UNIT 1 - A Bottle of Dew - Textual Notes

 UNIT 1 - FABLES AND FOLK TALES

A Bottle of Dew

Let’s Discuss - I

1. What did Rama Natha believe?

Rama Natha believed in a magic potion that could turn objects into gold.

2. How did the sage help Rama Natha?

The sage told Rama Natha how to make the magic potion using banana plant dew.

3. Do you think Rama Natha will be able to collect the dew? Give a reason.

No, it’s difficult because collecting five litres of dew would take a long time.

Let’s Discuss - II

1. Why was Rama Natha angry?

Rama Natha was angry because the magic potion did not turn the vessel into gold.

2. How did Rama Natha and Madhumati create wealth?

They created wealth by growing banana plants and selling the fruits in the market.

Let us think and reflect 

1. Read the following lines and answer the questions that follow. 

(a) He spent all his time to learn about the magic potion. People cheated him often, promising to tell him about it, but he did not give up. His wife, Madhumati, was tired of this and also worried because she saw how much money Rama Natha was spending. She was sure that soon they would be without money. 

(i) Complete the sentence with a suitable reason. 

Rama Natha did not ‘give up’ because _____________________. 

(ii) Read the column which shows ‘what happened’ and write the correct outcome in the next column. 

Meanings of some words are given. 

What Happened	Outcome
a. People promised to tell Rama Natha about the magic potion.
b. Rama Natha was spending a lot of money.

(iii) Write whether the following statements are True or False

a. Madhumati was troubled about what her husband did.  True

b. Rama Natha was very happy digging his fields. False

c. The sage wanted to show the right path to Rama Natha. True

(b) Carefully, he took the bottle to the sage. The sage smiled and muttered something over the water. Then he returned the bottle and said, “Try it out.” Rama Natha sprinkled a few drops on a copper vessel and waited for it to turn to gold. To his surprise nothing happened! 

(i) Choose the option that lists the events given below in the correct order. 

a. The sage smiled

b. Rama Natha gave the bottle to the sage.

c. Rama Natha dropped a few drops of water on a copper vessel.

d. He said something in a low voice over the water.

e. Rama Natha waited to see if the magic worked.

1. a, e, d, b, c 

2. b, a, d, c, e   ✔️

3. c, d, a, b, e 

4. a, d, b, e, c

(ii) Fill in the blank with the correct word from the lines given above.

 Seeing that the plant had dried up, the gardener ____________ some water on it. 

Answer: sprinkled

(iii) How might Rama Natha have felt when nothing happened to the copper vessel?

Rama Natha felt shocked, disappointed, and angry because he had spent six years believing the potion would create gold.

2. Answer the following questions. 

(a) What did the sage ask Rama Natha to do to make the magic potion? 

 The sage asked Rama Natha to plant banana trees and collect five litres of dew with his own hands.

(b) Why did the sage ask Rama Natha to do everything himself?

The sage asked Rama Natha to do everything himself so that he would learn the value of hard work.

(c) How could Rama Natha have a big banana plantation after six years?

Rama Natha had a big banana plantation after six years because he planted more trees and looked after them regularly.

(d) How did the sage make Rama Natha believe that there is no magic potion?

The sage made Rama Natha believe there is no magic potion by pretending to use magic and then revealing the truth.

(e) Fill in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ table about Rama Natha. 

What he did before meeting the sage	What he did after meeting the sage
1. Spent all his time searching for a magic potion	1. Planted and cared for banana plants
2.Wasted money on people who cheated him	2. Helped build a successful banana plantation with his wife

Let us learn

1. Read the following words from the story.

promised remember spending cheated

luck         huge difficult         market

Use the words correctly to complete the paragraph given below. There are two extra words in the box that you do not need.

There was a farmer who had a ________________ coconut plantation.  He worked hard and did not depend on ________________. Every day was _______________ but he did not give up. One day, a man bought a bag of coconuts from him, and _________________ to pay him the money the next day. Days passed and the man did not pay him anything. The farmer felt __________________. About two months later, he met the same man and asked him about his money. The man said, “Oh! I had forgotten. Now, I ______________ buying coconuts from you.” And he paid the money.

Answer: 

There was a farmer who had a huge coconut plantation. He worked hard and did not depend on luck. Every day was difficult but he did not give up. One day, a man bought a bag of coconuts from him, and promised to pay him the money the next day. Days passed and the man did not pay him anything. The farmer felt cheated. About two months later, he met the same man and asked him about his money. The man said, “Oh! I had forgotten. Now, I remember buying coconuts from you.” And he paid the money.

Read the words from the story in Column A. Read the new words in Column B. Complete the meanings of the words given in Column B. Meanings of some words are given. 

Column A	Column B	Meaning of words in Column B
I	eye	The organ you use to see
your	you’re	Short form of ‘you are’
dew	due	Happening at some time in the future
son	sun	The star around which the earth orbits
one	won	Past tense of win
ate	eight	The number after seven
see	sea	A large body of saltwater

The words given in each row of the table above have the same sounds but different spellings and meanings. Such words are called homophones.

3. Choose four pairs of homophones from the table above, and for each pair write a sentence that uses both homophones in the same sentence. Check your answers by sharing them with your teacher and classmates. An example has been given below:

I ate eight bananas for breakfast today.

1. I / eye
   I hurt my eye while playing, so I went to the doctor.

2. your / you’re
   You're going to love your birthday gift!

