ZOOM INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

(Senior Secondary: Affiliated to CBSE, Delhi)

Study Materials June 2024-25
Class: VI Subject: English-II

Chapter–03 (AWISE LESSON)

Summary:

‘A Wise Lesson’ is a story that deals with two characters, a God – fearing man and his wife.
Theylived in a town of a remote island. One day the wife became pregnant and her husband
wasrejoicing in his heart and said that she would give birth to a son. The man also added that
theywould educate him and he would inherit his good name and increase his renown. The wife
was unhappy with his boastful husband and alarmed him that he was foolish as the future is
unknown to them. She also added that one should not speak such idle words and must leave
everything to God ,who controls everything.

In order to explain the matter to the husband the wife took help of a folk tale. The story included
adervish who lived in the service of a king. The king used to give him a piece of cake and a bowl
ofhoney daily. Honey, however, in those days was very expensive. The dervish began making
plansof selling his honey in the market and thereby getting rich by using the money he would
make. He made plans of getting married and have a robust and beautiful child. The dervish was so
caught up in his daydream that he raised his stick which hit the jar and broke it. The jar of honey
along with his daydreams was lost.

Therefore, the story ends with a moral that one should not boast about oneself as the future is
unknown to all.

[ N.B: Students need to learn the word meanings from the book.]

Important points:

 ‘A Wise Lesson’ is a Jewish folk tale.

 Folk tales are stories which are passed down from one generation to another by word of
mouth.
 Through folk tales the ethics of the culture are taught to the young and the old.
 The God– fearing man and his wife lived in a town of a remote island.
 The God–fearing man was boastful in nature and spoke idle word about his future.
 The wife was thoughtful and wise. She cautioned her husband not to make plans ahead
oftime.

EXERCISES
B1. Answer these questions.
1. What hopes did the husband have for his son who was yet to be born?
Ans : The man was very much glad and elated in his heart at the good news of his to be son. The
father hoped to educate their son and that the son would grow up to be a nice man who would
bring pride to him.

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 2. What was the reaction of the wife when she heard her husband’s plan for their to-
beson?
Ans : The wife cautioned her husband not to make plans ahead of time. She also suggested her
husband to leave everything to God, who controls the world.

3. Why did the wife caution her husband about boasting?

Ans : The wife cautioned her husband about boasting because only God knows what will happen in
the future and we cannot control everything.

4. What was the similarity between the husband and the dervish?
Ans: The husband and the dervish both made plans for the future without considering the
possibility that something bad could also happen.

B2. Complete the following sentences.

1. The dervish began making plans of selling his honey in the market and thereby getting rich by
using the money he would make.
2. The dervish broke his jar because he was daydreaming of getting rich and while doing that he
raised his stick so high that it broke the jar of honey.
3. The plans of the dervish and the husband were similar because both were planning for things
for the future without knowing what would exactly happen.
4. The dervish’s hope of a better future crashed because while planning for the future he ignored
the present and got careless.
5. The lesson that the wife shared with the husband was that one should not boast about oneself
as the future is unknown to all.
EXTRA QUESTIONS:-

5. State whether the statements are true or false.

a. The wife of the God fearing man was superstitious.– false
b. The dervish was in the service of a king.– true
c. The plans of the dervish and the husband were similar in nature.– true

Text based questions.

1. What do you mean by folktales?

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Ans : Folk tales are stories which are passed down from one generation to another by word of
mouth. Through these tales the ethics of the culture are taught to the young and the old.

2. Answer with reference to the context.

‘I have told you the story.’
i) From where the line is taken?
Ans: The line is taken from the poem, ‘A Wise Lesson.’
ii) Who is the speaker?
Ans: The wife is the speaker here.
iii) Who is the person spoken to?
Ans: The person spoken to is the husband or the God fearing man.
iv) Write down the moral of the story.
Ans : The wife told a story of a dervish who ignores the present and failed while planning for
thefuture. Hence, the moral of the story is that one should not boast about oneself as the future is
unknown to all.