The Brave Potter

TS 10th Class English Guide Unit 2C The Brave Potter Comprehension: I. Answer the following questions briefly.

Question 1. What did the tiger think the mysterious creature was? Why did he allow himself bound around the neck with a thick rope?

Answer: The tiger thought that the mysterious creature was the leak. When the tiger heard the woman in the hut saying that the leak was very terrible and she would rather meet a tiger in the forest than have that leak in her house. He thought that the leak must be a very dangerous and strong animal. When the sleeping tiger felt heavy blows fall upon his head and shoulders, the old tiger shivered with fright.

The tiger thought that it must be the leak who had come out of the hut. The tiger also thought that the leak would kill him if he wouldnt do as it said. So, he allowed himself bound around the neck with a thick rope.

Question 2. What made the potter angry? What made him more angry?

Answer: When the storm began, the potter suddenly remembered that he had left his donkey tied under a tree. He rushed out of his hut to take the donkey into the stable. But he found no donkey but its chain there . It made him angry.

Question 3. Why did the king make the potter the General of the army?

Answer: A war broke out between the potters country and a much stronger neighbour. The king realized that his army was not strong enough to save his country from defeat. He needed a hero to lead his army. One of his ministers remembered the story of the brave potter. He told the king about the bravery of the potter. Immediately the king sent for the potter. The potter went to the palace and the king was pleased to see him and made him the General of the army.

Question 4. Why did you think the sentry feels that the potter is a giant?

Answer: The sentry saw the potter galloping towards the camp with a tree in one hand and his reins in the other. The sentry thought that he must be the General who had captured a tiger with his bare hands. It was impossible for any ordinary man to uproot a tree with only one hand. Hence the sentry feels that the potter was a giant.

Question 5. Do you think the potter is really brave or lucky? Give your reasons?

Answer: I think the potter is really lucky. It has been proved with the two incidents he faced. When we consider the tigers incident, he did not notice the difference between the donkey and a tiger as he was drunk. He rode the tiger home without knowing that he was riding a tiger. The tiger too was frightened when it felt heavy blows. It thought that the creature might be the leak.

The frightened tiger wanted to do as he said. Thus the tiger allowed him to tie it up with the iron chain. When we consider the horse- riding incident, the potter even didnt know how to ride a horse. He made himself tie him to the horse and the horse started galloping with impatience. He couldnt control it though he came to know that it was heading towards the enemy camp. To make the horse stop, the potter grabbed a branch of a young tree but it didnt stop.

A sentry from the enemy camp saw the potter galloping towards the camp with a tree in one hand and his reins in the other. The sentry thought that he must be the General who captured a tiger with his bare hands. With the warning made by him, the enemy soldiers and their king fled. Thus, in these two incidents the potters luck played its role.

Question 6. What is the most humorous and thrilling incident in the story? Write the incident and say why it is humorous and thrilling?

Answer: The most humorous and thrilling incident in the story is the potters riding the tiger. This incident is humorous as the tiger was frightened thinking that the leak in the hut was a very dangerous and stronger creature. In the same way, the drunken potter kicked heavy blows upon the tigers head and shoulders thinking that it was his donkey. It is also humorous.

In the normal circumstances, a human being doesnt try to do this dangerous feat and a tiger too doesnt allow any human being to beat him. Thus it becomes humorous. The most thrilling incident is that the potters riding the tiger. As he was drunk, he kicked and beat the sleeping tiger and jumped on its back. He rode it home and tied it up with the iron chain. Either he or the tiger knows about the real thing, the total situation might be different and unimaginable. Thus, it is the most thrilling incident.

Question 7. Why did the tiger run through the forest?

Answer: It was very dark and the black clouds covered the sky. It was about to rain. After a few minutes it started raining heavily. The old tiger ran through the rain looking for shelter.

Question 8. Where did the tiger find his shelter?

Answer: It was raining heavily and the tiger was wet and cold. His cave was far away. While hurrying to his shelter, he saw an old hut. With a sigh of relief the tiger crawled under the thatched roof and lay down by the door.

Question 9. What did the tiger hear from inside the hut? What did he think about the womans words?

Answer: Before the tiger could nod off, he heard something heavy being dragged inside the hut. A womans voice said that the leak was very terrible. She also complained that she would rather meet a tiger in the forest than have that leak in her house. The tiger thought that the leak must be a very dangerous and strong creature. He wondered what a leak was.

Question 10. How did the potter get rid of his tiredness?

Answer: The potter was very tired after a hard days work. He was thirsty too. Then he asked his wife for some palm-wine. The more he drank, the better he felt. When he had drunk all the wine he no longer felt tired.

Project Work

I. You have read the story The Brave Potter. It is a humorous story. The writer of the story created humour by creating situations where the tiger took the word leak to be a more powerful thing than him and people mistook the potter to be a brave man?

Work in groups and collect a humorous story. Analyse how the writer created humour in it.

Answer: The Servants Ruse A man was expecting a visit from his relative. He gave two ripe mangoes to his servant and asked him to slice them and serve them to the man. The servant sliced them in advance and ate a slice up. It was so sweet that he wanted to eat another slice. Thus he ate all the remaining pieces.

Then he saw the man his master expecting coming towards the house. He thought of a plan. He took a rusty knife and rushed to his master. He showed the knife to him and told him that he coUldnt cut the mangoes as the knife was blunt. His master said, "Ill sharpen it" and asked him to welcome the guest. The owner took the knife and began to rub it against the stone. The servant ran towards the guest and said to him, "Beware! Beware! Dont come into our house. My master has gone mad. He is planning to cut both your ears. "Cut my ears!" exclaimed the man, turning pale, "Why?!"

