Summary
A farmer had many children, who were all well-built except the
youngest boy. The parents decided to make him a priest. He was taken to a
priest as an apprentice. But he had a problem. Whenever he was alone, he
drew pictures of cats. At last the priest sent him away. He was advised by
the priest to avoid large places at night and to keep to small places.
The boy went to a temple in the next village. But a goblin rat had
frightened the priests away and had taken possession of the temple. There
was a lamp burning inside, but no priest was seen. He saw a white screen
there and painted many cats on it. When he was tired, he slept in a little
box.
Late at night, he could hear the sound of the fighting and screaming
of the goblin rat with the pictures of cats. But he lay still, holding his
breath.
In the morning he found that the floor was covered with blood. He
saw a monstrous rat, bigger than a cow, lying dead. It was killed in the
fight with the cats that he had drawn. Then he understood, why the old
priest had told him to avoid large places at night. Later the boy became a
famous artist.

EXAM BASED QUESTIONS
I. Read the following Passage and answer the questions.

But the youngest child, a little boy, did not seem to be fit for hard work. He
was very clever, cleverer than all his brothers and sisters; but he was quite
weak and small, and people said he could never grow very big. So his
parents thought it would be better for him to become a priest than to
become a farmer. They took him with them to the village temple, one day,
and asked the good old priest who lived there, if he would have their little
boy for his acolyte, and teach him all that a priest ought to know.

1. How is the youngest boy introduced here ?
2. What was the plan of the parents about the youngest child ?
3. Where did the parents take the boy ?
4. What did the parents ask the priest ?
5. What is the word used for a ‘priest’ ?

ANSWERS

1. The youngest boy was very small and not fit for hard work. He was
   very clever but quite weak and small.
2. His parents planned to make him a priest.
3. The parents took him to a priest in the village temple, to make him a
   priest.
4. The parents asked the priest to make him an acolyte and teach him all
   that a priest ought to learn.
5. 5.Acolyte is the word used for priest

ACTIVITY 1.
Prepare the character sketch of the boy in the lesson ‘The Boy Who
Drew Cats.’
Character- Sketch of the Boy

The boy in the lesson ‘The Boy Who Drew Cats’ is the youngest child of his parents. The parents wanted to make him a priest. So they sent him to a priest as an apprentice. But he had a problem. Whenever he was alone he drew pictures of cats. The priest could not put up with the boy any more. So he was sent away. But it was his habit of drawing cats that saved him. When he was going back home, he entered a temple in the next village. He did not know that a dragon rat used to kill everyone who slept there. He might be killed but he drew pictures of many cats on the screens in the temple. He also obeyed the priest’s advice to avoid larger places to sleep. He slept in a box. While he was sleeping, the dragon rat came and fought with the pictures of cats, drawn by him. Thus the dragon rat was killed and the boy was saved. He could also save a whole village because of his art.

ACTIVITY 2.
After the death of the goblin rat, the boy came out of his hiding place
and observed how the rat was killed. That evening he wrote a diary.
How would that diary be?
DIARY
30 June 2016 Monday

A Miraculous Day!

Today is a miraculous day in my life! I don’t know how I escaped from death! Only God knows! How prophetic are the words of the priest! If I
hadn’t obeyed his words I would have been killed. Really the cats drawnby me have saved me. Thinking that they were real cats, the goblin rat faught with them.

ACTIVITY 3.
Write a short profile of Hasegawa Takejiro, making use of the hints
given below.

Birth : 1853
Known as : innovative Japanese publisher, specializ-ing in books in
European languages on Japanese subjects.
Method : employed foreign residents as translators.
Renown : leading publisher of export books.
Death : 1938
ANSWER
HASEGAWA TAKEJIRO
Hasegawa Takejiro was an innovative Japanese publisher specializing in
books in European languages on Japansese subjects. He was born in 1853.
He employed leading foreign residents as translators and noted Japanese
artists as illustrators, and became a leading purveyor of export books and
publications for foreign residents in Japan. He died in 1938.