Background Written by William Saroyan. Set in an Armenian immigrant community in rural California. Narrated by Aram, a 9-year-old boy. Explores childhood adventure, honesty, and family honour. Garoghlanian Tribe Armenian immigrant family in America. Poor but famous for honesty and integrity. Strong cultural values and family pride. Their reputation influences the actions of Aram and Mourad. Summary Aram wakes up and sees his cousin Mourad with a beautiful white horse. Since their family is poor and honest, Aram is surprised. Mourad claims they only “borrowed” the horse. The boys secretly ride it every morning. Aram struggles to control the horse, but Mourad rides it skillfully. They hide the horse in a vineyard barn. John Byro, the horse’s owner, reports it missing. He later sees Mourad with the horse but trusts the family and does not accuse them. The boys feel guilty. They secretly return the horse. John Byro later says the horse has returned and is even better behaved. Aram fondly r...
To the Memory of a Lion by Tara Tixoari (Summary Only For Reading) Tanaji Malusare was Shivaji’s childhood friend and companion at arms. He was a very brave and daring man and Shivaji proudly called him his Simha or Lion. In this story, Tanaji is at home in Umratha preparing for his son’s wedding. One morning, a messenger arrives from Raigarh with an urgent message from the king. When Tanaji reaches Raigarh Fort, Shivaji tasks him with taking back Kondana Fort from Udai Singh Rathor and his Mughal forces. Tanaji comes up with a daring plan and with the king’s blessings, leaves to set the plan in motion. He calls his friend Suryaji and tells him to train the soldiers. But he also cautions him saying that the soldiers should not know what they were training for. The plan is that Tanaji would take some of the soldiers to Kondana Fort on a moonless night. With the help of Yashwanti the monitor lizard, they would scale the wall. Suryaji, meanwhile, would take the rest of the soldiers a...