4 rm aaaTHE ORIENT BLACKSWAN EASY READERS The Orient BlackSwan Easy Reader: introduce children to the enchanting world of reading. This series of books aimed at helping children to develop the reading habit and discover the joy of reading. The books are carefully graded in seven levels and take children through successive stages of vocabulary and structure acquisition. They are intendef” for beginners as well as fairly advanced readers from 5 to 15 years. The title in the series include the timeless classics from world and Indian _ literature, as well as stories that are new and contemporary.ORIENT BLACKSWAN EASY READERS Legends from Indian History Swapna Dutta Series Editor Bikram K Das Formerly, Professor, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad Professor, National Institute of Education, Singapore, and Director, English Language Teaching Institute, Bhubaneshwar a Orient BlackSwanLEGENDS OF INDIAN HISTORY ORIENT BLACKSWAN PRIVATE LIMITED Registered Office 3-6-752, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad 500 029, Telangana, India E-mail: centraloffice@orientblackswan.com Other Offices Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida, Patna, Visakhapatnam © Orient Blackswan Private Limited 2013. First Published 2013 Reprinted 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020 ISBN: 978-81-250-4939-5 Typeset by OSDATA Hyderabad 500 029 Printed in India at Aditya Offset Process (1) Pvt Ltd. Hyderabad Published by Orient Blackswan Private Limited 3-6-752, Himayatnagar, Hyderabad 500 029, Telangana, India E-mail: info@orientblackswan.com.On Readers and Reading A Prefatory Note addressed to Teachers and Parents Reading as a resource The Orient Blackswan Easy Readers (OBER) series of books has been created with the aim of inculcating the love of reading among children as well as introducing them to some of the treasures to be found in the English language. One of the delights of childhood is the joy of curling up with a good storybook which transports one to realms of magic. It is, alas, a pleasure that has almost vanished. The culture of reading is on the decline, thanks largely to the coming of television. But there is really no substitute for a book. Books will always have an edge over other sources of ‘infotainment’ in that they can be far more interactive. The book comes alive when it is read, and it is the reader who breathes life into it. A good book invites its readers to become a part of the action instead of standing on the sidelines. Viewers of television, on the other hand, are reduced to passivity by the hypnotic power of images. Reading has formed the backbone of education for thousands of years. Every civilized society has its stores of knowledge, preserved in books and passed on from one generation to the next. But only those who can read are able to unlock these treasure-chests of knowledge. Approaches to Reading There are mainly two approaches to the teaching of reading, termed ‘Intensive’ and ‘Extensive’ Reading respectively. The first is by far the more prevalent and will, therefore, be dealt with first. a. Intensive Reading This term refers to the practice of using a single textbook (or a small number of books), often described as a ‘reader’, which is studied intensively and in detail.Intensive Reading can take different forms, depending on the aspect of reading which receives most attention. The two most common variants are: i. Content-focused reading Here, the emphasis is primarily on the content of the texts being read. If the text is factual, the ‘content’ would be the facts, or the ideas and opinions expressed by the writer. If, on the other hand, the text is literary, the content would consist of such things as theme, plot, characterization, the use of symbols, images etc. ii. Shills-focused reading ‘Content-focused’ reading has the aim of introducing students to particular texts which are considered valuable. However, only a few texts can be studied in this way. But in any modern system of education, students are expected to read a large number of books, since they require vast amounts of information. Not all of them can be prescribed. Students may be required to read and understand books which they have never seen before. iw] In education, the concept of transfer of learning is important. If learning has been effective, the learner should be able to ‘transfer’ the learning which has been acquired in a particular context to a different context. For example, a child who has learnt to ride a particular bicycle should be able to ride any bicycle—and not just the one on which he/she practised riding. Similarly, a student who learns to read (and understand) a particular text should be able to read any text (of the same level of difficulty). If the student is able to read only the prescribed text which has been taught in class but not other texts, we cannot say that he/she has really learnt to read. In ‘skills-focused reading’, the aim is to help students to develop skills of reading which are transferable—that is, they can be used to deal with any text. The Limitations of Intensive Reading Intensive Reading provides training in the careful study of texts, which is a valuable intellectual exercise, essential for education. Nevertheless, it has a number of limitations. i. The child’s reading is controlled by others. Children are not free to choose what they read.If the aim is to develop a love of books and reading in children, compelling them to study a prescribed ‘reader’ is surely not