1

Lucky and the Giants

Once there was a man called Lucky. He was a very timid man, but he liked to pretend to
himself that he was the bravest man in the world. He was always boasting of the great deeds
he could perform but, as you might guess, he never did anything really brave. When no one was
about, he would pretend he was fighting wild beasts and giants, and ofcourse, he imagined he
killed them every time.
One day, while crossing a field, he swung his sword wildly about him, and was soon engaged in a
desperate battle withthree imaginary giants. But all he managed to do was kill three flies.
“Well, they might have been giants,” said Lucky to himself, “and if they had been, I would
surely have slain them.” When he arrived home, he proudly engraved thesewords on his sword,
“This is the Sword of Lucky, Slayer ofGiants.”
Next day he took his sword, tied a small bag of flour onhis back, and set off on a long
journey. After walking for many miles he grew very tired and began to search for a good place
to rest. He discovered a fine spot under a largetree, but before lying down, he buried his little
bag of flourin the ground, in case thieves tried to rob him while he slept.Soon after, he was in the
land of dreams.

At dawn next morning, while he was still fast asleep, seven real giants chanced to pass that
way. They saw the sleeping Lucky and read the writing on the sword which wasby his side.
“Oh!” said one of the seven. “Here indeed is a mighty warrior. We must ask him to show
us what great deeds hecan perform.”
The loud voice of the giant awakened Lucky, and he wasterrified at the sight of the seven huge
men. He did not letthem see how frightened he was, and when he noticed theywere friendly, he
spoke quite boldly to them:
“Well! What do you wish?”
“We should like to see you perform some great deed,”replied one of the giants.
“That you shall see this very minute,” replied Lucky. “See! This is the kind of man I am. When
I stamp my foot,the earth shakes.”
He walked over to the spot where he had hidden his little bag of flour under the soil. He stamped
and stamped on the flour until the giants were almost hidden in clouds of whitedust.
The giants were greatly surprised, and very much impressed. They begged him to come and
live with them, andpromised him great wealth and happiness. Lucky decidedthat he would stay
with them for a few weeks, so he followedthe giants to their woodland home.
One day a huge rhinoceros came to the forest where thegiants lived. The rhinoceros is a very
large animal with thickwrinkled hide and a sharp strong horn on its nose. This beastdid so much
damage that the giants set out to hunt and killit. They asked Lucky to go with them and help to
get rid ofthe savage monster. He was really much too afraid to go, butat the same time he could
not very well refuse.
“I will follow you in a few minutes,” said Lucky, “asI must first sharpen my sword.”
As soon as the giants had gone, Lucky, instead of sharpening his sword, climbed up a nearby
tree to hide.
Presently who should come by but the dreadful rhinoceros grunting and snapping angrily. It lay
down for a rest underthe very tree in which Lucky was hiding. Suddenly the giants appeared
and gave a great shout when they saw therhinoceros. Poor Lucky almost fainted with terror,
lost hishold of the branch, and fell right on top of the rhinoceros.
Up jumped the beast and away he went at full speed. Lucky clung on with both hands to the
creature’s ears as hewas jolted and bumped through the forest.
Hot on their heels followed the seven giants and, after much racing and chasing, they
managed to kill the beast withtheir spears. Instead of thanking the giants for saving his life,Lucky
pretended to be very angry with them.
 “Have you no sense! Could you not see that I was trying to tame the animal?” he cried. “That
beast would have been very useful to us. It was so big and strong, and just what weneeded to pull
our heavy loads for us.”
The giants said nothing but stared in astonishment at the brave little man who had tried to tame
such a savage animal.They were now quite sure he must be the bravest man in the world.
About a month after this strange adventure with therhinoceros, a loud shouting was
heard near the woodland.A tribe of savages were on the warpath and were seeking tokill the giants
and their friends. The giants came to Lucky and asked him to lead them against the enemy, but he
made thesame excuse as before that he must first sharpen his sword. When the giants had departed
Lucky trembled with fear.
He was much too timid to lead them, yet he knew that he could not refuse to help them. After
a few minutes, Luckychose the quietest-looking horse he could find and followed on the trail of
the giants.
All went well until the horse heard the sounds of fighting.At once the creature went wild with
fright and raced off like the wind. Poor Lucky tried to stop the animal by clinging toa young tree,
but the tree came up, roots and all, in his arms.Away sped the terrified horse into the thick of the
fight.
The tree, which Lucky carried, scattered the enemy right and left and soon the savages fled in
terror from the battle.
 It was some time before Lucky could manage to controlthe horse and return to his friends,
but when he did so, thegiants welcomed him with open arms. They led him back to their camp
with songs of joy and praise, and there he dweltas a hero for the rest of his life.

