The Revenge of the Elephant

The Revenge of The Elephant

Long, long ago, there lived a big elephant in a small town. The elephant was of a religious nature and used to perform puja in front of a temple. Despite his enormous physique, he was a very loving creature. People loved him and offered him delicious fruits to eat. 

While going to temple, the elephant had to pass through a busy market place. There a florist used to give him a marigold garland everyday, while a fruit seller offered him fruits. The elephant was very grateful to both of them for these presents. The people in the market place used to gather around the elephant and showed their affections by patting him gently. They had a lot of respect in their hearts for him. 

One day, the florist thought of playing a little joke on the elephant. When the elephant arrived at his shop the next day, as usual, he, instead of offering him a garland, pricked his trunk with a needle, which he used for making garlands. The elephant writhed in pain and sat on the ground. Some people gathered around him and began to laugh. 

This made the elephant very angry with the florist. That day he didn't visit the temple, but instead, went to a nearby dirty pond. At the pond he collected some dirty water in his long trunk and came back to the florist's shop. There he emptied his trunk by spewing dirty water upon the florist and the garlands and flowers kept in the shop. The flowers and garlands became dirty and could not be sold in the market. Thus the florist had to suffer a heavy loss for his mischief.

GIST: Tit for tat                               

Refer the given story to answer the following questions:

1. What is the meaning of the word ‘Revenge’?

(A) Settling of house                       (B) Settling of work

(C) Settling of things                       (D) Settling of scores

2. Where did the big elephant live?

(A) In a small town                          (B) In a big town

(C) In the city                                   (D) In the village

3. How was the elephant’s nature?

(A) Patriotic         (B) Shy                 (C) Religious        (D) Harsh

4. What did the fruit seller used to offer the elephant?

(A) Flowers          (B) Fruits              (C) Vegetables     (D) Sweets

5. How the people used to show their affection towards the elephant?

(A) By giving him  sweets               (B) By kissing him

(C) By patting him                           (D) By shaking hands with him

6. What is the synonym of the word ‘joke’ from the given words?

(A) Prank             (B) Fun                 (C) Happy            (D) Laugh

7. What did the florist use to prick the elephant’s trunk?

(A) Sword            (B) Knife               (C) Needle           (D) Scissors

8. Where did elephant collect the dirty water?

(A) In the bucket                             (B) In his trunk

(C) In his hands                                (D) In the tub

9. On whom did the elephant spew the dirty water?

(A) On the florist                             (B) On the fruit seller

(C) On the shop                               (D) On the people in the market

10. What is the moral of the story?

(A) Unity is strength                        (B) Friend in need is a friend in deed

(C) Tit for tat                                    (D) Fit for fat

Answer keys
(1) (D); (2) (A); (3) (C);(4) (B); (5) (C); (6) (A); (7) (C); (8) (B); (9) (A); (10) (C)