

P C.

3 Kate's canary did not seem to be happy in its cage She let it go

4. I am reading this novel I find it interesting

5 My mother is sixty years old My mother cannot see well

6 You never take my advice I no longer give it

7 The villagers do not go into the jungle at night They fear the wild beasts

8. My father is getting old He is anxious to retire

25 OTHER EXAMPLES OF SEPARATE AND COMBINED SENTENCES.

Separate Sentences Combined Sentences

a We are clever. Lax- a. Laxman is cleverer man is cleverer. than we are

b He likes you much. I b I like you more than like you more he does

c. I am careful My bro- c I am as careful as my ther is equally care- brother is ful

Exercise 25

(1) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by the use of the conjunction than (orally) —

1 Robert is tall John is taller

2 This mango is sweet. That one is sweeter

3 I am quick. My brother is quicker

4. He jumps high. I jump higher.

5 I write carefully. He writes more carefully

6 I know him well. I know you better

7 Gopal prepares his lessons well Rama prepares them better

8 His mother loves him She loves his brother more

9 My father gave me some money He gave my brother more money

10 The long walk made me weary It made my mother more weary.

CH. 4 ]

SYNTHESIS.

35

(ii) Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by the use of the conjunction as (orally) —

1 This street is narrow That one is equally narrow

2. Kalu is fat Jadu is not equally fat

3 My father works hard My mother works equally hard.

4 John runs swiftly. James runs cqually swiftly

5 My mother loves my sister dearly She loves me equally dearly.

6 The teacher likes him. He likes us equally

7. He is patient. You are not equally patient.

8. OTHER EXAMPLES OF SEPARATE AND COMBINED SENTENCES

Separate Sentences

Combined Sentences

a He came to my house. a When he came to my house, I was not at home

I was not at home

b It strikes nine. I at b As soon as it strikes nine, I begin my work.

once begin my work

c. He read the letter He c After he had read the letter he put out the lamp

put out the lamp then.

d William left Bombay d William has been for Nagpur From that day he has been healthy

healthy since he left Bombay for Nagpur.

e I waited a long time e I waited for the tram-car till I got tired

for the tram-car. I got tired.

36

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I

Exercise 26

Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following

groups by the use of the conjunctions when, as soon as, after,

since, or until (orally) —

1 He heard the news. He was glad

2. We take off our clothes We then go to bed

3 The thief saw me He ran away at once.

4 We arrived first The others came afterwards.

5 He found his lost book He was very glad

6 He lived there He died there

7. It strikes five I get out of bed at once

8 The play is finished We go home

9. I went into his room He was sitting on a chair reading a

book

10. Keshavram heard of his father's death at Bombay He started

at once for Bombay

11 His mother died No one takes care of him now

12 The sun set They ceased work

13. I have started this work I have not visited him since that

time

14 The rain ceased. We went out

15 The Inspector went round examining our drawing-books We

remained standing

16 He was speaking fluently One of the audience cried out

"Hear! hear!"

17 I warned him He has behaved well from that time

18. He did not take any food He recovered [Use until]

19 Prepare your lessons I shall give you leave at once

20 We left the house The house collapsed at once

21 I have my breakfast I then go out. [Use before]

22 Dress yourself Then leave the room.

23 I shall come Wait for me.

24 One night I was lying awake in bed I saw a thief opening a

cupboard

25 Will you wait? I shall finish preparing my lessons

26 I pass by that house. I always see that lame beggar standing

near it

27 We shall live for a certain time Let us be honest during that

time [Use as long as]

28. Rama disobeyed his father frequently Each time he was

punished. [Use as often as]

CH. 4 ]

SYNTHESIS

29 First get ready. Then send for the carriage.

30. We reached home. The sun had not set then [ Use before ]

31. I shall pay the income-tax The man will call for it.

32. He could not run half a mile He stopped. [ Use before. ]

27 OTHER EXAMPLES OF SEPARATE AND COMBINED SENTENCES.

Separate Sentences.

Combined Sentences

a. His uncle was ill. He a His uncle, who was ill, is dead.

is dead

b. My father will never b My father, whom you

trust you You have have cheated, will

cheated him

never trust you. -

c Govind's father is ill. c Govind, whose father is

Govind feels an- ill, feels anxious.

xious.

d Nariman gave you a d Does the fountain-pen,

fountain-pen Does which Nariman gave

it work well?

you, work well?

e He has gone to Bom- e He has gone to Bom-

bay He intends to bay, where he in-

stay there.

tends to stay

37

38

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I.

Exercise 27

Let Class join together the separate sentences in the following groups by using who, whom, whose, which, or where (orally) -

1. We met his friend He told us the same story

2 I have seen your brother He lives in Bombay

3 Bring me the book It is on the table

4 This is the book It contains interesting stories

5 That is the school I was taught there

6 We reached Raichur at 10 o'clock We passed the night there.

7 I have a parrot It talks all day

8 This horse belongs to grandfather I was born here

9 Arjoon can run with the heavy basket on his head He is a strong boy

10. This thief stole my horse He is now in prison

11 The train stopped at Khandalla We got some tea there

12 Where are pen-knives sold ? Please show me the shop

13. The villagers are here You wish to speak to them

14 I have found the rupee My brother lost it

15 A train left Bombay at noon Did it meet with an accident ?

16 You put it somewhere Show me the place

17 This is the river They catch the best fish in it

18 Which boy broke the slate ? Show him to me.

19 That boy is industrious You see him there

20 Which boy made the highest score ? What is his name ?

21 I presented him with a leather-bound book. I paid five rupees for it

22 I am going to write a letter to my friend His father is dead

23 Do you remember the boy ? You saw him once.

24 The gentleman is badly hurt His carriage is smashed

25 Where are the poor children ? I have brought presents for them.

26 Robbers live in that thick forest We have to pass through it.

27 We spoke to Abdul You introduced us to him yesterday

28 The wooden plank broke The two goats stood on it

29 This is the way We went by it yesterday

30 His wife was born of rich parents You were talking of her yesterday

31 Our teacher has a telescope He studies the stars with it.

32 Some boys have not worked the sum. Let them stand up

33 We are going away to another place Its climate is cooler

34 The woman feels very sad All her children are dead

35 I gave the beggar a rupee. It pleased him greatly -

CHAPTER V.

SYNTHESIS. (Continued.)

28 The following examples and exercises illustrate further ways of combining sentences —

Separate Sentences.

Combined Sentences

a. Mr Brown lives in a Dustipore He is the Collector. Dustipore is a large town

a Mr. Brown, the Collector, lives in Dustipore, a large town.

b The ship went down. It carried with it the brave captain

b. The ship went down, carrying with it the brave captain

c The Inspector was pleased with his good reading. He did not examine him in the other subjects

c Being pleased with his good reading, the Inspector did not examine him in the other subjects.

d. He amused me very much He told me a funny story.

d. He amused me very much by telling me a funny story.

e. The police made an inquiry The thief was found out

e On the police making an inquiry, the thief was found out.

40

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I.

Exercise 28

(1) Let Class combine the separate sentences in the following groups after the manner shown in ( a ) above ( orally ) —

1 There goes my brother He is called Krishna

2 Queen Victoria had a son The son's name was Edward

3 I have always found Hari hard-working Hari is our gardener

4. The people elected Byramji Naoroji He was a well-known merchant

5 To-day I went to see the Victoria Terminus stone building It is a very large

6 King George V is the greatest living monarch He is Emperor of India. He is King of England

7 Govind received three rupees They were his wages for six days

8 My father has a fine bungalow He is Mr Hormusjee Nariman It is Nariman House

9 The fakir held a begging-bowl He was a rather dirty man. It was a wooden vessel

(ii) Let Class combine the separate sentences in the following groups as in (b) or (c) above ( orally ) —

1 The people saw the flames. They ran towards the burning house

2 The king armed himself completely He then rode away on a white horse

3 The king saw a tiger. He told his servant to shoot it

4 Once a cooly was carrying a large basket It was filled with oranges

5 George wrote a letter He then gave it to his servant

6 I went to Bombay last year I wished to see a dentist

7 I was delighted to see the little children They were playing happily in the garden

8 My father likes that arm-chair It was purchased by him at an auction.

9 He was unable to swim further He sank beneath the waves.

10 The father snatched up his child quickly. He then attacked the dog with a stick

11 The keeper of the lighthouse saw a steamer about a mile away. It was wrecked on the rocks

CH. 5.]

SYNTHESIS.

41

12 He put on his boots. He took up his books He went to school

13. Babu is a big boy He is very strong He is therefore taken

in the football team.

14 The hunter raised his gun He took aim He shot the tiger.

15. I heard Rama He was shouting very loudly. He was calling

me

(iii) Let Class combine the separate sentences in the following

groups as in (d) or (e) above, by using the given prepositions

(orally) -

1. My brother got promotion. He worked hard [ Use by ]

2 Turn to the right You will find the bookseller's shop [Use on.]

3 He told the truth. He thus obtained his teacher's pardon. [Use

by]

4. The poor fisherman made many efforts to save himself. At

last he was able to reach the shore. [ Use after.]

5 We did not search for the book. We did not find it then. [Use

without ]

6. The boy saw his mistake He grew nervous. [ Use on.]

7. I laughed at Kaku. So he frowned at me [ Use for. ]

8 He makes a lot of money. He buys horses He sells horses.

[ Use by ]

9. He was friends with me for thirty years He has now begun to

quarrel with me. [ Use after.]

10 A dog was crossing a stream. He had a piece of meat in his

mouth. [ Use with ]

11. Rusi likes every one. He does not like his rival Pesi [Use but.]

12 Finish your lessons. I shall allow you to play. [ Use on. ]

13 Ismail Khan gives private tuition in the morning. In the eve-

ning he teaches cricket He thus makes a small income

[ Use by ]

14 I met a robber. He had a dagger in his belt. He had a coil of

rope in his left hand. [ Use with.]

~

15. All the accused were sent to prison He alone was not sent.

[ Use except. ]

16 I advised the poor man to work hard I gave him some money.

[ Use besides ]

2

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I.

29 OTHER EXAMPLES OF SEPARATE AND

COMBINED SENTENCES

Separate Sentences

Combined Sentences

a Mr Mehta saw the fire a Mr Mehta,our teacher,

He was the first to was the first to see

see it He is our the fire.

teacher

b How did he escape? b Do you or anybody

Do you know ? Does know how he es-

anybody know? caped?

c. Kalidas is going to c Kalidas is going to

some place in Eu- some place in Eu-

rope I do not rope, but neither I

know the name of know the name of the

the place Even his place

family does not Or

know it Neither I nor his family

know the name of the place in Europe to which Kalidas is going

d The teacher offered a d. The teacher offered a

prize for good con- prize for good con-

duct Rama tried duct which both

to win it Krishna Rama and Krishna

tried too Neither tried to win but did

of them got it. not get

Miscellaneous Exercise 29

Let Class combine the following groups by using any one, or more

of the methods already shown —

1 He put on his coat He took up his cap. He went out

2 Tom is my dog One day it saw a hare It ran after the hare.

3 I did not eat any of the poisoned food It was lucky

CH 5 1

SYNTHESIS

43

4. Rama will win the prize. He is the cleverest boy in the class. He works hard

5. I was passing by my brother's school I saw him He was crying near the school gate.

6 He came to sec me He wanted to tell me something His father is dead.

7. They found the horse They never recovered the saddle. It was worth 200 rupees

8 The boys wished to see the picture They crowded round the teacher He told them to go back to their seats

9. We must work hard now. The examination is drawing near We have much to do

10. I could wait no longer It was getting dark. I felt very hungry.

11 My friend came to see me to-day. I was having tea It was then 4 o'clock.

12 The door was bolted The windows were well-barred The dacoits failed to break into the house

13 The thieves poisoned my father's dog My father had brought it from England. He had carefully trained it to protect his property

14. I saw a sowar He had a lance in his hand He had a sword by his side.

15. He has two horses in his charge. He must groom them well. He must bring them to his master at 12 o'clock

16. He was hated by all good men He incited youths to crime He furnished them with arms

17. My friend is going to Europe He has got long leave He wishes to become a doctor

18. I know your friend Rama I like him very much He is a good boy.

19 He came to me He wanted leave He was ill

20 De Lesseps made the Suez Canal This was a great engineering work He was a French engineer.

21. The Pope saw some children His name was Gregory The children were offered for sale in the slave market. They were very fair

22 The walk gave him an excellent appetite The walk was along the sea-shore It was taken early in the morning.

23 After the storm the boat had no mast The sailors could not hoist the sail It could not return to port.

24. The soldiers were willing to go on They felt very hungry. They felt very weary.

PROGRESSIVE ENGLISH COMPOSITION

[PART I

25 About a mile off I saw a tiger He was coming rapidly up a

steep path The path led to the place where I was sitting

26 The other day I bought a very cheap basketful of mangoes

Some of them were unripe Others were rotten

27 The man remained alone on the ship He was enveloped in

the smoke He was the captain of the ship

28 A jackal was pursued by some dogs It was hungry They

were well-fed It was caught

29 An old soldier was walking along crutches He met a youth

The youth offered to run a race with him

30 He is honest He is industrious He is unfortunate He is

weak in body

31 He built a house It had many large doors It had many large

windows. It had a wide verandah

32 Hari is the son of an honest gardener Hari is a good lad on

the whole He is rather fond of getting into bad company

33 He is a fair servant He is clever He is honest. He drinks too

much He is sometimes rather dirty.

34. Sakharam is captain of our school football eleven He is strong

He is swift He is skilful

35 At Bombay we stayed for a week Bombay is the capital of the

Presidency We visited our friends They live in the Fort

36 Napoleon was the first emperor of the French He was a great

soldier He inspired his soldiers with the most warlike spirit

37 Lord Ripon was a famous viceroy He was a benefactor of

India He is affectionately remembered in this country

38 I went to see the man He lives in our street I wanted to

speak to him I did not find him in the house.

39 Defoe was the author of 'Robinson Crusoe' He was born in

London He was born in the year 1731

40 He came to Bombay He wished to see his father He had also

some business to settle

41 I saw a dog. It had three legs It had only one ear It was a

well-bred terrier

42 He finished the examination paper He then took it home

He wanted his elder brother to work it

43 The guard was just going to wave his green flag All at once he

dropped it to his side He saw a porter hurrying along the

platform

44 William Shakespeare is the greatest English poet. He was born

at Stratford-on-Avon He was born in 1616

CH. 5. ]

SYNTHESIS

45

45 I was leaning on the gate at sunset A carriage drove up. It contained a gentleman He was middle-aged

46 "Honesty is the best policy." Have you not heard this?

47. I cannot sell it for five rupees I am sorry I have a better offer.

48 The sun shone on the corn The corn ripened in a short time The farmer was filled with joy

49. He read his letters carefully He sent for his clerk He dictated answers to them

50 I do not know his address He is not likely to write to me You will not be able to find him

51 He went for a walk one day. He saw a wounded bird He picked it up He brought it home.

52 Srijut stood there for hours He did not speak He did not move [Use without.]

53 I have treated you kindly. You have been very dishonest I shall help you no more

54 The crime was discovered The master dismissed the man He had been in his service for ten years.

55 The father heard the child's cry He saw what the snake was about to do. He rushed at the snake with a stick. He killed the snake

56 He rode along for hours He did not strike his horse. He did not spur it.

57. A beggar stands daily near the lamp-post. He cries aloud for bread He stands not far from our house

58. Motilal will come I do not know the exact time [Use when.]

59. The earth moves round the sun It does so once in a year. All educated persons know these facts. [Use that.]

60 The battle of Plassey was fought in 1757. It was fought between Clive and Surajah-Dowlah The British were victorious [Use when ]

61 I do not like the climate of Bombay. It is very damp I am thinking of settling in some other place

62 He played exceedingly well in the match. His team won. The match was played yesterday

63. He feared the plague. He left Bombay He left for Simla Plague is almost unknown there.

64. Shanker Seth is a learned man He is very fond of reading new books He spends all his money on them [Use so that.]

65. His recitation was greatly liked. He recited at the prize-distribution The prize-distribution took place on the 18th of December.

46

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

66 He brought ashore a number of persons He did so with great difficulty The persons clung to a rope It was fastened to a post

67 I have seen you somewhere before I do not now remember the place [ Use where ]

68 The earth goes round the sun You do not know it It is very strange

69 The emperor was dressed in velvet and silk He was attended by his courtiers He walked to the throne It was richly ornamented with jewels

70 When will our examination begin? Will you let me know the date?

71 The fox could not get through the hole It was too small He had done his best to enlarge it

72 Two goats met each other on a plank of wood It was very narrow There was no room to pass each other [ Use so that ]

73 I was out of the bungalow He came to it He wanted to borrow my gun So he took it without my leave

74 I heard of the accident I at once went to the hospital I went to see my brother He had been run over by a carriage.

75 Which books do you wish me to read? I am ready to read them

76 Wellington was the greatest of English generals Nelson was the greatest of English admirals Napoleon was the greatest of French soldiers

77 He told a story It was about a man The man had great strength. He was once a famous warrior

78 There was a man hiding in my compound He was armed with a gun He was a Pathan My attention was drawn to him

79. The English were inferior to the French in number The English defeated the French The battle was long and well contested

80 He was chosen for the match He plays cricket very well. He made a hundred runs This was the top score

81 Our friend Narayen is very strong We all pushed him He could not be moved [ Use so that and though ]

82 Savages produce fire in a few seconds They do so by rubbing two sticks together We learn this from travellers

83. It was time for the train to start We began to run We hoped thus to reach the station in time

84 Shridhar could not succeed He tried his best All feel for him.

CH. 5 ]

SYNTHESIS.

47

85. The heat is great You must wear a topi. You might get a sunstroke [ Use as and lest ]

86 Ram Prasad works day and night He wishes to become rich. We all know it [ Use that and in order to ]

87. I was standing alone in the tent I turned round I saw a snake behind me The snake was ready to strike at me

88. The passengers had taken their seats All the doors were shut. Only the door of the guard's van was open. [ Use when and except ]

89. The train arrived at the station. A man sprang out of one of the carriages on to the platform. His clothes were torn. They were stained with blood.

90. We should finish our work Come punctually It may be raining or it may not [ Use whether and so that ]

91. All his teachers like him. He behaves well and works hard He always stands first in the class.

92 Keki must not play in the match The captain thinks this The boys consider him the best player in the school. [ Use that and although ]

93 He deserves my thanks He found my purse. He returned it to me. He took nothing out of it.

94. Iswardas has succeeded in all his schemes. He has not succeeded in one scheme He has not made money. [ Use but and that ]

95 I have still one hundred pages to read The examination is drawing near I must read at least ten pages daily I might thus finish these hundred pages in ten days. [ Use and, as, in order that.]

96 I awoke at 3 A M. to day. I found the cupboard in my bed room open I also found some ornaments missing I am just going to inform the police.

97 There were three hundred persons on board All of them went down with the ship. Only one escaped His name was Devji [ Begin, "Out of three hundred persons," etc ]

98. A fox was tired and thirsty. It had wandered about all day It had had nothing to eat or drink It entered a vineyard. It saw bunches of grapes hanging overhead.

99 The fox wished to quench its thirst. It tried to get at the grapes. It failed in its attempts The grapes were beyond its reach It went away disappointed

100. He stood aghast His face was pale with fear His lips were trembling His eyes were fixed [ Use with after ‘aghast.’ ]

48

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I

30 FURTHER EXAMPLE IN THE FORMA-

IION OF READABLE SENTENCES.

The Wolf and the Lamb

As told in short

As told in longer

simple sentences

combined sentences

One day a wolf met a

lamb They met near a

spring of water on a hill-

side The wolf was fierce

He was hungry He

wanted to quarrel with the

lamb He also wanted to

eat the poor lamb up He

said, "How dare you make

the water muddy? I am

drinking it" The lamb

replied, "I cannot make

the water muddy The

water runs down from you

to me." The wolf said,

"Well, why did you call

me names this time last

year?" The lamb replied,

"I cannot have done that

I was not born a year ago"

The hungry wolf cried, "It

was not you? It must have

been your father then" So

saying, he sprang upon

the little lamb He ate it

up.

One day a wolf met a

lamb near a spring of

water on a hillside Being

fierce and hungry the wolf

wanted to quarrel with the

lamb and eat it up He

therefore said, "How dare

you make the water which

I am drinking muddy?"

The lamb replied, "I can-

not make the water muddy

as it runs down from you

to me" The wolf said,

"Well, why did you call

me names this time last

year?" To this the lamb

replied, "I cannot have

done that, as I was not

born a year ago" The

hungry wolf cried, "If it

was not you, it must have

been your father." So

saying, he sprang upon

the little lamb and ate it

up

CH. 5.]

SYNTHESIS.

49

Exercise 30

Let Class rewrite the following stories in a more readable form

by combining groups of sentences as shown above —

1. The Fox and the Grapes.

A hungry fox saw some bunches of ripe grapes. They hung from

a vine high up from the ground He wished to get them. He could

not reach them He grew tired He said to himself, "The grapes

are sour " Then he went away

2. The Dog and his Shadow

A dog was crossing a narrow bridge over a stream He had

a piece of meat in his mouth. He happened to look down into the

water He saw another dog in the water This dog also had a piece

of meat in his mouth. He opened his mouth to steal this piece of

meat from the dog in the water He dropped his own piece of meat

He thus lost what he had He was trying to get more

3. The Fox and the Crow

A crow stole a piece of cheese She flew with it to a tree A fox

saw the crow The fox wanted the piece of cheese for himself He

began to praise the crow He said, " What fine black feathers you

have! Your voice must be fine too I should like to hear you sing.

Please sing me a song " The foolish crow was very pleased She

opened her mouth to sing The piece of cheese fell to the ground

The sly fox picked it up at once He ran off quite delighted His

trick had succeeded

4. The Crow and the Pitcher

A crow was very thirsty She saw a pitcher She hoped to find

water in it So she flew to it She found a little water in the

bottom of the pitcher The water was very low She could not

reach it She tried to break the pitcher It was very thick It was

also heavy. She could not overturn it She looked around. She

saw some pebbles She brought them She dropped them one by

one into the pitcher The water rose She drank Her thirst was

quenched

P C

50

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

5 Catching a Thief

A gentleman had a gold watch It was stolen by one of his servants He gave them each a piece of wood He then said, " All these sticks are now of the same length To-morrow the thief's stick will grow an inch longer I shall call you all again One of you must be the thief I shall find out the thief " The thief said to himself, "I must cut an inch off the end of my stick to morrow Then my stick will be the same length as the others " He did so The master found thus man's stick an inch shorter He said, " This man is the thief "

6 The Hare and the Tortoise.

One day a hare met a tortoise The hare laughed at the slow tortoise The tortoise said, " Race with me I will beat you " The hare felt sure he would win He agreed to run the race A day was fixed for the race On that day they started together The hare ran off very swiftly The tortoise went on at a slow, steady pace The hare was only a few yards from the winning-post He lay down by the side of the road He fell fast asleep Suddenly he awoke He remembered the race He ran very fast He saw the tortoise passing the winning-post

7 The Milkmaid and her Pail

Once a milkmaid was going to market Her name was Mary. She was going to the market to sell milk The milk was in a pail She carried the pail on her head On the road she said to herself, " I will get some money for my milk With this I will buy some fowls The fowls will lay eggs every morning I will collect these eggs They will bring me some chickens I will sell them in the market With the money from the sale of the chickens, I will buy myself a new gown and a pretty straw hat I will wear this at the fair I shall look beautiful The young men will ask me to dance with them I will look at them proudly I will toss my head like this " With the toss the pail fell down All the milk was spilt She returned home weeping

8 The Fox and the Stork

A clever fox loved a joke He once invited a stork to dine with him The stork accepted the invitation He arrived very hungry A shallow dish was placed before them It contained soup The

stork could only wet the sharp point of her long beak

The fox quickly licked the dish clean

Some time afterwards, the fox was

chased by hounds

It at last came to the home of the stork

The

fox cried, "I am weary

I am dying of hunger and thirst

Will you

let me dine with you?"