Do You Remember?
1. What was the title of the story?
2. What words did Lucky put on his sword?
3. What did he take with him on his journey?
4. Where did he put it when he went to sleep?
5. Who chanced to pass while he was sleeping?
6. What did they ask Lucky to show them?
7. What did he do to impress them?
8. Where did Lucky decide to stay for a few weeks?
9. Why did the giants wish to kill the rhinoceros?
10. Where did Lucky hide?
11. How did he come to be on the back of the rhinoceros?
12. What did Lucky say to the giants after they had killed
the rhinoceros?
13. Who came to attack the giants?
14. What happened when Lucky’s horse heard the sounds
of fighting?
15. Describe how Lucky scattered the enemy in the battle.
 2
The Pony Express

The first settlers of America lived along the coast and didnot go far from the sea because of the
great forests and high mountains that barred their way. After a while, however, some brave
hunters and fur traders began to travel beyondthe forests and mountains. Quite often they
returned with wonderful stories about the rich land and wild animals they had seen.
It was not long before many families made up their mindsto go together to this wonderful land
that lay on the otherside of the mountains. It was a very dangerous journey as they had to fight
against Native Americans and bands of robbers.When they found a good place to make their
homes, theyjoined together to build log cabins for each other. In thisway, little villages and
towns sprang up all over the country.As people were eager to hear news of their friends, men
were hired to carry letters from one place to another. Thesepostmen did not start out until they

had gathered enough letters to pay for the trip. People complained about them asthey sometimes
took months to deliver a letter.
 Stagecoaches were next used to carry passengers, goods and mail between the towns. Even
this was too slow for important letters and messages. To meet the wishes of thepeople for a
speedy and safe delivery of letters, the Pony Express was started.
A company bought five hundred swift strong ponies, and built a chain of offices and stables
between the East and theWest. They also hired eighty of the best horsemen in the country.
These pony riders had to be brave, clever and cool in times of danger. Each rider had his own
run and had to coverthe distance between two stations which were usually about fifty miles apart.
They changed their horses every fifteen miles and they made no stop to eat or rest until they
reached the end of their journey.
The letters were wrapped in oiled silk because the express rider had to sometimes swim streams
in order to avoid danger. He carried these silk-covered bundles in two smallleather pouches
strapped to the saddle.
These brave riders faced many hardships and dangers. Nomatter how cold or stormy the weather,
they had to be ready to leap into the saddle and dash forward to the next station.They had to find
their way over lonely and dangerous trails. Often bands of Native Americans or robbers would
attackthem and they would narrowly escape with their lives.
The best known of the Pony Express riders was William F. Cody, better known as “Buffalo Bill”.
He had to seek workwhen he was fourteen years of age because of his father’sdeath.
One day young Cody met a man who was hoping to start the Pony Express Company.
“Cody,” said the man, “we are starting the Pony Express in a very dangerous part of the
country. It will be hard andexciting work, and we are looking for only the best and mostfearless
riders. Will you take the job?”
As the pay was very good and he had his mother and younger siblings to support, Cody
answered at once, “Thanks. I’ll be glad to start work right away.”
It was not long until Cody made the longest Pony Expressride on record. After a trip of more
than a hundred miles hereached the station only to find that the next rider had beenkilled by
Native Americans. There was no one to go on withthe mail and this brave lad felt that it was his
duty to do so.He changed ponies and went off on another long dangerous ride.
Cody nearly lost his life on this part of the journey. Shortly after leaving the station, he was
ambushed by a band of Native Americans on the warpath. They surrounded him but he
escaped by suddenly lying flat on his horse andcharging through them. There was a long and
exciting chase but he managed to avoid capture.
When he arrived at the next station, Cody discovered thathe must return at once with a very
important message. Offhe went again by the same way as he had come and, althoughhe was very
tired and weary, the mail was delivered on time.In all, he had ridden about three hundred miles,
stopping only to change to fresh ponies.
With the coming of the railway and the telegraph, the Pony Express stopped, as it was no
longer needed. WilliamCody soon found a job with the railway company. He huntedand killed
buffaloes in order to supply meat to the men who were building the railway. That was how he came
to be called“Buffalo Bill”.
 Do You Remember?
1. What was the title of the story?
2. Where did the story take place?
3. Where did the first settlers live?
4. Why was it dangerous to go beyond the forests and
mountains?
5. Why did the people complain about the first kind ofpostmen?
6. What were next used to carry passengers, goods and mail?
7. How many ponies did the Express Company buy?
8. How many horsemen did they hire?
9. How far apart were the stations?
10. The riders changed their ponies every miles.
11. How did the express riders carry the letters?
12. Who was the most famous of the Pony Expressriders?
13. At what age did he start work?
14. Why did he have to begin work so young?
15. One day Cody reached the station to find .
16. What did he do?
17. How did he escape from the fury of NativeAmericans?
18. Why did the Pony Express stop altogether?
19. Where did William Cody find his next job?
20. Why was he called “Buffalo Bill”?
 3
A Narrow Escape

