The Wise Old Man
Once there
was a wealthy man who had a son. His son had a lot of bad habits and he tried his best to get
rid of it but he failed. One day the rich man met an old scholar and requested him
to get rid of his son’s bad habits.
The scholar came
up with a brilliant idea and he decided to take the young man for a stroll in a
garden. After a short walk, the old scholar asked the boy to pull out a tiny
plant from the garden. The boy quickly grabbed hold the plant firmly between
his thumb and fingers and easily pulled it out. The old scholar then asked him
to pull out another plant which was slightly bigger. The young man pulled harder
and the plant came out with the roots.
The old man
pointed to a bush nearby and said, "Well, now can you pull out that one?"
The boy, at that moment, had to use all the strength he had to pull it out. The
young man managed to pull it out successfully.
"Good
job, now pull this one out," said the old scholar, pointing to a guava
tree. The boy then approached the tree and took hold the tree’s trunk trying all
his might to pull it out. Unfortunately the tree did not budge.
The boy was panting with his effort and said, “It's impossible to pull this one out.” The old scholar explained the young man, “You can easily uproot the plants only when they are still young because their roots are not long and strong. But when the plant is fully grown, its roots go deep and take hold firmly in the soil and it can never be uprooted anymore. It is very much like the bad habits you are having now it is not good for you in the future and you have to change it now before it is too late. Now, you are still young, you can easily get rid of it but once you are fully grown like that tree those bad habits will always be with you and ruin your life.”
The young
man learned a good lesson from the old scholar and regretted what he had done
to his dad and that lesson changed his life ever since.
Vocabulary
- wealthy (adj): rich, having a lot of money
- scholar (n): a person who studies a subject in great detail, especially at a university.
- Get rid of : overcome, get free from obstacles
- request (v): ask someone to do something for us
- brilliant (adj): extremely clever or very skilled
- stroll (n): a walk in a leisure way
- grab (v): take hold of something
- firmly (adv): strongly, tightly
- approach (v): go or come closer to a person, a place or a thing
- trunk (n) : tree's stem or the central part of a tree
- budge (v):
make or cause to make the
slightest movement.
- uproot (v): to pull a plant including its roots out of the ground
- ruin (v): to spoil or destroy severely or completely
- regret (v): a feeling of sadness about something that you have done wrong and wish the change it.
- _____ The rich man asked the scholar to teach him how to change his son bad habits.
- _____ There are 3 main characters in the story.
- _____ The scholar brought the young man to a jungle to teach him a lesson.
- _____ The young man could easily uproot three plants.
- _____ The last tree the young man tried to uproot was the guava tree.
- _____ The young man learned a good lesson from the scholar and changed his life ever since.
- _____ The young man had successfully uprooted two plants and a tree.
- _____ The young man's father was wealthy.
- _____ The scholar was a young handsome man.
- _____ It is not easy to change a person's bad habits at young age.
Comprehension Questions
- What is the rich man’s son like?
- Who did the rich man ask for help? Why?
- Where did the scholar take the young man to?
- How many times did the young man uproot the plants and trees?
- How did the scholar tell the young man after his failure in attempting to uproot a tree?
