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Days passed and, as ill luck would have it, Algu Chowdhry found himself in a tight spot. One of his fine pair of bullocks died, and he sold the other to Samjhu Sahu, a cart driver of the village. The understanding was that Sahu would pay the price of the bullock in a month’s time. It so happened that the bullock died within a month.
Several months after the bullock’s death, Algu reminded Sahu of the money he hadn’t yet paid. Sahu got very annoyed. “I can’t pay you a penny for the wretched beast you sold me. He brought us nothing but ruin. I have a bullock. Use it for a month and then return it to me. No money for the dead bullock,” he said angrily.
Explanation:
Days went by, and Jumman and Algu remained as enemies. Their relationship was still bad. To make matters worse, Algu had to face an unfortunate situation. He had owned two bullocks. They were of great quality. However, one of them died. Since Algu needed money, he decided to sell the other one.
Algu decided to sell his bullock
A man named Samjhu Sahu bought the bullock from Algu. He was a bullock-cart driver.
Samju Sahu, a bullock cart driver
However, he didn't pay the amount as Algu had given him a month.
Unfortunately, the bullock died within a month, and Sahu failed to pay the amount. Algu waited several months before he broached the subject to Sahu. Sahu became angry and annoyed, and he refused to pay Algu back because the bullock had died. Sahu called the dead bullock a wretched beast- meaning a useless and terrible animal- because the animal failed to fetch him any profit. Sahu said he would let Algu use his bullock for a month but would never pay anything for the dead bullock.
Meanings of difficult words from the paragraphs:
Sl. No. | Words | Meanings |
1 | Ill luck | Bad luck |
2 | Tight spot | Difficult situation |
3 | Fine | Of very high quality |
4 | Cart driver | A person who drives a vehicle pulled by animals like horses or bullocks |
5 | Annoyed | Irritated |
6 | Penny | A small sum of money; British currency (coin) similar to the Indian paisa |
7 | Wretched | Of poor quality; an expression of anger or annoyance |
8 | Beast | Animal |
Enrich your vocabulary with the following words/expressions from the explanation:
Sl. No | Words | Meanings |
1 | Unfortunate | Regrettable or unlucky |
2 | Broached | To talk about or raise a difficult subject for discussion |
3 | Refused | Not willing to do something |
4 | Fetch | Achieve a particular price when sold |
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2006). Honeysuckle. Fair Play - Premchand (pp. 84 - 90). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.
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