From Wit And Humor Theme there are Reading - A The Dear Departed – I Lesson, Reading - B, A The Dear Departed – II Lesson, Reading - C The Brave Potter Lesson. In this Post The Brave Potter Lesson is given here.
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| The Brave Potter |
The Brave Potter Lesson
Marguerite Siek has chosen a very well-known Indian folktale for retelling in English. Children and adults alike are fond of folktales, which are often amusing and sometimes instructive.
strong wind shook the branches and leaves of the trees in the
forest. Pit. . . pat . . . pit, drops of rain fell. Then the lightning flashed and split the black sky
with its blinding light. Soon it was raining heavily.
An old tiger ran through the rain looking for shelter. He was wet
and cold and his
cave was far away. While hurrying to his shelter he saw an old
hut. With a sigh of relief the tiger crawled under the thatched roof and lay down by the door.
Except for the sound of the rain all was quiet. Before he could nod off, however, he heard
something heavy being dragged inside the hut. This was followed by the voice of a woman.
'Oh, how terrible this leak is!' she complained. 'How terrible! I
would rather meet a
tiger in the forest than have this leak in my house!'
'A leak?' the tiger thought. 'What is a leak? It must be very
dangerous and strong or
the woman would not be more frightened of the leak than of me. Am
I not rightly called the king of the forest? Aren't they all afraid of me? I wonder what a
leak looks like . . . ? Soon afterwards the tired tiger fell asleep. He was suddenly
awakened by an angry voice shouting in his ear. He felt heavy blows fall upon his head
and shoulders. 'You horrible beast!' a voice screamed angrily. 'How dare you run
away? How dare you make me walk about in the middle of the night trying to find
you! Be careful, one of these days I'll kill you! Now, go home!'
The old tiger shivered. 'This must be the leak who has come out of
the hut. I'd better
do as he says or he will kill me.' So the tiger allowed himself to be bound around the neck with a
thick rope. The mysterious creature then climbed onto the tiger's back and pulled
at the rope. 'Come on, head for home!' shouted the voice.
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| The Brave Potter |
The
tiger felt a sharp kick on his side. The tiger was terrified
and he ran through the dark forest. The creature pulled hard on the rope to
tell him which
way to go. At the same time it scolded, cursed and kicked the poor tiger. Soon
they stopped
in front of a small hut on the edge of the thick forest. The creature climbed
down from
the tiger's back and bound him with an iron chain to a nearby tree. Then he
went inside the
hut. The tiger could not free himself from the chain; so he had to spend a
miserable night under
the tree. Who was this creature who was able to capture such a large and
dangerous tiger?
Let's find out.
On
the afternoon of that day, a potter had arrived home after a hard day's work.
He
was
tired and thirsty. He had asked his wife for some palm-wine. The more he drank,
the better
he felt. When he had drunk all the wine he no longer felt tired. When the storm
began the
potter suddenly remembered that he had left his donkey tied under a tree. He
rushed out of
his hut to take the animal into the stable. You can imagine his anger when he
discovered that
the donkey was not there anymore -- the only thing left was its chain!
'My
stupid donkey must have run off into the forest,' he grumbled. 'When I catch
him
I'll
give him a good beating!'
The
potter walked through the wet forest. When it became dark he often stumbled
over
roots and fallen branches. With each step the potter felt angrier and angrier
with his donkey.
'When
I catch him, I'll tie him up under the tree all night,' he muttered to himself.
Hours
later, the potter reached the old woman's hut. There he saw an animal sleeping in
front of the door. 'There
he is!' he shouted. 'There he is, the stupid animal!' The
drunken potter did not notice the difference between the donkey and a tiger. He kicked
and beat the sleeping tiger. He then jumped onto the frightened animal's back,
rode it home,
and then tied it up with the iron chain.
Next
morning the villagers who passed the potter's house looked in amazement at
the
tiger tied to the tree. Soon the news spread throughout the village that the
potter had caught
a tiger and tied it to a tree in his yard. All the villagers praised his
courage. They also thanked
him because the tiger had eaten many of their goats and buffaloes. They had
tried to catch
him for many years but had failed. Of course, the potter said that he had done
nothing of
the sort. He said that he had only brought his donkey home. He did not
understand how a donkey
could change into a tiger! When he saw the tiger, he fainted. Nobody,
however, believed the potter's story. The villagers even praised him for being
modest. Soon the potter became famous. Everybody who met him called him the brave
potter. The simple potter himself never understood why.
*
* * * *
A
few years later war broke out between the potter's country and a much stronger
neighbour.
