Activities 1and 2 are taken from https://www.hsslive.guru/kerala-syllabus-8th-standard-english-solutions-unit-1-chapter-2/
A LONG, long time ago, in a small
country-village in Japan, there lived a poor
farmer and his wife, who were very good
people. They had a number of children,
and found it very hard to feed them all.
The elder son was strong enough when
only fourteen years old to help his father;
and the little girls learned to help their
mother almost as soon as they could walk.
But the youngest child, a little boy, did not
seem to be fit for hard work. He was very
clever, cleverer than all his brothers and
sisters; but he was quite weak and small,
and people said he could never grow very
big. So his parents thought it would be
better for him to become a priest than to
become a farmer. They took him with
them to the village-temple, one day, and
asked the good old priest who lived there,
if he would have their little boy for his
acolyte, and teach him all that a priest
ought to know.
The old man spoke kindly to the lad, and
asked him some hard questions. So clever
were the answers that the priest agreed to
take the little fellow into the temple as an
acolyte, and to educate him for the priest
hood.
The boy learned quickly what the old priest
taught him, and was very obedient in most
things. But he had one fault. He liked to
draw cats during study hours, and to draw
cats even where cats ought not to have
been drawn at all.
Click on the words to know their meanings.
1. How is the youngest child introduced in the
story?
2. Why did the parents take the boy to the priest?
Whenever he found himself alone, he
drew cats. He drew them on the margins
of the priest’s books, and on all the screens
of the temple, and on the walls, and on
the pillars. Several times the priest told him
this was not right; but he did not stop
drawing cats. He drew them because he
could not really help it. He had what is
called ‘the genius of an artist,’ and just
for that reason he was not quite fit to be
an acolyte - a good acolyte should study
books.
Click on the idiom to know the meaning
One day after he had drawn some
very clever pictures of cats
upon a paper screen, the old
priest said to him severely:
‘My boy, you must go away
from this temple at once.
You will never make a
good priest, but perhaps
you will become a great
artist. Now, let me give
you a last piece of
advice, and be sure
you never forget it.
Avoid large places at
night, keep to small!’
The boy did not know what the priest
meant by saying, ‘Avoid large places keep
to small.’ He thought and thought, while
he was tying up his little bundle of clothes ,
to go away; but he could not understand
those words, and he was afraid to speak
to the priest any more, except to say
good-bye.
3. ‘... but perhaps you will become a great artist.’
Do you think the opinion of the priest about the
boy is appropriate? Why?
4. What was the advice of the priest to the boy?
He left the temple very sorrowfully, and
began to wonder what he should do. If
he went straight home he felt sure his
father would punish him for having been
disobedient to the priest, so he was afraid
to go home. All at once he remembered
that at the next village, twelve miles away,
there was a very big temple. He had heard
there were several priests at that temple;
and he made up his mind to go to them
and ask them to take him for their acolyte.
Click on the word to know the meaning.
5. Why didn’t the boy go home after he left the
temple?
Now that, big temple was closed up but
the boy did not know this fact. The reason
it had been closed up was that a goblin
had frightened the priests away, and had
taken possession of the place. Some brave
warriors had afterward gone to the temple
at night to kill the goblin; but they had
never been seen alive again. Nobody had
ever told these things to the boy - so he
walked all the way to the village hoping to
be kindly treated by the priests!
When he got to the village it was already
dark, and all the people were in bed, but
he saw the big temple on a hill at the other
end of the principal street, and he saw
there was a light in the temple. People who
tell the story say the goblin used to make
that light, in order to tempt lonely
travelers to ask for shelter. The boy went
at once to the temple, and knocked. There
was no sound inside. He knocked and
knocked again; but still nobody came. At
last he pushed gently at the door, and was
quite glad to find that it had not been
fastened. So he went in, and saw a lamp
burning, but no priest.
goblin-(in stories) a small, ugly creature that is harmful to humans
goblin
6. When the boy entered the temple he did not
see anyone. What could be the reason?
He thought some priest would be sure to
come very soon, and he sat down and
waited. Then, he noticed that everything
in the temple was gray with dust, and
thickly spun over with cobwebs. So he
thought to himself that the priests would
certainly like to have an acolyte, to keep
the place clean. He wondered why they
had allowed everything to get so dusty.
What most pleased him, however, were
some big white screens, good to paint cats
upon. Though he was tired, he looked at
once for a writing-box, and found one,
and ground some ink, and began to paint
cats.
He painted a great many cats upon the
screens; and then he began to feel very,
very sleepy. He was just on the point of
lying down to sleep beside one of the
screens, when he suddenly remembered
the words, ‘Avoid large places keep to
small!’
The temple was very large, he was all
alone; and as he thought of these words,
though he could not quite understand
them - he began to feel for the first time
a little afraid; and he resolved to look for
a small place in which to sleep. He found
a little cabinet, with a sliding door, and
went into it, and shut himself up. Then
he lay down and fell fast asleep.
