Page 95 - English Class 04

Once upon a time, there lived a very poor man named Ponnan. Although he
had little money and food, he always shared whatever he had with people:

some, he hardly even knew. His wife would despair over this.

“Please think of your family first! You bring despair : loss of hope
random strangers home for meals! Do you want us starve : remain hungry

to starve to death?” she would lament . lament : express grief about

But, Ponnan was too generous to refuse anyone and many people took

advantage of his kind nature.

One morning, Ponnan

set off for work. His wife
finished her chores and

was thinking about how
to change her husband’s

ways. She happened to

look out of the door and
saw two men walking

nearby. Much to her
irritation she saw that

they were walking towards
the hut, talking and rubbing

their stomachs in

anticipation. “Oh God! Not
again! I’m sure Ponnan has
an cipa on : to expect
invited them home for lunch!” she fumed . “I have to something to happen
do something to stop this nonsense today!” fumed : become very angry

She looked around and saw a mortar and pestle that she used to pound rice.

An idea struck her. “Hmm... my idea might work,” she thought shrewdly. She

quickly dragged the mortar and pestle to the centre of the hut. She cleaned it
and then applied saffron paste to the top of the mortar. She got a garland and

arranged it around the mortar. Now, it looked like someone had been
worshipping the mortar and pestle. “I think it looks ready now,” she thought.

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