Raintree 5 An Encounter in the Woods

 Summary: An Encounter in the Woods

A mother partridge is taking her one-day old babies down a hill to drink

from a stream. The babies can walk fast, but they are tiny, and afraid to be

left behind. Mother Partridge watches everything around her to protect her

babies. Soon, she spots a big, powerful fox coming across the meadow. He

can see or smell them, so she has to act quickly to save her babies. She tells

them to hide. Her babies are very obedient. They hide wherever they can

and sit quietly. Then, Mother Partridge flows straight towards the fox. She

pretends to be hurt. At first, the fox is excited to find the bird within his

reach. He tries to catch her. But Mother Partridge has a plan. Although she

acts lame, she moves fast enough to stay away from the fox.

Secondly, she moves in such a direction that the fox, following her, goes

farther and farther away from where her babies are hiding. After a while,

she rises into the air and flies away. The fox realises that she has made a

fool of him and remembers that she has done it before, but he cannot

understand why, because he does not know that she is hiding her babies

from him. Mother Partridge takes a long way to go back so that the fox

cannot follow her. She is pleased to see that her babies stay hidden even

when they hear her step. Then she calls them and all the babies run to join

her.

The story is about wild animals and the setting is a wood or a forest. The

story has a definite plot. It starts with a peaceful and happy scene where

the mother bird is taking her babies for a drink. Then there is a dangerous

development—a powerful fox appears. He may kill all of them. The mother

bird puts into action a clever strategy to stop him and save themselves. She

goes through a series of planned movements to do this. Finally, the fox is

fooled and the mother bird escapes.

The story ends with another happy and peaceful scene where the mother

bird goes back to her babies and they are safe and relieved. The text is full

of action as most of it describes how the mother bird goes near the fox and

leads him away from her babies, all the while keeping away from his grasp.

The mother bird and the fox have distinct characteristics, but the author

has not tried to make them sound like human beings. Rather, he has

stressed on the special qualities they have as wild animals, such as

excellent memory, cleverness, strength, caution, speed and courage.

UNIT 3 AN ENCOUNTER IN THE WOODS

Embedded Questions 1:

‘cluck’ and ‘peep’

Embedded Questions 2:

 Suggested answer (accept any logical answer): She may be flying towards the fox because she wants to

fight him or try to lead him away from her babies.

Embedded Questions 3:

Free response.

Embedded Questions 4:

 When Mother Partridge calls, the babies come out of their hiding places so quickly that it is like magic.

Comprehension

A. 1. They peeped softly and sadly if they were left even a few inches behind, and they looked really

fragile.

2. She watched every bush, every tree, the woods and even the sky.

3. In a few moments, he was sure to see or smell them.

4. But no matter how fast he went and leaped, Mother Partridge was always faster.

5. He also remembered that this was not the first time he had been fooled just this way.

6. An enemy could not have heard his sweet little ‘peep peep’ three feet away, but Mother Partridge

would have heard it if it was thrice as far.

B. 1. The baby partridges were one-day-old. They could already walk quickly. They looked like little balls

of fur. They toddled on tiny pink legs and peeped softly and sadly if left behind. They looked very

fragile. They were also very obedient because they listened to their mother as soon as she told

them to hide and they did not move from their hiding places till she asked them to come to her.

2. Mother Partridge flew toward the fox. She came down bravely, and then threw herself on the

ground. She moved as if she was lame, and made a sound as if she was hurt. The fox turned and

tried to catch her, but could not. She always moved so that something like a small plant or a log

came between them. No matter how fast the fox ran or jumped, she always managed to move out

of his reach.

3. Yes, the mother partridge was really cleverer than the fox. We know this as she managed to fool

and defeat the fox by pretending to be lame and hurt. The fox thought that he would catch her

easily, but he could never catch her at all. She also managed to save her babies from him. And she

had saved them the same way more than once.

4. a. The fact that the fox had not been able to catch the mother partridge even after five minutes’

racing was really strange.

 b. It was strange because the fox was quick and clever. He was also very powerful and strong, and

much bigger than the bird. He should have been able to catch the bird very easily. But actually,

he could not catch her at all.

5. a. He, the fox, realised that the partridge had made a fool of him when she flew away.

 b. The fox also realised that this was not the first time that the partridge had fooled him just this

way. But he did not understand why she did this.

 c. He was fooled because Mother Partridge wanted to keep him away from her babies.

6. When the mother partridge came back, she saw that all her babies were hiding. They had not

moved even when they heard her step. When she called to them to come, only then did all the

baby birds come out of their hiding places. The baby on the chip opened his eyes and ran to hide

under her tail. All the other babies joined them.

C. Suggested answer (accept any logical answer):

 Mother Partridge is loving, brave and clever. She takes good care of all her babies and saves them

from the fox. She is not afraid to fly close to the fox and race with him. She manages to make a fool of

him, not just once but quite a few times.

Grammar

A. 2. That 3. this 4. Whom 5. which 6. Those 7. these 8. What

B. 2. herself 3. himself 4. themselves 5. ourselves 6. yourselves 7. itself

C. 2. Who 3. yourself/ yourselves 4. That 5. itself 6. Which

Vocabulary

A. 1. loose; lose 2. roll; role 3. wait; weight 4. threw; through 5. won; one

6. week; weak

B. 1. an argument 2. advantage 3. a photo 4. lunch 5. a problem 6. action

Writing

Suggested answer (accept any logical answer):

 The baby partridges were a day old. Their mother was going to take them for a drink at the stream. At

first, they followed their mother closely. Then, their mother saw a fox. She asked all of them to hide.

