Back to: JKBOSE Class 8th English Guide and Notes
Table of Contents
Introduction
This is a story about thanklessness. Raman, a poor man in the story, is a helpful person. He helps the tiger, the monkey and the goldsmith. The tiger and the monkey prove to be thankful creatures while the goldsmith makes a brazen show of his thanklessness and deceit.
Characters
Raman– a poor but kind man
The monkey– a monkey who lived in a mango tree by the river
The tiger– a tiger who lived in a cave
The snake– a snake who was stuck in a well with the tiger, the monkey, and the man
The man– a goldsmith from Varanasi
The king– the king of Varanasi
The prince– the missing prince of Varanasi who had given the tiger his necklace for saving his life
Raman Saves those in Need
Raman was a very poor Brahmin who lived with his wife on the outskirts of a small town. His wife told him to go to the city and look for a job. Raman liked the idea and decided to go to a nearby town to look for a job.
On his way, he had to pass through a forest. He was tired and hungry. He gathered some wild fruit and sat down by a well to eat but suddenly heard voices coming from the well. He peeped into the well. Surprisingly, he saw a tiger, a monkey, a snake and a man there.
The tiger asked Raman to help him out of the well. He would always be grateful to him for the kind action. Raman was frightened because he thought the tiger would eat him if he pulled him out, but the tiger promised that he would do no harm. Raman took pity on the tiger and pulled him out of the well. He thanked him and told him to come to his cave if he ever needed help. He warned him not to pull the man out of the well because he was very ungrateful.
Then the monkey called out for Raman’s help. He pulled him up. The monkey also thanked Raman and told him to come to the mango tree by the river if he ever needed help. He too warned Raman about the ungrateful man.
Next, the snake asked for Raman’s help. Raman was afraid he would bite him but he promised he would not. So, he pulled him up and the thankful snake told him to call out to him if he ever needed help. He issued the same warning about the man.
Finally, the man called out to Raman for help. Raman thought the man could not harm him so he helped him out too. The man said that he was a goldsmith from Varanasi and that Raman could come to him if he ever needed help.
Raman Receives Help from the Grateful Creatures
Raman reached the nearby town but he could not find a job. He was sad, hungry and tired and decided to go back home. He came to the river near the forest and decided to go to the monkey. He told him that he had not eaten for several days. The monkey gave him juicy mangoes to eat from his mango tree. Raman continued his journey.
He came upon a cave and decided to visit the tiger. The tiger gave him a necklace that a prince had once given him for saving his life. Raman was very happy to receive the necklace and thought he would sell it and start a business of his own.
He remembered the goldsmith and decided to go to Varanasi and sell the necklace to the goldsmith. When he reached the shop of the goldsmith, he showed him the necklace. The goldsmith had actually made the necklace for the prince who had gone missing. He asked Raman to wait in the shop and went to the king. He told the king that a man had come to sell the prince’s necklace to him and said that he must have killed the prince and stolen it.
The king sent his soldiers to arrest Raman. Raman had been deceived by the goldsmith. The animals had been right when they had advised him not to trust the ungrateful man. Suddenly, he remembered the snake. He called out to him and he appeared to help him.
The snake said he would slip into the queen’s chamber and bite her. She would become unconscious from the poison and only Raman would be able to cure her. He did just that. No doctors could cure the poisoned queen. The king announced he would reward anyone who could cure her. Raman offered to cure her.
He was able to cure the queen. The king was pleased with Raman and asked him how he had ended up in prison. Raman narrated all that had happened to him, including the goldsmith’s ungratefulness. The king got angry with the goldsmith and had him arrested.
Then the king gave Raman a bagful of gold coins. Raman thanked the king and went home. He and his wife lived happily ever after.
Conclusion
Just like Raman, we should always be kind and help people. But we must understand that there will be ungrateful people who will try to hurt us even if we have helped them. We must be careful ungrateful people like this. However, ungrateful people will always face the consequences of their thanklessness.