"There he is sharpening the knife, "said the servant. The man saw him sharpening his knife. He did not wait to find out why his host wanted his ears. He turned around and started walking as fast as he could. The servant rushed back to his master and told him that the man he had invited was running away with the mangoes. "What!" said his master. "The greedy fellow! Has he taken both the mangoes?"

"Yes," said the servant. The man ran after him shouting. "Give me me! Give me one at least!"

The other man thougt he was asking for one of his ears and ran for his life! In this story, the servants telling the guest that his master was sharpening his knife to cut his ears, created the humour. The guest believed his words and walked away speedily. The servants telling his owner that the guest had taken away both the mangoes also caused the humour

Self - Assessment

How well have I understood this unit? Read and tick (?) in the appropriate box?

Answer:

The Brave Potter 2 Summary in English Summary

The Brave potter is a folk tale which amuses children very much. Once there lived a potter in a village. One day he worked very hard and reached home in the afternoon. He asked his wife for some palm-wine and drank all the wine. He no longer felt tired. Then the storm began and he suddenly remembered that he had left his donkey tied under a tree. Immediately he rushed out of his hut and reached the spot where he had tied his donkey. But there was no donkey. He felt angry and wanted to give him a good beating when he caught it

He searched for his donkey everywhere but he could not find it. He walked and walked and often stumbled over roots and fallen branches. It made him more angry. Hours later, he reached the old womans hut and saw an animal sleeping in front of the door. He thought it was his donkey

But the animal leeping there was an old tiger. The tiger came there to protect himself from the heavy rain. When the tiger came there, he heard a woman saying the leak in her house was terrible than a tiger. The tiger thought that the leak might be a very dangerous and strong animal. And then he fell asleep

The drunken potter did not notice the difference between the donkey and a tiger. He kicked and beat the sleeping tiger. The tiger was frightened. He thought that it might be the leak and it came out of the house to kill him. Then the potter jumped on to the frightened animals back, rode it home, and then tied it up with the iron chain. Next morning the passers by surprised to see the tiger tied to the tree

All the villagers praised him for his courage. But the potter couldnt understand how a tiger was tied there. All the villagers thanked him because the tiger had eaten many of their goats and buffaloes Though the potter tried to tell them that he had only tied his donkey, they didnt believe his words. They even praised him for being modest. Thus he became famous

A few years later, a much stronger neighbour declared a war on the potters country. The king of the potters country wanted a man who could save his country. One of the ministers told the king about the bravery of the potter. Immediately the potter was sent for. When the potter realized that he had been made General of the Army, he became frightened. The next day he met the kina and he ordered the ootter to lead the army into battle the next day. The potter was nervous and worried because he didnt know how to ride a horse

He wanted to get up very early the next morning and practise riding. He woke up early and climbed on a horse back with great difficulty. He asked his wife to tie his feet to that stirrups so that he couldnt fall. His wife bound his feet tightly to the stirrups. Then she tied him to the saddle with a rope. When she tried to tie his hands to the horses neck, it suddenly jumped free. The horse started galloping. He held tightly to the horses neck and prayed to all the gods to save his life

The horse began to head for the enemys camp. Though he tried harder to stop it, there was no use. When they passed a young tree, the potter grabbed a branch but the horse did not stop. As a result the tree has uprooted and it was in his hand. At that time sentry from the enemy camp saw him galloping towards the camp and warned his soldiers to run and save their lives

He shouted that the famous Tiger-General was coming at the head of a large army to attack them; he had the strength of a gaint and had uprooted a tree with one hand. The frightened soldiers fled. The king too followed his soldiers after he had written a letter begging for peace and apologizing for attacking the country. When the potters black horse reached the camp it stopped and the potter untied his feet and fell to the ground

He was surprised to see the empty camp. He found the letter and went back to the city. He asked his wife to give the letter to their king and tell him that their enemy had run away. He went bed and his wife ran towards the palace. The king read the letter and praised his new General. Next morning the king rewarded the pot5 jr so well that he did not need to work again

Abot the author

Marguerite Siek was a great story teller. He was very much interested in telling folk and mythological stories of Asia. He travelled across many Asian countries and collected interesting short stories from various countries and published them in English. He translated many famous Indian folk stories into English. The present story The Brave Potter is a very popular Telugu

Glossary:

blinding (adj) = very bright

thatched (adj) = covered with dried straw

nod off (phr. v) = fall asleep

palm-wine (n) = toddy/fermented palm juice drunk by village

folk (kallu in Telugu)

muttered (v) = spoke something that can not be heard

your majesty (phr) = way of addressing a king or a queen

saddle (n) = a leather seat for a rider on a horse

stirrups (n) = metal rings that hang down on each side of a horses

pawing (v) = touching something repeatedly with a paw

hooves (n) = the hard parts of the feet of some animals like horses(Hooves is the plural form of hoof.)

crashing (v) = falling

reing (n) = long leather bands held by a horse rider to control it

sentry (n) = guard / a soldier whose job is to guard something

uprooted (v) = pulled a tree or a plant out of the ground

cheering crowds (phr) = a large gathering of people shouting in joy;

leak (n) = hole, crack

bound (v) = tied or fastened with rope

scream (v) = give a long piercing cry of fear, pain etc

head (v) = go to or travel towards a particular place

stable (n) = a place in which horses are kept

stumble (v) = strike ones foot against something and almost fall

fainted (v) = became unconscious

modest (adj) = humble;

groaned (v) = made a deep sad sound when in pain, or to express despair

deserted (adj) = with no one present