The stork smiled.

She replied, "Most

certainly"

The stork then placed before him a tall jar

It had a

tiny mouth

The fox could not eat anything out of it.

By means of

his long bill the stork emptied the jar

The fox had a few drops.

The drops ran down the outside of the jar

9 The Merciless Master.

A man had an ass

The man was cruel

He was in the habit of

overloading the poor ass

He' put heavy loads upon its back

Beneath these loads

the ass could hardly move.

In return the ass

was beaten

One day the man loaded the ass with heavy bags.

The

bags contained salt.

The weight of these bags was great

The ass's

back and legs bent beneath the burden

The ass tried hard to carry

this heavy load

Its pace was not rapid.

The master grew angry.

The ass was then crossing a bridge

The master rained blows upon

him

The ass attempted to run

He rolled over the edge into the water.

In a minute the load of salt was quite spoilt

It melted in

the water

It was lost.

CHAPTER VI

ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION

31. Formation of Sentences by the Direct Method

The Language is all important, the facts are immaterial

A necessary exercise for all classes from Standard IV to Standard VII

Exercise 31

Let Class read the question aloud simultaneously Let each boy frame an answer The best answer to be repeated aloud simultaneously Change to negative form occasionally

NOTE--As far as possible show the thing for each new noun, perform the action for each new verb, indicate the manner ( or place) for each new adverb, demonstrate the quality ( colour, size, shape, etc ) for each new adjective, and the actual position for each new preposition at first

In the earlier stages show either the object or the picture Accept no answer that is not in the form of a complete sentence

A

I Common Objects

( a ) A ball Answers to show use of various verbs in different moods, tenses, and persons

1 What am I doing with this ball ?

Several complete sentences with verbs to throw, to bounce, to roll, to drop, to rebound, to fling, to catch, etc

2 What did I do with the ball ?

Complete sentences in past tense Same verbs

3. What shall I do with it ?

Same verbs in future tense Exercise in 'shall' and 'will'

CH 6.] ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION. 53

4. What might I do with it?

5 What have I done with it?

6 What was I doing with it ?

7. What can I do with it ?

8. What could I do with it ?

9 What am I making the ball do?

10 What is happening to the ball ?

Etc.

(b) A piece of chalk

1. For what purpose do we keep sticks of chalk ?

2 Can you tell me some- { Adjective bright, brittle, soft, white,

thing about it? { light, cheap, useful, etc

3. What happens if I dip it in the ink ?

4 { What is the length of this piece of chalk ?

{ How long is this stick of chalk ?

5. { How much do you think it weighs?

{ What do you think it weighs?

{ What is its weight, do you think ?

6 Is it as long as this pencil ?

7. What happens if I drop it on the floor ?

8 What happens if I { Exercise in moods, tenses and persons of

tread on it ? { break,smash,shatter, crush,powder,grind,

{ snap, etc

9 For what else is chalk used besides for writing ?

10. What am I drawing now ?

Etc.

(c) A clock or watch

1. What is the difference between a clock and a watch ?

2 What are these called ? { Hands, face, pendulum, dial,

{ case, glass,figures, etc.

3 Why are these called 'hands'?

4 By what other means can we tell the time ?

5. Tell me the time

6 What time will it be when the hands are in a straight line?

7 When will they be in a straight line again ?

8 In what position are they now ?

9. When will they be at right angles again ?

10. What do we call the sound which the clock makes ?

Etc.

54

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I.

(d) A pen

1 Why do we use pens instead of pencils ?

2 Why do we not draw with pens ?

3 What are the names of the three parts of a pen ?

4 Why is the handle of wood and the nib of steel ?

5 Why is this kind of pen called a 'quill' pen ?

6 What is a 'reed' pen ?

7 Is your pen better than a 'quill' pen ?

8 What is a 'fountain' pen ?

9. Is a fountain pen better than your pen ?

10 What is the price of this pen ? { Exercise in uses of the words

price cost, value expense,

charge hire, payment, etc

(e) A book

1 What is the difference between a leaf and a page ?

2 What is this part of the book called ?

3. What is the person called who writes the book ?

4 What others had some- { Publisher, printer, binder, paper-

thing to do with it ? { maker, etc

5 Why is the paper white and the print black ?

6 { How thick is this book ?

{ What is the thickness of the book ?

7 Why should we use books in class ?

8 What do we call the books in which we write ?

9 Why is this called the 'cover' of the book ?

10 When do you uncover your head ?

Etc

II Pictures *

(a) A palm-tree

1 What is this part of the tree called ? ( Trunk, leaves, nuts, etc )

2 What are the uses of the palm-tree ?

3 What kind of a tree is it ?

4 How is it different from the banyan-tree ?

5 Could you climb a palm-tree ?

6 How does the toddy-wallah climb it ?

7 How does he get the liquid ?

8 About how high is the tree in the picture ?

• Good coloured pictures on a larger scale than can be given in a book of this size,

are now obtainable at very moderate prices

CH 6 ] ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION 55

9. Are the nuts nearly ripe, do you think?

10 Look at the picture and tell me something else.

Etc.

( b' An elephant

1 What is this part of the elephant called?

2 Why are his legs so thick?

3 Why does' he need a trunk?

4 What does he do with his trunk?

5 For what purpose does he use his tusks?

6. Why does he need such a very thick skin?

7 Tell me something about his ears

8 Tell me something about his eyes

9 Tell me something about his feet

10 Look at the picture and tell me something else

Etc

(c) A camel

1 Why has the camel such a long neck?

2 How does the elephant manage with such a short one?

3 Why does the camel need such large spreading feet?

4 How do people get on his back?

5 What are the uses of the camel?

6 Why should the camel have several stomachs?

7. In what other way is it fitted for life in the desert?

8 For what is camel's hair used?

9 How fast can he go and for how long?

10 Look at the picture and tell me something else about it.

Etc

(d) A landscape

1 Of what country does this picture show a part?

2 How can you tell? ( Trees, animals, buildings, etc.)

3 Would you like to live in a place like this?

4 Does much rain fall here, do you think?

5 Have you seen trees (birds+ animals, people, buildings, bridges,

roads, mountains,flowers etc ) like this in India?

6 What are these people doing?

7. How far away do you suppose those mountains are?

8. Could we tell at what time of year the picture was taken?

9 Could we tell about what time of day it was taken?

10 Look at the picture and tell me something else about it

Etc.

56

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [ PART I.

(e) A 'historical' chart or picture (e g. King John signing Magna Carta)

1 Who is this and what is he doing?

2 Why is he doing it?

3 What are these men called?

4 Which of them'is not a soldier and how can you tell?

5 What is this called?

6 For what purpose is it used?

7 Why are these signs painted on their shields?

8 What is the difference between a lance and a spear?

9. Should you like to have lived in those days?

10 Look at the picture and tell me something else

Etc

III. Surroundings

(a) The home

1. Where do you live?

2 How many storeys are there to your'house?

3 How many rooms do you use?

4 What furniture do you have in your sitting-room?

5. Does your house stand in a compound of its own?

6 With what is the house roofed?

7 Whence do you get your water?

8 At what hour do you have your meals?

9. What do you have for breakfast and for dinner?

10 Tell me something else about your home

Etc

(b) The street

1 What is that man, passing along on the other side of the street?

2 Why does he wear a uniform?

3 What is that man?

4 Why does he not wear a uniform?

5 Why do trams run on lines?

6 Why is there a number painted on that gharī?

7 What is there for sale in that shop?

8 Why do all carts, bicycles, horses, carriages, and motor-cars keep

to the left-hand side of the road?

9 Why do motors have horns and carriages have none?

10 Tell me something else about the street,

Etc.

CH. 6.] ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION 57

(c) The class-room

1 Why do we learn in class-rooms and not out of doors ?

2 What would happen if I shut all the doors and windows ?

3 What is that hole in the wall for ?

4 Why do you have desks and not chairs ?

5 Why is the ceiling white ?

6 Why is the blackboard black ?

7 Why do you not sit on the floor ?

8 Which lesson do you like best ?

9 Why do we not play cricket and football in the class-room ?

10 Tell me something else about the class-room

Etc.

(d) The compound

1. Why should the school have a compound ?

How big is this compound, do you think ?

2. What is the size of this compound ?

How large is the compound ?

What is the area of the compound ?

3 What do you do in the compound ?

4 Why are those lines drawn across it ?

5 What are those posts for ?

6 What game do you like best ?

7 Why do we drill in the compound ?

8 What is that plant, that covers the wall, called ?

9 Why is there no grass in the compound ?

10. Tell me something else about the compound

Etc

(e) The garden

1. Why do we make gardens ?

2. What must we have before we can make one ?

3 At what time of year is this garden at its best ?

4 Which is the most useful kind of tree in it ?

5. Who works in it, and what does he do ?

6 How does the water get to the plants ?

7. Why must they have water ?

8 Which is the prettiest kind of flower in this garden ?

9 What birds live in this garden ?

10. Tell me something else about the garden.

Etc

58

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[ PART I.

IV. Games.

( a ) Cricket

1. Why are there eleven on each side at cricket ?

2 Why is the pitch twenty-two yards long ?

3 Why are there three stumps and not four or two ?

4 Why is the bat spliced ?

5 Why should we not use tennis-balls for cricket ?

6 Why should we bowl over-arm ?

7 In what different ways can a batsman be got 'out' ?

8 Why should we play cricket ?

9 Give me some good advice to help me to play well

10 Tell me something else about cricket

Etc

( b ) Football ( ' association ' )

1 Why should there be eleven on each side at football ?

2 Why should there be five forwards and only one goal-keeper ?

3 How big is a football ground ?

4 Why is the football hollow ?

5. What happens if you touch the ball with your hand ?

6 What happens when the ball goes over the side lines ?

7 What happens when it goes behind the goal line ?

8 What does the referee do ?

9 Give me some good advice to help me to play football well.

10 Tell me something else about football

Etc

( c ) Hockey

1 Why should we not use a football for hockey ?

2 Why should we not use a tennis-ball for hockey ?

3 Why should we not use a tennis-bat for hockey ?

4 How long is a hockey-stick ?

5 How much does it weigh ?

6 Why may we not use both sides of it ?

7 Why is the handle bound with string ?

8 Do you like hockey better than football ?

9 Is it more, or less, dangerous ?

10. Tell me something else about hockey

Etc

CH. 6 ] ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION

59

( d ) Tennis

1 Why should we not use a cricket-ball for tennis ?

2 Why cannot five or six people play instead of four ?

3. How big is a tennis-court ?

4 Is it as good a game as cricket ?

5. Is it as good as football or hockey ?

6. What is the best kind of ground to play on ?

7. What is the cost of a good bat ?

8 Why is it called 'lawn' tennis ?

9. Is it a good game for women ?

10 Tell me something else about tennis

Etc

( c ) Polo.

1 Why do you like watching polo ?

2 How is the game played ?

3. Why is it called 'the sport of kings' ?

4. Which races of Indians sometimes play it very well ?

5. Why cannot poor men play polo ?

6. Is it a dangerous game ?

7 What must a polo-pony be ?

8 Why is it a good thing for soldiers to play polo ?

9 Tell me something about any polo-match you have seen

10. Tell me something else about polo

Etc.

V. Trades and Professions.

( a ) The sailor

1 Should sailors be very well paid ?

2. What are the drawbacks of a sailor's life ?

3. What are its advantages ?

4 Why are sailors usually very healthy ?

5 Can they easily save money if they wish to ?

6 Would you like to be a sailor ?

7 What kind of ship or boat would you like to go in ?

8 What does a ship's captain have to know ?

9 Tell me about some great sailors

10 Tell me something else about a sailor's life

Etc

60

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [ PART I.

(b) The soldier

1 Would you like to be a sepoy in the army ?

2 What are the hardships of a soldier's life ?

3 What are the good points about it ?

4 Where do some of the sepoy regiments go out of India ?

5 Where are Honglong and Aden ?

6. Do any sepovs ever go to any part of Persia ?

7 Which Indian races made the best cavalry, and why ?

8 Why should a soldier have a pension ?

9 When do soldiers get medals ?

10 Tell me something else about a soldier's life,

Etc.

(c) The lawyer

1 Would you like to be a pleader ?

2 What is the difference between a pleader and a barrister ?

3 Would they get much work if men were wise and honest ?

4 Would you rather be a judge, a pleader, or a barrister ?

5 Why should we have pleaders at all ?

6 Are good pleaders well paid ?

7 Is it difficult to become a pleader ?

8. What must one do to become a barrister ?

9 How do lawyers become judges ?

10 Tell me somethng else about pleaders

Etc

(d) The doctor

1 Do you think the doctor's is the noblest profession of all ?

2 What do doctors learn at their colleges ?

3 What is a surgeon ?

4 Would you like to be a doctor ?

5 How does one become a doctor ?

6 Should doctors be well paid ?

7 What is a 'specialist' ?

8 What is an eye-doctor called ?

9 What is a tooth-doctor called ?

10 Tell me somethng else about doctors

Etc

(e) The clerk

1. Would you like to become a clerk ?

2 What must one know to be a good clerk ?

CH 6.] ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION. 61

3 Should clerks study shorthand ?

4 Why is type-writing better than ordinary writing ?

5 What are the disadvantages of a clerk's life ?

6 What are its advantages ?

7 What pay do clerks get ?

8 What different kinds of clerks are there ?

9. Which kinds of clerks are the best paid ?

10 Tell me something else about a clerk's life

Etc

B

32. General Conversational Questions.

Exercise 32.

Let Class say the question simultaneously, and each boy endeavour

to give a good ( idiomatic ) complete answer. Select the best answer

(or supply one if none are suitable) and let Class repeat the answer

simultaneously.

Have both positive and negative answers where possible, and

the latter with and without, 'not

1 How do you do ?

2. Where do you live ?

3 What is your address ?

4 How old are you ?

5 What is your father ?

6 What was your grandfather ?

7 What is the time ?

8 Who are you ?

9 What do you want ?

10. Where are you going ?

11 What is this building ?

12 Why is it called a school ?

13 Why do boys wish to be educated ?

14 What will you be when you grow up ?

15 Why will you go to college ?

16 What is his trade ?

17 Is he in business ?

18 What is his business ?

19 Is he out of work ?

20 Does he want work ?

62

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I.

21 Where do you work ?

22 How many men are there at work ?

23 Does he employ many men at his work ?

24. What is his profession ?

25 Does he belong to one of the Services ?

26 Is he in service ?

27 Will you do me a service ?

28 Will he enter your service ?

29 Have you a servant ?

30 What is the weather like in Bombay ?

31 Do you like the climate of this place ?

32. Was it fine while you were there ?

33 {Did it rain much ?

Was there much rain ?

Did much rain fall ?

34 What did he say to you ?

35 What has he told you ?

36 What did he call you ?

37 Will he call on you for help ?

38 Have you called at his house ?

39 Does your servant call you early ?

40 What did he ask you ?

41 What did he ask of you ?

42 Shall you ask for him at his office ?

43 What did he advise you to do ?

44 Can you give me some advice ?

45 Shall you present him with a book ?

46 Do you expect a present ?

47 Was he present this morning ?

48 Did he do this in your presence ?

49 Did he answer you ?

50 What was your answer ?

51 Shall you reply to his letter ?

52 Have you had a reply ?

53 Did he talk to you ?

54 May I have a talk with you ?

55 Have you written to him ?

56 Have you been there ?

57 Did you ever go there ?

58 Had he been here long when I arrived ?

59 Has he gone yet ?

60 Shall you come to-morrow ?

61 Will you lend me a rupee now ?

CH 6 ] ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION. 63

62 Shall he be brought before you at once?

63 Will you come here a year hence?

64 Is he a mischievous boy?

65 Will you wait for me?

66 Shall you await his answer?

67 Could you hardly do it?

68. Did you try hard?

69 Was he reading aloud?

70 Can you shout loudly?

71 Did he come late?

72 Has he been lately?

73. Did you find the hospital?

74. Will he found a hospital?

75 Has the bird flown away?

76 Has the river always flowed in this channel?

77 Who flew his kite to-day?

78 Did water flow through this nullah last year?

79 Did he speak to you?

80 Did he speak the truth?

81. Did he come here?

82 Did you do it?

83 Will you come soon?

84. Did he come quickly?

85 Did you enjoy yourself?

86 Have you enjoyed your holiday?

87 Where were you born?

88. Which is your native place?

89. Where is your home?

90. { What is your caste?

To which caste do you belong?

91. Has he lived here for several years?

92 Has he lived here ever since last year?

93. Has he ever been here since last year?

94 Has he never come here since I went away?

95 Will you help me since I cannot help myself?

96 Tell me what you did yesterday evening.

97 Tell me what you did on Sunday.

98 Tell me what you would do if I give you a holiday to-morrow.

99 Tell me how you would spend this rupee if I gave it to you.

100 Tell me a little story about anything you like.

64

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I

Exercise 38

HOW, WHY, WHEN, WHERE, ETC

Let Class repeat question simultaneously and each boy offer an

answer Select the best ( or furnish one if necessary ) and have it

repeated simultaneously Make the distinction between 'how and

'why' very clear

1 How are you ?

2 How do you do this ?

3 How is your father ?

4 How did you come to school ?

5 How is it that you are late ?

6 How is your tooth-ache ?

7 How far has he gone ?

8 How do you know ?

9 How did he seem ?

10 How does he support himself ?

11 How do you feel now ?

12 How will you get there ?

13. How did our team play ?

14 How did you break the glass ?

15 How much money have you ?

16 How many books have you ?

17 How can I help him ?

18 How did he behave ?

19 How long have you been here ?

20 How long is the line ?

21 How shall you reply to his letter ?

22 How do you like this place ?

23 How do you like mangoes ?

24 How is your horse now ?

25 How is the garden looking this weather

26 Why do we come to school ?

27 Why are you late ?

28 Why has he gone ?

29 Why was our team beaten ?

30 Why did you break the glass ?

31 Why should I help him ?

32 Why did he behave thus ?

33 Why shall you reply to his letter ?

34 Why do you like this place ?

35 Why are you crying ?

CH. 6 ] ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION

65

36 Why were you absent yesterday ?

37 Why do you stand up ?

38 Why don`t you stand up ?

39 Why have you come to Bombay ?

40 Why did you do this ?

41 Why didn`t you do this ?

42 Why are the doors and windows open ?

43 Why should he receive a prize ?

44 Why is the train so late ?

45 Why do we wear boots ?

46 Why did his father punish him ?

47 Why has he left the school ?

48 Why were you not promoted ?

49. Why should we have holidays ?

50 Why should we bathe daily ?

51 When did you come ?

52 When will you go ?

53. When did he die ?

54 When were you born ?

55 When will the rains break ?

56 When did this lesson begin ?

57 When will it end ?

58 When will the holidays commence ?

59 When will they end ?

60 When did you see your father ?

61 When does the post go out ?

62 When is the next delivery ?

63 When did you get up this morning ?

64. When will you go to bed ?

65. When is the best time to work ?

66 When is the best time to play ?

67. When is the weather hottest here ?

68 When do you dine ?

69 When do you have your breakfast ?

70 When did he tell you this ?

71 When will it be dark ?

72 When does the sun rise ?

73 When are you to be married ?

74 When will you repay me ?

75. When shall we meet again ?

P. C.

66

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION. [PART I.

76. Where were you yesterday ?

77 Where were you educated ?

78 Where did you work last ?

79 Where is your native place ?

80 Where is your family living ?

81 Where are you living now ?

82 Where are you working now ?

83 Where does he earn his living ?

84 Where are you hurt ?

85 Where is his school ?

86 Where does he go to school ?

87 Where are your parents ?

88 Where can I get water ?

89 Where is the bazaar ?

90 Where shall we go this evening ?

91 Where will the next match be played ?

92 Where are your books ?

93 Where is Calcutta ?

94 Where does this tram go ?

95 Where are we now ?

96 Where have you got to in this book ?

97. Where does the Ganges rise ?

98 Where would you like to live ?

99 Where shall you go in the holidays ?

100 Where are all your friends ?

101 Who is there ?

102 Who is your teacher ?

103. Who spoke ?

104. Whose is this book ?

105 Whose friend are you ?

106 Whom do you want ?

107 Which is your class ?

108 Which of those gentlemen is your teacher ?

109. Which boy spoke ?

110 Which of these do you want ?

111. Which is yours ?

112 What do you say ?

113 What is this ?

114 What is the matter ?

115. What can you do ?

116. What is his request ?

CH. 6 ] ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION

67

C

32A. Written Conversation.

1

Stationer. Good morning, Sir.

Customer I want some good note-paper Will you please show me some?

Stationer. Yes, Sir, are any of these kinds suitable? [Shows a few varieties ]

Customer. These are all coloured sorts I want white paper.

Stationer Here is 'thin white,' Sir.

Customer. It is rather too thin

Stationer I can give you a thicker sort, Sir. [Hands over a box of thicker paper ]

Customer. Yes, this will do Here is a five-rupee note. Can you give me change?

Stationer. Thank you, Sir, here is four rupees, four annas, change.

Hasan. [ Taking out his watch. ] What's the time by your watch, please?

Abdul. I make it eight minutes past ten.

Hasan It's quarter-past ten by my watch I am afraid yours loses.

Abdul Oh, no! your watch is seven minutes fast I know my watch is a good time-keeper, it keeps time to a second.

I wind it regularly,and get it cleaned every year You can always rely upon these watches

Hasan. You are right There's the tower-clock striking quarter-past ten. Where did you get your watch?

Abdul I got it from Thornley's for Rs 250 It is Swiss made and cheap at the price. It would be cheap at any price.

Hasan. It is time for me to go! I have an appointment for half-past ten, and it won't take me less than a quarter of an hour to reach my friend's office unless I take a taxi, Sc I must hurry up Good-bye.

Abdul Good-bye! Hasan.

68

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION. [PART I.

Exercise 32a

1 Write a dialogue based on the fable of "The Ant and the Cricket" [ Part II Ch 5 ]

2 Write, in dialogue form, the fable of "The Hare and the Tortoise" [ Part II Ch 2 No 67 ]

3. Write a dialogue based on the fable of "The Wolf and the Watch-dog" [ Part II Ch 2 No 70 ]

4 Imagine you are at a bookseller's inquiring for a good edition of "The Arabian Nights"

Write the conversation supposed to take place between you and the bookseller

5. Imagine you are at a jeweller's where you wish to buy a watch.

Write the conversation supposed to take place in this case

6 You are supposed to have placed an order with a shoe-maker for a pair of shoes You are now inquiring whether they are ready.

Write the conversation between you and the shoemaker.

( a ) Supposing you are satisfied with the shoes

( b ) Supposing the shoes are ready but do not fit you

( c ) Supposing the shoes are not ready.

