NCERT Solutions for Class 6 English Poorvi Unit 1 Fables and Folk Tales Chapter 1, 2 and 3

Rama Natha was the son of a rich landlord. His father left him large tracts of land when he died. But Rama Natha did not spend even one day looking after his land. This was because he had a funny idea—he believed there was a magic potion that could turn any object into gold. He spent all his time to learn more about this potion. People cheated him often, promising to tell him about it, but he did not give up. His wife, Madhumati, was tired of this and also worried because she saw how much money Rama Natha was spending. She was sure that soon they would be without money. One day, a famous sage called Mahipati came to their town. Rama Natha became his follower and asked him about the potion. To his surprise the sage answered, “Yes, in my travels in the Himalayas, I heard how you could make such a potion. But it is difficult.” “Tell me!” requested Rama Natha, not believing his luck.

“You have to plant a banana plant and water it regularly with your hands. In winter, the morning dew is on the leaves. You have to collect the dew and store it in a bottle. When
you have five litres of dew, bring it to me. I will chant some magic words, which will turn it into the magic potion. A drop of the potion will change any object into gold.”
Rama Natha was worried. “But winter is only for a few months. It will take me years to collect five litres of dew.” “You can plant as many banana plants as you want. But remember, you must look after them yourself and collect the dew with your own hands.”
Rama Natha went home, and after talking to his wife started cleaning his large fields, which had been lying empty all these years. There he planted rows and rows of banana plants. He tended them carefully and during the winter months collected the dew that formed on them with great care. His wife helped him too. Madhumati gathered the banana crop, took it to the market and got a good price for it. Over the years, Rama Natha planted more and more plants and they had a huge banana plantation. At the end of six years, he finally had his five litres of dew.

Carefully, he took the bottle to the sage. The sage smiled and muttered something over the water. Then he returned the bottle and said, “Try it out.” Rama Natha sprinkled a few drops on a copper vessel and waited for it to turn to gold. To his surprise nothing happened! “This is cheating,” he told the sage. “I have wasted six precious years of my life.” But sage Mahipati only smiled and called Madhumati to come forward. She came with
a big box. When she opened it, inside shined stacks of gold coins!
Now the sage turned to the very surprised Rama Natha and said, “There is no magic potion
that can turn things into gold. You worked hard on your land and created this plantation.
While you looked after the trees, your wife sold the fruits in the market. That’s how you got this money. It was your hard work that created this wealth, not magic. If I had told you about this earlier, you would have not listened to me, so I have played a trick on you.” Rama Natha understood the wisdom behind these words and worked even harder on his
plantation from that day on.

Rama Natha, the son of a rich landlord, neglected his inherited lands in pursuit of a magic potion that could turn objects into gold. Cheated often, he persisted until a sage named Mahipati instructed him to collect five liters of dew from banana plants. Over six years, Rama Natha and his wife Madhumati developed a large banana plantation, selling the fruit for profit. When the dew did not transform objects into gold, Mahipati revealed the true lesson: their hard work had generated wealth, not magic. Realizing this wisdom, Rama Natha continued to diligently work on his plantation.

Mr Raven was perched upon a limb,
And Reynard the Fox looked up at him;
For the Raven held in his great big beak,
A morsel the Fox would go far to seek.
Said the Fox, in admiring tones: “My word!
Sir Raven, you are a handsome bird.
Such feathers! If you would only sing,
The birds of these woods would call you King.”
The Raven, who did not see the joke,
Forgot that his voice was just a croak.
He opened his beak, in his foolish pride–
And down fell the morsel the Fox had eyed.
“Ha-ha!” laughed the Fox. “And now you know,
Ignore sweet words that make you glow.
Pride, my friend, is rather unwise;
I’m sure this teaching is quite a surprise.”

Mr. Raven sat on a tree limb holding a tasty morsel in his beak. Reynard the Fox, wanting the morsel, flattered the Raven, praising his looks and suggesting he would be king if he could sing. Fooled by the flattery, the Raven opened his beak to sing, dropping the morsel, which the Fox quickly grabbed. The Fox laughed and taught the Raven a lesson: beware of flattery, as pride can lead to foolish mistakes.

A folk tale from Tamilnadu
In A village, one night –
Rama : Oh-Humm! What A hard day it has been! I’m feeling so sleepy… What’s the matter? What are you looking at?
Rama wife : SSSSH! Listen!
Rama : Some body trying to get in. l…l Think he has already got in… the noise has stopped.
Rama: We down … don’t look. it’s a thief … He must have some how got past Rama.
Rama was the village kotwal.
Rama wife : What should we do?
Rama : i tell you, listen …
Meanwhile – voices, I’ll have to wait till they fall asleep. I wonder where they keep their money. they’re saying something. perhaps they’re talking about their money. I’d better listen closely.
Rama wife : What should we name our child?
Rama : If he is a boy we’ll call him Rama.
Rama wife : Rama? yes … That’s a good name. When he’s in the house, I’ll call out softly to him, Rama! Rama!
Rama : But what if he’s in the yard?

Rama wife : Than I’ll call out a little louder. Rama, Rama!
Thief : I wish they would stop this silly game and talk about their money instead. Or fall asleep at least!
Rama : But my dear, what if the boy is not in the house or in the yard, but in the street?
Rama wife : Oh, then I’ll call out very loudly… Rama! Rama!
Kotwal : listen Rama! Rama!
Rama, The village kotwal, run to the house from which he heard his name being called.
OH,OH! same thief has dug his way into this house. AH, at last they’re stopped their chatter!
Thief : Now soon they’ll go to slip and … EH!
Kotwal : You’re under arrest.
Rama ” It’s Rama! he hears us!
Rama wife : The plan worked! we’re saved.
The man and his wife by their cleverness had saved themselves from being robbed.

In a Tamilnadu village, Rama, the village kotwal, and his wife detect a thief entering their home at night. To outsmart the thief, they devise a clever plan. They start a conversation about naming their future child, repeatedly calling out “Rama” in different volumes as if practicing how they’d call their son in various locations. The thief, impatient and hoping they’d discuss where their money is kept, gets frustrated. Meanwhile, Rama’s name-calling reaches the real Rama, who rushes to the house, realizes a thief is present, and arrests him. The couple’s cleverness prevents the robbery, saving themselves from being robbed.