The king immediately gathered a large army. But he realized that it was not
strong enough
to save his country from defeat. He needed a hero to lead his army. Where could
he find
such a brave man? The king hurriedly called his ministers together and asked
their advice.
One
of the ministers remembered the story of the brave potter.
'Your
Majesty,' the minister said, 'I know someone who can lead our army.'
The
king immediately sent a messenger to the potter's house. When the potter
realized that
he had been made General of the Army, he became frightened. The king had
ordered him to go to the palace the next day. How could he, a poor ignorant
potter, become the General
of the Army? He had never carried a sword, nor had he ever ridden a horse.
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| The Brave Potter |
'Oh,
I shall die because of that stupid donkey,' groaned the potter to his wife. 'He
has
only
brought us trouble.'
The
next day he went with his wife to the capital. The king was pleased to see him
and ordered
the potter to lead the army into battle the next day. The enemy were not far
from the gates
of the city. A splendid house had been prepared for the potter and his wife.
The horse which
would carry him into battle was ready in the stable.
That
night the potter could not sleep. He was nervous and worried because he did not know
how to ride a horse.
'If
I fall off, everybody will laugh at me,' he thought. 'I will get up very early
tomorrow
and
practise riding the horse.' At
dawn the potter woke up his wife and they went to the stable. They saw the
beautiful black
horse ready for its new master.
'Oh,
how tall he is!' sighed the potter. 'I shall never be able to climb onto his
back.'
‘Put
this bench beside him’, said his wife, ‘and use it as a step.’ Even
with the help of the bench the potter had much difficulty climbing onto the horse's
back. When he was finally seated, he found that the saddle was very slippery.
'Please tie
my feet to the stirrups, dear wife,' said the potter, 'otherwise I shall
certainly fall off.'
His
wife found some rope and bound her husband's feet tightly to the stirrups. She
then
passed the rope underneath the horse and tied the two stirrups together. She
also passed a
length of rope around the potter's waist and tied him to the saddle.
'Now
please tie my hands to his neck,' said the potter. Meanwhile the big black
horse
was
impatiently pawing his hooves on the ground. When the potter's wife tried to
pass another rope
around its neck, the horse suddenly jumped free. It galloped out of the stable
with the potter
hanging like a sack of rice on its back. Only the ropes kept him from crashing
to the ground.
The potter held tightly to the horse's neck and prayed to all the gods to save
his life.
After
galloping through the quiet streets, the horse crashed through the city gates
and raced across
the open fields. It leapt over fences and streams, and began to head for the
enemy's camp.
When the potter realized where they were going, he tried harder than ever to
stop the horse.
He pulled wildly on the reins but it was no use; the horse galloped on.
When
they passed a young tree, the potter grabbed a branch. But the horse did not
stop.
Instead the tree was pulled out of the ground. A sentry from the enemy camp saw
the potter
galloping towards the camp with a tree in one hand and his reins in the other.
'That must
be the General who captured a tiger with his bare hands,' he thought. 'Now he
has uprooted
a tree with only one hand! He is not an ordinary man-he's a giant!' 'Run, run,
save yourselves!
The famous Tiger-General is coming at the head of a large army to attack us. He has
the strength of a giant! He has uprooted a tree with one hand!'
The
frightened soldiers fled. Their king was left by himself in his tent. Hurriedly
he
wrote
a letter begging for peace and apologizing for attacking the country. He left
this letter in
the tent. Then he jumped on his horse and followed his soldiers. When the
potter's black horse
reached the deserted camp it stopped. With shaking hands the potter untied his
feet and
fell to the ground. When he looked around he was surprised to find the camp
empty. He looked
in the king's tent and found the letter. The puzzled potter walked back to the
city with the
letter in his pocket. He went to his wife and gave her the letter.
'Dear
wife,' he said, 'never in my life will I ride a horse again. Please take this
letter
to
our king and tell him that the enemy has run away. I am going to bed.' His wife
ran towards the
palace with the letter. When the king read the letter, he was full of praise
for his new General. He asked the potter's wife where her husband was. 'My
husband is tired, Your Majesty.
The
servants have put him to bed,' answered the wife respectfully.
'Let
him rest today. Tell him to come tomorrow to receive his reward,' the king
said.
Next
morning the potter went to the king's palace. He left the black horse in the
stable
and walked to the palace with his wife. The streets were filled with cheering
crowds.
They
had all heard about his brave action. 'Look
how humble he is,' they said to each other. 'Any
other man would ride to the palace on a horse but he is walking like an
ordinary man.
He's truly a humble and brave man.'
The
king rewarded the potter so well that he did not need to work again. The
country
was
peaceful for the rest of his life and the potter never rode a horse again.
Thanks for reading The Brave Potter Lesson
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