7 You are at the tailor's, trying on your coat It does not fit you well, and you suggest certain alterations

Write the conversation between you and the tailor in this case.

8. Having bought an umbrella you find, on returning home, that it is slightly torn The shop-keeper from whom you purchased it refuses to exchange it for a sound one, and you remonstrate with him

Write the conversation supposed to have taken place between you and the seller

9 You accompany a friend to buy a cricket bat

Write the conversation supposed to take place at the shop you visit.

10. Having lost your railway season-ticket and reading an advertisement in a local newspaper about a season-ticket having been found, you go to the office of the paper

Write the conversation supposed to take place between you and one of the clerks at the newspaper office

11. You are at the police-station of your ward to lodge a complaint about the theft of an article ( say, a pair of gold sleeve-links )

Write the conversation between you and the police officer in charge of the station

12. Your headmaster sends for you, and asks you a number of questions about an incident supposed to have taken place yesterday in the school playground

CH. 6 I ORAL COMPOSITION AND CONVERSATION 69

Write the actual words uttered by you and your headmaster during the interview ( Do not write a mere description of the affair )

13 After witnessing a cricket match between your school-team and the team of another school, you are returning home On your way you meet a school friend who inquires about the result of the match, and the individual performances of several players known to him

Try and write a perfectly natural dialogue, such as might take place under the circumstances

14. You have read in the evening-paper about a great disaster at sea. You meet a friend who knows nothing about it and to whom you communicate the appalling news Supposing your friend to be of an impatient temperament and apt to interrupt you with all sorts of questions, reproduce the words spoken by each of you,

15. You are at the Victoria Station to meet your uncle who returns home after three years' stay in Calcutta Supposing yourself to be the only person there known to him, give a detailed account of your interview in the actual words spoken by each of you

16 You are driving through the streets of Bombay with an English friend just come out from England to visit this country

Reproduce the remarks of your friend and your replies thereto.

17. You are driving through the streets of Bombay with a relative who has never before visited a great city

Write the conversation you would be likely to have, under the circumstances

18 Write a dialogue on "The Advantages and Disadvantages of Town-life "

19 Write an imaginary conversation between two boys standing on the top of the Rajbai Tower, Bombay

20. Write an imaginary conversation between two boys who have read "Gulliver's Travels" (or any other book) for the first time

21 Write an imaginary conversation between two boys sailing in a boat in the harbour on a moonlight night

22 Write an imaginary conversation between two friends discussing some topic of the day

23 Write an imaginary conversation between two boys the evening before their examination

CHAPTER VII

DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUOTATIONS

33 Suppose your teacher told you that you were a clever boy and you wished to convey this to your

father, it is clear that you can do it in either of the following two ways —

(1) Father, my teacher said to me, "You are a clever boy "

(2) Father, my teacher told me that I was a clever boy.

In ( 1 ) you have repeated your teacher's exact words, and to make it plain that you have repeated his very

words, you put them between quotation marks ( inverted commas ) The words quoted are said to be in Direct

Quotation

Note carefully that ( a ) the direct quotation should be put between inverted commas,

that ( b ) the direct quotation should be separated from the remainder of the sentence

by a comma,

and that ( c ) the first word of the direct quotation should begin with a capital letter

In ( 2 ) instead of quoting your teacher's words, you repeat in your own words what he said The words thus

repeated are said to be in Indirect Quotation

CH. 7.] DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUOTATIONS 71

Note carefully that (a) in this case, in place of

the inverted commas, the word that is used,

and that (b) the indirect quotation

necessitates some changes, mainly in the person

of the pronoun and the tense of the verb.

These changes are illustrated in the following

examples which should be carefully studied

Direct Quotations

Indirect Quotations.

1. The teacher says, "Good boys prepare their lessons well."

1 The teacher says that good boys prepare their lessons well.

2. Rama, Krishna says, "Rama is to go away."

2 Rama, Krishna says that you are to go away.

3. Do you remember, uncle, you said to me the other day, "When you pass your examination I shall give you a gold watch?"

4. Do you remember, uncle, you promised me the other day that when I passed my examination you would give me a gold watch?

4 He said to his servant, "Wait here till I return."

4 He ordered ( or told ) his servant to wait there till he returned.

5. Govind said to Vishnu, "How did you cross the river yesterday?"

6. Govind asked Vishnu how he had crossed the river the previous day ( or the day before ).

72

PROGRESSIVE

COMPOSITION.

[PART

I.

The

other

day

my

friend

said

to

Kaku,

"Will

you

lend

me

some

money

?"

The

other

day

my

friend

requested

Ka-

ku

to

lend

him

some

money

The

teacher

said

to

us,

"Make

good

use

of

your

time"

7

The

teacher

advised

us

to

make

good

use

of

our

time

8

John

said

to

me,

"Will

your

father

see

me

to-morrow?"

8

John

asked

me

if

my

father

would

see

him

next

day

I

could

not

help

ex-

claiming,

"What

a

beau-

tiful

bird

this

is?"

9

I

could

not

help

ex-

claiming

that

that

was

indeed

a

beau-

tiful

bird

On

the

road

he

said

to

me,

"Tell

your

father

I

am

leaving

Dacca

to-day."

On

the

road

he

asked

me

to

tell

my

father

that

he

was

leaving

Dacca

that

day

"What

is

a

zebra?"

asked

the

teacher.

The

teacher

asked

what

a

zebra

was

Father,

going

along

the

road

last

night,

I

met

your

friend,

who

said,

"How

is

your

father?

Pray

remember

me

to

him"

12

Father,

going

along

the

road

last

night,

met

your

friend

who

enquired

how

you

were

and

asked

me

to

remember

him

to

you

13

"How

can

I

make

the

water

muddy,"

said

the

lamb

to

the

wolf,

"for

the

stream

runs

from

you

to

me?"

13

The

lamb

asked

the

wolf

how

it

could

make

the

water

muddy,

since

the

stream

ran

from

him

to

itself

CH. 7 ] DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUOTATIONS. 73

14 Pesi said to Keki, "I am right " 14 Pesi said to Keki that he (Pesi) was right

Pesi said to Keki, "You are right"

Pesi said to Keki that he (Keki) was right

15. The teacher wrote on the board, "I he earth revolves round the sun"

16. The teacher wrote on the board that the earth revolves round the sun

17. The man was angry with his servant and said, "Why have you again disturbed me in my sleep? I have told you before that when I am asleep, you should not wake me Leave my service and don't let me see your face again"

16 The man was angry with his servant and inquired of him why he had again disturbed him in his sleep He reminded him that he had told him before, that he was not to wake him when he was asleep. He ordered him therefore to leave his service, and forbade him ever to let him see his face again.

34 Observations on the above

1 "Says" is the reporting verb Note that the tense of the reporting verb never changes.

2 Notice the change. "Rama" to "you "

3 Here two important changes are noticeable.— (1) the change in the person of the pronoun, (2) the change in the tense of the verb

4 Here an order is given to the servant, hence the reporting verb "said" is changed to "ordered"

5 Notice that the interrogative form vanishes, and with it the note of interrogation, also "yesterday" is changed to "the previous day."

74

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I.

6 A request is made, hence the reporting verb "said" is changed to "requested"

8 Note the use of "if" when a question is to be reported

13 When the direct question is broken into two parts, each part should be enclosed by quotation marks Note that the first word of the second part of the quotation does not begin with a capital letter

14 When, as here, it is not clear whom "he" refers to, the name of the person meant is inserted after "he"

15 The statement "The earth revolves round the sun" is always true, therefore no change is made in the tense

The student must be shown that the tense of the verb is changed according to the rules of the Sequence of Tenses

To thoroughly understand the change in the person of the pronoun, he must be given some class practice as suggested below Make the first boy ( Rama ) tell what he sees coming to school, what he does in the school, who is sitting by him, etc

Let the second boy ( Hari ) report to you what Rama has just said For instance

Rama to Hari I am attending to my lessons

Hari to the teacher Rama says that he is attending to his lessons

Rama to Hari I do not like you

Hari to the teacher. Rama says that he does not like me

Rama to Hari Give me your book

Hari to the teacher Rama asks me to give him my book

CH 7 ] DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUOTATIONS 75

Exercise 34

Let Class repeat the following sentences in indirect speech -

1 Keki said, "I am very thirsty "

2 The boy replied, "I do not know my lessons "

3 The child said, "I am here "

4 The rich man said, "I give some money to the poor daily."

5. The child answered, "I can see the star "

6 He says, "I feel rather cold "

7. She said, "I like you."

8 My friend Babu said, "I am going home "

9 He said, "I was feeling very sad at the time "

10. Govind said, "I am your friend "

11. I replied, "We have been working for hours "

12 He said, "She passed the examination last year "

13 The boy stood up and said, "I have finished my lessons."

14. The teacher said to me, "Where do you live?"

15. They all say, "You were mistaken "

16 The teacher said, "To-morrow is a holiday "

17 He said, "I saw this beggar long ago "

18 He said to me, "I am coming "

19 My brother said to me, "You may read the letter."

20 Govind said to Rama, "Where is Hari?"

21 I said to my butler, "Pack my bag."

22. She said, "What does he want?"

23 Ratan said to me, "I shall accompany you to-morrow"

24. Dhondu said, "I cannot do this just now." [Change "now" into "then"]

25 The pupil said, "I do not understand this sum."

26 Dadi said, "I have received a letter from my uncle."

Exercise 35.

Let Class repeat the following sentences in indirect speech -

1 He said, "The blind beggar died yesterday."

2 The general said to his soldiers, "Shoot."

3 My friend met me one night, and said, "Who are you?"

4 I answered, "Do you not know me?"

5 He called to the coachman, "Drive on "

6 The teacher said, "Be quiet "

7. The girl said, "How cold this water is!"

8 "Where shall we go?" said the children to their father.

9 The master said to the servant, "Open the door quickly."

76

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I.

10 On the road he said to me, "I am leaving Dacca to-day "

11 The magistrate will say o i ou, "You are not guilty "

12 "Come and see me to-morrow morning," said Rama to Hari

13 John said to his teacher, "Pardon me, Sir"

14 My father asked me " Why did you not go to school?"

15 He said, "What a fool I have been!"

16 "Just come with me to the river,' said Babu to Kalu

17 The teacher said to me, "Where does your uncle live?"

18 The other day my father said to me, "Love your enemies."

19 The teacher said, "Why do you laugh?"

20 The sick man grew tired and said, "What a long day it has been!"

21 The witness replied, "I do not know where he is"

22 Ganpat cried out to us, "Will you tell me where my brother is?"

23 The professor ended his lecture, saying, "We have proved that the earth is round."

24 The headmaster said to me, "Remain where you are"

25 My father inquired, "Do you know when the doctor will come?"

26. Rama said, "Will you come with me?" [Change "come" into "go"]

Exercise 36

Let Class turn the following sentences into indirect speech orally -

1 He said to me, "Where did you learn to ride so well?"

2 My friend said to me, "Can you guess what the time is?"

3 He shouted, "Would that I were dead!"

4 My grandfather said to me, "What do you see there?"

5 Our drill-master gave the order, "Right, turn "

6 He said, "What a foolish boy am I to act thus!"

7 I said to him, "How old is your brother?"

8 My friend grew angry with me, and cried out, "What do you mean?"

9 The patient said to the doctor, "Do you know, last night I kept awake?"

10 When the train started, I said, "Good-bye, my friend"

11 He said, "How much does the book cost?"

12 He exclaimed, "What a strong arm the blacksmith has!"

13, "Has this cat a name?" said the child to its father

CH 7 ] DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUOTATIONS

77

14 The old man said to the little girl, "Won't you tell me your name?"

15 The old man said, "May God bless you, my boy "

16 He got angry and said to his servant, "Do as I bid you "

17 The man cried out, "How very ungrateful of my cousin!"

18 The child said, "How many birds are there in the nest?"

19. The station-master said to them, "The train is gone, you are late "

20 My cousin writes to me from Poona, "Much rain fell yesterday, and it is raining still "

21 I said to my friend, "Ples give me that book to read "

22. My father said to my elder brother to-day, "Be honest "

23 The traveller said to me, "Which is the shortest way?"

24 The teacher said to me, "Never go with this bad boy "

25. Manu said to him, "Are you going to Poona to-day?"

26. I he servant informed us, "The train starts at 3-30 P M", and added, "All must return here before it strikes its "

27. The mother said to the little child, "Take care! You will fall down "

28. I said, "Thank you, I am quite well How are you?"

Exeroise 37.

Let Class change the following from direct to indirect -

1. The tortoise said to the hare, 'If you will have a race with me I shall beat you'

2 "Where are you going?" said the wolf to the little girl.

3 "I never saw such a lovely bird in my life," said the fox

4. "I cannot spoil the water,' said the lamb, 'for the stream runs from you to me

5. "Who will bell the cat?" asked an old gray mouse.

6. "Then, when the chickens are sold," she said to herself, "I shall buy a new dress, which will make me look very nice "

7 The ill-natured dog replied, "Since I cannot eat it myself, no one else shall have it '

8. The man said to the sailor, "If I were you, I would not go to sea."

9. When the chestnuts were quite ready to eat, the monkey said to the cat, "Pull the chestnuts away from the fire, for your paws are exactly like our master's hands "

10. "Why did you not store up food during the summer?" said the ant to the grasshopper.

78

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION |PART I

11 My friend said to me, "Why have you kept me waiting when

you knew I was in such haste to go?"

12 "Father," said the boy, "Why do you beat me?"

13 The man who had stolen it, said, "No! I bought this dog a

hundred miles from here "

14. "Will you give me lodging for one night?" asked the weary

traveller "Yes," said mv father, "you are very welcome"

15 The ox said to the dog, "Why do you prevent me from eating

my hay? It is useless to you, for you cannot eat it yourself"

16 A mouse said, "Let us hang a bell round the cat's neck "

17 The lion and the bear cried out, "How foolish we have been to

take all this trouble to feed the fox!"

18 The fox went off saying, "The grapes are sour! I would not

touch them if they were lying on the ground "

19 "Take my advice," said the fox to his friends, "and cut off your

tails "

20 "Come inside, my friend" said the lion to the fox, "and let us

have a talk together"

21 A man came once to a famous general and said, "I have in-

vented a bullet-proof coat Will you test it?"

22 "Ah, my friend," he said, "you have lost your own life and

ruined me"

23 "O, mother," he said, "I have seen such a big, big beast."

"Big!" cried the old frog, "How big? "

24 The servant found out what he had done, and rushing to' his

master, said, "Sir! I have given you a dose of ink What

shall I do? "

25 "If your voice," said the fox to the crow, "is as fine as your

feathers, how sweet it must be! Do please sing me a song "-

Exercise 38

Report in your own words the conversation you had with your

friend to-day.

Write an account of a Holiday you spent with your friend, giving

in indirect speech, the words you and your friend used

CHAPTER VIII.

PUNCTUATION, CAPITAL LETTERS, ETC.

35. The best composition in the world would be worthless if not properly punctuated. The omission or wrong use of commas and full stops may make nonsense or entirely different sense from what the writer intended.

For instance

Cæsar entered on his head his helmet, on his feet his sandals, in his right hand his sword, upon his brow a frown, etc

is a very different thing from

Cæsar entered on his head, his helmet on his feet, his sandals in his right hand, his sword upon his brow, a frown, etc.

although the actual words are the same

Punctuate, when by doing so, you can make your meaning clearer.

36 There are four means of punctuation, viz. the Comma, Semicolon, Colon, and Full Stop, representing pauses of varying length

The Comma is used whenever a slight pause would be made in the reading of a sentence for reasons of sound or sense, as,

He is, in my opinion, a man of good character.

We want help, not sympathy.

Before we could enter, the gate was closed.

80

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PARTI

The above general rule includes the following special rules —

The Comma is used

(1) to separate two or more of the same parts of speech that come together, as, "Rama, Krishna, Govind, and I met an old, poor, blind beggar"

(2) before and after words in apposition, as, "Akbar, the greatest of the Mogul emperors, favoured intermarriages"

(3) to mark off the nominative of address; as, "Ram, stand up"

(4) to separate the participial phrase as, "Having done my lessons, I went to bed"

Exercise 39

Let Class insert commas in the following sentences 'where necessary —

1 Where are you going John ?

2 I always found Rama polite obedient and honest

3 Govind the eldest son has left our school

4 He gave the poor man food clothes money and work

5 The children fond of play returned home late

6 Gentlemen I thank you heartily

7 The king riding on a fine horse led the attack.

8 Bombay the capital of Western India is noted for its fine harbour.

9 Apples peaches oranges and mangoes are sold in this market

10 He is moreover an all-round player

11 I will try my best to help you my friend

12 Above before behind and all round were unseen dangers.

13 I am on the whole pleased with his work

14 On entering the house I found him breathing hard

15 One cold winter night a traveller knocked at the door

16 I do not know how why when or whence he came

17 If you take my advice you will work hard

18 The prisoner strongly guarded by the police was taken to the High Court

CH 8.] PUNCTUATION, CAPITAL LETTERS, ETC.

81

19 Govind will no doubt follow your advice.

20 My father having read the newspaper and eaten his breakfast went to his work.

21. Rich and poor young and old masters and servants were to be seen at the fair

22. My boys before going home you should put your books pens pencils and slates in your bags.

23. The Semicolon is used to mark a greater change in the sense, as between sentences that are closely connected Thus: A rogue I hate; a fool I despise; a weakling I pity, an honest man I love

[ Very junior boys might be allowed the use of full stops in place of semicolons. ]

The Full Stop is used at the end of a complete sentence.

[Note. At the end of interrogative and exclamatory sentences we use the note of interrogation and the mark of exclamation respectively.]

38. Capital letters are used.—

39. At the beginning of every new sentence.

40. At the beginning of every line of poetry.

41. For the pronoun ‘I’

42. For proper nouns, and adjectives formed from them

[ Note. Names of the days of the week and the months of the year and of festivals begin with capital letters ]

5. At the beginning of a quotation and for interjections

6 For degrees, titles, etc, as, B A, His Excellency the Governor, Sir — Baronet.

7

P C.

82

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION | PART I

DIVISION OF WORDS INTO SYLLABLES

39

Words

of

one

syllable

must

on

no

account

be

divided

into

two

parts

by

a

hyphen.

Thus,

for

example,

friend

cannot

be

divided

into

fri-end

Words

of

more

than

one

syllable

may

be

divided

so

that

each

syllable

begins,

as

far

as

the

pronunciation

allows,

with

a

consonant

Thus,

in-ten-tion,

de-ter-mi-na-tion

{

When

two

consonants

come

together,

the

division

is

usually

made

between

them

.

Thus,

syl-la-ble,

ac-com-mo-date

}

Exercise

40

Let

Class

divide

the

following

words

into

syllables

—

[

Pay

great

attention

to

correct

stress

(

or

emphasis

)

e.

g.,

can-ál

and

not

cán-al,

per-fórm,

and

not

pér-form

]

Consider,

elbow,

electric,

market,

nostril,

object,

occasion,

offer,

ointment,

oppress,

gentle,

grammar,

success,

possible,

fairy,

educate,

either,

marry,

imperial,

involuntary,

'material,'

Indian,

blanket,

beautiful,

variety,

between,

monarch

Note

that

the

following

are

compound

words

and

must

not

be

written

as

two

separate

words

Cannot,

always,

altogether,

into,

sometimes,

something,

everything,

everybody,

nothing,

nobody

SPELLÍNG

Special

attention

must

be

paid

to

accuracy

in

spelling

'For

this

purpose

it

is

a

good

plan

for

each

boy

to

keep

a

separate

note-book

in

which

to

note

down

for

revision

the

words

mis-spelt

by

him

in

his

composition

lessons

and

dictation

exercises.

CH. 8 ] PUNCTUATION, CAPITAL LETTERS, ETC.

83

Exercise 41.

Let Class punctuate the following and insert capital letters where needed —

1. akbar was born during his fathers exile at umarkot in scinde in 1543 on his accession he made bai ram khan his mothers brother his tutor and guardian and under his guidance defeated hem u general of mahomed adil shah at the second battle of panipat 1556.

2 1 poor miserable robinson crusoe being shupwrecked came on shore on this dismal unfortunate island 1 had neither food house clothes weipons nor place to fly to and fea red that 1 should be devoured by wild beasts murdered by savages or starved to death for want of food at the approach of night 1 slept in a tree for fear of wild creatures but slept soundly though it rained all night

3 there was once a king who had three sons two of them were wise and clever but the third was remark ably silent rather silly in manner and was never called by any other name than dumming the king being old and weak and feeling his end approaching was undecided to which of his sons he should leave the crown therefore he proposed that they should travel and that whoever was able on his return to produce the most beautiful carpet should succeed to the throne after his death.

4 the chief events of lord northbrooks viceroyalty were the famine of 1873-74 in behar the formation of ass am into a separate province under a chief commissioner 1874 the dethronement for misconduct of the gaek war of baroda and the visit of the prince of wales to india in the cold weather of 1875-76

5 there was once an old goat who had seven young kids whom she loved very dearly one day she wished to go into the wood to fetch some food so she called them all together and said my dear children 1 am going into the woods but while 1 am gone pray beware of the wolf if he comes in here he will devour you skin and all he often disguises himself but you will always be able to know him by his gruff voice and his black feet.

PROGRESSIVE ENGLISH COMPOSITION -ORAL AND WRITTEN-

Exercise 42

To be dictated without any help as to punctuation and capitals

1 a father had two sons the eldest of whom was prudent and clever and able to do everything while the younger was dull unable to understand or learn and people who saw him said that he would prove a great burden to his father when anything was wanted it was always the elder who was called upon yet if his father asked him late or in the night to fetch something and the way lay through the churchyard or some lonely spot he would reply oh no father i cannot go there it makes me shiver and shake for he was afraid

2 there was once a poor man who could no longer maintain his only son then said the son dear father things are so bad that i feel i am a burden to you i would rather go forth and seek some way of earning my bread his father thereupon gave him his blessing and with the greatest sorrow took leave of him

3 androcles who had no arms of any kind now gave himself up for lost what shall i do said he i have no spear or sword no not so much as a stick to defend myself with

4. i opened the boxes and to his surprise i counted out gold and coin to the amount of four hundred pounds not a bad legacy said mr wilson then you knew of this of course i answered i have known it for some time ever since the attempt to rob her

5. one day walking together up a hill i said to friday do you not wish yourself in your own country again yes he said what would you do there said i would you turn wild and eat mens flesh again he looked full of concern and shaking his head said no no

6 mr carson i want to speak to you for once and for all since i met you last monday evening i have made up my mind to have nothing more to do with you i know i have been wrong in leading you to think i liked you but i believe i didnt rightly know my own mind and i humbly beg your pardon sir if i have led you to think too much of me.

CHAPTER IX.

CORRECT ENGLISH

SECTION I.

Necessary Grammatical Rules bearing on English Composition.

Note It is assumed that these rules have been previously taught inductively. They are now applied deductively for exercise

AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT and VERB.

41 A verb must be in the same number and the same person as its subject, as.---

I am running.

You are running.

On the table are two books.

This book, together with the other two, is very interesting

There are five horses in the stable

A knowledge of Modern languages is necessary.

Not one of his children is intelligent.

Good news is always welcome

42. Two or more singular subjects connected by and require a verb in the plural, as.---

Ganoo and he have played for a long time.