the best way to go about it! They should be free to read what they like. ii, The child is not doing enough reading. In many school systems, one prescribed book of about 200-250 pages is all that the child gets to read over a whole year. If the full benefits of reading are to be derived by children, they should be doing much more of it. iii, Intensive reading gives the child no practice in ‘speed reading’. All texts are read (studied) slowly and laboriously. In real life, it is often necessary for a reader to go through masses of printed material within a short time, which requires the ability to read at high speeds. The kind of comprehension (of texts) that is required in such situations is very different from the kind of comprehension which is developed through intensive reading. Most of the texts that we are called upon to read in real life call for only a ‘general’ understanding of its contents and not a very detailed understanding. Few texts require careful study, as in the case of the prescribed reader. In a sense, therefore, intensive reading is not natural. iv. Children are mostly required to read short extracts from texts and are rarely exposed to complete texts. They get little practice in reading a book from cover to cover. Supplementary Readers In school systems in India, one or more ‘supplementary readers’ are often prescribed for ‘non-detailed’ study, in addition to the reader used for intensive reading. These are usually simplified and abridged versions of well-known literary classics. The adoption of supplementary readers is perhaps an acknowledgement of the limitations of intensive reading. The intention may have been to give children a chance to read for pleasure. However, the supplementary reader is often taught in much the same way as the ‘intensive reading’ book. Children are usually not allowed to read the book independently, without the teacher’s help. Furthermore, examinations often contain questions on the supplementary readers, which are not very different in format from those set on the ‘detailed study’ reader.It is doubtful if childron ean derive much pleasure from their supplementary readers if they know they will have to face an examination at the end, b. Extensive Reading The term ‘Extensive Reading’ was first used by Prof. Harold Palmer in 1917 and brought into prominence by Michael West, whose research, carried out in India during the 1920s, demonstrated the usefulness of wide reading in second-language learning. Both Palmer and West acknowledged the importance of intensive reading but felt that it needed to be supported by Extensive Reading, to produce a balanced ‘mix’ of reading skills. Essentially, Extensive Reading involves the reading of long texts, or large amounts of text, for enjoyment and general understanding. Students are allowed to choose the books they read, depending on their interests, and there may not always be follow-up activities in class. The principal objective is to get students reading in English and liking it. Richard Day and Julian Bamford, in their book Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom (Cambridge University Press), identify ten characteristics of successful Extensive Reading programmes. 1. Students are encouraged to read as much as possible, in class as well as outside it. Two things are commonly done in schools to encourage habits of wide reading: a. Classroom libraries are set up, often with the help of the students themselves, who play an important part in managing ‘their’ library. Reading for pleasure requires the availability of a large selection of books which children can choose from. Setting up classroom libraries is an excellent way of providing material for reading. Since the books are kept in the classroom, there is a much greater chance that they will be read. b. A ‘reading hour’ (of at least 30 minutes a week) is set aside in the time-table, during which all the students in the school, as well as their teachers, are simultaneously reading books selected by them from the classroom libraries, 2. A wide variety and range of reading materials is made available to students, so that they can develop different reading strategies, depending on the kind of book they are reading.3. Students themselves select what they want to read and have the freedom to stop reading material that fails to interest them ( and turn to other books of theix choice.). 4, Students are encouraged to read for pleasure, information and general understanding. These purposes are determined by the nature of the material and the interests of the students. 5. Reading becomes its own reward. There are few or no follow-up exercises to be completed after reading, or tests to evaluate the performance of students. 6. Reading materials are well within the linguistic competence of the students in terms of vocabulary and grammar, Dictionaries are rarely used while reading because the constant stopping to look up words makes fluent reading difficult. 7. Reading is individual and silent, at the student’s own pace and done, outside class, when and where the student chooses. 8. Reading speed is usually fast rather than slow. 9. Teachers orient students to the goals of the programme, explain the methodology, keep track of what each student reads, and guide students in getting the most out of the programme. 