One bitterly cold day, when a mother Polar bear and her cub were walking slowly along the ice
near their Greenland home, a heavy snowstorm came on, and somehow the littlebear lost her
mother.
She was a beautiful young polar bear – pure white all over, with a well-shaped tapering
head, a rather long neck,and a slim graceful body. She had fur even on the soles ofher feet, so
that she should not slip about on the ice and perhaps hurt herself.
As soon as she discovered that she had lost her mother,the little cub raised her nose high in the
air and sniffed several times; then she put out her tongue and licked some of the falling
snowflakes. Uttering a funny little noise, she walked slowly and timidly through the blinding snow,
hoping to findher parent. On and on she went, little knowing poor thing,that instead of going
after her mother, she was walking in theopposite direction.
She became frightened and miserable, and although she did not feel the cold, the little cub did
not like the howlingwind and the cutting hail and snow, which came down in such thick clouds.
After she had wandered about for some hours, she began to feel very lonely and hungry.
Althoughshe was several months old, she still liked nothing better than to cuddle in close to
her mother’s warm body after a good meal. Too tired at last to go any farther, the little bear, with
a great sob, lay down on the ice and fell fast asleep.
Now this is a most dangerous thing to do in that worldof snow and ice. Although they are
such big strong animals, polar bears, like all other creatures of the Frozen North, must always
keep a sharp lookout for their enemies. As thelittle bear lay there sound asleep from weariness,
a big bullseal suddenly climbed out of the water on to the ice. He noticed the little bear at once,
for by this time the storm had died down and it had almost stopped snowing.
The seal would not have attempted to attack a full-grown polar bear, because he would have been
too afraid; but to meet a lonely sleeping baby bear was a different matter. All seals have very
large sharp teeth with which they can giveterrible slashing bites when they are angry or roused
to fight.They can move quickly and gracefully when swimming in the water, but they are only able to
waddle slowly and clumsily on land, and this they do in funny little jerks, stopping every few

minutes to rest.
As the little cub was still in the Land of Nod, the seal was able to approach quite close to
her, and was about to give her a good hard bite, when for some reason or other, the little bear
woke up! The young cub was old enough toknow that seals were her enemies, so as soon as she
saw the fierce-looking seal just beside her, she ran away as fast asshe could. This annoyed the
seal very much indeed, as heknew he couldn’t travel half as quickly as the little bear. He stopped
and remained where he was for a few minutes to ponder what he should do next.
The little bear had disappeared round a huge piece of ice out of sight. The seal then decided
on his plan of action,moved slowly after her, and went round the piece of ice theother way, so
that he would meet the little bear face to face.On he travelled in his clumsy shuffling manner,
working his way carefully round, and hoping to meet the young cubat any moment. Suddenly
something appeared a few yardsahead of him. To his horror it was not the little bear but the
mother polar bear herself!
This was a terrible state of affairs. Polar bears are extremelyfond of a nice meal of seal flesh. Instead
of being so anxiousto find the little bear, he was now only too eager to escapefrom her mother.
In a dreadful fright, the seal turned roundand hurried off in the direction he had come. Luckily the
oldbear did not notice him as she was looking the other way.
The seal decided to go straight into the sea at the nearest point. On and on he waddled
hurriedly until he was almostout of breath. He was close to the water’s edge, and was about to
dive into the sea with a sigh of relief, when to hisamazement he saw, a little way off, a school
of dangerouskiller whales. These huge creatures are the deadly enemies of seals, so it was no
wonder that the seal was now scaredalmost out of his wits.
The whales were sporting in the water, jumping up everynow and then, leaping, rolling and
tumbling about as if thoroughly enjoying themselves. The seal, tired though hewas, turned back
once more, and saw the old Polar bear withher little one coming straight towards him over the
ice.
 The seal now became frantic with fear as his way of retreat was cut off, and it meant either being
killed by the powerful polar bear or the dreadful whales. In desperation he stoodperfectly still
and, strangely, the mother bear appeared to payno attention to him. She lumbered past, gently
pushing her newly found cub in front of her, so that the little one would not get a chance to
wander away again. The seal gave a heavy sigh of relief when they disappeared from view, for now
he was able to remain in safety on theice until the whales had caught as many fish as they wanted
and had swum away in another direction. When he finallydecided that the coast was clear, the

seal slipped into the water once more, and to satisfy his hunger he caught somefish for his
supper.
This exciting adventure taught him a lesson for the future.The seal often remembered how he
had been cornered between two of his greatest enemies, and how he had so narrowly escaped.
(Adapted)