In the cage were a tiger and a tigress.

She and her uncle have arrived.

Three and two make five.

43. The verb must be singular, when two singular subjects are connected by as well as, as.---

The pupil as well as his teacher is industrious.

86

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I.

44. Two or more singular subjects connected by

either or, or neither nor take a singular verb, as —

Either Baboo or his brother has stolen the book

[ Either Baboo has stolen the book or his brother has ]

Neither Bhikoo nor Govind is aware of this

But if the subjects are of different numbers or per-

sons, the verb agrees with the nearest subject, as —

Either you or I am in the wrong

Neither the father nor his children are strong.

CASE AFTER ‘THAN’ or ‘AS’

45. The best, way to find out if the correct case of

the pronoun has been used after than or as, is to supply

the words understood, e g, “ He is taller than I ” means

“ He is taller than I am ” The sentence is therefore

correct Study the following — ;

No one can be more punctual than I

Very few can do as much as he in such a short time

I know how to do it as well as they

He likes Rama more than I ( i e, more than I like Rama )

He likes Rama more than me ( i e, more than he likes me.)

CASE AFTER ‘TO BE’

46 The verb to be takes the same case after it as

before it, as —

It is he who said so

I thought it to be him.

In the first case we have the verb is preceded by the

nominative ‘it,’ therefore it is followed by the nomina-

tive ‘he’ In the second case, the verb to be is preced-

ed by the objective ‘it,’ therefore it is followed by the

objective ‘him’ Study the following correct sentences

carefully —

I am sure it was he who spoke.

It was you who said so, not I.

It was they who gave me these books

He thought it was my friend and I

CH. 9.]

; CORRECT ENGLISH. 87

A or AN

47. The form 'a' is used before a consonant and also before a vowel, if that vowel has a yu or w sound, as —

A book A year A useful (yuseful) book.

A European. Such a one (wun)

The form 'an' is used before a vowel and also before h when that h is silent, as —

An apple. An hour An island An honest man

But, when h is sounded, we say —

A hospital A history of India, A house A horse.

A heavy load A hundred rupees.

REPETITION OF ARTICLES.

48. When you wish to say, "I have two dogs, one black and the other white," write, "I have a black and a white dog" means that you have one dog which is partly black and partly white.

So 'the secretary and the treasurer' means two persons, while 'the secretary and treasurer' means one person holding both offices.

The following sentences are therefore correct —

The manager and proprietor of this hotel is dead

A black and a white dog were in the house.

The young and the old man were sitting together on the sofa

DISTRIBUTIVES.

49. Each, every, either and neither are 'distributives,' and the nouns, pronouns and verbs referring to them must be in the singular, as —

Every boy of this class is obedient to his teacher

Each of the boys thinks that he has done his best

Is either of these books yours ?

Neither of these men is innocent.

Each of the students has his own room.

Either of the plans is good

Each girl and each boy was presented with a book

88

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

50 When you are speaking of yourself and others,

English idiom and also good manners require that you

shonld name yourself last, as —

My brother and I go out for a walk dally

The man spoke to him and me

RELATIVE and INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

51 The relatives* who (nominative) and whom

(objective) are used for persons only, while which

(both nominative and objective) is used for things

without life, and for animals, as —

I like the boy who is industrious.

Here is the beggar whom we saw yesterday

My father gave me a bat which was the best of all

What is the name of the dog that your father gave you ?

I cannot guess whom he meant

Use the relative 'as' after the words 'such' and

'same'

Such men as are false to their friends should be avoided

A book such as I want is costly

This is the same kind of pen as yours was.

• The relative 'that' may be used for 'who,' 'whom' or 'which'

Note the correct use of who and whom when they are

interrogative pronouns, as —

Who do you think spoke to me ?

Whom do you think I met to-day ?

Whom are you going to select as your captain ?

About whom was he talking ?

52 The relative pronoun must be in the same

number and person as its antecedent, as —

The two boys who have won the prizes are my friend's sons

You are the boy who is to be blamed

He is a man who has fought in many battles

The boy and the girl who are there are blind

This is one of the most difficult papers that have ever been

set

CH. 9.]

CORRECT ENGLISH

89

53. The relative pronoun should be placed as near as possible to its antecedent, as —

The boys who had prepared their lessons carefully were given prizes

USE OF TENSES

54. Note carefully the use of tenses in the following sentences —

I shall go to school to-morrow

I arrived five minutes ago,

(but) I have just arrived.

Yesterday I went to bed immediately after I had prepared my lessons *

I had finished my lessons before he finished his.

I had no sooner seen the sight than I felt ill

[ No sooner had I seen the sight than I felt ill.]

SEQUENCE OF TENSES

55 The past tense must always be followed by a past tense, as —

My brother told me, that he saw a zebra the other day.

Yesterday I heard that a man was shot on the road near my house

He said that he would come.

I never understood why he was so cruel to me

The teacher said that he would take that lesson

He said that he was going home

I said that I would try.

He promised me that he would be there that day.

I said that I would write to him when I got to Delhi

The present and the future tense may be followed by any tense, as —

I know that he is working hard

He promises that he will work hard.

The teacher says that Govind had worked hard

Govind will pass if he works hard

• Here both the actions took place in the past, but the action of preparing the lessons took place before the action of going to bed, hence, 'I had prepared,' etc

90

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I

SHALL and WILL

56 To form the future tense, use shall with the first person and will with the second and third persons, as —

I shall catch cold

You will be late

He will see you to-morrow.

I shall be glad to see you

I shall be obliged to dismiss you

If I do not obey him, I shall be dismissed

I am certain he will come

Alas! I shall be drowned if nobody will help me

If someone will not aid me, I shall starve

Will used with the first person expresses determination, as —

I will not go*

Shall used with the second and third persons expresses order, threat, or promise, as —

You shall not go†

If you talk you shall be punished‡

The first boy shall have a prize from the headmaster§

Shall I come to-morrow?

When shall we have the pleasure of seeing you again?

Will you be patient? (Request)

57 PARTICIPLES.

Whenever a participle is used, the noun or pronoun to which it refers must also be mentioned, as —

Seeing my friend, I went out to meet him

Sitting on a gate, I was stung by a wasp

The parcels were despatched, having been first carefully packed

It being a fine day, I went out for a walk

• I am determined not to go

† You are ordered not to go

‡ If you talk you are sure to be punished.

§ Whoever stands first, is promised a prize by the headmaster

CH 9.]

CORRECT ENGLISH.

91

ADJECTIVES - COMPARISON.

58 The comparative must be used when only two things (or groups of things) are compared, as :-

Rama is the wiser of the two brothers

Who is the more intelligent, Rama or Krishna?

The superlative must only be used when more than two things (or groups of things) are compared, as -

Africa is the hottest of the five continents

This class contains many clever boys, of whom Balvant is by far the cleverest

59 Remember to use the word 'other' with the comparative, as shown below -

Rama loved all his four sons, Babu, Tanu, Manu and Kaku, but Rama loved Babu more than all his other* sons

Jane is wiser than all the othert girls of her class.

Shakespeare is greater than any other‡ poet

Iron is more useful than any other metal

More rain has fallen in this than in any other month of the present year

So - He acted exactly as any other man would have done.

This horse, like every other horse, is a sagacious animal

He is as intelligent as any other boy in the class

SINCE, FOR, BEFORE, IN, WITHIN, AGO.

60 The word 'since' is placed before an expression denoting some point of time, but never before an expression denoting some period of time, as -

I have been ill since Tuesday,

but, I have been ill for six days (not, 'since six days').

• Other sons because Babu must be excluded

† If other is omitted, the sentence would mean Jane is wiser not only than all the other girls, but also herself

‡ Other, because Shakespeare is compared with other poets

92

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [ PART I

61 Be careful to use the correct tense with 'since,'

as —

Exactly two months have passed since our teacher died

Our school has been closed for vacation since yesterday

I have been suffering from fever since Thursday evening

62 Say —

You must finish this lesson before 5 o'clock

I shall come within an hour

I expect his letter in a week ( i e at the end of 1 week )

63 Say —

Vishnu joined the Elphinstone College three months ago

VERY, MUCH

64. 'Very' can be used with adjectives and ad-

verbs in the positive degree 'much' with those in

the comparative, as —

This stone is very heavy

I feel much too weak to walk

Why are you so very sad ?

This table is much larger than that one.

Ho can run very quickly

I can run much more quickly

65 With past participles 'much' ( or 'very much' )

is used, as —

I am much obliged to you

He will be much annoyed if you act thus

You are very much mistaken in thinking so

CH. 9 ]

CORRECT ENGLISH.

93

SECTION II

Exercise 43

Let Class study the following groups of sentences. Show that the words in heavy type are correctly used

A

1 A fee of fifteen rupees was paid to the doctor

2. He is an African by birth, not a European.

3 Who is taller, you or I ?

4. You know that as well as I.

5. Each of the four boys has a book before him

6 I am very pleased with this kind of pictures

7 He said to me that he was unwell.

8 He told me that he was unwell

9 I am very happy to see you

10 I have been reading since early morning

11. I have been reading for three hours

12 The hen has laid an egg

13. The stone has lain here for a long time.

14. Yesterday I bought three dozen apples

15. I have not had any breakfast this morning

B

1 Near the fire the baby and the cat were playing.

2 The chairman and the secretary sat opposite each other.

3 This road is the most used of all.

4. Who spoke? Not I.

5. One must not boast of one's own doings.

6 My father says he will take you, my cousin and me to the fair. [ Justify the order.]

7 If you speak the truth, I shall let you go

8. Yesterday I came to see you

9 This child has beautiful hair.

10 My book and Rama's are lost.

11. Have you heard of the Hundred Years' War ?

12 He will return home to-day.

C

1. The cat as well as the dog likes milk

2 An umbrella is a useful thing.

3. Of the two men, he is certainly the taller

4 All reads better than he.

5 Every tree is known by its fruit

6 I know these people.

7 Rama has been ill ever since he left our school

8 I saw a large tree lying across the road

9 This pen is bad, I must get another. [ Many pens ]

10 (but) He ran from one end of the street to the other [Only two ends ]

11 My father has ten thousand rupees

12 He gave me a five-rupee note

13 Few of the children are very intelligent

14 How many friends have you? I have a few friends

15 My father prefers books on science to those on mathematics

16 (but) A ship made of wood is lighter than one made of iron

D

1 My father or my mother is coming to see you.

2 The other day we saw a black and a white dog biting each other

3 He is taller than and as strong as Babu

4 Whom did you meet? Him

5 None of the boys of this class knows his lessons

6’ Have you seen the Town Hall of Bombay?

7 (but) The pupil's progress is satisfactory

8 The two boys are fond of each other.

9 (but) The three soldiers grew angry with one another.

10 My brother is superior to you in strength

11 The scenery of the Ghauts is very pleasing

12 Beggars have little money

13 Young boys should be given only a little money

14 I cannot say whether the ship was lost or not

15 He lay unconscious for an hour and a half

E

1 I saw a one-eyed man

2. Who has the larger apple, you or your brother?

3 I am as tall as he.

4 Let each of us drink in his turn

5 I am the boy who is selected as the captain

6 Will you give me your address?

7 There let him lie

CH. 9 ]

CORRECT ENGLISH

95

8 Do not read the whole day, like your elder brother.

9 ( or ) Do not read the whole day as your elder brother does

10 We should respect those who are older and wiser than we.

11 I like well polished furniture.

12 ( or ) I like these pieces of furniture.

13 This piece of cloth is four yards and a quarter long.

14 I am one of those who can do what they like.

F

1 Neither of these two boys deserves the prize

2 At the battle of Wandewash, the English defeated the French

3 Nelson was greater than any other sailor of his time

4 Everybody but him was ready.

5. Nobody in his senses would do such a thing.

6. I have not eaten anything since yesterday.

7 Going to school very late, I found the doors closed

8 I called at your house yesterday.

9 ( or ) I called upon you yesterday.

10 You are junior to me by a year

11. ( or ) You are one year my junior

12 * Gold is more precious than iron

13 * Chemistry is an interesting science.

14 * Honesty is the best policy.

15 My father went to the bazaar to buy* rice.

• Justify the omission of articles, before the words in heavy type

G

1 There lives in that house either a Parsi or a Hindu

2 Dadiba is an honest boy

3 We ate a great deal more than the others

4 There is enough milk in this jug for you and me.

5 Each of the girls went up into her room.

6 Are you the boy that jas done the mischief ?

7. Shall I set the dog on the thief ?

8 Let the books lie where they are

9. I am your obedient pupil, Hari.

10 ( or ) I am yours obediently, Hari

11 On meeting him, I said, ' Good-evening.'

12. Goldsmith's ' Traveller ' is a fine poem.

13 ( or ) Goldsmith's '' Traveller ' is a fine piece of poetry.

14. Do you know how to write an essay ?

96

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [ PART I.

H

1 is either of these two boys your friend ?

2 One of the largest rivers of India is the Indus which enters the

3 Indian Ocean near Karachi

4 Will you let my brother and me go out for a walk ?

5 Each person did his ( or her ) own work

6 I never saw such a man as he

7 I never saw a man like him

8 I did not attend the marriage ceremony because I had not been

9 invited

10 Mr Dadabhoy N Wadia

11 ( or ) Dadabhoy N Wadia, Esquire

12 The whole of India is in deep grief

13 ( or ) All India is in deep grief

14 I can work this example.

15 ( or ) I am able to work this example

16 The ship sank

17 ( but ) The sailors were drowned

18 Open your book at the first page

I

1 Boy after boy was allowed to go

2 Have you ever read an historical novel ?

3 Our school is better conducted than all the other schools

4 I am sure that it is he whom I saw in the carriage

5 This picture is one of the finest that have ever been painted.

6 If you will not aid this beggar, he will starve

7 I cannot lift this stone'unless you help me

8 ( or ) I cannot lift this stone without your help

9 He, with seven of his friends, lost his books

10 The examination will begin on Monday

11 I am too busy to talk with you

12 ( but ) I am very busy to-day

J

1 Nothing but cricket and novels makes him happy

2 The climate here is as good as, or even better than that of

3 Mussoorie

4 Let this be a secret between you and me

5 I shall go by the 5-50 train [ Read, five-fifty train ]

CH 9 ]

CORRECT ENGLISH

97

5 (but ) I shall go by the five o'clock train.

6 This clever boy seldom or never makes a mistake

7. Physical work strengthens the body instead of weakening it.

8 I do not like either of them, because both are dishonest

9 (but ) I do not like any of them, because all the three are dishonest.

10 Both the drawings are good, but yours is the better.

11 The tram-car is full, there is no room for any more.

12 I have a bad headache

13 Please permit me to go home, as I am ill.

14 Columbus discovered America.

15 ( but ) Edison invented the phonograph

16 He refused to leave the room

17. ( but ) He denied having murdered the child.

P. C

98

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I.

SECTION III

Exercise 44.

(i) Let Class insert is, are, was, or were in the places left blank (orally) —

1. The news of the departure of troops — expected

2 The forest with all its trees — burnt

3 Game after game — played

4 The man with his wife and two children — drowned

5 Everybody living near him — rich

6 No one but his sister and him — admitted

7 He told me that nothing but vegetables — sold in this bazaar.

8 Every one of the sailors — drowned

9 He and not we — to be blamed

(ii) Let Class supply the proper form of the verb indicated (orally) —

1 He (to go) to Madras last week

2 He (to feel) sad since his recent failure

3 I (to finish) my lessons at 9 o'clock

4 He worked hard that he (to succeed)

5 I wrote to him that I (to see) him to-morrow.

6 I (to tell) you this long ago

7. Babu grieved much that he (to fail) thrice

8 She has not smiled since her child (to die).

9 The teacher would have punished me if I (to talk) loudly

10 The prisoners were carefully guarded lest any (to escape)

11 We returned home when the sun (to set)

12 I (to write) that letter before I went out.

13 The sepoy has — (to ring) the bell

14 I have — (to drink) a great deal of water.

15 Let us begin our lessons, as the sun has — (to rise)

CH 9 ]

CORRECT ENGLISH.

99

(iii) Let Class fill up the blanks with the appropriate word (orally) —

very { It is — hot to-day.

much { This lesson is — easier.

That boy runs — slowly.

The blind beggar was — harassed by — wicked boys.

either { — of these three boys can do this sum

any { — of these two boys can do this sum.

neither { — of these two boys can do this sum

none { — of these three boys can do this sum.

since { I have not seen him — a long time.

for { I have been ill — yesterday.

I have been employed in this office — six months.

Six years have passed — my aunt died

too { It is — hot to-day.

very { This stone is — heavy to be lifted with ease.

This servant is — honest.

I am — glad to see you in such good health.

(iv) Let Class fill up the blanks with the appropriate word (orally) —

a { — horse is — noble animal.

the { Where is — book that I have lent you ?

My brother is — student in — Elphinstone College.

He is — best boy.

who { — do you think met me ?

whom { Tell me — you saw.

— did you see ?

— is to be the captain of your team ?

By — is it written ?

For — are you painting this picture ?

than { It is — hot to-day as yesterday

as { He was more popular — but not so much esteemed —

his predecessor

You are as good — or better — ( he or him )

The number of rude stone monuments in India is probably as great — or greater — found in Europe.

100

PROGRESSIVE

COMPOSITION

[PART

I.

(v) Let Class fill up the blanks with suitable words (orally) —

1 This is a long paper Have you completed — ?

2 The soldiers marched from one side of the plain to —

3 The people of the West are usually taller than — of the East

4 Neither he — his brother has called on me

5 I have neither written to him a letter — spoken to him

6 One must keep — promise.

7. Everyone has — faults

8 Not one of the players injured —.

9 Everybody is discontented with — lot in life

10. The length of this wall is greater — the other wall

11 The population of Calcutta is larger ——— Bombay

12 No sooner had he reached home— he found his child dead.

13 Scarcely had we gone out —it began raining

CH 9 ]

CORRECT ENGLISH.

101

SECTION IV.

The Order of Words and Phrases

66. If the words or phrases of a sentence be care-

lessly arranged, the sentence will often be ambiguous,

and sometimes even meaningless.

Exercise 45

Let Class distinguish between —

{ Here is the fat boy's dog

{ Here is the boy's fat dog

{ I was taken by a friend to see a picture.

{ I was taken to see a picture by a friend

{ The first three boys in my class got prizes

{ The three first boys in the three classes of my school got

prizes

67 The position of "only" requires special care.

Exercise 46

Let Class explain the following sentences —

{ Only I lived in that house for three months.

{ I lived only in that house for three months

{ I lived in that house for only three months

{ It costs only one pice

{ Only cricket is played here

{ Breathe only through the nose in cold weather.

68. Note the position of "not only" and "neither"

in the following sentences —

He was the winner not only of the gold medal but also of

the scholarship

He is willing neither to sell the book nor to lend it.

69. The order of the italicised words in the follow-

ing sentences should be noted —

Both your hands are dirty.

He was busy all the day

I love all my brother's children

There is not another city as large as Calcutta in the whole

of India.

There is not as large a city as London in the whole of

India

102

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PARTI

70. The qualifying phrases, etc must be placed as

near as possible to the subjects to which they refer

Exercise 47

Let Class rewrite the following sentences, inserting the words in

brackets in the right place —

1 They built a theatre to accommodate five hundred people.

[ ninety feet long ]

2 In one hour I counted sixty-four carriages [ sitting near my

window ]

3 I saw some boys going to schoo' [ through the window ]

4. I saw many dead soldiers [ riding across the plain ]

5 The chair cost five rupees. [ on which he sat ]

6. He blew out his brains after bidding his wife farewell

[ with a gun ]

CH. 9.]

CORRECT ENGLISH.

103

SECTION V

APPROPRIATE PREPOSITIONS.

Exercise 48

71. Mistakes in the correct use of prepositions will easily be avoided if the student's ear is turned by making him frequently read the following sentences with the necessary emphasis on the words in heavy type

A

1. He is very fond of reading novels.

2. Please be kind to my son

3 I prefer riding to walking.

4. Be careful about what you say

5. Be correct as to what you say.

6 Parents are expected to take care of their children

7. His teacher was angry with him for his misconduct.

8 He wanted the pardon of the king

9 The accused begged for mercy from the magistrate.

10 He died of fever

11. He is proud of his birth

12. He takes pride in his brother's success

B

1 He quarrelled with me over a trivial matter.

2 The teacher was quite satisfied with the progress of his pupils.

3 I am tired of this humdrum life.

4 My father at once warned me of the danger.

5. He prays to God daily

6 Many natives of India are ignorant of English.

7 Don't be anxious about the result of your examination

8 He is anxious for your forgiveness

9 The accused is charged with murder.

10 I have a great contempt for liars

11. That rich man has no pity for his poor relatives

12. Have pity on me

104

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART

C

1 He expressed his great regret for his past misconduct

2 Will you share this piece of cake with me?

3 The teacher began to wonder at his rapid progress

4 I am not afraid of death

5 The villagers were alarmed at the sight of the tiger.

6 I was not at all astonished at his rudeness

7 Are you aware of the fact?

8 Vithoba was born of rich parents.

9 Just then I was busy with my lessons

10 Quinine will cure you of malaria

11 I take great delight in swimming

12 Who would not be delighted with such a reward?

D

1 The robbers deprived him of all he had

2 This flower is different from that one

3. The teacher was displeased with me

4. He has proved himself faithful to his master

5 The soldiers were fatigued with travelling

6 Every merchant should be honest in his dealings.

7 Sir, I was ill with fever

8 Rama informed the teacher of his mother's sad death

9 Govind proved himself innocent of the charge laid against him

10 I live opposite to the town-hall

11 Apply with testimonials to the superintendent

12 Never ask for money

E

1 The teacher cautioned Mathur against doing this

2 Please excuse me for coming late

3 Please excuse me from attending to-day

4 Fill this jug with pure water

5 This basket is full of mangoes

6 All of us were invited to his wedding

CH. 9 ]

CORRECT ENGLISH.

105

7. Never jest at a lame man.

8. Always persevere in (or with ) your work.

9 The governor presented him with a medal.

10 My mother prevented me from going out in the sun

11 The sailor was rewarded with a silver watch for saving life.

12. How much have you subscribed to the famine fund?

F

1. The artist took great pains over (or with ) this picture.

2. He was confined to bed for several days with high fever.

3 Distribute these mangoes among those five children

4. All the members of his family sympathised with him on his mishap

5. All his friends sympathised with him in his trouble

6. I was accompanied by my brother on my first voyage to

England

7 I am much obliged to you for the use of your dictionary.

8. Have you a taste for music?

9 I am sorry I cannot agree to what you propose.

10. I am sorry I cannot agree with what you say

11 My father was annoyed with his servants for their dishonesty.

12. He was annoyed at that remark.

G

1. He called to me to come there.

2 The other day I called on him at his office.

3 The lady was clothed in a black gown.

4 He complained of pain in his right side

5. The neighbours brought a complaint against him.

6 This book consists of 200 pages.

7. Charity consists in helping the poor, tending the sick, relieving

the distressed

8. This man deals in tea and coffee.

9 Deal faithfully by your master

10 You must not deal with that dishonest merchant.

11 You may trust this man with your money.

12 Can I entrust my money to him ?

106

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I.