10. The teacher functions as a role model of a reader for students —an active member of the classroom reading community, demonstrating what it means to be a reader and the rewards of being a reader. The diagram below illustrates the main differences between intensive and extensive reading. ‘Type of Extensive Intensive Reading Purpose i. Reading for i. Content pleasure knowledge ii, General ii, Training in understanding of texts reading skills Level Easy Often difficult Amount Alot Not much Speed Fast and fluent Slow\viii \ OBERs and the Extensive Reading Movement The OBER books have been enthusiastically received by the teaching community, but in most cases they have been used as supplementary readers only. However, it is encouraging to find the Extensive Reading movement spreading. Schools are setting up classroom libraries and also providing ‘Reading Hours’ for children. Numerous new titles, at different levels of difficulty, have been added to the OBER series, to offer a wide choice to readers, which is essential when setting up classroom libraries. The benefits of Extensive Reading are well documented. In a famous experiment carried out on the island of Fiji in 1985, a group of school children, whose English syllabus consisted entirely of Extensive Reading books, performed significantly better on tests of grammatical ability and writing than students who had gone through the usual programme of grammar and writing lessons. In a Second Language environment (such as we have in India), the learning of English is both difficult and painful because learners rarely get enough exposure to the language, either in the classroom or at home. Interesting and ‘easy’ books which learners can enjoy are the most economical and convenient way of providing exposure to English, and this is where our scarce resources should ideally be invested if we want more Indians to learn English effectively, painlessly and quickly. Meanwhile, we wish our young readers the continued joys of Happy Reading! Bikram K. Das Series Editor, Orient BlackSwan Easy Readers 1 January 2011About the series ‘The Orient Black Swan Easy Readers aim to help children discover the joy of reading without feeling the constraints of a limited vocabulary. Itis an encouraging experience for the child to be able to read what Michael West has called ‘...an enthralling approximation of the original’, The series tries to open up to the readers the world of old classics as well as modern writings, all within their grasp, as the language is simple and controlled. ‘The books are carefully graded into seven levels so that students progress gradually through successive grades with increasing ranges of vocabulary. There are seven levels in all, beginning with 250-300 headwords in the first level to 3500-5000 headwords in level seven. In addition to the basic core vocabulary there are topic words, which along with difficult basic words are glossed on the pages in which they occur. The seven levels are meant for the age groups five to seven years at level one, and go up to twelve to fifteen years at level seven. Apart from lexical control, the books also use a structural grading system that is familiar to the readers. Even within each level, they are linguistically graded. Although the books are simplified versions of original literary works, every effort has been made to preserve the author's individuality of style and opinion. The series hopes to bring to the readers a well-written story which will motivate them to go on reading and give them an opportunity to increase language awareness so that they will eventually be able to read and respond to the stylistics of unedited texts. About the book There are many interesting stories from medieval India. The characters are real; the incidents are also said to have happened. But there are not many historical records so it is difficult to tell with certainly how much of it belongs to actual history and how much to local tradition and folklore. However, both have blended to create fascinating legends, available in several versions, and portray Indian culture and thoughts of a forgotten era. This collection brings together stories from standard works of history, local folktales as well important literary works of medieval India,Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Exercises Contents Chanakya Learns a Lesson 1 King Vikramaditya and the Poet Outsmarting the Thieves 15 The Healer of Magadh 23 Surya the Saviour 32 391 Chanakya Learns a Lesson Thisis the story ofhow Chanakya, the wise prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya, learned one of the most important lessons in his life from a wise woman. Chanakya was born in a very poor family. His father, Chani, was a wise and learned man, although he had no money. It is said that baby Chanakya was born with pearly white teeth. An astrologer foretold that the boy was fated to be a king. He expected that Chani would be delighted [1 to hear this. But Chani was disturbed by the prediction and said that the life of a king was by no means a happy one. Most kings craved for more money and more power, which prompted them to fight, and often do things that were neither fair nor moral. He did not wish such a life for his son. So Chani broke the teeth of his infant son. But the astrologer merely laughed and said that his action was not going to change his son’s destiny! Of course it might change things to some extent—even if he didn’t become a king himself, gid that something would happen in the futuoo had an extremely strong desire for:a would certainly be some king's right- head man and virtually rule the aes é a grew up to be a scholar like his Sone He ep extremely intelligent and had a fantastic