Class 8 Fables CQ Question Answer Solution PDF

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Once upon a time, a dove and a bat were very good friends. One day the two friends decided to set out on a journey. They flew over the rivers and hills and came to a big jungle. Both the friends were very tired, they needed to sit down and take a rest. Soon night fell and it was dark all around. A storm rose. It started to rain heavily. The dove and the bat started to look for a shelter.

They came upon a century-old rain tree. An owl had his nest in that tree. The dove and the bat knocked at the owl's door. The old grumpy owl opened the door. The dove and the bat requested him to give them shelter. The owl unwillingly let them in. The two birds were hungry too. They begged for some food. The selfish owl was not happy. However, he shared his dinner with them. The dove was so tired that she could hardly eat. But the bat was sly. He ate greedily. He began to praise the owl with the thought of getting more food. The bat said, "O wise and brave owl, you are the most generous person I have ever seen. You are powerful and mighty."

The owl was very pleased at the bat's flattery. He puffed and ruffled himself, trying to look as wise and brave as possible. Then he turned to the dove and asked, "Now little dove, what do you think about me?"

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All this time the dove was listening to her friend's false praises. She was wondering how insincere his praises were. The dove hung her head down and was quiet. The owl got impatient. He wanted to hear more praises. He looked at the dove and asked, "Don't you have any good thing to say about me?" The bat joined the owl, "Yes, don't you have any words of praise for our kind host?" The dove was ashamed of her friend bat and kept her eyes down. The owl urged the dove, "Come on, say something!"

The dove lifted her head slowly and said, "Master owl, thank you very much for the shelter you have given me, thank you for the food you have offered me. I will remain ever grateful for this".

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"What?" cried the bat. "Is that all you have to say to our gracious host? Is he not the wisest, bravest and most generous of all animals and birds? Don't you have praise for his noble character as well as for his goodness to us? I am ashamed of you! You do not deserve such hospitality. You do not deserve this shelter."

"You are an ungrateful bird, and the bat is right. You do not deserve this generous hospitality which I have offered. Get out! Be off, I say!" said the owl. "Yes, get lost!" echoed the bat, flapping his leathery wings. The two heartless creatures fell upon the poor little dove and drove her out into the dark and stormy night.

But the owl and the bat did not go unpunished for their act of heartlessness. The bat can never fly in broad daylight. He has to wait for the sun to go down. And do you know what happened to the vain owl? Well, he is blind as long as the sun is up. He cannot hunt or feed himself unless it is dark. So the two vicious creatures with their dark heart live in the dark.

On the other hand, the dove is rewarded for her truthfulness. Her name shall be used by poets as long as the world lasts to rhyme with "LOVE".

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July, but there was still no sign of rain. Clouds crossed the sky but they only made the heat hotter. I was thirsty. But what could a crow like me do on a day like this? There was no water anywhere. The wells were dry and there were no waterholes. I would have to fly miles and miles to reach anywhere in this heat unless I get to a town.

Crows know that, in times like this, to go where men live is best. They put things by when things are plenty for days when they are scarce. So I flew towards the nearest town over a dry and barren land. When I reached there, it was noon. The streets were empty. The doors were barred. The cisterns and horse-troughs were dry. There was no water anywhere. Except in a small bottle on a pushcart at the street corner. I thanked heaven for that.

But I had thanked too early. How was I going to get the water in the bottle unless I could get my beak in? My beak was too fat and neck of the bottle, too narrow. So, as usual, I went to Grandpa for advice. A doddering old crow he was, but he had seen the world. And, often, had useful things to say. Sure enough, he had a way. Go and get pebbles from the riverbed, he said, and drop them in. When they fill the bottle, the water will come up to the brim for pebbles and water can't be in the same place, This he'd learnt from his old man. And his old man had learnt it from an old Greek crow called Ar-crow-medes .

That was great! I didn't even wait to thank him. Off] went to the riverbed where pebbles there were in all shapes and sizes. Pebbles are tricky things for crows to carry. They slip out or slide in. So I had to carry them carefully, piece by piece. On a day like this, it was not easy to do. I panted and sweated and the colour of my wings started to run. And I grew thirstier each time. So, on my last flight, I thought I would carry two together. But that wasn't easy to do either for one would always slip away Still, I made an effort and carried two some distance. But, as luck would have it, plop went one on the glass roof of the greenhouse. And clitter-clatter went the glass. Not a great loss to me. But, with a shudder came the thought that I could break my bottle, too, with such a pebble. And Grandpa's trick may not work.

That made me mad. I flew helter-skelter. Until, suddenly, I noticed the poster over the bus stop. To think that it had been there all the time and I, like a fool, had never lifted my head 10 see it. If men can drink through straws, then so can crows. If they are clever. Straws were plenty in the haystacks. I drew a few out, clipped and cleaned them. And used them the way men do. I don't blame Grandpa, though. He was nice in his own way. But each age has its own bag of tricks.