H

1 I hope I shall be excused for my absence

2 My father has had much experience in teaching

3 The dog failed in its attempt to jump over the wall.

4 I felt glad at his success

5 We must be grateful to our parents for their many kindnesses to us

6 I grieve very much for you

7 I am indebted to him for many kindnesses.

8 I inquired of him about the matter

9 The police are inquiring into the matter

10 Do you take any interest in cricket ?

11 My elder brother introduced me to his friend

12 This officer has become popular with all classes.

I

1 Will you join us at football?

2 Will you join in our play ?

3 The carpenter joined one piece of wood to another.

4 Do not lean against the door

5 Our teacher never listens to trivial complaints

6 His friend was much moved by his sad plight.

7 I have never been in need of medical advice

8 Never be negligent in your work.

9 Govind passes daily by my door

10 He made mischief between the friends

11 My uncle has amply provided for his children

12 The guests were provided with suitable lodgings

J

1 Be ready with your defence

2 What father would not rejoice at the success of his son ?

3 The selfish man rejoices in his own welfare

4 How can I have any respect for a dishonest person ?

5 The assistant teacher is responsible to the headmaster for the discipline of his class

CH. 9 ]

CORRECT ENGLISH.

107

6 The wicked king revenged himself on his subjects

7 A search for the missing ornaments was made in every direction

8 The police are in search of the thief.

9 It is impolite to stare at a person

10. The little boat struck on a rock and sank.

11. The beggar was supplied with food and clothing.

12 I am accustomed to bathe in cold water

K

1 Vanmali is accused of stealing a bicycle.

2 Are you not ashamed of yourself ?

3 Don't boast of your cleverness

4 He did not succeed to his father's throne

5. Are you acquainted with this man ?

6 My mother has a great affection for me.

7 Pay great attention to English

8 The accused was condemned to death

9 The rider lost control over his horse

10. My friend has a great desire for wealth

11 There is no doubt of his cunning

12 Never feel envious of another's happiness

L

1 He showed envy at his friend's success

2. It was lucky that you escaped from there

3. It was lucky that you escaped with a slight scar

4 The learned professor delivered a lecture on radium.

5 I have no leisure for reading.

6 What has become of your partnership with him in the book-selling business?

7 Quinine is a specific for malaria

8 Permanganate of potash is a proved remedy for snake-bite

9 That wicked man never shows any repentance for his acts of cruelty.

10 He made a request for a loan of fifty rupees

11 He made the request to me.

12 The British gained a victory over the French at the battle of Wandewash

108

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [ PART I

M

1 The bovs were much amused at this

2 Never betray your frienid to his enemy

3 The gods blessed him with good health

4 I bought this book of Messrs Ramchandra & Co

5 He lives close to my house

6 I feel certain of doing it

7 I am glad to congratulate you on your success

8 My father is contented with what little he has

9 Is he guilty of theft ?

10 I was horrified at the dreadful sight

11 Peace is necessary to the progress of a country

12 Some wicked persons plotted against his life

N

1 Just now my father is occupied in his business

2 Health is essential to success in life

3 Is he related to you ?

4 This book is useful for the junior boys It will be useful to you

5 This knife is similar to that one It is different from this.

6 I was vexed with him

7 I am weary of it

8 As I was alighting from the carriage, the horse shied.

9 They dailly argue with him, about the matter

10 I succeeded in assuring the teacher of my innocence

11 Beware of immitations

12 The teacher blamed me for being inattentive

O

1 My uncle has borrowed two hundred rupees from my father

2 Yesterday a thief broke into my house.

3 He demands it of me

4 I have exchanged books with my friend

CH. 9 ]

CORRECT ENGLISH.

109

5 {We all grieve for him

I was grieved to hear this

He was grieved at the news

6 Have you heard of his arrival here?

7 The stranger insisted on my going with him

8. Why should you interfere with him?

9 Do not interfere in the matter.

10 You must knock at the door gently.

11 I did not laugh at him.

12 Rama's daughter is married to Hari.

P

1 Seeing him in distress, a passer-by at once plunged into the river.

2 I hope he will recover from this illness.

3. He began to rule over his dominions at an early age.

4 When will you start for Agra?

5 Some voted against him, and some voted for him.

6 I was reminded of the matter.

7 Who will preside at the meeting?

8 I object to your proposal

9 Obedience to our parents is our chief duty

10 Your uncle has great influence over him

11 All of you must attend to what I say.

12 His servants attended on him during his last illness

Exercise 49

Let Class study carefully -

He did not reply to my letter

I did not delay in answering your letter.

We should be obedient to our parents

We should obey our parents.

My cousin lives in Bombay.

I live at 24, Grant Road.

Calcutta is in the east of India.

Ceylon is to the south of India

The window was broken by the boy

(but) It was broken with a stick

110

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART I.

We went into the room

( but ) We were sitting in the room

The Prince arrived in India safely

The Inspector arrived at Mathura

It is absurd to compare tons with miles

A tall lean man may be compared to a post

He has built a free library at his own expense

I told him so to his face

Look at that strange creature

Who looks after your father's business since his retirement?

I looked for the book, but could not find it

I was then looking out of the window

Our teacher looks through a few essays

I will look over your exercise

7

r

APPENDIX.

Exercise 50.

Let Class repeat these aloud frequently -

Singular. Plural. Singular Plural

Bamboo bamboos Life lives

Buffalo buffaloes Loft lofts

Cannon cannon Monkey monkeys

Child children Mosquito mosquitoes

Church churches Mouse mice

City cities Negro negroes

Donkey donkeys Ox oxen

Dozen dozen Piano pianos

( two dozen ) Pice pice

Fish fish Pie pies

(a pond full of fish) Potato potatoes

fishes Roof roofs

( two fishes) Sheep sheep

Fly flies Sky skies

Foot feet Story stories

Gallery galleries Thief thieves

Goose geese Tooth teeth

Knife knives Valley valleys

Lady ladies Wife wives

Leaf leaves Wolf wolves

Woman women

Exercise 51

Let Class repeat these aloud frequently -

Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine.

Actor actress Emperor empress

Bachelor maid Gentleman lady

Boy girl Heir heiress

Bride-groom bride Hero heroine

Bull cow Horse mare

Cock hen Husband wife

Duke duchess Jew Jewess

Dog bitch King queen

Earl countess Lad lass

112

PROGRESSIVE

COMPOSITION

[PART

I.

Masculine

Feminine

Masculine.

Feminine.

Landlord

landlady

Sir

madam

Lion

lioness

Tiger

tigress

Man

woman

Uncle

aunt

Master

mistress

Widower

widow

Nephew

niece

Wizard

witch

Prince

princess

Exercise

52

Let

Class

repeat

these

aloud

frequently

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Sweet

sweeter

sweetest

(but)

Big

bigger

biggest

Thin

thinner

thinnest

Merry

merrier

merriest

Happy

happier

happiest

Dry

drier

driest

(but)

Grey

greyer

greyest

Gay

gayer

gayest

Far

farther

farthest

Good

better

best

Bad

worse

worst

Little

less

least

Much

more

most

Old

older

oldest

elder

eldest

Late

later

latest

latter

last

Exercise

53

Let

Class

repeat

these

aloud

frequently

Present

Tense

Past

Tense.

Past

Participle

Arise

arose

arisen

Awake

awoke

awoke

Bear

(produce)

bore

born

Bear

(carry)

bore

borne

Beat

beat

beaten

Become

became

become

Begin

began

begun

Bend

bent

bent

Bid

bade

bidden

PART I ]

APPENDIX

113

Present Tense

Past Tense.

Past Participle

Bind

bound

bound

Bite

bit

bitten

Bleed

bled

bled

Blow

blew

blown

Break

broke

broken

Breed

bred

bred

Bring

brought

brought

Build

built

built

Burn

burnt

burnt

Buy

bought

bought

Catch

caught

caught

Choose

chose

chosen

Cling

clung

clung

Climb

climbed

climbed

Clothe

clothed

clothedorclad

Come

came

come

Cost

cost

cost

Dig

dug

dug

Do

did

done

Draw

drew

drawn

Dream

dreamt

dreamt

Drink

drank

drunk

Drive

drove

driven

Dwell

dwelt

dwelt

Eat

ate

eaten

Fall

fell

fallen

Feed

fed

fed

Feel

felt

felt

Fight

fought

fought

Find

found

found

Flee

fled

fled

Fly

flew

flown

Flow

flowed

flowed

Forget

forgot

forgotten

Freeze

froze

frozen

Get

got

got

Give

gave

given

Go

went

gone

Grind

ground

ground

Grow

grew

grown

P. C.

114

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART I

Present Tense

Past Tense

Past Participle

Hang

{

hung

{

hanged

{

hung

{

hanged

Hear

heard

heard

Hide

hid

hidden

Hit

hit

hit

Hold

held

held

Hurt

hurt

hurt

Keep

kept

kept

Kneel

knelt

knelt

Know

knew

known

Lay

laid

laid

Lead

led

led

Lean

leaned

leaned

Learn

learnt

learned

Leave

left

left

Lend

lent

lent

Lie

lay

lain

Lie

lied

lied

Light

lit

lit

Lose

lost

lost

Mean

meant

meant

Meet

met

met

Pay

paid

paid

Read

read

read

Ride

rode

ridden

Ring

rang

rung

Rise

rose

risen

Run

ran

run

Saw

sawed

sawn

See

saw

seen

Seek

sought

sought

Sell

sold

sold

Send

sent

sent

Set

set

set

Sew

sewed

sewed

Shake

shook

shaken

Shine

shone

shone

Shoot

shot

shot

Show

showed

shown

Shut

shut

shut

Sing

sang

sung

PART I.]

APPENDIX

115

Present Tense.

Past Tense

Past Participle

Sink

sank

sunk

Sit

sat

sat

Slay

slew

slain

Sleep

slept

slept

Smell

smelt

smelt

Sow

sowed

sown

Speak

spoke

spoken

Spell

spelt

spelt

Spend

spent

spent

Spin

spun

spun

Spit

spat

spit

Spoil

spoilt

spoilt

Spread

spread

spread

Spring

sprang

sprung

Stand

stood

stood

Steal

stole

stolen

Sting

stung

stung

Strike

struck

struck

Swear

swore

sworn

Sweep

swept

swept

Swell

swelled

swollen

Swim

swam

swum

Take

took

taken

Teach

taught

taught

Tear

tore

torn

Tell

told

told

Think

thought

thought

Throw

threw

thrown

Wake

woke

waked

Wash

washed

washed

Wear

wore

worn

Weave

wove

woven

Weep

wept

wept

Win

won

won

Wind

wound

wound

Write

wrote

written

PART II

STORY-WRITING.

LETTER-WRITING.

ESSAY-WRITING.

PARAPHRASING.

CHAPTER I.

STORY-WRITING

FIRST STAGE.

The parts of story to be supplied by the boys individually (after hearing it twice), and written on the black-board.

Before the boys attempt to write out a story read to them, they should be given some oral practice as shown below.

1 Let the teacher read out a story [e g No 85 ] to the boys.

2 Let one of the boys read the same story aloud.

3 Let the teacher put the following questions on the story and require the boys to give answers in simple complete sentences. [ Books should be closed ]

The Polite Tiger

Questions

1 Where did a jackal once see a tiger?

2 Was the tiger able to hunt?

3 Then what was he doing?

4 What did he say to the jackal?

5 Why?

6 Did the jackal go in?

7 Why not?

8 What did the jackal do then?

9 What did the tiger say to quiet the fears of the jackal?

120

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[PART II

10 What else did he say ?

11 Did the jackal believe him ?

12 What remark did he make ?

4 Let individual boys now tell parts of the story in

their own words, each accepted sentence being

written on the black-board by the teacher

Exercise 1

Let the teacher put the following questions as directed above --

(i) A Poor Excuse. [No 19]

1 Why was a gentleman angry with his servant ?

2 What did he say to his servant ?

3 How did the servant excuse himself ?

4 What was the master's reply ?

5 How did the servant behave in future ?

(ii) The Dog in the Manger [No 11]

1 What did the dog do ?

2 How did he behave when the ox came to eat the fodder ?

3 What did the ox say ?

4 What was the dog's reply ?

5 What do we learn from the story ?

(iii) The Bribe [No 22]

1 Whom did a Babu once notice while taking a stroll in his garden ?

2 What was he doing ?

3. What did the Babu do ?

4 What did he say ?

5 What reply did he get from the boy ?

(iv) The Talker [No 28]

1 What do you know about the man who once lived in a village of

Satara ?

2 What did the collector see him doing ?

3 What did the collector say ?

4 What was the man's reply ?

CH. 1.]

STORY-WRITING.

121

(v) The Dumb Beggar [No. 4]

1. What did the beggar pretend?

2 Why?

3. What did he do therefore?

4 What did another beggar think of doing to him?

5. Why?

6. How did he expose him?

7 How did the first beggar betray himself?

8 What remark did the gentleman make?

(vi) The Blind Horse. [No 84.]

1. What once happened to a horse that was standing by a house?

2. What did the owner of the horse do when he saw his horse taken away?

3. Who stopped the Afghan?

4. What happened thereafter?

5 What was the Afghan's plea when brought before the magistrate?

6. What did the Arab do to prove that the Afghan lied?

7 What was the Afghan's reply?

8 Did the Afghan guess correctly?

9. What was the result?

(vii) The Fox and the Grapes [No. 1]

1 What did a fox once see?

2 What did he do?

3 Did he succeed in his object?

4 How did he console himself?

(viii) Good for other People [No 8]

1. What did the man who visited the famous general claim?

2 What was his request?

3 What did the general ask him to do?

4 What did the general do then?

5 What happened after that?

6 Why did the man flee?

7 What was the joke made by the general?

(ix) Good Travelling. [No 78]

1 What did a potter once do?

2 What did he attempt after he had journeyed for about an hour?

122

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[ PART II

3 Did he succeed in his object?

4 What means did he then take to light his fire?

5 What did he do after that?

6 What was the result of his absent-mindedness?

(x) A Triple Meal [No 24 ]

1 Who once went to a Hindu hotel in Bombay?

2 What did he do there?

3 What was the result?

4. What did he do then?

5 What did he inquire of the hotel-keeper?

6 What reply did he get?

7 What was the explanation given?

(xi) The Dishonest Hand. [ No 30 ]

1 What did a thief once do?

2 What happened then?

3 What did he say to the Rajah?

4 What was the sentence passed on him?

(xii) A Good Judgment [ No 33. ]

1 What sort of a will did the rich old man make?

2 What happened when he died?

3 What did his son do?

4 What did he say to the judge?

5 What question did the judge put to the greedy man?

6 What was his reply?

7 What was the judge's reply?

(xiii) A Dangerous Place [ No 9 ]

1 What did the sailor say to his friend?

2 Why was the friend frightened, and what did he say?

3 What did the sailor then inquire of his friend?

4. What was the reply?

5 What was the sailor's last remark?

(xiv) Their Most Valuable Property [ No. 5 ]

1 What happened to the city?

2 How long did the siege last?

3. What was the result?

4 What message did the king send to the besieged?

5 What was the sight seen the next morning?

CH 1.]

STORY-WRITING

123

SECOND STAGE

1 The teacher should read a story of which the

outline is given below

2. He should then dictate the outline of that story

to give the boys the chief facts

3 The boys should then be told to write the story,

the use of the outline being allowed

Father's House

A Mahomedan Talukdar—visits his stables—meets

the daughter of his syce—inquires where her father

is—also if she knows who he is—her reply “You

are the man who rides on father's horse”

[MODEL There was a Mahomedan Talukdar who

once visited his stables Meeting the daughter of his

syce, he inquired where her father was The speaker

also asked her whether she knew who he was “Yes,”

she replied, “you are the man who rides on father's

horse”]

Exercise 2

Let Class utilise the following outlines as directed above —

(i) Saving Trouble. [No 21 ]

A poor man and a sweetmeat-seller—the latter a cheat—gives

short measure—the poor man grumbles—says the sweetmeat-seller

“No matter, you will have the less to carry”—is paid one pice less

for the sweets—asks for it—“You will have the less to count,”

replies the poor man —

(ii) The Two Seats [No 20 ]

A fat Bania—wishes to go to the theatre—instructs his servant to

get two seats reserved for him—no two adjoining seats available—

buys two tickets—one in the front row and the other in the third.

124

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[ PART II.

( iii ) Feed the Hungry [No 40 ]

An absent-minded man — his habit of throwing bread to ducks, geese and swans that lived on a pond—forgets one day to bring bread — throws a two-anna piece instead.

( iv ) Smelling and Hearing [No 57 ]

A poor coolie—a sweetmeat-seller's stall —enjoys the smell of sweetmeats—the stall-keeper asks for payment—a Brahmin looker—his advice to the coolie "Rattle a couple of pice, the noise of your cash will pay for the smell of his food "

( v ) The Silver Key [No 31 ]

A stormy night—a traveller reaches a dharamsala—finds the door locked — knocks at it — the keeper says he has no key — asks if the traveller has a silver one — admits him when he pushes a rupee under the door — is requested by the traveller to bring in his box—goes out for it—the door is shut upon him—knocks for admission—the traveller replies he has lost the key and asks if he has a silver one—the keeper not admitted until he pushed a rupee under the dpor

( vi ) The Cheerful Engine-driver [No 47 ]

An engine-driver—his habit of looking at the bright side of everything—comforted those in trouble by saying that there was sure to be some good in it—meets with an accident—one of his legs cut off — visited by his friends—their talk about his mishap—his remark " I shall only have one boot to buy, and clean, in future "

( vii ) The Villager and the Watch [No 63 ]

A poor villager and a wealthy goldsmith—the latter saved by the former when attacked by a robber—the goldsmith rewards his rescuer with a watch—the poor man greatly pleased with the prize—spends hours in listening to the ticking of the watch — at last it stops—thinks it is dead — disposes it of to a Mahjan for fifty rupees—then thinks he has cheated the Mahjan—says, " It is dead"—offers back the amount—is told to keep it

CH 1.]

STORY-WRITING

125

(viii) The Tree and the Tiger. [No. 27]

A tiger lying under a tree—noticed by a monkey sitting on its top—finding himself safe the monkey insults the tiger who pays no heed to him—monkey enraged—the tiger gets up to go—“O Tiger, have I insulted you?”—the tiger's reply. “No, the height of the tree has insulted me, not the poor little monkey.”

(ix) For One Rupce [No 84]

A poor man attacked by five dacoits—the latter thought he had money—the former defended himself desperately—was at last overpowered—had only one rupee on his person—the leader of the dacoits surprised—his remark “If he fought like this for one rupce, he would have killed the five of us for a five-rupee note”

(x) A Clever Mouse [No 77]

A mouse and an oyster—the former looks down upon the latter for not being able to run or jump—the oyster points out that he can at least shut up altogether—the mouse fails to see the use of it—the sudden appearance of a cat—the oyster quickly shuts up catching the tail of the mouse—the rest is caught by the cat.

(xi) The Prisoner and the Birds. [No 65.]

A poor man once wrongly imprisoned—at last set free by a Rajah and given a sum of money—straightway went to the bazzar and expressed his wish to buy all the caged wild-birds—the shopkeeper's surprise—the man's explanation “The birds have been unjustly imprisoned and I am going to set them free”

(xii) The Absent Son [No 68]

A certain state in Gujerat—education free and compulsory there—a man charged with having refused to send his son to school and assaulted a school-master—his defence before the magistrate—never assaulted the school-master—never refused to send his son to school—got no son

126

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART II

(xiii) The Witnesses [No 59 ]

A debtor sued by his creditor - receipt forged by the former to

show payment - also twenty-seven witnesses hired - further a thou-

sand rupees sent to the judge as bribe - case called on in court -

twenty-seven witnesses produced - the judge's remark "You have

brought me twenty-seven witnesses to prove that you speak the

truth, and you have sent me a thousand witnesses to prove that you

lie "

(xiv) A Clever Pleader [No 41 ]

A Babu pleader and his client - the latter charged with murder--

acquitted after a clever defence - the pleader's inquiry whether he

was really guilty - the man's reply "Thought I was, before I heard

your defence '

(xv) The Sun and the Moon [No 62 ]

Two women talking - one likens her son to the moon - the other

to the sun - discussion as to which is better, the sun or the moon -

one argues the sun bigger, brighter and more useful and always in

the sky unlike the moon - the other remarks "Your sun shines

when there is light and nobody wants him, the moon when light

is needed!'

CHAPTER II

STORY-WRITING. (Continued)

THIRD STAGE.

The rewriting of a story read out to the class is essentially an exercise in composition to test a boy's ability to write simple, correct English, and not, as is sometimes supposed, an exercise in memory. The boys should therefore remember the facts of a story and not its language. Any attempt to reproduce the language should be strongly discouraged.

METHODS

A.

1. The teacher should read one of the following stories once or twice

2. One of the boys should then be asked to tell that story in vernacular.

3. After a short interval, the boys should write that story in their own words in English.

B (Later)

1. The teacher should read any two of the following stories

2. He should then re-tell these stories in a few words

3. After a short interval, the boys should be asked to write one of the two stories read to the class. Some might be made to write one and some the other. This discourages the attempt to remember the words, and encourages the remembering of the facts.

128

PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART II

C (Later still)

1 The teacher should tell one of the following stories in vernacular

2 The boys should write the story in English

Note In the earlier stages a précis may be left on the black-board, for the use of the class while writing the story

Where the book is used at home, several stories may be read there, and one of them written in class No marks should be allowed if the story has been learnt by heart, and most marks given where the language differs most from the words of the book :

SHORT STORIES. [Mainly Indian]

1 The Fox and the Grapes

a A fox sees a fine bunch of grapes

b He tries to get them, but cannot

c He says, "They are sour I do not want them"

A fox once saw a bunch of fine large ripe grapes hanging from a vine He jumped at them, but failed to seize them Time after time he tried, but all in vain, for they were quite out of reach At last he gave up the attempt, and going away, said, "I am very glad I could not reach those grapes They are quite sour, and would have made me very ill if I had been so foolish as to eat them "

2 Catching a Thief

a. Sticks of equal length

b "The thief's stick will be an inch longer than those of the others"

c. The thief cuts a piece off his stick.

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A Brahmin once found that one of his servants had stolen his silver lotah He gave them each a piece of wood and said, " Al-though all these sticks are now of the same length, the one which the thief has got will grow an inch longer by this time to-morrow You must all come to me then, and I shall at once see which of you is guilty " The thief thought, "If I cut an inch off the end of mine to-morrow, it will be the same length as the others " He did so, and when the master saw that his stick was an inch shorter than those of the others, he said, " This man is the thief."

3 The Best Artist.

a. Three artists try for a prize.

b. One paints flowers, another fruit, and the third a curtain.

c. A bee settles on the flowers, an ox tries to eat the fruit, and the judge tries to lift the curtain.

d. The third was the prize

There were once three artists who were competing for a prize. One of them painted a wreath of flowers so beautifully that a bee came and settled on the picture, thinking the flowers were real. Another painted a basket of fruit so well, that an ox tried to seize some of it The third painted a curtain, and when the three pictures were placed before the judge, the latter tried to raise the curtain, so natural did it look. This picture was adjudged the best as it had deceived a man, whilst the others had only deceived an animal and an insect.

4 The Dumb Beggar.

a. A beggar pretends to be dumb.

b. Another one is his enemy.

c. He tells a gentleman that the other is not dumb.

d. The other denies it and so proves he is a fraud.