memory. But in spite of it, Chanakya remained as poor as his father and had a tough time trying to make ends meet. When he heard that King Nanda, the ruler of Pataliputra, encouraged wise men and often gave them a place in his kingdom, Chanakya decided to go and meet him. On reaching the palace, Chanakya asked the doorman if he could see the king. He was shown in and was asked to wait for the king. Chanakya looked around and saw that the empty throne belonging to the king was the best seat in the court. When King Nanda arrived, he was very angry to find a stranger sitting on his throne. He asked one of his attendants to find another seat for Chanakya. The attendant spoke politely at first, but when he realised that the stranger had no intention of getting up, he rudely forced Chanakya out of the seat. Chanakya was furious and swore that he would force Nanda out of his kingdom some day. Then, Chanakya remembered what the astrologer had predicted and decided to find the right man who would be the king and whom he could guide man; (2 |in all matters. He wandered all over the kingdom and finally reached a place in the foothills of the Himalayas where a tribe named Mauryas lived. As Chanakya rested under a tree, he saw a group of young boys playing. One of them pretended to be the king, while the rest played at being the king’s soldiers. The boy who played king looked very sharp and intelligent. Chanakya went to him and said, “I am a poor priest, your highness. Please let me have a gift.” The young boy, who was called Chandragupta, looked at him and said, “I give you all these cows that are grazing in this field.” “But they don’t belong to you so they are not yours to give,” said Chanakya smiling, “what shall I do if the actual owners come?” “Youcan’t ownthingsifyouare afraid of protecting them,” said young Chandragupta. “One has to fight for one’s rights in this world.” Chanakya was so impressed by Chandragupta’s words that he asked him, “Do you really want to become a king?” “Of course I do.” “Then come with me” said Chanakya, “I shall help you become one.” Chandragupta left his home to join Chanakya.Chanakya used his acumen to collect enough money to raise an army for Chandragupta. He taught Chandragupta all that he knew about fighting battles and the rights and duties of a king. Chanakya had not forgotten how he had been insulted in the kingdom of King Nanda, so he decided to attack him first of all. But Chandragupta’s army was small and inexperienced compared to Nanda’s and could not stand up to them. Chandragupta was badly defeated and had to flee along with Chanakya and hide ‘in the nearby forest. They stayed there for a while and went to the villages around the forest for food. One day as Chanakya entered a little village, he passed by a hut. He heard the excited voices of children inside. Their mother was serving them hot rice porridge. Suddenly a young boy started crying that his fingers were burnt. “Well,-what do you expect,” he heard the woman say, “Naturally they will get burnt if you act as foolishly as Chanakya.” Curious, Chanakya barged into the room. “Who are you?” asked the mother of the children, “What do you want?” “IT came in to ask about the meaning of your words,” said Chanakya. ity to: pink quickly and make wise decisions iddenly, without warning| The woman was surprised. “I was only telling the children to eat’ properly,” she said, “I had served them hot rice porridge. They should have realised that it was hottest at the centre and start eating from the outer edge which cools first of all.” “Yes, but what has Chanakya’s foolishness got to do with it?” asked Chanakya. “Everything,” said the woman, — smiling. “Chanakya is so foolish, he went and attacked Nanda’s kingdom right at the beginning. He ought to have conquered the smaller kingdoms around Nanda’s before attacking him. Just like this foolish child trying to eat the hot porridge from the middle! That is why Chanakya lost and had to flee.” “Thank you so much, mother,” said Chanakya to the woman, “You have taught me a wonderful lesson in war strategy. I shall not make the same “mistake a second time.” That was how Chanakya and Chandragupta reorganised their army and set about conquering the smaller kingdoms first. Eventually they succeeded in winning over Pataliputra as well. |"enquering: gelling control of a country by fighting _2 King Vikramaditya and the poet King Chandragupta II, better known as King Vikramaditya, waswell-knownforhisgenerosity. Wherever he went, he would distribute money to the poor and the needy. His ministers did not always approve of this because they were afraid he would give away too much and there would not be enough funds to run the kingdom. But « Vikramaditya refused to listen to them. Once, when he was visiting the city of Shravasti, he was shocked to find that many of the people did not even have the bare necessities of life. “Please take out five lakh gold coins from my royal treasury and distribute it to these people,” he ordered, “See to it that everyone gets a fair share.” “Your highness, I don’t think it be wise to waste money in this manner,” said his minister, “If you give them so much now you will have to raise the money for running the kingdom by increasing their taxes later on.” “We shall cross the bridge when we come to it,” said Vikramaditya with a smile, “Besides,I don’t think that giving money to the poor and needy should be considered wastage.” -“Are you sure you want me to give them five lakh gold coins?” asked the minister