THE STORY OF MICHAEL

GLOSSARY

 

WORD       MEANING

1. Surety: Guarantor

2. Toil: To work very hard

3. Tempt: Try to persuade someone to do something evil

4. Solitary: Alone

5. Disgrace: Loss of respect

6. Beyond: To the further side of

7. Anxiously: Greatly worried

8. Grave:  Sad

9. Misfortune: bad luck

10. Further: By a great distance

11. Lad: Young man

12. Dim: Not bright

 

QUESTION/ ANSWERS

Q1. Whose story did the father tell the boy?

Ans. The father told the story of Michael to the boy.

Q2. Who were Michael and Isabel?

Anstey were an old couple.

Q3. Why their cottage was called “THE EVENING STAR”?

Ans. The cottage stood on a hill and the dim light of a lamp could be seen far miles. That light looked like a star in the sky. So, their cottage was called “THE EVENING STAR”.

Q4. What brought new hopes in the lives of Michael and Isabel?

Ans. The birth of their son Luke brought new hopes in their lives.

Q5.What was ‘the bolt from the blue’ that fell on Michael?Ans. Michael was the guarantor of his nephew’s debt but he was unable to pay the debt. As a guarantor now Michael had to pay off all his nephew’s debt. That unexpected event was ‘the bolt from the blue’.

Q6. what did Michael finally decide to do?

Ans. He decided to send Luke to the city to earn money to pay off the debts.

Q7.Where did Michael and like go on the day before the latter was to leave?

Ans. They went to their fields.

Q8. What did Michael warn Luke about on their way back to the cottage?

Ans. He warned him not to fell in the bad company in the city

Q9.What reports about Luke came to the parents at first?

Ans. Reports of his welfare came at first to his parents.

Q10. What happened to Luke in the end?

Ans. Luke fell into a bad company. He sought a hiding place in another country.

Q11. What effect did that have on Michael?

Ans. He died striken with grief.

Q12. What happened to Michael cottage and land?

Ans. Micheal’s cottage and his land passed into the hands of a stranger.

SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER

 

An old man with his little son walking along a steep valley near Grasmere in England. The boy saw a silent and solitary place. There he also saw a heap of stones that seemed as unfinished sheep-fold.

The boy enquired why that sheep- fold was not completed by the owner. Then the old man narrated the story of Michael and his family to him.

Many years ago, a shepherd named Michael lived with his wife Isabel in a cottage on the top of the hill in that valley. The couple worked very hard. They often worked late into the night by the dim light of a lamp hung from the roof. As their house stood on a hill, the light could be seen far miles around. That light looked like a star in the sky. So people around the cottage called it ‘THE EVENING STAR’

Isabel and Michael blessed were with a son very late in their lives. They almost got old when Luke was born. He brought new hopes into their lives and new thoughts for their future. The years passed and Luke entered in the youth.

Many years before Michael had stood surety for his nephew who had borrowed some money. Unfortunately, his nephew suffered a great loss. Now Michael had to pay the money either by selling his property i.e. his fields and his cottage. They had to send Luke to their relatives in the city to earn money to pay off their debts.

Michael wrote a letter to one of his relatives to find a job for Luke. The expected reply came to send the lad at once. A day before departure, Michael took the boy out towards the fields and told him that he had toiled for many years to pay off the debts which this land was once burdened with. Now it was Luke turn to toil in order to keep the land free. Luke was deeply moved to hear these words and wept.

Michael pointed to a heap of stones laying near which he had collected for a sheep-fold. He asked him to lay the first stone. While he was away, Michael would himself work at it to complete it. Luke did the same and then they left for their cottage. On the way back to home, Michael said to Luke, Whenever he found himself tempted to do an evil thing at that time he must remember his parents and the stone laid by him a little while ago Next morning, the boy started for the city. All their neighbours gave him their good wishes. In the city Luke got a job. Soon more reports came of his welfare. Michael now went about to work his mind at ease. He started working at the sheep-fold whenever he found time.

Unfortunately Luke forgot the warnings of his father and fell into a bad company. He was led into evil ways and from one sin to another. At last shame and disgrace drove him to seek a hiding place in another country.

All Michael toils had come to nothing. All his hopes were dashed to ground and that sheep-fold remained unfinished. Michael died broken hearted and shortly after, Isabel died too. The cottage and the fields passed into the hands of a stranger. The cottage was no longer there but solitary oak near it still stood where it should before. The father ended the story saying that the poor father died stricken with grief.

 

THE MORAL OF THE CHAPTER

 

The moral of the chapter is that children must follow the parents advice otherwise they will be trapped into misfortune. They should remember that their parents future is associated with their future