There was once a beggar, who thought he would get more money if he pretended to be dumb. So he had " DUMB " painted on a board, and hung it round his neck Another beggar, who was his enemy, made up his mind to punish the cheat. So he sat near him, and when a gentleman offered a piece to the pretender, he said, " Sir, he is a rogue and is not dumb at all " The first beggar, in a rage, shouted, " Liar ! I have always been dumb, and am so now " The gentleman remarked that most dumb man cannot talk.

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[ PART II

5 Their Most Valuable Property

a A king besieges a city

b He captures it, but lets the women go

c They may carry away their most valuable property

d They carry away their husbands

A king once besieged a city for a long time, and after a brave defence,the people had to surrender The king sent a message into

the town before his soldiers enter it, saying, "I do not wish to kill the women They may go away to-morrow in peace, and each may

carry away her most valuable piece of property " On the morrow the women marched out of the city, and they were seen to be

staggering under heavy loads They were carrying away their husbands, for these were their most valuable possessions !

6 The Thirsty Crow

a A thirsty crow finds a jug of water

b He cannot reach the water

c He drops a few pebbles into the jug

A crow was once so thirsty that he thought he would die if he did not soon find water After some time he saw a jug of, water

but when he flew down to it, he found that the water was too low in the jug for him to be able to reach it He was about to go away in

despair when he thought of a plan Fetching a few pebbles he dropped them one by one into the jug This made the water rise

high enough for him to be able to reach it Thus he saved his life by his cleverness

7 Ink and Blotting-paper.

a A man takes black medicine

b His servant gives him ink by mistake -

c He says," Now give me a piece of blotting-paper "

There was once a man whose doctor gave him a bottle of medicine which was quite black One day his servant made a mistake

and poured out a dose of ink for his master instead of the black medicine After the poor man had drunk it, the servant found out

what he had done, and rushing to his master said, "Sir, I have given you a dose of ink What shall I do ?" The man replied, " Well, I

should think you had now better give me a sheet of blotting-paper to swallow "

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8. Good for Other People

a. The man with the bullet-proof coat

b. The general is willing to test it

c. The man runs away

A man once came to a famous general and said, "I have invented

a bullet-proof coat Will you test it, and use it in the army if you

find it stops bullets?" The general asked the man to put the coat

on He did so and the general then said, "Now wait while I fetch

my rifle, and I will have a shot at you " He went out, and upon

returning found that the man had fled "Ah!" said he, "I suppose he

thinks the coat is good enough for other people,"

9. A Dangerous Place.

a. A sailor says his relations died at sea

b. His friend advises him not to go to sea

c. He asks, "Where did your relations die? "

d. The friend says, "In their beds "

e. The sailor advises him not to go to bed.

A sailor was once telling a friend that his father, brother, uncle,

and grandfather had all died at sea His friend said, "Then if I were

you I would never go to sea myself" The sailor remarked, " Why,

where have most of your relations died? " To this the friend replied,

" They have all died in their beds " "Well," said the sailor, "if all

your relations have died in their beds, I should strongly advise you

never to go to bed. It must be a very dangerous place "

10 The Dyed Beard

a An old Mahomedan dyes his beard, and not his hair, which

is white

b His friends laugh at him

c He says his hair is twenty years older than his beard

An old Mahomedan was in the habit of dyeing his beard black, but

as the hair on his head was covered by his turban he left it as it was

One day he fell asleep and his turban rolled off, leaving his white

hair exposed Some of his friends saw him and laughed, saying,

"What is this? You have a fine young black beard, but old white

hair on your head!" But the man cleverly replied, "Ah! My hair is

twenty years older than my beard, you see It is still young at forty,

while my hair is old and grey at sixty."

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11 The Dog in the Manger

a A dog in the food-trough of an ox

b He will not let the ox eat

c He cannot eat the food himself

d Some people behave like this

A dog once jumped up into the manger of an ox, and when the

latter came to eat his food, it would not let him Said the ox, "Why

do you prevent me from eating my hay ? It is useless to you, for

you cannot eat it yourself " To which the ill-natured cur replied,

'Since I cannot eat it myself, no one else shall have it.' There are

people in the world like this dog, who will not give to others the

things which are useless to themselves

12 The Stolen Dog

a A man's dog is stolen.

b The thief says he bought it

c The owner says, " Take it out and see where it goes "

d It goes to his house

A Parsee gentleman once owned a dog which was worth a lot of

money One day he could not find it, and after a time he gave it up

for lost At last he saw it for sale in a shop, and knew it at once.

He went in and told the shopkeeper that it was his dog, but the man

who had stolen it, said, "No! I bought this dog a hundred miles from

here " The real owner then said, "Let it out, and see whether it

goes to my house or I shall send for the police and charge you with

theft " The dog was set free and at once ran home to the gentle-

man's house

13 The Way to tell Secrets

a. A Rajah and his trusty Diwan

b. A noble asks the Diwan to tell him a secret

c "Can you keep a secret ?"

d "So can I."

There was once a Rajah who had great trust in his Diwan because

he knew that the latter never on any account told things which

should be kept secret Once a great noble of the Rajah's state

came to the Diwan and begged him to tell him all about a certain

matter which the Rajah was carefully keeping hidden The Diwan

seemed to think it over for a minute, and then said to the noble,

" Well, are you quite certain you can keep a secret ?" The noble

replied that he most certainly could "So can I," remarked the

Diwan, And he did.

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14 Too Clever

a The boy and the two cakes

b Number one and number two. Two and one are three

c " You shall have the third "

A boy who thought he was very clever was once teasing his younger brother, by saying that the two cakes, which they had, were three "There are only two," said the younger "No," said the clever one, "there are three, number one and number two, and one and two make three " The smaller boy was getting angry at being teased, when their father said, "Very well ! since there are three, I will have number one, your little brother can have number two, and you may eat the third."

15 The Greedy Boy.

a A father's advice to his boys

b. The two cakes

c. "Give me a half of yours"

d Good for one but bad for the other.

A Tehsildar had two sons He taught them that they should always share whatever good things they had. Said he, "If one of you has a cake or a mango, he should give the other a half" One day they each had a cake, and one boy greedily ate his in two bites, and then said to the other, "Please share your cake with me, as I have none." The other boy was about to do so, when their father said, "No ! It would be good for you to be generous, but it is bad for him to be greedy "

16. The Blind Man and the Cripple

a. Two beggars, one blind and the other lame

b One has to be led and the other carried

c The blind man carries the cripple

d One lends eyes and the other lends legs

A poor blind beggar had to pay a boy to lead him about One day a cripple, who was being carried to the place where he sat begging, saw him, and thought to himself, "If he would carry me, I could direct him and need not employ this man whom I now pay for taking me about " He told the blind man his plan and the latter agreed Thus they joined forces, and the cripple lending his eyes, and the blind man his legs, they both got about quite well without hiring any one, as they had had to do before

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[PART II

24 A Triple Meal

A big fat man once went to a Hindu hotel in Bombay and ordered

a meal for three people After waiting for some time he called out

to know when it would be ready The hotelkeeper said, "It is ready

now" "Then why don’t you bring it?" said the man "I am waiting

for your friends," replied the host "What friends?" enquired the

man "You ordered dinner for three," said the other "I know I

did," answered the man, "and I am waiting for it I am the three"

25 The Greedy Monkey

A monkey once entered the house of a village to see what he

could steal On the floor he found a box with a small hole in it

He put his hand in through the hole and found that the box contained

grain "Now," said he to himself, "I will have a feast," and he

seized a large handful But when he tried to withdraw his hand he

found that it would not come through the hole while it held so much

corn He pulled and struggled, but without success for the hole

was only just large enough for his empty hand to pass through it

He was just saying, "I will not drop one grain of this handful of

corn," when the villager’s dog came in and caught him

26 Father’s Horse

A Mahomedan Talukdar once went to his stables to see how his

horse was being fed and kept There was no one there except

a very small girl, the daughter of the syce "Where is the

syce?" said the gentleman "He has gone to the bazar," said

the child. "When he comes back tell him I want to see him,"

said the master, and added, "Do you know who I am?" "Oh,

yes," replied the little girl, "you are the man who rides on

father’s horse"

27 The Tree and the Tiger

A monkey was once sitting on the top of a high tree beneath which

a tiger was lying Knowing very well that the tiger could not climb

the tree he began to insult and abuse him The tiger however took

not the slightest notice, so that before long it was the monkey who

was in a great rage and not the insulted tiger, At last the monkey

could say no more, worn out as he was with rage and shouting

When the tiger got up to go, the monkey said’sadly, "O Tiger, have

I insulted you?" To which the tiger replied, "No, the height of the

tree has insulted me, not the poor little monkey"

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28. The Talker

In the district of Satara there once lived a man who was well-known for his habit of talking to himself. He would sit at his work and talk aloud for hours, asking himself questions and answering them Any person hearing him would suppose that two people were holding a long conversation. One day the Collector visited the place and heard this man talking to himself Said he, "Why is it that you sit and talk to yourself so much ?" The man replied, "Sir, for two reasons. I like to talk with a wise man, and I also like to hear a wise man talking "

29. Something New

A Hindu merchant who had several clerks found that one of them was in the habit of coming late to the office. He warned him that his conduct would lead him into trouble, and told him that he had better mend his ways The clerk replied that the fault was not his, but that of his watch, which did not keep good time. A few days afterwards he was late again, and the merchant said to him, "To-morrow either you or I will have something new " "What is that, Sir ?" asked the man "Either you will have a new watch, or I shall have a new clerk," replied his master.

30 The Dishonest Hand

A thief was once brought before a Rajah and charged with having made a hole in the wall of a man's house and stolen a box of jewels. He fell upon his knees and wept, and then told the Rajah that he was a poor and honest man whose right hand gave him great trouble by its wicked ways. Said he, "My hand made the hole and went through and stole the jewels while I lay outside the wall I did not go into the house and so I am not a burglar" To which the Rajah replied, "You are indeed to be pitied, poor man, and the wicked right hand shall go to prison for five years You must try and stay outside the gaol, while the hand serves its sentence, as you did while it stole the jewels."

31. The Silver Key

A traveller reached a dharamsala one very stormy night and found the door locked When he knocked, the keeper of the dharamsala called out, "I have lost the key and cannot open the door to let you in, unless you have a silver key with you" The traveller then pushed a rupee under the door and the man let him in As soon as

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PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART II

38. The Mischievous Monkey

A poor shoemaker was once troubled by the mischievous tricks of a large monkey who lived in some tall trees near his shop The beast's great delight was to watch the cobbler at work, and, directly his back was turned, to come down and do as he had seen him doing Thus tools were bent or blunted, leather spoiled, and customers' shoes damaged Besides this, the monkey would sit just out of reach and mock all the poor man's actions and movements, and annoy and anger him beyond all bearing At last a bright idea struck the poor man, and, saying to his enemy, "Perhaps you will copy me once too often," he went into an inner room and got a razor Sitting down again in full view of the monkey, he pretended to draw the razor across his throat several times, and then lying it down, he went up the village street When he returned he found the monkey-lying dead with its throat cut from ear to ear.

39 The Pig and the Babul-tree

A pig was once lying under a Babul-tree and thinking it was a pity that he had nothing to complain of and grumble about He felt very angry that no one had insulted or injured him and that he therefore had no excuse for taking his revenge upon anybody Suddenly a tiny twig fell on him from one of the branches of the tree He at once leapt up and rushed to join his friends shouting, "The Babul-tree has made a violent attack upon me, and I will have my revenge Come and help me " So all the pigs charged at the Babul-tree with great force, but they only hurt their noses Do not always be on the look-out for insults or injuries

40 Feed the Hungry.

An absent-minded man, who passed daily through a garden in which animals and birds were kept, was in the habit of throwing bread to some ducks, geese and swans that lived on a large pond. These birds became so accustomed to his doing this that they would gather together at the place where he passed and wait for him. One day be found that he had not brought the usual slice of bread, but so that the birds should not be disappointed he threw them a two-anna piece instead !

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41. A Clever Pleader.

A Babu pleader once made a very clever defence of a man who

was accused of murder He proved first that the man could have no

motive for the crime, secondly that he was not able to do such a deed if

he wished to, and thirdly that he was in another place when the crime

was committed. After the man had been set free the pleader said to

him, " Were you really guilty or not?" The man replied, " Until I

heard your defence I thought I was, but now I really do not see how

I could have been "

42 The Fox and the Wolf.

One very cold day in Northern India a small fox met a large Wolf

who asked him to come for a walk. As they went along, the Wolf

began to boast " I am far stronger and cleverer than you, and can

run quite as fast, I am, in fact your master." But the Fox replied

" You are a very fine fellow, no doubt, but I do not think you are my

master " The Wolf then said angrily, " I will eat you up, and then

you will know better," and he sprang at the Fox. But the Fox ran

away and fled across the thin ice of a frozen canal. The Wolf follow-

ed, and, the ice breaking under his weight, he was drowned. Do not

despise those who seem to be weaker than yourself.

43 Snakes and Geese.

An actor, who was once playing a part in a town where he had

some enemies, was not surprised to hear a loud hissing noise from the

part of the theatre where these people sat. Each time he came on the

stage they hissed at him, and also when he went off. At last he

stopped and said to the audience, " Will the gentlemen sitting near

the geese that are hissing kindly drive them out, or if they are snakes

kill them? I think that only geese and snakes hiss, so they must be

one or the other making this noise." The audience laughed and told

the ill-mannered men who had been hissing that they would be turned

out if they did it again. In trying to hurt others people sometimes

hurt themselves

44. The Vain Stag.

One day a stag was standing by the edge of a pool, admiring his

fine horns in the clear still water. To a fox who came to the pool to

drink, he said, " Poor creature, do you not long for such a beautiful

ornament as mine to your plain and ugly head?" The fox replied,

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[PART II

"No, thank you, the weight of my brain is enough for me to bear"

The angry stag then said, "I see the envious feelings of your heart,

and pity you for them, and for your ugliness" At this moment the

sound of a huntsman's horn was heard and suddenly a pack of hounds

burst from a wood near by The fox and the stag fled for their lives

The former slipped into a hole and was saved The latter dashed

into a wood, his horns which he had admired and praised so much,

were caught in the branches, and he was seized and slain by the

hounds.

45 The Wooden-legged Sepoy.

There was once an old sepoy who had lost his leg in the Afghan

War, and who had a wooden leg which had been given to him by the

kind-hearted doctor of his regiment One day he was going from

the office in Calcutta, where he drew his pension, when he was

knocked down by a heavy motor-car which went over his wooden leg

and broke it He could not get up and said, "My leg is broken,

carry me home" The owner of the motor-car said, "Lift the poor

fellow into my car and I will drive him to the Civil Hospital at once,

and the surgeon will set his leg" But the sepoy replied, "It is not

a doctor that I want but a carpenter!"

46 The Clock that would not go

After a holiday the clerks of a certain office returned to work and

found that the big office-clock had stopped One of them said,

"I expect it wants oiling" Another said, "Perhaps the main-spring

is broken," and the third thought it might be worn out or rusty ' The

head-clerk was a clever man with his hands, and he removed the

face of the clock and oiled the works He also removed the pendulum

and other parts and examined them Still it would not go After

they had all given plenty of advice and help, and had put the clock

together again before sending for a watch-maker, the office peon

came in, and wound it up, which was all that was needed

47 The Cheerful Engine-driver

There was once an engine-driver who was a very cheerful man

He always looked at the bright side of things, and was fond of telling

people who were in trouble that there was sure to be some good in it

whether they could see it or not One day his train ran into another

and he was terribly injured When he was taken to the hospital it

was found necessary to cut off one of his legs which was badly

crushed Some days afterwards a party of friends visited him and one

said to another, "I am afraid the poor fellow will have some difficulty

in seeing the bright side of this affair" Hearing this, the engine-

driver smiled, and said, "Not at all. I shall only have one boot to

buy and clean in future.' Cheerfulness is better than grumbling

48. The Buffalo and the Mouse.

A Buffalo once trod unknowingly on the tail of a mouse which

was lying asleep in its path The Mouse jumped up in a great rage,

and, running up the Buffalo's leg, got on to its back and kept on

biting the huge animal until it was too tired to bite any longer It

then went along to the Buffalo's ear and shouted

"You trod on my tail, and that is why I gave you such a severe biting. You thoroughly

deserved your punishment" But the Buffalo replied, "I am very sorry

that I trod on your tail, but I did not know that I had done so, any

more that I knew that you had bitten me."

49 Be prepared

A mother panther was strolling through the jungle with her cubs

one moon-light evening After a time she stopped and began to

sharpen her claws by scratching and tearing at the bark of a tree-trunk

"Do you smell an enemy or some prey approaching, mother?" said

one of the cubs "No, my child, I smell neither," replied the old

panther. "Then why do you sharpen your claws?" enquired the cub.

To which the mother replied, "Should I wait to do so until my

enemy was upon me, or until my prey was escaping?" We should

make proper preparations before the time to act arrives.

50. The Beaten Afridi

An Afridi was once chasing a poor villager, who fled with all his

speed towards his village in order to save himself from the cruel

Khyber knife of the robber. Some friends of the Afridi fired shots

at the villager and shouted to encourage his enemy. At last the

poor man got further and further ahead of his pursuer and, when his

strength was almost spent, reached his village in safety As the

Afridi came back to his friends they laughed at him and said,

"Beaten by a peaceful cultivator!" But the man replied, "Ah, I was

running for a little sport, he was running for his life."

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51. The Horse and the Dog

A Zemindar once had a favourite dog of which he was very

fond Whenever he came out of the house, the dog would rush

up to him and spring against him, or stand on its hind legs

with its fore paws on its master that he might pat its head and caress

it The man's horse grew very jealous of the dog as it saw that the

latter was the master's pet, and that he loved it better than the more

useful animal that carried him daily One day the horse thought,

"My master always pats and fondles that cur when he leaps up at

him I will do the same and perhaps he will be pleased, and show me

favour" But when the poor horse tried to do as the dog did, he

only knocked his master down in the mud, and got a severe thrashing

We must be ourselves and not copy others

52 The Biter bit

In the town-hall of Bombay, a public speaker was giving an

address one evening to a number of students. One of the latter

thought himself a very clever young man and was fond of trying to

make his friends laugh After the lecturer had been speaking for

some time, this youth suddenly made a loud noise in imitation of the

crow ing of a cock His friends laughed at the funny sound - but

they laughed very much more heartily when the lecturer said, "I

did not know it was nearing dawn, but these brutes of the lower

creation have wonderful instinct, so I suppose my watch is wrong

and the fowl is right." It is sometimes dangerous to be funny at

the expense of others

53 Hastiness punished

A hunter whose wife was ill, left his baby boy in charge of a

faithful old hound while he went out in search of food. Upon his

return he was shocked to find that his child was no longer lying in

its cot, while bloodstains upon the floor and on the jaws of his hound

made him think that the dog had killed the baby which it had been

left to guard In a great rage the huntsman drove his spear through

the heart of the hound, and in the act of doing so heard the cry of

his child near by Rushing to the spot he found the baby unhurt,

and close to it the body of a large wolf which the faithful hound had

slain His tears and bitter grief were useless to save the brave dog

which had defended the child at the risk of its own life

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54. Kindness to Animals.

There were two Arabs, each of whom owned a very fine and swift horse One of them treated his horse with the utmost kindness and care, while the other ill-treated his It so happened that during a battle with another tribe, both those men were wounded and flung from their saddles The kind master was too badly hurt to arise and his horse, seizing his belt in its teeth, galloped away and did not stop until it reached the camp of its master's tribe. The other man rose up at once and staggered towards his horse who, fearing the usual cruel treatment, kicked with its hind hoofs Its master, too weak to leap aside, fell stunned by the kick, and was captured by his enemies, and put to death

55 The Biggest Lie

A certain king, weary of his life of pleasure and idleness, was always thinking of new means of amusement and entertainment to pass away the idle days of his mis-spent life One morning he said to his vizier, "Announce a prize of a bag of gold for the man who can tell the biggest lie The competition shall be held this evening, when I have dined" This was done, and hundreds vied with one another in lying At last one man remained to tell his lie, and he was the court fool "Come forward and tell a bigger lie than any of these wonderful liars have yet told," said the king The court fool then said, "O King! You are a lazy, worthless, corrupt and vicious wretch. You are a disgrace to mankind and - " But before he could say more, the king shouted, "Give this marvel of lying the bag of gold."

56. The Cunning Fox

A fox and a cat were sitting beneath a tree in the forest, comparing their skill and cleverness Said the boastful fox, "I have a thousand tricks and dodges, by means of which I can escape danger and save my life. Do you not wish you knew how to feign death, to double, to burrow in the earth, and otherwise deceive your enemies? You are not so fleet of foot as I am either, besides being far less clever" "No," replied the cat, "I fear I am neither so clever nor so fleet as you Certainly you are very tricky and cunning, and can run for hours, which I cannot do" Just at this moment they heard the baying of hounds and the shouting of huntsmen The cat sprang up the tree and was in perfect safety at once, while the fox, after a very cruel chase and much doubling, lay down and feigned death, and was torn to pieces by the hounds

11

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PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION

[ PART II

57 Smelling and Hearing

A poor coolie once stood and enjoyed the smell of food and sweet-meats which came from a stall where they were for sale After a while the sweetmeat-seller said, " Have you enjoyed seeing and smelling my good things ? " The coolie replied, " I have " Whereupon the greedy man said, " Then pay for the enjoyment you have had I do not work to provide you with pleasure for nothing " But a Brahmin who was standing by said to the coolie, " I have no doubt this fellow loves to hear the sound of money Rattle a couple of pice together and the noise of your cash will pay for the smell of his food "

58 The Fox and the Crow

A hungry fox, in search of a meal, once saw a crow sitting on the branch of a tree, and holding a large piece of meat in his beak The fox sat down beneath the tree, and began to talk to himself aloud ' What a fine handsome bird that crow is," said he, "but what a pity that it cannot sing In fact the poor creature is quite dumb" The crow took no notice The fox continued, " I am aware that some crows can sing most beautifully, but I perceive that this poor creature cannot even say 'caw ' I fear that this proves that it is really a very poor kind of crow, in spite of its great beauty However, if it could utter a single sound, I should think it an excellent crow, if not the finest bird I ever saw As it is I can only pity and despise it " Hereupon the insulted and vain crow opened its beak to show that it could caw in the best style The meat dropped from its beak, and, saying, " Thanks very much," the fox ate it and ran off

59 The Witnesses

Once upon a time there lived in Peshawar two men who went to law about a large sum of money One of them hired twenty-seven witnesses, and forged a receipt, to prove that he had paid the money Still fearing that the case might go against him, he sent a thousand rupees to the Kazi When the case came into court, this man produced his twenty-seven witnesses But the Kazi pointed to the bag of rupees and said, " You have brought me twenty-seven witnesses to prove that you speak the truth and you have sent me a thousand witnesses to prove that you lie You will pay the sum of money to your opponent as well as the thousand rupees you sent to me "

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60 The Stolen Gun.

