8. Summary of the lesson

 

"The Banyan Tree" is a story about what the author saw, as a young boy. The author was staying at his grandfather's house. There was a big banyan tree in the yard. 

The boy was fond of reading books. So, he created a banyan tree library, and he collected books like Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn and The Story of Dr Dolittle. The boy became friends with a squirrel. He also fed it cakes and biscuits.

When the spring season began, the banyan tree started to produce small red figs. The tree branches were filled with different kinds of birds like red-bottomed bulbul, parrots, myna, and crows. All these birds used to fight with each other on the branches. The sounds that all these birds made, made the banyan tree the noisiest place in the garden.

The banyan tree story was about the fight of a cobra and a mongoose. Both animals are powerful opponents. The three spectators in the yard were, the author (boy), a myna and a wild crow. There was a fight between the cobra and the mongoose.

 

The cobra and the mongoose made three attempts to kill each other. In the third attempt, the mongoose was dodging the snake. Suddenly the crow flew down to attack the snake. Sadly, the crow was bitten by the snake, and it fell dead on the ground.

 

Still, myna was sitting on the cactus and watching the fight. After fighting for a long time, the cobra became tired and weak. The mongoose caught the cobra by its mouth and took it into the bushes in the yard. The myna flew down bravely and looked into the bushes. Then, she flew away with a congratulatory squeal. Finally, the fight was won by the mongoose.