A Child's Beauty | Class 7 English | SCERT, Assam
Lesson : 7
A Child's Beauty
Page No : 82-94
Emperor Akbar was very happy as his son Salim had a son. The king was very fond of his grandson. He spent hours playing with the child and had started neglecting the affairs of the state. Whenever he came to the court; he would discuss only his grandson. He used to say, “There is no child more beautiful than my grandson ." Everyone agreed with Akbar, except Birbal as they were scared of the king. Birbal remarked, " Huzur, the young prince is very beautiful, but all parents find their children beautiful."
Akbar became angry when he heard this. "How dare you say this, Birbal? No child is more beautiful than my grandson!" One minister then said,"Tomorrow, let us all bring a child who we think is beautiful. Then we can judge for ourselves."
The next day, everybody brought a child to the court except Birbal. Akbar asked him, "Why have you not brought a child? Where is the child that is more beautiful than my grandson?”
"I have found a child who is the most beautiful child in the entire country. The mother is refusing to let me bring the child to the court. She does not want strangers to cast an evil eye on her child," replied Birbal.
To this, Akbar said, "If this is so, we can go and see the child in disguise."
So Akbar, Birbal and a few other ministers disguised themselves and went to see the child. Birbal led them to a small dirty hut where they saw a child playing on a heap of sand. All of them were shocked, as they had never seen an uglier child.
The child had a running nose. He had chicken pox marks all over his body. One of his eyes was half shut and was full of dirt.
Akbar was irritated and said, "Birbal you call this child the most beautiful! I hope God will forgive me, but I have never seen an uglier child in my life!"
The child ' s mother overheard Akbar. She was very angry.
She picked up the child and screamed at Akbar, "How dare you call my child ugly! He is the most beautiful child God could have given me. Get out of here! I don’t want strangers to cast their evil eye on my child!"
She wiped her child’s face and kissed him. Taking the child inside, she closed the door. Akbar finally agreed with Birbal. He said, "You are right, Birbal. All children seem beautiful to their parents."
Word-Meaning (শব্দার্থ) :
Emperor : সম্রাট।
Grandson : নাতি।
Scared : à¦ীতু / à¦ীরু।
Dare : সাহস করা।
Judge : বিচারক।
Entire : সমগ্র / সমুদয়।
Strangers : অপরিচিত ব্যক্তি / আগন্তুক।
Disguise : ছদ্মবেশ / গোপন করা।
Shocked : মানসিক আঘাত।
Irritated : বিরক্ত / অস্থির।
Screamed : চিৎকার করা।
Wiped : মুছে ফেলেছিল।
Overheard : আড়ি পেতে শোনা।
Forgive : ক্ষমা করা।
ACTIVITIES
1. Match the following facts about the story you just read.
(a) Akbar was Salim's son.
(b) Salim was a minister in the court of Akbar.
(c) Birbal was the Emperor.
(d) The young prince was Akbar's son.
Answer:
(a) Akbar was the Emperor.
(b) Salim was Akbar’s son
(c) Birbal was a minister in the court of Akbar.
(d) The young prince was Salim’s son.
2. Do you remember the story? Rearrange the sentences as they happened in the story to see how well you remember what happened.
(a) Each minister brought a child to judge who was the most beautiful child.
(b) Birbal said that all parents found their children very beautiful.
(c) Akbar said that no child was more beautiful than his grandson.
(d) The mother did not let Birbal bring the child to the court.
(e) Akbar with his minister went in disguise to see the child.
(f) The mother got angry when she heard Akbar's words.
(g) They found a child playing on a heap of sand.
(h) Akbar said he had never seen a child uglier than this.
(i) Akbar agreed with Birbal that all parents find their own children beautiful.
j) The mother took the baby inside and shut the door.
Answer:
Akbar said that no child was more beautiful than his grandson.
Birbal said that all parents found their children very beautiful.
Each minister brought a child to judge who was the most beautiful child.
