Introduction
Yaugandharayana, minister of Udayana, King of Vatsa (roughly Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh), has made a casual assertion that even animals go to each other for protection. Yogeshvara challenges him to provide an example, so the wise minister tells him about a mouse that once lived at the bottom of a banyan tree.
ONCE upon a time, a mongoose, an owl, a cat and a mouse all lived in one banyan tree.* The others were all mortally afraid of the cat, so when a hunter’s cord snared him one night, Puss did not get much sympathy.
At first the mouse simply danced for joy. Then he spied the owl and the mongoose between him and his hole, looking at him in a most sinister fashion. So he scampered over to the tethered cat and begged for protection, promising to release him in return. Puss eagerly agreed, and the mouse, somewhat doubtfully, snuggled up close until the sun rose and the hunter began his rounds. Then the mouse gnawed through the cat’s bonds, and the animals sprang away in opposite directions.
That evening, Puss called down the tree and asked sweetly if the mouse cared to spend another night under his protection. He declined. Your enemy may sometimes be your ally; but that does not make him your friend.
In volume one of his ‘Oriental Memoirs’ (1813) James Forbes recalled relaxing beneath ‘Kabirvad’, a banyan tree that still stands on the banks of the River Narmada in what is now Gujarat. It now covers about 4.3 acres. Forbes said it was “supposed by some persons” to be the very tree under which Alexander the Great and ten thousand men sheltered some two thousand years before, as recorded in Arrian’s ‘Anabasis Alexandri’ Book VIII on the authority of Alexander’s general Nearchus. The name banyan or banian derives from the Gujarati word for a merchant, banya, as Europeans associated the tree with the merchants who often did business in their shade.
Précis
A mouse’s delight when the dangerous cat was snared soon evaporated, as a mongoose and an owl lined up to prey on him instead. So he asked the cat, whom they all feared, to protect him in return for his release. He duly nibbled through the cat’s cords and escaped unharmed, but was careful not to go near Puss again. (60 / 60 words)
A mouse’s delight when the dangerous cat was snared soon evaporated, as a mongoose and an owl lined up to prey on him instead. So he asked the cat, whom they all feared, to protect him in return for his release. He duly nibbled through the cat’s cords and escaped unharmed, but was careful not to go near Puss again.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, just, or, since, unless, until, whereas, whether.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Beg. Much. Sun.
2 Bond. Most. Somewhat.
3 Enemy. Fashion. Puss.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
You are welcome to share your creativity with me, or ask for help with any of the exercises on Clay Lane. Write to me at this address:
See more at Email Support.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
_Amravati_Maharashtra.JPG){kind=link}