Many years ago a man was brought before a magistrate in Rajputana and charged with having stolen a gun The other man, who said that the gun had been stolen from him, had a very easy task to prove his case, for, on removing a metal plate which was screwed on to the stock, his name was seen to be carved underneath. Nor had the thief any chance to pretend that he had bought the gun from the man whose name it bore, for a witness whom he had hired to swear that the gun was really the thief's property, stood up and said, " The gun certainly belongs to my friend for I have long known both him and it, and he has owned it since he was a little baby and the gun was a little pistol ! "

61 The Mouse and the Lion

A lion was one day lying asleep, when a mouse, running across his body, wake him up The lion seized the little animal and was about to put it to death for awakening him, when it began to plead so piteously for its life, that he let it go Shortly afterwards the lion was hunting in the forest when he became entangled in the meshes of a net, which had been set by some villagers to catch him His struggles were in vain, and only wound the net more tightly around him As he was lying tired out, he saw the mouse whose life he had spared, coming towards him with his whole family "Sleep again," said the mouse, " and this time when I awaken you it will be to tell that I have saved your life as you spared mine." All the mice set to work and in a few hours had eaten through several of the ropes, and so weakened others that the lion broke them and escaped One good turn deserves another

62 The Sun and the Moon

Two women were once talking at the well as they drew their water One said to the other, "My son grows a finer boy every day He is like the moon in beauty " The other replied, "And my boy is like the sun " They then began to argue as to whether the sun or the moon was the greater and more beautiful, and as to whether it is better to be like the sun or to be like the moon The woman who had said her boy was like the sun argued that the sun was bigger, brighter and more useful than the moon, and that moreover the moon was very often not in the sky at all, and so could not be trusted. But the other woman said, "Yes, your sun just shines in the day-time when there is plenty of light, and nobody wants him, but the moon only shines at night when there is great need of light "

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63 The Villager and the Watch

A poor villager once saved the life of a wealthy goldsmith by attacking a robber who was about to kill him When the villager had knocked the thief down with his lathi, and bound his hands and foot, the goldsmith said to the villager, "I have no money with me so I shall give you my watch " He did so and went on his way The man was greatly pleased with the watch and spent hours in listening to its ticking and watching the second hand go round Next day the watch stopped as the man did not know how to wind it up He was very sad, and said, " Alas! It is dead " Thinking its ‘dead body’ might be of value he took the watch to a Mahajan who gave him fifty rupees for it, as it was well worth two hundred As he was leaving the room the villager, who was at heart an honest man, turned back and said, " Here, take your money It is dead, and I have cheated you " But the Mahajan only laughed and told him to keep the money and go

64 Sir Walter Raleigh and his Servant

The famous traveller and discoverer, Sir Walter Raleigh, who lived in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was the first man to indulge in the habit of tobacco-smoking in England He brought back tobacco with him from the newly-discovered continent of America and introduced the use of it in Europe One day he sat smoking in his garden, when a servant passed by, carrying a pail of water The man had not yet heard of his master's strange habit, and glancing at him, he saw the cloud of smoke, and thought his clothes must have caught fire Being a man of great quickness and presence of mind, he rushed up to his beloved master, and raising the pail of water flung the contents over him, and without waiting for thanks, fled away for some more.

65 The Prisoner and the Birds

In one of the Protected States of India, a poor man was once put in gaol although he had done no wrong After a long time the Rajah of the State visited the gaol and the man told him that he was an innocent man against whom a case had been made up by enemies. The Rajah found out that this was true and gave the man a sum of money and set him free He went straight to the bazaar in which was a shop where bulbuls and other wild birds were kept in cages for sale He said to the shop-keeper," I wish to buy all the caged wild birds that you have", to which the shop-keeper replied, " Why!

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Are you going to start a zoological garden ?" But the man answered,

"No The birds have been unjustly imprisoned, and I am going to

set them free," and he did so We can feel for others when we have

suffered what they suffer

66. A Noble Deed.

At the battle of Zutphen, Sir Phillip Sidney was wounded by a

cannon-ball, and was carried, dying, from the battle-field by his

sorrowing soldiers As they bore him along, bleeding and suffering

great pain and thirst, he said "Give me water." His men then laid

him down, and hurried off in search of some After a time they

returned, having got a cup of water at a distant stream As Sir

Phillip was putting the vessel to his lips — and never in his life had

water seemed so precious — a wounded soldier was borne past, who,

with dry mouth, continually gasped, "Water ! water !" Turning

towards him, Sir Phillip said, "Take this my poor fellow, your need

is greater than mine " The water was given to the soldier while his

officer lay dying for want of it.

This happened in the days when noblemen were noble men

67 The Hare and the Tortoise.

A Hare who was very proud of his powers as a runner, once

met a Tortoise, who was not at all ashamed of his slow pace.

Said the Hare to the Tortoise, "It would be rather good fun to

see by how much I could beat you in a mile race, wouldn't it ? I expect

I could get to the winning-post and back again to you, before you had

gone a hundred yards" "Let us try," replied the Tortoise So they

agreed that a distant tree should be the winning-post and off they

started The Hare got away in grand style, but after running half a

mile, said to himself, "Why should I hurry ? I'll take a rest ", and

sitting down for a rest, he fell asleep The Tortoise, meanwhile, went

on steadily and in time reached the sleeping Hare He did not

trouble to awaken him, but passed on Just as he reached the win-

ning-post the Hare awoke and continued the race To his disgust

and shame, he found that he had been beaten in a mile race by a mere

Tortoise. It is not a good plan to be too sure.

68 The Absent Son

In a certain State of Gujerat, in which education is free and com-

pulsory, a man was, by mistake, brought before a magistrate and

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charged with having refused to send his son to a certain school, because he objected to it, and with having assaulted the school-master when asked to do so

His ( truthful ) reply to the magistrate when asked why he should not be fined for this, caused some amusement

He said, "I should not be fined, because, in the first place I did not assault the school-master when he asked me to send my son to his school, for he never asked me, because, in the second place I have never refused to send my son to it , and because, in the third place, I have never kept my son from school, for I have not got a son "

69 The Dreamers

Three poor men who were going on a pilgrimage, reached at nightfall a lonely wayside inn

After eating some bread they went to sleep, asking the landlord to wake them early in the morning, and to prepare a meal for them before they went away

To this the host replied, " Alas ! You have eaten everything in the house with the exception of a single loaf "

They said at first that they would divide the loaf, and make the best of it

But suddenly the youngest said, " No ! by this means none of us will get a decent meal

Let us decide that the loaf shall be given in the morning to the one who dreams the finest dream "

He had little doubt that whatever the others might dream, he could easily invent something far more wonderful

His friends agreed, and they all went to bed

In the morning the youngest said to the next older than himself, " Relate your dream," whereupon he described a very strange one

Upon hearing it the youngest one laughed, and told one ten times as strange

Turning to the eldest, he then said, " And pray, what was your dream ?" Said the eldest, " I dreamed that I arose and ate the loaf "

His dream was a true one, and quite the finest of the three

70 The Wolf and the Hound

A lean and hungry Wolf was taking a walk one night with his friend, a fat and sleek Watch-dog

" How is it, my friend," said he, " that I am such a gaunt and bony fellow, always on the look-out for food, while you are so fat and cheerful-looking, and despise those morsels which I always eat when we come across them ?"

To which the Dog replied, " It is because you have no fixed meal-times as I have

I have a good meal of bones and biscuits three times a day "

" And how can I enjoy such a pleasant life ?" said the Wolf " Easily enough," replied the Dog, " I can get you a place as guardian of a house,

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if you like, and then, like me you will be well-fed " The Wolf thanked the Dog and presently he said, "By the way, what is that mark round your neck ?" "Oh, nothing," said the dog, "it is only the mark of the collar by which I am chained up all day " "Chained up !" cried the Wolf "Thank you for the news. I don't think I will accept a place in which the price of meals is the wearing of a chain all day. I prefer the forest and less food "

71 The Two Rajahs

Two Rajahs were at war with one another One of them was a Rajput, and an honourable and noble man The other was a low, base fellow. The latter issued a notice that he would pay a lakh of rupees to the man who would murder his enemy and bring him his head in proof He then wrote a rude and vulgar letter to the first Rajah in which he said, "You are a dog and I have put a price of one lakh upon your head and will give that sum to any man who will bring it to me." But the Rajput replied, "You are a Rajah, but I put no price on such a head as yours, and would not give one pie to the man who brought it to me." Insults sometimes return upon those who speak them

72 The Juggler and his Servant.

A wandering juggler was lying asleep under the shade of a mango-tree. When he awoke he found that he had slept much longer than he had intended to do, and that he would be late at the tamasha for which he had been engaged He hastily wound on his puggri and picked up the baskets containing the things with which he did his tricks Then, turning to the chokra who was his assistant and servant, he said, "Now, you lazy rascal, why are you standing there, and for what,fool, are you waiting ?" "I am waiting for you, master," replied the boy It is easy to blame others when we are in the wrong.

73 The Wolf and the Puppy-dog

A lean and hungry Wolf once stood outside a hut and tried to persuade a little Puppy-dog to come out, so that he could eat it up. "Why do you not creep out through this little hole ? " said the Wolf , "it is just big enough for you to do so " "I know it is," replied the Puppy, "but I am quite comfortable here " The Wolf then said, "Have you any nice bones and meat and milk to eat and drink in there?" To which the Puppy replied, "No " "Come along with me then," said the Wolf, "I know where there are plenty We can eat

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as much as ever we want and get as fat as our skins will let us " But

the Puppy, who was wise beyond its years, only said, " Then I

wonder you don't go and fatten yourself at once, for you certainly

need it " Liars are always found out

74. The Goats, the Asses and the Sheep.

Upon a very narrow path, which ran along the side of a steep cliff,

two goats met face to face There was no room to pass Below

them the face of the cliff fell sheer to the plain, while above them it

towered like a wall, a thousand feet towards the sky " We must

fight this matter out," said the goats, and rushing forward with

lowered heads, they met with a crash, and falling over the edge,

were dashed to pieces Shortly after, two asses met in the same way

" We must turn back and abandon our journey," they agreed, and

back they both went with their business undone Later on two sheep

met each other on this dangerous path " Lie down," said one, " and

I will walk over your body Should we meet another time, you shall

walk over me " " Certainly," replied the other, and lying down, the

first one stepped over him, and they went their way

75 A Guilty Conscience

A mother once found that one of her seven children was in the

habit of going to her cupboard and stealing jam She made up her

mind to find out and punish the thief Going to her cupboard one

day, she found that a new pot of blackberry jam had just been opened

and half of its contents stolen That the theft was recent was plain

from the fact that some juice was still trickling down the outside of

the jar Having called all the children together, she looked at their

faces, hands and clothes, and seeing that none of these bore any trace

of jam, spoke to the little ones, " Some naughty child has just been

stealing my jam, and I think I do not know which one it is But I do

• for the wicked one who did it, has got a large blackberry right on

the top of his head," Up went the hand of the youngest to his head,

" Ah ! it has gone now," said his mother to him, " and I think that a

whipping will do you good Come along "

76 The Funny Headman

A poor Koli had a wife whose temper was so violent that when

she was angry, she behaved more like a wild animal than a human

being One day her husband offended her and she flew at him like a

panther and scratched his face severely Running out of the

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house the Koh met the headman of the village and told him of his

troubles " And, as you see, she even dared to scratch me, who am

the head of her house," said he But the headman who thought that

it must be a poor weak creature who could not rule in his own

household laughed at him and said, " Well, there is no law against

people scratching their own heads "

77 A Clever Mouse

A mouse was one day sitting, talking to an oyster " Of all the

poor, dull, worthless things," said the mouse, " I think you are

the worst You cannot run or jump or squeak as I can. In fact, you

can do nothing whatever." To this the oyster replied, " Well, I can

shut up altogether, but I do not think you can even shut your mouth "

" And pray what is the use of shutting up ? " asked the mouse. Just

at that moment a cat came round the corner, and the oyster shut up

so quickly that it caught the tail of the mouse, - and the cat caught

the rest of the clever animal

78 The Merciless Master

A man who owned an ass was in the habit of cruelly overloading

the poor beast. The only reward the faithful and useful animal

received for its patient labour was overwork, starvation and blows.

One day the man loaded the ass with heavy bags of salt, the weight

of which was such that the poor creature's back and legs bent beneath

the burden Doing its best to carry this heavy load, the ass crawled

along, but its pace was not rapid enough to satisfy its brutal master.

As it was crossing a narrow bridge, he rained blows upon it with a

stick, un'l, attempting to run, it fell, rolled over the edge into the

water, and in a minute the load of salt was quite spoilt I he cruelly

of the man thus met its just punishment in the entire loss of his load

of salt

79 Good Travelling

A potter, who had to go on a journey, mounted his ass and rode

out of his village After he had been on the road for about an hour

he thought he would like to smoke. So he tried to light a birt,

although the wind was blowing strongly in his face After three or

four matches had been blown out as soon as they were struck, the

potter turned his ass round so that he had his back to the wind

After one or two more attempts he lit his biru, and digging his heels

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into his ass rode straight on In an hour's time, to his great surprise,

he reached his own village again He said to a neighbour, " I am

bewitched! It has taken me two hours hard riding, to get from here

to the same place ! "

80 Truth

A Madrası policeman was once making a report with regard to an

attack which he said had been made upon him by a man as he was

going to the thana Being able to write, and very proud of the fact,

he drew up an account of the affair in writing His superiors were

much amused to read at the end of his long statement, " And when I

had at last seized him and brought him to the chokı he said it was

zullum and that I was a thief and a budmash All of which I here-

by certify to be true "

81 Flattery

A poor ryot who owed a sum of money to a Zemindar found that

he could not pay it on the day that it was due, though he would be

able to do so a few days later As he was walking along, hoping

that he would not be asked for the money for a few days, he saw

the Zemindar riding towards him on a fine horse Before the latter

could speak, the man began to praise the horse and to admire its

points " Pray let me see you gallop him at full speed," he said at

last The flattered Zemindar turned and galloped away, while his

debtor took the chance to escape at once

82 Tit for Tat

A very clever fox who loved a joke, once invited a stork to dine

with him The stork accepted the invitation with pleasure, and

arrived very hungry But to his great disgust he found that the food

was spread out very thinly over a large flat dish, so that with the

sharp point of his long beak he could pick up scarcely anything,

while the fox quickly licked the dish clean Some time afterwards,

the fox was chased by hounds, and found himself near the home of

the stork " I am faint and weary, starving and dying of hunger and

thirst," said he to the latter, " pray let me dine with you " ro

which the stork replied with a smile, " Certainly," and placed before

him a tall jar with a tiny mouth By means of his long bill he

quickly emptied the jar, while all that the fox could get was a little

liquid which ran down the outside of the vessel

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83 The Clever Krait

A krait once met a porcupine and said, "Don't you think that if people are not pleased with one's company they should leave it ?"

"I do:" replied the porcupine; "why do you ask ?" "Why," said the krait, "I found a most comfortable little cave in which some rats were living, and when they said they did not like my company I told them they could leave it;" and the krait smiled "Where is the cave ?" said the porcupine "Come with me and I will show it to you," was the reply But when they got there the porcupine entered and struck out his sharp quills, and when the krait complained, he only said, "If you do not like my company you can leave it "

84 For One Rupee

A poor man was once attacked by five dacoits who thought he must have some money on him as he was returning from the market where he sold vegetables After a long struggle in which he fought very fiercely with his lathi, the dacoits bound and searched him, but only found one rupee for all their hard knocks and exertions At this the leader remarked, " What a determined fellow ! If he fought like this for one rupee he would have killed the five of us for a five-rupee note "

85 The Polite Tiger

A tiger who had become too old and feeble to go hunting was lying at the mouth of a cave in which it lived, when a jackal passed by. "Come in and talk to me," said the tiger, "I am very lonely, and should be so glad of a pleasant chat with a person of your wisdom and education" "I fear the visit may not be good for my health," replied the jackal "Oh, I am far too old and weak to hurt you," said the tiger, and added, "you can see by the large number of foot-prints how many visitors I have had " "Yes," replied the wary jackal, "I see many foot-marks pointing towards your den, but I see none pointing the other way "

86. You cannot please Everybody

A man and his son were taking their ass to market in the hope of selling it. The boy rode upon the back while the man led it "Look at that shameless boy," said a woman, "riding at ease while his poor old father walks " So the boy got down and the man rode the ass. Shortly after, some passers-by remarked upon the selfishness of a

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father who would ride while his son walked So the father dis-mounted and neither of them rode A man who saw this called out,

"Look at those two fools ! They have an ass and don't ride !"

Whereupon they both got on its back A little further on a girl said to her friend, " What cruel brutes ! Two on one poor ass," and they both dismounted, and hiring a cart, put the ass in it But everybody laughed at them, until at last the father said to his son, "Since we have tried to please everybody and failed, let us now please ourselves " They accordingly rode the ass in turns and being quite satisfied with themselves left other people to like or dislike their methods as they pleased

87 The Two Travellers

Two men were once walking along a forest path, talking of courage and loyalty The bigger one who had a gun, was boasting of his own bravery and fidelity, when suddenly a large bear came from behind a rock close in front of them, and stood in their way growling angrily

The boaster fled to the nearest tree, dropped his gun, and climbed to a safe place without thinking of his poor friend The latter flung himself upon his face as though dead The bear smelt his body, turned him over, licked his face, and supposing him to be dead, went on its way leaving him unhurt

The other man came down from the tree, and going to his friend said, " Well, what secrets did he whisper so quietly in your ear ? " To which the little man, who owed his life to his own presence of mind, and not to the boasted bravery and fidelity of his companion, replied, " Why, he said, 'put not your trust in braggarts,' and I shall take his advice "

88 Bad Companions

A father was very much troubled to see that his son was in the habit of spending his time in the company of boys of bad habits and evil ways He therefore tried the following plan to impress upon his mind the facts that "Evil communications corrupt good manners," and " You cannot touch pitch and not be defiled "

He purchased one morning a dozen very fine large ripe mangoes of the most tempting appearance, and showing them to his son, said, " These shall all be yours to-morrow evening," and then put them away in a cupboard after placing a rotten one in their midst When

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his son came for the fruit next evening, his father said, "Take them

from the cupboard and enjoy as many of them as you can " The boy

could enjoy none of them, for all were as rotten as the bad one which

had touched and spoiled them "In the same way, my son," said the

father, " Jou will soon be spoiled and ruined by bad companions "

The boy was so impressed by the quick rotting of the good fruit that

touched the bad, that he ceased to go with low and evil companions

89 Doing as You please

There was once a boy whose parents were much too poor to give

him a present on his birthday However, they wished to give him

some treat or pleasure, to take the place of the present which they

could not buy for him " What you would like to do on your birth-

day?" said they. " Would jou like a holiday from school, or what ?"

After thinking for some time the boy said, "I should like to have

permission to do exactly as I pleased on that one day, and not to be

forbidden or punished, whatever I might do " The parents foolishly

agreed, and when his birthday arrived the boy found himself quite

free to do as he pleased for one day

So he stayed away from school and lost his place in class; ate so

much sugar at breakfast that he was sick, climbed a tree after a bird's

nest, and fell and hurt himself very severely, beat a dog until it bit

him, hunted a cat and caught it and got badly scratched; played

with his father's knife and cut himself, made a bon-fire and burnt

himself, and finally ate so much unripe fruit that he was taken ill,

and had to be put to bed while the doctor was sent for. Next day he

begged his parents never again to give him permission to do as

he liked

90 The Stomach and the Limbs

A great quarrel once arose between the Stomach and all the Limbs

of the Body. The Hands said, "Why should we be always at work,

doing every kind of duty, and never resting all day, while the Sto-

mach sits quiet?" The Feet replied, "True! And why should we

walk mile after mile, and carry the body here and there, while the

idle Stomach does nothing of the kind?" And the Head remarked,

"See how I think and hear and look about, and work. When did

the lazy Stomach ever think a thought, hear a sound or see a single

thing?"

The rebellious Limbs agreed that they would band together to

injure their worthless enemy. The Feet promised to keep from

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carrying the Body to where food might be found, the Hands said

they would never prepare any, and the Head said that even if they

did, the Mouth should not receive it Thus, thought they, the Sto-

mach would be starved and their revenge would be complete But

when the Stomach received no food, the Limbs grew so weak and

ill that they soon gave up their plan, and decided that the Stomach

was of some use after all

91 The Clever Lawyer

There was once a wicked lawyer who told a man not to pay a debt,

but to pretend that he was mad, and therefore did not know what

he was doing Said he, "When you come before the judge, look

foolish, and when any question is put to you, reply 'Baa !' as though

you thought you were a goat " The man agreed to do so, and when

called before the judge for not paying his debt, he put on a look of

great stupidity, and when questioned only replied by bleating 'Baa !'

like a goat " The man is mad," said the judge, "and the plaintiff

was wrong to lend money to a mad man, and must lose his case "

Shortly afterwards the clever lawyer came to the house of that man

and said, " Please pay my bill I saved you ten thousand rupees

by my cleverness and you must pay me one thousand as my share "

But the man put on a look of great stupidity and only replied by

bleating 'Baa !' like a goat. As he was soon after put in a lunatic

asylum neither of these clever men gained much

92 The Inquisitive Woman

A man was once very much amused, and sometimes rather annoyed

by his wife's inquisitiveness and curiosity So inquisitive was she,

that she could never rest until she had found out everything about

her neighbours, and was always prying into matters with which she

had no concern One day her husband found a mouse in the mouse-

trap, and placing the little animal in a box, he took it to his wife, and

said, "My dear, I shall be out all day, and I want you to keep this

box for me, and give it to my brother when he calls for it this after-

noon I beg of you not to open the box, and I assure you that it

contains nothing that in any way concerns you Will you promise

not to open it, or must I seal it up?" His wife promised not to open

it, and the man went out No sooner had he gone out than his wife

opened the box, and the mouse jumped out

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Upon his return in the evening the husband said to her, "Please bring me the box which I left with you It contained a live mouse, and if it is still there, I am going to give you this diamond ring which I have brought from the jeweller's on approval."

But the mouse was not there and the diamond ring was returned to the jeweller next morning.

93

The Clever Young Fish.

A very young fish, like so many other very young people, thought that he was really clever, far cleverer in fact than either of his parents. One day he and his father were swimming along in the river, when the young fish said, "I wonder you are not more careful in your style, father You are not really half so smart, quick and active as I am " To which his father replied, "And who made you smart, quick, and active, my son?"

But the young fish felt that his father's remark was silly, and made no reply as his father, with a swift rush, caught a fat fly which was struggling in the water "You did that fairly well," said he, "but your eyesight is not at all sharp. Look at that beautiful little worm just in front of your nose Why did you not swiftly and gracefully seize it? Now watch me and you shall see how it should be done." And before his father could stop him, he swallowed the worm, and a moment later lay gasping on the bank. The worm contained a fish-hook, as the father well knew. The young often think that the old are fools, that the young are

94

The Fox and the Goat.