 The babies were very frightened. But they listened to their mother and moved apart. Next, they

quickly hid in different places—under leaves, in a hole, and on a chip. Their mother flew off to lead the

fox away from them.

 When the mother partridge came back, the babies were still waiting patiently. They were also very

quiet. They did not move even when they heard her step. Finally, when their mother called, they

came out and joined her.

Listening

Listening text

 With a soft little cluck Mother Partridge called her babies to follow her. Her babies peeped in answer.

When they came to the stream, they saw some ducks floating on the water. “Quack,” said the ducks to

the partridges. Then they heard a croak and saw two frogs sitting on the bank. Buzz went a bee, flying

above their heads. From a field beside the woods, they could hear cows moo and goats bleat. It was

all very peaceful. Then, suddenly, they heard a different sound. And all of them hid, ran, flew or swam

away wherever they could. They had heard the hiss of a snake.

Answer:

1. d 2. g 3. a 4. h 5. c 6. b 7. f 8. e

Dictionary Work

2. (verb) walking with short, unsteady steps, trying to balance the body

3. (adjective) strong and tough

4. (adverb) with love and affection

5. (noun) something strange and wonderful which cannot be explained very easily

Life Skills

b and c

AN ENCOUNTER IN THE WOODS

A. Answer in brief.

1. How old was the brood of Mother Patridge? Where was she taking them?

 Ans: There were twelve in the brood and they were only a day old. Mother Patridge was taking

them for the first time to have a drink at the stream.

2. How did the mother protect her little ones?

 Ans: The mother was taking them to the stream for the first time for them to drink water. While

walking slowly she bent low for she did not want anyone to see them. Throughout the distance

she was making a soft little cluck in her throat to call her babies. The balls of fur followed her

silently. Mother Partridge watched every bush, every tree, the woods and even the sky. She was

forever alert about the possible attack of enemies.

B. Answer in detail.

1. What happened when Mother Partridge saw the enemy? Where did the birds hide?

 Ans: Mother Partridge spotted the enemy, the great, powerful cunning fox. Mother knew in a

few minutes he would smell them and attack them. Without wasting time, in her bird language

and in a firm slow voice, she asked her brood to hide. Though a day old they quickly followed her

instructions and started hiding in places closest to them. One hid under a leaf, another between

two roots and the third in a hole and so on till every little one hid. Only one baby could not find a

cover so he just sat low on a broad yellow chip. He lay very flat and closed his eyes very tight. They

did not even peep and everything was soon quiet.

2. What efforts did the fox take to catch the bird? Did he succeed?

 Ans: The fox was greatly excited to find a bird so suddenly within his reach. He was almost

sure he would get an easy prey that day. But it was not to be so. The fox jumped and jumped,

every time hoping he would catch the bird. Every time something or the other came between

them. The fox got so impatient that he snapped his jaws and leaped over the log to catch the

partridge which had hidden under it. A couple of times he almost caught her but the bird was

faster than the fox. The fox could not succeed in his attempt. He was extremely dejected and

irritated at his failure.

C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. She always looked for enemies, and soon, she found one. (An Encounter in the Woods)

 a. Who is she in the above lines?

 b. Why did she always look for enemies?

 c. Who did she find?

 Ans: a. She refers to Mother Partridge in the above line.

 b. She was a protective mother. She was going with her brood to the stream. So she was

always watchful, looking out for enemies.

 c. She found a fox across the meadow.

2. Even when they heard her step, not one of them moved. (An Encounter in the Woods)

 a. Who heard her step?

 b. Why did they not move?

 c. What do you understand about the babies from this?

 Ans: a. The babies/chicks who were hiding on their mother’s instruction heard her step.

 b. They strictly followed their mother’s instructions and were waiting for their mother’s call

to move out of their hiding.

 c. The babies were very obedient and careful and had complete trust in their mother.

D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)

1. A fox is considered a very clever animal. But in the story a little bird proved this wrong. Give

reasons.

 Ans: As a mother she smartly thought of ways to divert the attention of the fox to save her babies.

She almost risked her life but she was successful in keeping him away from her babies. Though

clever, the fox did not know that the mother was actually fooling him.

2. What similarities could you find between the bird mother and human mother?

 Ans: I think all mothers are the same – whether it is human or animals or birds. They are very

protective of their children. They would take any risk to save their children from any type of

danger. In the story we can see Mother Partridge behaving just like a human mother who is

protective, courageous and strict.

E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)

 Being courageous is very important while in difficult situations. Give examples from the text to justify

the above statement.

 Ans: [Free response] Yes, I agree that one has to be courageous and brave to face difficult situations.

It is very important not to be afraid of difficulties and problems and we should overcome them

by being clever and intelligent. In this story, with her presence of mind and smartness Mother

Partridge saved her brood from the enemy. She did not bother risking her life. She pretended to be

lame to attract the fox and thereby divert his direction away from the brood. Though tiny, she was

courageous to face the mighty fox. It was her courage that helped her face the threat to her life

and her brood’s life. A tiny bird proved that with courage, one can overcome even the most difficult

challenge.