once again. “Actually, I don’t,” said the king looking at the minister, “Please send for ten lakh gold coins and distribute it.” Such was the generosity of King Vikramaditya! Vikramaditya was also a scholar who respected and took care of all learned men who came to his court. Once a poet named Matribandhu decided to try his luck. He arrived at Vikramaditya’s court but decided not to make any request or ask for anything. He wanted to see if the king would recognise his talent and reward him suitably. So when Vikramaditya met all the visitors, Matribandhu blessed him but said nothing more. The king realised that he was a scholar who was different from the others. So he decided to test him too. Although he rewarded all the other scholars who had come to visit him, he merely asked his attendants to put up Matribandhu at theguest-house. Buthe neither gave him any post nor any particular duty to perform. This meant there was no question of any money, although Matribandhu would have a place to stay and food to eat, just like everybody else. The king wasdetermined to see if he would ask for anything. Matribandhu was equally determined not to do it! A whole year passed by. Matribandhu went to the court with the others and tried to do what seemed to be his duty. He neither minded the jeering of others nor replied to their rude comments. Everyone made fun of him because the king did not appear to notice him at all. But Matribandhu took everything in his stride and did not complain. He did not mix with people who were constantly criticising others. Nor did he ever speak ill of anyone. He lived a quiet life, studying and composing poetry, and made no attempt to put himself in the limelight. That year, the winter was a particularly severe one. Vikramaditya woke up shivering one night and found that the fire in his room had died out. He called out to the royal attendants. But no one answered him. In fact, all of them were fast asleep. “Is there anyone there?” the king called again. “What is it, your highness?” asked Matribandhu, coming into the room. “You!” exclaimed the king in surprise. “Where are the others?”— Matribandhu did not tell him that they were all sleeping. “Please tell me if there’s anything I may do,” he said in reply. “Please make up the fire in my room,” the king told Matribandhu. Matribandhu was about to go out to fetch the pot of live coals when Vikramaditya noticed that he was shivering with cold. “Wait,” he said, “What time is it?” “Just one more hour for the sun to rise,” replied Matribandhu. “How do you know the time so precisely?” asked the king, “Don’t you sleep at night?” Matribandhu smiled but did not give a direct answer to the king’s question. “Tell me, why you have been keeping awake when the others are all asleep?” asked the king once again. Matribandhu made up a poem on the spot and recited it to the king. In the poem he described his worries, the pain of hunger and of cold; how he tried to warm himself by the fire which was inadequate as he had no money to buy firewood; precisely: exactly and correctly 1112 and how difficult it was to go to sleep when he was half-starved and had no winter clothes to keep himself warm. He blamed no one for his situation. He said it was merely his destiny. King Vikramaditya thanked him and asked him to go and rest. This time he was determined to do something for the poor poet who had suffered so much. In those days Kashmir was a part of Vikramaditya’s kingdom. The ruler had just died and there was no one to take care of the state. Vikramaditya decided that he would make Matribandhu the king of Kashmir. He sent a messenger that very night saying that he was sending Matribandhu to Kashmir with the necessary letter of authority and that he should be made the ruler of Kashmir as soon as he arrived. He felt happy to think that at last he would able to reward Matribandhu suitably. But when Matribandhu left the king to go back to his room that night, he was heart-broken. The king had told him nothing despite knowing all about his situation. Matribandhu felt quite sure that the king’s heart was untouched and he meant to do nothing at all for him. In any case, his life was a hard one and he felt no wish destiny: the things that happen to someoié Wi or controlled hheart-broken: extremely sad becouse of something that has happened hich cannot be changedto continue it. So Matribandhu decided to leave Vikramaditya’s kingdom the very next day. Matribandhu was surprised when the king’s attendant came to call him the next morning and said that the king wanted to see him. He went silently and stood before the king, determined to leave instantly. But Vikramaditya smiled at him and said, “Matribandhu, I want you to do something for me. Here is a very important letter. I want you to take it to Kashmir.” “Very well, your highness,” said Matribandhu without much enthusiasm. A minister handed him the letter and said, “It is an important document. Please ensure that no one reads it except the person it is meant for.” “No one shall, as long as I am alive,” said Matribandhu as he left the court. The journey was tough and tiring, and Matribandhu was worn out even before he reached his destination. When he had neared the border of Kashmir, a group of people arrived and asked him if he had been sent by King Vikramaditya. When Matribandhu replied yes, they treated him like an honoured guest. They gave him fresh, soft clothes and piping hot exhausted: extremely tired piping hot: piping hot liquid or food is very hot 13,