Do You Remember?
1. What was the title of the story?
2. Where did the story take place?
3. Describe the polar bear cub.
4. Why does a bear not slip while moving about on ice?
5. How did the little bear lose her mother?
6. What did she do when she was too tired to go anyfarther?
7. Why was this dangerous?
8. Who suddenly appeared and saw the sleeping cub?
9. Describe the seal’s movements (a) in water (b) on land.
10. What did the seal decide to do?
11. What happened when he had almost reached thebear cub?
12. Why was the big seal unable to catch the little bear?
13. When he gave chase whom did he meet?
14. What did the frightened seal do?
15. What did he see when he was about to dive into thewater?
16. Why was the seal scared?
17. Worse was to follow. In what position did the seal
find himself?
18. How did he escape?
19. What did the seal do when the coast was clear?
20. What lesson for the future did this adventure teachhim?
 4
Spots

In the centre of a bare patch of ground in the Indian junglewas something that looked like a large
stone. But it was nota stone; it was Spots, the leopard.
Spots lay quite still, and allowed the sun to blaze downupon the whole length of his back.
The animal grumbled tohimself for he was in a bad temper. He ought to have beenhappily
asleep long ago, but he was hungry, and a hungryleopard finds it hard to sleep. He knew that it
would be useless to look for food while the sun shone, and so he muttered and growled and
wished that the night would come.
Spots was a curious creature. His coat looked worn in places – like a rug that has been too
long in use – and hereand there the fur had quite gone. He opened his mouth in a mighty yawn,
and his teeth showed yellow and stumpy.
He moved rather stiffly and seemed to take no interest in anything around him. Spots was old.
Old age to a wild animal, especially to beasts of prey likethe leopard, tiger and lion, is a terrible
thing. It always meansstarvation and, very often, death. Age brings weakness, and in nature, the
weak can expect no mercy.
Spots was unable to chase and attack the deer which weresuch an easy prey to him when he
was young. He would look longingly at the cattle and wild boars but was afraid to approach
too closely because of the danger from their horns.
Thus Spots, in order that he might live, found himself compelled to hunt human beings. In
other words, Spots became a man-eater. It was now his custom to lie hidden near the grazing
grounds; to crouch in the bushes near thestreams from which the women and children of the
villages drew their water; and to lie in the long jungle grass that linedthe forest paths. There he
would wait patiently until someunhappy woman or child would come near enough for himto
spring.
Now, although it is quite an easy matter for a leopard to kill human beings, he must not do
it twice near the sameplace, if he wishes to stay alive. In some mysterious way Spots had found
this out, and so he never stayed long afterhis kill and he would travel a long distance away
from thescene of his crime before lying down to rest for the day.
It was because of this cleverness that Spots lived so long.When the men of the village arrived
to hunt for him he wasfar away and could not be tracked down. Spots continued to kill and, all
unknown to himself, became quite famous as theleopard which could not be caught.
Forest rangers took an interest in Spots and made manyefforts to find him, but in vain. The
creature’s habit of never going back to a village where he had once killed made it verydifficult to
know where he was. Tricks of all kinds were tried;traps were cunningly laid; but Spots avoided
and escapedthem all. At last a reward of five hundred rupees was offeredfor his capture, dead or
alive.
Spots knew nothing about warnings or rewards, but hedid know that it was becoming very
difficult to find food. Children no longer ran about the villages at dusk. The women drew the water
early, and men went through the jungle in couples and armed with heavy sticks.
The old leopard had visited a village the previous night and had waited near the gates of the wooden
railings surroundingit. He had gained nothing for his trouble, and had departedin some haste at
daybreak when he saw some cattle being driven out to graze. The cattle had detected his
presence, and the leader of the herd had charged after him, snortingwith fury. A herd boy, who
ran after the bull, noticed the tell-tale tracks of the leopard and raced back to the village.There
he told the Headman what he had seen.
Word was sent at once to the Forest Officer, who statedthat he would come as soon as
possible. He clapped his hands and, to the servant who appeared he said, “Tell Badri to come
here, please.”
In a moment or two, a small brown-faced lad of about eighteen years of age passed silently
into the room, saluted, and stood awaiting orders.
“Badri,” said the Officer, “we go once more in search of
the spotted one, and I think we shall catch him this time.”
Badri looked doubtfully at his master and replied, “Wehave sought for him many times,
Sahib.”

