Page 22 - English Class 07

Nandu, a landless farmhand, was leading life of hardship and penury . He was working on

the lands of a rich zamindar. He received in return for a day’s hard toil in the fields, just one
meal that barely kept him alive.

It was a starry night and a light breeze ruffled the wheat stalks. Nandu sat on his
haunches kindling a small fire that he had built with dried twigs and leaves. He felt chilly and
feverish.

It was his job tonight to ward off the vermin that damaged the crop. He had worked in
the fields the whole day and had just the time for a brief rest and the day’s meal at the
zamindar’s house before returning to keep watch over the almost-ready wheat fields.

He had been working for the zamindar for as long as he could remember. The zamindar
trusted him very much. That night there was a wedding in an adjoining village and most men

had gone to attend the festivities.
“Watch over the wheat crop attentively. It’s almost ready for reaping,” the zamindar had

cautioned him while he was leaving the village. Nandu gazed at the fire as it crackled gently.
He wrapped his old shawl more tightly around himself.

Suddenly, he heard a gurgling sound, the kind that water makes, when flowing
turbulently through a restricted
penury : destitution
aperture. He was so confused that
haunches : backside
he got up to investigate.

The wheat field had a wide

irrigation canal that the
government had built a
few years back. This had
made cultivation easier
and more productive.

As Nandu neared

the canal, he was
stunned to see that
the waters had risen
up to the bunds of his
fields. He ran swiftly

a l o n g t h e b u n d s ,
towards the gurgling
sound which was now
louder. He also saw the
Do you have some du es towards your school?

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