That Sunday Morning: Section III

Prose

That Sunday Morning

Section III

Read the section silently.

I sat up with a groan and saw that the cavalry horses were still out of control. Some of them were running like mad in circles, while their riders tried to bring them under control. Two horses were nowhere to be seen, and one horse threw its rider right in front of my eyes. The poor man landed in the ditch just next to the cow. The cow thinking this was another attack, bellowed loudly and, lowering its head at the unfortunate man. The poor fellow scrambled out of the ditch, tearing his pants at rather an awkward place. Realising this, he sat down on the road with a thump and would not get up. I saw my brother approaching with my bike in tow, coming up to me with a grin on his face. I felt like hitting him.

"You looked such a sight on top of that cow," he said and started laughing.

Then he probably realised that I might have been hurt and asked, " Are you all right?" "Of course, I am," I said haughtily and got up at once.

Nothing on earth would have made me admit to him how frightened and shaken I was. Just then my brother spotted one of the horse riders coming towards us with a thunderous scowl on his face. Behind him was the man to whom, in all probability, the cow belonged.

My brother gave them an uneasy glance and said, " I think it would be nice if we moved quickly from here.”

I looked round and saw that if both of us did not move fast enough, we would be called in for a lot of explanations. With one accord we got onto our bikes and beat a hasty retreat. The morning had already been rather eventful and we did not want to add another unpleasant episode to it.                                   - SAVITA SINGH

Based on your reading, put (✓) for the correct and (×) for the incorrect statements.

1. The man didn’t want to get up because he was tired as he was thrown into the ditch. ×

2. The boy was rather unsympathetic to his sister. ×

3. The girl was badly hurt. ×

4. The boy and the girl were taken by the cavalry to explain their action. ×

5. They rode back home quickly. ✔

6. The girl admitted to her brother that she was badly frightened. ×

GLOSSARY

groan - an utterance expressing pain

bellowed - the cry of a cow

scrambled - to move or climb hurriedly

awkward - sensitive

haughtily – arrogantly

scowl - threatening look

retreat - to move away

unpleasant – disagreeable