“That is true,” said the Forest Officer, “but we have searched for him blindly. Here is a
picture which I have drawn and it shows every village where the spotted one haskilled. Notice
that if he kills in the East, then his next raid is in the West, and if he kills in the West, then his
next raid isin the East.”
Badri’s eyes flashed. “His last kill was in the East, Sahib,”
he said.
“Yes!” cried the Forest Officer, thumping the table with hisfist. “Therefore his next foul deed will
take place in the West!”“But there are four villages in the West,” said Badri thoughtfully.
“True,” replied the Officer, “and he has already attacked
three of them. Do you see my point now?”
Badri nodded. “We shall await our spotted enemy in the
fourth village,” he said and saluted.
Five minutes later the Forest Officer was filling his pockets with cartridges, and Badri was busy
cleaning a couple of rifles.
It was late afternoon and the people of the village werealready making preparations for the
night. The cattle werecoming in, herded by the children, and the women were busy about the
fires making the evening meal. The men hadreturned from their work in the fields earlier than
usual andwere gathered round the Headman, who was looking veryimportant.
From the jungle nearby, a goat bleated. The sound came from a part where three trees stood
together. On one of these trees there was something like a large bird’s nest. It wasat the foot of this
tree that the goat was tied.
In this nest, and completely hidden by the leaves and branches, sat the Forest Officer and
his tracker, Badri.It had been quickly built by the men of the village that same day, and the two
hunters had taken their places in case Spotsmight make an early evening raid. They sat perfectly
still,their feet crossed and their knees apart. The barrel of the Forest Officer’s gun poked out
amongst the leaves. A riflelay where it could be easily snatched in case of need.
Badri’s eyes examined every bush and tuft of long grass near their hideout. The goat continued
to bleat. Suddenly thetracker pulled at the Forest Officer’s sleeve and pointed to a large clump of
bushes. The Officer looked in the directionof the pointing finger but could see nothing unusual.
Thenhe detected a slight movement and he nodded to his servant as a sign that he had seen.
Spots was crouched beneath the bush and he was watching the goat. He was becoming hungrier
every minute, and that

goat was what he desired most in the world. Suddenly thegoat strained at the cord which
fastened it to a stake. That movement decided Spots. He could not bear the idea of his prey
escaping, so he crouched yet lower and silently sprang.One terrible bite and the goat sank to the
earth, dying.
Spots bounded away and waited, his tail lashing his sides.Nothing happened. Slowly he returned
to his prey and sank down to feast himself. As he did so there was a tremendous crash and
something whistled by his head. The Forest Officerhad fired but had missed him.
Spots went mad with rage. He would destroy the enemyin the nest. Without warning, he sprang
at the tree, and beganto claw his way up the trunk. His eyes blazed with a yellowlight, and he
snarled as he climbed. Up and up he went until his head hit something hard and cold. It was, in
fact, the muzzle of the rifle, and the Forest Officer was determinednot to miss this time. Quite
calmly, he waited for Spots.

Spots halted under the nest and the Officer pressed the trigger. The leopard screamed,
pawed the air wildly for a second, and fell in a heap at the foot of the tree. The two hunters
descended and looked at the animal which had caused them so much trouble.
“Badri,” said the Forest Officer. “Go to the village andtell the people that they can now sleep
in peace as the spottedone is dead.”
Badri smiled, saluted and ran off to tell the joyful news.
Do You Remember?
1. What was the title of the story?
2. To which creature does it refer?
3. How could you tell that Spots was old?
4. Why did the leopard become a man-eater?
5. Where did he usually prowl in search of prey?
6. Why was he never caught?
7. Who made many efforts to catch him?
 8. What reward was offered for his capture?
9. Who noticed the animal’s tell-tale tracks?
10. What did he do?
11. To whom was the news sent immediately?
12. What was the tracker’s name?
13. Describe the picture which the Forest Officer haddrawn.
14. Where did the Forest Officer and his tracker hide?
15. What trap had they set for the leopard?
16. Who first noticed Spots?
17. Describe the hungry animal’s attack on the goat.
18. What happened to the Forest Officer’s first shot?
19. How did Spots meet his death?
20. What instructions did the Forest Officer give to Badri?