Page 61 - English Class 07

“I am afraid that is not true,” replied the owl politely. “Trees belong to all birds. To all

living things in fact. This tree is as much mine as yours.”
The parrots were taken aback. They had expected the newcomer to bow down but he

was standing up to them. “Well, you shall not hoot then,” said Totabhai trying to regain
some of his dignity.

“I am sorry for having disturbed all of you,” said Ullunath. “I will try not to do so in
future,” saying this he flew off into the dark. The birds settled back to sleep.

Next morning, Mithu went up to the hollow. There was no sound from within. He peered
in. Ullunath was fast asleep, his head tucked into his feathers snugly. He did not emerge the
whole day.

“You mean he sleeps all day?” asked Mrs Popatlal.

“What did you expect?” sniffed Totaben scornfully. “All that hooting at night must have
made him tired.”

“Teacher Parakeet says that owls are very wise birds,” chipped in Mithu.
“Huh!” said his mother, “How can someone who sleeps all day and hoots all night

be wise?”

That night, Ullunath did not hoot. But, birds did not sleep anyway because they wanted
to catch a glimpse of him. They were now disappointed when Ullunath emerged. All that
was visible in the darkness was his squat form with a triangular head and square shoulders.

It was only after three nights
later that they got a good glimpse
of him. That was a full moon

night. Mithu was waiting for
Ullunath. Peeping out of his nest,
he saw Ullunath sitting on a
branch. He had a speckled, tawny
brown body with a lighter brown

chest. But, his most arresting
feature was his eyes – huge,
round, amber, deep. He looked

very knowledgeable. Mithu woke Kala up and they both stared at the owl. Mithu and Kala
woke up their parents and many other birds gathered to see the owl. Hearing their muffled
twittering, Ullunath turned to look at them. “Oh, hello!” said he, “Glad to meet all of you.
Unfortunately, all of you were asleep, when I come out of my hollow.”
twittering : chirp

English-7 61