The mother did not let Birbal bring the child to the court.
Akbar with his minister went in disguise to see the child.
They found a child playing on a heap of sand.
Akbar said he had never seen a child uglier than this.
The mother got angry when she heard Akbar's words.
The mother took the baby inside and shut the door.
Akbar agreed with Birbal that all parents find their own children beautiful.
3. Read the lesson once again and find answers to the following questions. Work with a partner. Discuss the answers with your partner and share them with the class.
(a) Why was Akbar happy?
Ans: Akbar was very happy as his son Salim had a son.
(b) Who used to say, "There is no child more beautiful than my grandson."?
Ans: Akbar used to say, “There is no child more beautiful than my grandson.”
(c) Why did each minister bring a child to the court?
Ans: Each minister brings a child to the court so that they can judge the most beautiful child in the entire country.
(d) Why didn't Birbal bring any child?
Ans: Birbal didn’t bring any child because the mother of the child refused him to bring her child to the court as she didn’t want strangers to cast an evil eye on her child.
Or, / অথবা,
Birbal intentionally didn't bring any child. He tried to make Akbar understand that all children are beautiful for their parents.
(e) Why did Akbar and the ministers go in disguise to see the child that Birbal could not bring to court?
Ans: Akbar and the ministers go in disguise to see the child that Birbal could not bring to court because the child's mother refused to bring the child to the court.
(f) Why did the mother of the child scream at Akbar?
Ans: The mother of the child screamed at Akbar because Akbar said he had never seen a child uglier than this child.
(g) What did Akbar realize?
Ans: Akbar realized that all parents find their own children beautiful.
4. Find out from the lesson who said the following sentences. Write the name of the person next to each sentence.
(a) "I have found a child who is the most beautiful child in the entire country." Birbal
(b) " If this is so, we can go and see the child in disguise." Akbar
(c) "He is the most beautiful child God could have given me.” The child's mother.
(d) "Then we can judge for ourselves." One minister
5. Let's practise speaking in English. Some sentences are missing in the conversation below. Complete the following conversation with your own sentences. Then, in groups, do a role play, where each of you will take one role and take part in a conversation.
Answer:
Meera : You know what! I saw the most beautiful little girl on my way to school today.
Adnan : What's her name? Where did you see her?
Ranil : Do you know her?
Asha : Why didn't you bring her with you?
Meera : Wait, wait! I'm telling you one thing at a time! I saw her on the road side with an old man. Maybe he is her grandfather. I don't know her and the old man too. Because it is too far from our village. I called her affectionately.
Asha : And then? Did she call you?
Ranil : But, You could have asked her name?
Adnan : Why did you not ask her name?
Meera : Actually I was in a hurry to school. So I was not able to talk to her.
6. (b) Let's practice using adjectives of degree and see how much you remember.
Fill the columns below with the correct forms of the adjectives:
Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Ugly Angry Dirty Big Important Beautiful Happy | Uglier Angrier Dirtier Bigger More important More beautiful Happier | Ugliest Angriest Dirtiest Biggest Most important Most beautiful Happiest |
(c) Now, in your notebook, make three sentences using an adjective from each of the three columns:
Answer:
Guwahati is a big city in Assam.
Guwahati is bigger than Silchar in Assam.
The city Guwahati in Assam is the biggest city in Northeast.
7. Let's come back to clauses. You have learnt that a clause is a group of words that contains a verb that shows tense. The verb which shows tense is called a finite verb.
Look at the following sentences:
(i) The child's mother overheard Akbar.
(ii) Akbar became angry when he heard this.
Notice that the whole sentence in (i) has been underlined as a group of words whereas sentence (ii) has been underlined as two groups of words. The underlined parts are called clauses.
7. (b) Read the following sentences. Identify the subject and the finite verb in each clause in the sentences. Write 'S' under the subject and 'F' under the finite verb.