3. son / sun
   The sun was shining brightly as the father walked with his son in the park.

4. see / sea
   I want to see the sea during our holiday trip.

4. Match the phrases in Column A with the phrases in Column B. Use the connecting words given in the middle column to make meaningful sentences.

Column A	Connecting Words	Column B
The children submitted their work	before	the bell rang.
He did not want to try rock climbing	because	of his fear of heights.
The children ran towards the gate	as soon as	there was a traffic jam.
Nitin was late to school today	because	of his fear of heights.

Now, write the new sentences in your notebook.

5. Here are two sentences with letter ‘b’. Read them slowly the first time. As you read them a few more times, read them faster each time. Bunty bhaiya bought a big bunch of bananas. A big bunch of bananas was bought by Bunty bhaiya. Now, try to create a tongue twister on your own and share it with your peers.

Let us listen

You will listen to what Madhumati does with the bananas in her plantation. As you listen, number the events in the correct order in which they happen. Write the number in the box beside each event. (refer to page 36 for transcript)

 (a) Gives two bananas to a boy who is hungry.

(b) Meets her friend Kalawati in the market.

(c) Visits her mother and gives her two dozen bananas.

(d) Chooses to go home as only some bananas were left.

(e) Visits her neighbour and gifts them a bunch of bananas.

(f) Gives twelve bananas to her friend.

(g) Goes to the market to sell the bananas.

Answer

(a) 1        (b) 2        (c) 4        (d) 7

(e) 6        (f) 3         (g) 5

Let us speak

1. Read aloud the following words from the story.

sage

wisdom

promising

trees

susprise

All these words have the letter ‘s’ in them. But the sound of letter ‘s’ is not always the same.

in sage and promising – the letter ‘s’ has a /s/ sound

in wisdom – the letter ‘s’ has a /z/ sound

in trees – the letter ‘s’ has a /z/ sound

in surprise – the first letter ‘s’ has a /s/ sound and the second has a /z/ sound

Now, speak each word clearly along with your teacher and classmates.

Your teacher will now say some words. Listen carefully to the sound of ‘s’. Write the sound next to the word.

beds

sand

clothes

see

was

keys

bags

nose

Answer: Do it yourself

2. Discuss the following questions with a partner. You may use the hints given in brackets while speaking.

(a) What does hard work mean to you? (It means …/It is something …/Well, you see …/What I mean is …)

(b) Give three reasons why you think hard work is important. (Firstly, I feel … because …/Secondly, I think … since …/Lastly, I believe … as …)

(c) Share three ideas you would give to someone who needs to work hard. (To begin with, it is important that …/Next, you could …/Finally, I think you should …)

Answer

(a) It means a great deal of effort or endurance. It is something like magic, it can change your fate.

(b) Firstly, I believe it can help you achieve your goals because it helps you build confidence and a confident person always wins, Secondly, I think hard work is the only key to success since a person who shirks work cannot achieve anything.

Lastly, I believe success cannot come without hard work as success and hard work go hand in hand. The harder you work the better you become.

(c) Do it yourself.

Let us write

1. Work in pairs to complete the description of a banana. You may take the help of the words given in brackets. Share your answers with your classmates and teacher.

• Banana is a very popular fruit. It is nicely packed with a thick, fibrous skin.
• It is easy to peel.
• Raw bananas have a green skin while the ripe bananas have a yellow skin with some black spots on it. The skin is smooth and silky.
• Bananas have a sweet aroma and are very nutritious.
• Billions of bananas are eaten world wide every year.
• Bananas are full of vitamins and minerals. They are available all year round. They are easy to digest. Bananas are rich source of dietary fibres.
• Bananas are used for making snacks and desserts also.
• Bananas split, banana cream cookies, cab chips are some of my favourite banana recipes. A banana a day keeps us healthy in every way.

2. On the basis of the story ‘A Bottle of Dew’ develop a script with dialogues and enact it with expressions. Present it in the assembly or your classroom.

Title: A Bottle of Dew

Characters:

• Narrator

• Rama Natha

• Madhumati

• Sage Mahipati

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Scene 1: Rama Natha’s House

Narrator:
Rama Natha, the son of a rich landlord, spent all his time searching for a magic potion to turn objects into gold.

Rama Natha:
One day, I will find the potion and become rich!

Madhumati: (worried)
You’re wasting time and money, Rama. Please take care of our land.

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Scene 2: Meeting the Sage

Narrator:
One day, Sage Mahipati came to town. Rama Natha asked him about the magic potion.

Rama Natha:
Do you know how to make the magic potion?

Sage Mahipati:
Yes. Plant banana trees, collect dew drops yourself in winter, and bring me five litres.

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Scene 3: Years Later

Narrator:
Rama Natha worked hard. He and Madhumati grew bananas, sold them, and collected dew for six years.

Rama Natha:
Finally! I have five litres of dew. Here it is, sage.

Sage Mahipati: (smiles)
Try it on a copper vessel.

Rama Natha: (surprised)
Nothing happened! Was this a trick?

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Scene 4: The Real Lesson

Madhumati: (opens box of gold coins)
Look, Rama! We earned this through our hard work.

Sage Mahipati:
There’s no magic potion. Your efforts created this wealth.

Rama Natha:
Now I understand—the real magic is hard work!

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All Together: Hard work brings true success!

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