A certain young goat was very fond of a fox, in spite of the fact that its parents strongly dislike the fox as a friend for their child, and often forbade him to play with the fox, or have anything to do with him

One day the fox and the goat were playing near a well, when the fox fell in and was unable to regain the edge of the well, as there was nothing from which he could get a spring After swimming round for some moments, he called out to the goat, "Here, I have jumped into the well, and it is so cool and pleasant! Why don't you come in too? I can't tell you how sweet the water is, and of course the flies cannot trouble one either." But the goat was doubtful "Can you get out again?" said he "Most certainly I shall get out again," replied the fox, "if you come in, I'll soon show you how to get out

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again " The foolish goat then jumped in, and the fox, climbing on

his back, sprang out of the well, remarking, " That is how it is done,

if you wish to know," and left his poor friend to his fate

95 Presence of Mind

An Indian servant was once crossing the compound of his master's

bungalow on a very dark night His feet were bare and, suddenly

to his great horror, he felt that he had trodden upon a snake, and

knew that his last hour had come In the smallest part of a second,

however, the thought flashed across his mind, " I may perhaps have

put my foot upon its neck, and in that case it cannot bite me " So

instead of removing his foot he pressed it down the more firmly and

found with joy that he did not feel the serpent's teeth in his flesh

There he stood and shouted for help For a long time no one heard

him, but at length lights appeared, and he saw some of his fellow-

servants coming with lanterns As they drew near, he shouted to

them to save him from a snake They found him standing upon a

krait ( a most poisonous little snake ) whose head was just showing

from under his foot Had the man tried to leap away as he felt his

foot touch the snake, he would have been bitten before he had moved

an inch, and would have been dead in a few minutes The snake

was killed and everybody praised the brave servant for his presence

of mind

96. The Faithful Dog

A small boy, when staying with some relations, was delighted to

receive upon his sixth birthday a present of a fox-terrier The boy

and the dog became the best of friends and were always together.

After some months the boy returned to his father's house, taking his

dog with him. On the night of his son's return the father was

awakened by the dog leaping on to his bed He angrily ordered

the dog away, but instead of obeying as it usually did, it kept

on jumping on to the bed and tried to pull the bed-clothes from

the gentleman's shoulders Becoming enraged, the latter sprang

out of his bed, and the dog at once seized the clothing and tried

to drag him towards the door Picking up his slipper the father

struck the dog sharply, ordering him to get out of the room

But the dog only barked, rushed to the door and back, and again,

in spite of blows, tried to drag him to the stairs Failing in this,

the dog ran out of the room, and raised such a fearful noise by

barking and howling, that the man rushed out meaning to thrash

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the dog and turn it out of the house When it saw him coming, the

faithful animal fled towards its little master's room, and following it

in anger the father entered the room to find it full of smoke and

flame He saw that his son's bed was on fire and he was only just

in time to save the child's life The dog had made a great return

for the kindness and love of the boy

97. The Pet Mongoose.

A little English boy who lived with his parents in India, once re-

ceived a present of a mongoose from his father's butler. His

mother, however, did not like the pet, and would not have it near

her. "It looks like a great rat," she would say, "pray take it away

at once "

One night she went into her son's bedroom with her husband, to

kiss her boy before she went to bed To her great disgust, she saw

the mongoose lying curled up on the little one's bed. "Oh ! do drive

the nasty thing away," cried she, "I hate to see it on his bed. It

might bite him while he is asleep " But her husband replied, "There

is no fear of that. The child is at any rate quite safe from snakes

while his pet is in the room." The mother was not satisfied how-

ever, and after going to bed, she lay awake thinking of the fierce-

looking little animal lying near her boy's pretty head At last she

got up and went back to his room to drive the mongoose out of it

On entering, however, she gave a scream which brought her husband

running to'the spot There, by the bed, was not only the mongoose

but a huge cobra which it had just killed

98. The Foolish Goat-herd

A boy who minded a flock of goats, once thought that it would be

a fine joke to make fools of some woodmen who were working not

far away The men were busily felling trees and lopping the branches

for firewood, while the boy lay idly under a shady bush planning

mischief Suddenly he leapt up, and wildly waving his arms, shouted

"Wolf ! wolf !" at the top of his voice. The woodmen, hearing his

cries, and thinking that a wolf was killing the goats, came running

from the forest with their sharp axes to protect the flock. " Where

is the monster ? " they shouted as they arrived , but the boy laughed

in their faces, and said, " In the jungle somewhere, I suppose I did

not say he was here What have you come for ? " The angry men

returned to their work, promising the boy a sound thrashing if he

played them such a trick again

P C.

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PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [ PART II.

Shortly afterwards, as the boy sat watching his flock, he saw a great wolf spring into the midst of the goats, and commence killing them right and left. Leaping to his feet he shouted, "Wolf! Wolf!" to the woodmen who were working near, but they only said, "There is that fool of a boy at his tricks again we must certainly punish him " After worrying the goats, the wolf seized the boy and bit him severely

99 Honesty is the Best Policy.

Two poor ragged and hungry boys once met a gentleman who allowed them to carry home two parcels for him, as he wished to give them an opportunity to earn a little money When they arrived at his house he gave them each what he thought to be a half-anna piece. But in the darkness he had given them each a rupee, and did not discover his mistake that night The boys did, however, as soon as they reached a shop where fond was sold The first one said, "Look! the silly old man has given me a rupee instead of a half-anna piece! Shan't I have a good time until it is gone!" The other boy then looked at his coin and found that he had also received a rupee "You do not suppose that the gentleman really meant to give us these, do you?" he asked "No, he made a mistake in the dark, of course," replied his friend, "and when he finds it out he won't find me" The other boy, who was honest, then told his friend that he was no better than a thief, to which the friend replied that he would rather be a thief than a fool He began to spend the money, but the honest boy would not touch his, but went with it in the morning to the gentleman's house and returned it This so pleased the man that he told him to keep it, and gave him another He then complained to the police of the conduct of the other boy, who was caught, it then before a magistrate, and soundly whipped

100 An Ancient Myth

A poor woodman was returning from his work in the forest one day, when, as he was crossing a bridge, he dropped his axe into the water, and it sank to the bottom of the deep and rapid stream As he stood thinking how he was to purchase another, the god Mercury came to him and asked him the reason of his trouble Upon hearing of the matter, Mercury said that he would restore it to him, and added "Was it not a fine axe of gold, with a jewelled handle?" The honest woodman replied that it was only a common axe, but though old and worn, it was sharp and strong, and the only one he had Mercury then took out a golden axe with a jewelled handle from beneath his

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cloak, and saying, "I love an honest man," gave it to him and went

away. An idle neighbour, seeing the man return with an axe of such

value as to make him rich for life, listened to his story, and then

went to the spot where Mercury had appeared, and flung his own axe

into the water He then sat down and began to weep. To him

Mercury appeared and said, " Why do you cry ?" "Alas !" replied

the liar, "as I was crossing this bridge, my golden-handled axe

slipped from my hand and fell into the water. I am too poor to buy

another and shall starve to death" "In that case I advise you to

dive for it," said Mercury politely, and disappeared, leaving the man

to bewail the loss of his axe.

Exercise 8

1 Relate a story to exemplify the saying, "Union is strength "

2. Tell a story to enforce the truth, "Slow and steady wins the

race "

3 Relate a story in which is illustrated the proverb, "Once a liar

always a liar "

4 Relate a story to impress the advice, "Look before you leap "

5 Make up a story of your own

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PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART II.

7 A Thief detected

Midnight — man with a basket containing charcoal — policeman suspicious — questions him — the man hesitates — basket searched — silver vessels found — result

8 Served Right

A forest — a bag of money — found by three men — agree to divide the money — get hungry — one goes to buy food — puts poison in the food — the other two decide to murder him — is killed on his return — the food eaten — result

9 A Clever Thief

A carpenter — finds his oil stolen every day — thief not found — peeps through a hole in the door — notices a rat — its track — dips in its tail and licks off the oil — trap laid — rat caught

10 A Murderer detected.

A policeman on night duty — people sleeping in the open air — one of them speaking aloud in sleep — guilt found out — murderer traced — result

11. Always at Dinner.

Two friends meet after many years — both much changed — one grown fat — the other thin — do not at first recognise each other — the fat man remarks " You look as if you had had no dinner " — the other man replies " And you as if you had been always at dinner "

12 A Curious Explanation

A traveller with two horses — one with a long tail and the other a short one — stays at a dharamsala — is charged four annas more for the former horse than for the latter — asks why — reply the long-tailed horse can use its tail to brush off the flies while eating, while the short-tailed horse its head only, hence the latter eats less

13 A Fisherman's Belief

A Koli out fishing — heavy rains — gets under a bridge — fishes there — remark of a passer-by " Won't get any fish there " — reply " Fishes will come here to keep out of the rain "

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STORY-WRITING.

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14. A Nervous Man.

A nervous man - afraid of snakes - has heard of snakes hiding in riding-boots - puts on his boot one day - feels something sharp - cries out and stamps - servants run in - he faints - boot removed - only a spur inside

15. Kamala and Bimala.

A widow and her two daughters - Kamala the elder, wicked like her mother - Bimala, gentle and good, but ill-treated - has to go daily to a well three miles away - fairy appears to her as a beggar - asks for water - gets it - rewards Bimala, a pearl falls from her mouth each time she speaks - her mother notices it - is envious - sends Kamala to the well - rude to fairy - is cursed by her - each time she speaks a toad comes out of her mouth.

CHAPTER IV

STORIES FOR ABSTRACT-MAKING

1 Let boys read one of the following stories

2. Then let them write in their own words the

substance of that story, omitting all details

General Napier and an Indian Juggler

On one occasion a famous juggler visited General

Napier's camp and performed his feats before him, his

family, and staff Among other performances, this

man cut in two, by a downward stroke of his sword,

a lemon placed on the outstretched hand of his assis-

tant. Napier thought there must be some trick or

deception in this To divide by a sweep of the sword

so small an object, without wounding the hand, he be-

lieved to be impossible To determine the point, the

General offered his own hand for the experiment, and

stretched out his right arm The juggler looked atten-

tively at the hand, and said he would not make the

trial "I thought I should find you out!" exclaimed

Napier "But stop," added the other, "let me see your

left hand" The left hand was submitted, and the man

then said, "If you will hold your arm steady, I will

perform the feat" "But why the left hand and not the

right?" "Because the right hand is hollow in the

centre, and there is a risk of cutting off the thumb, but

the left is high, and the danger will be less" Napier

was startled "I now saw," he said, "that it was a

genuine feat of delicate swordsmanship, and, if I had

not abused the man as I did before my staff, and challenged him to the trial, I honestly acknowledge that

I would have retired from the encounter However, I set the lemon on my hand and held out my arm steadily

The juggler balanced himself, and, with a swift stroke cut the lemon into two pieces I felt the edge

of the sword on my hand, as if a cold thread had been drawn across it, and was quite satisfied without desiring any repetition of the experiment"

[ MODEL. An Indian swordsman once performed, in the presence of General Napier, his family and staff

the feat of cutting in halves a lemon placed on the hand of his chokra The General suspected some trick

in this, and offering his own right hand, challenged the man to repeat his performance This the juggler

declined, after examining the hand, though he showed himself quite willing to do so on the left hand As

Napier had openly reviled the man, he could not now withdraw So the left hand was offered, and the

juggler split the lemon His reason for refusing to operate on the right hand was that it was hollow in

the centre, and there was therefore the risk of cutting off the thumb.]

Exercise 5.

Rewrite, in your own words, the following stories, omitting all details and giving only the substance of them -

1 The Dervish

A dervish, travelling through Tartary, having arrived at the town of Balkh, went into the king's palace by mistake, thinking it to be a

caravansary Having looked about for some time, he entered into a long gallery, where he laid down his wallet and spread his carpet, in

order to repose himself upon it He had not been long in this position, before he was discovered by some of the guards, who asked

him what his business was in that place The dervish told them he

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PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION. [PART II.

intended to take up his night's lodging in that caravansary The

guards let him know, in a very angry manner, that the house he was

in was not a caravansary, but the king's palace It happened that

the king himself passed through the gallery during this debate, and,

smiling at the mistake of the dervish, asked him how he could possibly

be so dull as not to distinguish a palace from a caravansary " Sire,

give me leave to ask your majesty a question or two Who were

the persons that lodged in this house when it was first built?" The

king replied, "My ancestors " "And who," said the dervish, "was

the last person who lodged here?"

The king replied, "My father"

"And who is it," said the dervish, "that lodges here at present?"

The king told him that it was he himself "And who," said the

dervish, "will be here after you?" The king answered, "The young

prince, my son " "Ah, sir," said the dervish, "a house that changes

its inhabitants so often, and receives such a perpetual succession of

guests, is not a palace but a caravansary "

2 The Cunning Jackal

An Elephant named Karpuratilaka lived in the forest of Brahma.

He was the envy of all the jackals in the neighbourhood, and they

said among themselves "If anything were to happen to this beast,

we should have enough to live on for four or five months " One of

them, an old Jackal of great cunning, said, "I will see what I can do

to bring about this result " So he went up to Karpuratilaka, made a

humble obeisance, and said " Noble sir deign to cast your eyes on

me " "And pray who are you?" answered the Elephant, "and

where do you come from?" The Jackal replied, "Sir! I am a jackal

The animals of the forest have met together in assembly, and have

resolved to choose a ruler They have chosen you, most noble sir,

as endowed with every princely virtue, and they beg to offer you the

sovereignty of the forest Therefore, that the auspicious moment

for proclaiming your majesty's sovereignty may not pass by, make

haste and come with me I will show you the road " The Elephant

then started, but as he was running along the road pointed out by

the Jackal, in great haste to secure the sovereign power offered him,

he fell up to his neck into,a bog "My worthy Jackal," cried the

Elephant, "what is to be done now? I am set fast in this bog " The

Jackal said, laughing "If your majesty will have the goodness to

take hold of the end of my tail, I will pull you out " So the end of

it was that the Elephant, unable to escape from the bog, was eaten

by the jackals.—Hitopadesa.

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3. The Demon Ghantakarṇa

There is a town named Brahmapura in the Śriparvata mountains.

It was commonly reported there that the top of the mountain was

haunted by an evil spirit called Ghantâkarna The truth was that a

thief, who had stolen a bell, had been caught and killed by a tiger as

he was making his escape with the plunder The bell had fallen from

his hand, and was found by some monkeys, who picked it up and kept

on ringing it Now it was known that the man had been devoured by

the tiger, and at the same time the ringing of the bell was heard, so the

people concluded that the demon was devouring men and ringing his

bell. They therefore all fled from the town A woman called Karâlâ

who had a little more sense than the rest of her fellow townsmen, set

to work and found out the reason for the sound of the bell. So she

went to the prince who ruled the town, and said “Sir! for a trifling

remuneration I think I could settle this demon Ghantâkarna.” The

prince, delighted at the süggestion, paid her what she asked She then

started for the mountain, and took with her such fruits as she knew

monkeys were fond of On arriving on the scene she strewed the

fruits about Directly the monkeys saw the fruits they dropped the

bell and pounced upon the fruits Karâlâ promptly picked up the

bell and returned with it to the town, where she was received with

the greatest respect and admiration — Hitopadesa

4 A Clever Stratagem

On a mountain called Mandara lived a lion who used to kill and eat

the beasts who inhabited the same mountain. They therefore held a

meeting, and passed a resolution that, to avoid the wholesale destruc-

tion that was going on, they would themselves voluntarily furnish

each day an animal for the Lion's meal This was communicated to

the Lion, who assented to this plan, and, confined himself afterwards

to the beast daily allotted him. It so happened that it came one day

to an old rabbit's turn to be handed over, and he thought to himself

“Great reverence is paid to this Lion, through the hope of escaping

destruction if I must be killed and eaten, I must, but I certainly don't

mean to be over and above respectful, so I shall not hurry myself

about going.” The Lion was very hungry, and called out to the

Rabbit in an angry tone of voice, “Why have you been so long com-

ing?” The Rabbit replied, “I am very sorry, but it is not my fault

I was on the road, and another lion detained me. Before he let me

go, he made me swear an oath to return, and I have come to tell

your lordship this.” The Lion was furious, and he exclaimed,

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PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION PART II.

"Where is this impudent scoundrel? Pray show me" The Rabbit answered, " If your lordship will follow me I will bring you to him", and led him to a deep well full of clear transparent water The Rabbit said, " This is where he dwells " The Lion looked in and saw his own reflection in the water Bursting with rage and pride, he leaped down to make an attack on his supposed enemy, and was drowned - Hitopadesa

5 The Jackal outwitted

A jackal was once wandering about the suburbs of a town and fell into an indigo vat He was unable to get out, and so when the owner of the indigo came in the morning, he lay still pretending to be dead The man pulled him out, and taking him away some little distance, threw him down and left him The jackal then got up and ran away into a wood On looking himself over to see what damage he had received, he found that he was dyed a rich blue, and he thought to himself "I ought to be able to make something out of my magnificent appearance " So he got together all the jackals and he addressed them as follows "Do you see my splendid colour? I have been anointed to the sovereignty of this wood by the goddess herself who rules over it, and this is the result Nothing hereafter must be carried out in this forest except by my order" The jackals were much impressed by his appearance, and colour, and professed absolute submission to his orders After a time, however, he induced lions and tigers and other animals of a much superior order to accept his authority, and began to look down upon the jackals and to treat them with contempt Indeed, he would have nothing whatever to say to his own immediate relations An old jackal, who was wiser than the rest, perceiving their annoyance and vexation, said "Don't be annoyed I will undertake to put an end to this ill-conditioned stuck-up kinsman of ours The tigers and these other beasts who have submitted to his rule do not know that he is only a jackal. Now do exactly as I tell you when the evening comes you go close by him and set up a yelling, when he hears that he will respond, and make exactly the same noise When the tigers recognize the jackal by his voice they will set on him and kill him " And so it came to pass as the jackal had said -Hitopadesa

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6. The Crane and the Crab

There is a pond in the Malva country called Padmagarbha. In this pond lived an aged Crane who had grown very decrepit, and presented a deplorable appearance as he stood moping in the water without attempting to find any food. A Crab observed him, and keeping at a respectful distance, asked him why he stood in that dejected state. "My worthy friend," replied the Crane, "I live on fish, but I hear that all the fish in this pond are going to be caught and killed. It is quite clear, therefore, that my days are numbered, and so I shall not take my more trouble to get food" The fish in the pond heard this conversation, they therefore debated among themselves what they had better do, and since, on this occasion at least, there was nothing to fear from their natural enemy the Crane, they thought it might be well to ask his advice So the fish went in a body to the Crane and said "Sir, we have heard of our impending destruction, we have come to ask your advice. How shall we escape?" "Easily enough," answered the Crane. "Go to another pond I will take you there one by one " The fish terrified at what looked like certain death to them, gladly consented to accept the Crane's services, so he took them out of the pond one at a time and ate them, always coming back and saying to the remaining fish "Your friend reached the other pond in safety "

At a t a Crab came up and said "My worthy Crane, I wish you would take me to this pond " The Crane assented very willingly, for he thought that the Crab would make him an excellent meal, so he picked him up and carried him to the same place as that to which he had taken the fish. When they arrived there, the first thing that attracted his notice was the number of fish bones with which the ground was covered. He immediately perceived that he had been trapped, and he said to himself "Well, I have been nicely caught I must use all my wits to get out of this" So the Crab seized the Crane by the throat and held on until he was strangled —Hitopadesa

7 Patisena and the Bhikshunis.

In ancient times there lived an old mendicant by name Patisena Now this man had such a poor memory that he could not, do what he might, learn by heart even so much as a single hymn When Buddha came to know of this he ordered five hundred teachers to instruct him day by day. These men spent full three years, still Patisena remained as ignorant as ever Everyone now began to cast ridicule on the poor mendicant, till at ist the good Lord Buddha called him to his side and gently repeated to him the hymn. The Master's

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PROGRESSIVE COMPOSITION [PART II

kindness so worked upon the old man that his memory was quickened

and forthwith he repeated the sacred verse Buddha then explained

to him its deep significance, so that he became enlightened and attained

the dignity of a religious teacher. Now at this time there lived

in the same town five hundred Bhikshunis or nuns, and they longed

to acquire the knowledge of the sacred laws So they petitioned

Buddha to send them a teacher When Buddha heard their request

he sent for Patisena and ordered him straightway to go to the nunnery and there to instruct its inmates They, who had heard of his

dulness, were greatly disappointed at this Obeying, the Master's

orders Patisena betook himself to the house where the five hundred

nuns lived. There he was received kindly and offered food, which

he ate after washing his hands He then seated himself on a high

seat, as befitted his dignity The nuns looked at one another and

smiled and then begged him to begin his discourse. "Sisters," said

Patisena, "my talent is small, my learning is very little, I know only

a single hymn So I will repeat it and explain to you its meaning

So saying he repeated the sacred verse and requested the nuns to say

it over again. They, who wanted to fool him, attempted to say it

backwards But lo! they could not open their mouths, and filled

with shame, they hung down their heads in sorrow Then Patisena

began to expound the verse, even as the Lord Buddha had instructed

him And his hearers were filled with joy and light, and thereafter

lived for ever in humility —Adapted from Dhammapada

8. Al Mansur

The Calıf, Al Mansur, is known in history as a great patron of

poets and learned men It is said that he possessed a remarkably

retentive memory, so much so that he could remember a poem after

having heard it only once He also had a slave who could repeat

any poem after hearing it twice, and a slave-girl who could say a

poem word by word that she had heard three times

One day a poet came to Mansur' with a poem in his praise, to

whom the Calıf said "If we are satisfied that this poem is your

own composition and that it is not borrowed from any other poet's

works we will give you a fitting reward in recognition of your merits,

• even the weight in money of that upon which the poem is written

But we must be perfectly satisfied that you are the author of it. 'It

is evident that if any one else is familiar with the poem, and could

repeat it, your claim to have composed it cannot but be false, and in

that case you get nothing from us - nay, in that case your reward

shall be ignominious dismissal from our court "So now let us hear

your poem."

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175

The poet, feeling sure of a rich reward, recited his poem To his

great consternation, however, the Calif, having heard it once, repeat-

ed it word by word, although it was a lengthy poem of no less than

one thousand lines Turning to his slave, he then said " And this

slave, too, knows it by heart " He then commanded the slave to

repeat the poem, which he did, as he heard it twice. The

slave-girl whc had now heard it thrice, was asked to recite it, which

she did word by word The poor poet was utterly dismayed, and

left the Calif's court in shame and sorrow

Another poet, who was at that time in court and saw through the

Calif's trick, determined to outwit him. So he composed some

difficult verses, and scratched them upon a marble slab, which he

wrapped in a cloak and placed on the back of a camel Then disguis-

ing himself, he came to Al Mansur's court and declared his purpose

in these words- " O Commander of the Faithful! I have composed

a poem in praise of your many great qualities both of head and heart "

To him Al Mansur replied. " If the poem is really your own, and if

you can satisfy us on that point, then we give you gold as much in

weight as that upon which your poem is written " The poet now

recited the panegyric he had composed, which, being extremely

difficult and intricate, the Calf could not commit to memory. As a

last hope he looked towards the slave and the slave-girl, but neither

could repeat it Al Mansur was now utterly outwitted, so he said

" O Poet, bring hither that whereon your poem is written, that we

may give you its weight in gold " To the Calf's utter amazement,

the poet produced the slab of marble and said " Commander of the

Faithful ! I could find no paper where to write my poem, but

I had amongst the things left me at my father's death this slab of

marble, so I scratched my verses upon it " There was now no help

for it but to give the poet its weight in gold, which Al Mansur

did.—Adapted from Masudi.

CHAPTER V

STORIES IN VERSE

The Class should carefully read a piece of verse

containing some story. They should then write out

the substance of that story in simple prose

A

THE ANT AND THE CRICKET

A silly young cricket, accustomed to sing

Through the warm, sunny months of gay summer and spring,

Began to complain, when he found that at home'

His cupboard was empty and winter was come

Not a crumb to be found

On the snow-covered ground,

Not a flower could he see,

Not a leaf on a tree,