7. Why did he choose a small place to sleep?
8. Where did the boy find a safe place to sleep
on?
Very late in the night, he was awakened
by a most terrible noise, a noise of fighting
and screaming. It was so dreadful that he
was afraid even to look through a chink
of the little cabinet: he lay very still,
holding his breath for fright.
Click on the words to know their meanings.
9. What was the dreadful voice that the boy heard?
The light that had been in the temple went
out; but the awful sounds continued, and
became more awful, and all the temple
shook. After a long time silence came; but
the boy was still afraid to move. He did
not move until the light of the morning
sun shone into the cabinet through the
chinks of the little door.
Click on the word to know the meaning.
Then he got out of his hiding place very
cautiously, and looked about. The first
thing he saw was that all the floor of the
temple was covered with blood. And then
he saw, lying dead in the middle of it, an
enormous, monstrous rat, a goblin rat,
bigger than a cow!
Click on the words to know their meanings.
But who or what could have killed it?
There was no man or other creature to be
seen. Suddenly the boy observed that the
mouths of all the cats he had drawn the
night before, were red and wet with blood.
Then he knew that the goblin had been
killed by the cats which he had drawn. And
then also, for the first time, he understood
why the wise old priest had said to him,
‘Avoid large places at night, keep to small.’
Afterward that boy became a very famous
artist. Some of the cats which he drew
are still shown to travellers in Japan.
10. How do you think the goblin rat was killed?
11. Was the advice of the priest helpful to the boy?
Why?
Activity 1.
Did you enjoy the story, ‘The Boy who Drew Cats’? If you were the young boy, how would you tell the story?
You may begin like this.
Activity 2
How was the goblin rat killed? Write the events that led to the death of the goblin rat to complete the flow-chart given below.
Activity 3
The boy in the story became a famous artist.As a news reporter you get a chance to interview him.Prepare the interview.
- The youngest boy is introduced as a clever, but quite weak and a small boy who is not fit for hard work.
- People of the village said that the boy could never grow very big. So his parents thought it would be better for him to become a priest than to become a farmer.
- Yes. Because whenever the boy was alone, he drew the pictures of cats.
- The priest advised the boy to avoid large places at night and to keep to the small.
- The boy did not go home because he thought that his father would punish him for being disobedient to the priest.
- A goblin rat had frightened the priests away and had taken possession of the place
- He remembered the advice given by the priest.So he chose a small place.
- He found a little cabinet, with a sliding door and got into it and shut himself up.
- The fighting and screaming between the cats and the goblin rat
- The goblin rat was killed by the cats which the boy had drawn.
11. Yes.It is because of the advice that the boy decided to choose a little cabinet to sleep and thus escaped from the attack of a rat goblin.
Activity 1.
I was the youngest child of a poor Japanese family.I was very week and small,But I was clever.So my parents thought it would be better for me to become a priest than to become a farmer.Thus I was sent to a priest to become his acolyte.I was very obedient but I had one fault.I could not control myself from drawing the pictures of cats.So my priest thought it would be better for me to become an artist than to become a priest.He ordered me to leave the temple.He advised me to avoid large places at night, keep to small.
I left the temple sorrowfully.I was afraid to go home.So I decided to go to the big temple at the next village. I reached the temple at night,I did not see any priest there.Everything at the temple was gray with dust.I waited for the priest to return.To my pleasure there were some white screens.I painted cats.I became tired and sleepy. When I started to sleep,I remembered the advice given by my priest.I searched for a small space.I found a little cabinet.Late in the night ,I heard a most terrible noise.I lay still holding my breath.
In the morning I saw a goblin rat lying dead in the pool of blood. Suddenly I observed that the mouths of all the cats I had drawn the night before, were red and wet with blood.
It was after this incident that I became a famous artist.
Activity 2
Activity 3
Reporter :Good morning viewers,Today we have a special guest.He is
none other than the all time greatest painter of Japan.Welcome to our show sir.
The Boy :Thank you
Reporter : Your parents hoped that you became a priest,didn't they?
The boy :Yes,They thought it would be better for me to become a priest
than to become a farmer.
Reporter : Why did they think so?
The boy : I was the youngest child in our family.I was very clever,cleverer than all my bothers and sisters.But I was very week and small.
Reporter : Were you very obedient?
The boy :Yes,I was very obedient.But my priest didn't let me stay there.
The reporter :Oh!Its interesting.Why did he ask you to leave the temple?
The boy : I could not control myself from drawing pictures of cats.He thought that it would be better for me to become an artist than to become a priest.
The reporter : What was his advice to you?
The boy :He advised me to avoid large places ,keep to small.
The Reporter :Was the advice helpful to you?
The boy :Yes,It really helped me in saving my life from the rat goblin.
The reporter :Indeed, very strange story!Thank you very much for spending your valuable time with us.
The boy :Thank you.
Assignment
The priest asked the boy to leave the temple.The boy left the temple very sorrowfully.At night he wrote the day's events in his diary.Prepare the diary entry.
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