(i) He plays cricket for the school team. ·
(ii) Rita will not come today because she has gone to town.
(iii) She took the umbrella as it was raining.
(iv) I forgot to bring my book.
(v) Ron was reading a novel when I came to his house.
Answer:
(i) He plays cricket for the school team.
He (হী) - S Plays (প্লেজ্) - F
(ii) Rita will not come today because she has gone to town.
Rita (রীতা) - S Come (কাম্) - F
(iii) She took the umbrella as it was raining.
She (সী) - S Took (টুক) -F
(iv) I forgot to bring my book.
I (আই) - S Forgot (ফৰ্গট) - F
(v) Ron was reading a novel when I came to his house.
Ron (রন) - S Reading (রীডিং) - F
The predicate contains the finite verb which may be followed by phrases. But it may not be so always. Sometimes the predicate may just be a one-word verb. For example:
The child cried.
In this sentence, 'The Child' is the subject. The predicate contains only the finite verb 'cried’. Here the sentence is made up of one clause.
A clause may be a sentence or a part of a sentence. Now, look at sentence (i) and sentence (ii) again.
(i) The child's mother overheard Akbar.
(ii) Akbar became angry when he heard this.
You might have noticed that sentence (i) is formed with one clause whereas sentence (ii) is formed with two clauses.
7. (c) Underline the clauses in the following sentences.
(i) Whoever came to his house was chased by that dog.
Ans: Whoever came to his house was chased by that dog.
ii) After the man came, the boy closed the library door.
Ans: After the man came, the boy closed the library door.
iii) Swimming is my favourite summer time activity.
Ans: Swimming is my favourite summer time activity.
(iv) The bananas look ripe but they are not ready to be eaten.
Ans: The bananas look ripe but they are not ready to be eaten.
(v) She ate an apple from the market.
Ans: She ate an apple from the market.
9. Write a short paragraph on what you understand from the following statement- 'All children seem beautiful to their parents.'
Ans: It is true that all parents love their children very much and their child is the most beautiful for them. Because children are part of the parents, they give birth to their child. They take care of them, bring them up so that their clan keeps going on. There are some biological causes too where some hormones are responsible for the parents' love for their child.
10. Read the conversation below. Some of the sentences are missing. Write them and enact the conversation in the class.
Answer:
Akbar: Look, how beautiful my grandson is!
Minister: Yes, Hujur, there is no child more beautiful than your grandson.
Birbal: The young prince is very beautiful, but all parents find their children beautiful.
Akbar: Then, let's find out tomorrow.
Minister: Tomorrow each of us will bring a child whom we find beautiful and we can then judge.
(Next day)
Akbar: Birbal, why are you without a child?
Birbal: Sorry Hujur, the mother is refusing to let me bring the child to the court.
Akbar: How dare she! Let's go and see the child in disguise.
Birbal: Hujur! Look at that boy playing on a heap of sand.
Akbar: I have never seen an uglier child than this before in my life!
Birbal: Hujur! The child may be uglier as he has a running nose,chicken pox all over his body. But his mother still loves him and affectionately kisses him. Because the child is most beautiful for his mother.
Akbar: You are right! Birbal. All children seem beautiful to their parents.
11. Choose the correct synonyms from the options given below:
(a) beautiful
(i) idle (ii) good (iii) pretty (iv) happy
(b) happy
(i) sweet (ii) glad (iii) lovely (iv) good
(c) dirty
(i) daring (ii) filthy (iii) ugly (iv) unhealthy
(d) scared
(i) fearless (ii) worried (iii) afraid (iv) concerned
(e) disguise
(i) to cheat (ii) to tell lies (iii) to hide (iv) to change appearance
(f) screamed
(i) phoned (ii) shouted (iii) called out (iv) whispered
Answer:
(a) beautiful - pretty
(b) happy - glad
(c) dirty - filthy
(d) scared - afraid
(e) disguise - to change appearance
(f) screamed - shouted
Thank you
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