Page 14 - New Medley 5 Semester 1

They knew it was spring when the

wild duck flew north again, to Siberia.
Early in the morning, when Rakesh got

up to chop wood and light a fire, he
saw the V-shaped formation streaming

northwards and heard the calls of birds
clearly through the thin mountain air.

One morning in the garden, he bent to
pick up what he thought was a small

twig and found to his surprise that it
was well rooted. He stared at it for a

moment, then ran to fetch Grandfather,
calling, “Dada, come and look, the cherry tree has come up!”

“What cherry tree?” asked Grandfather, who had forgotten about it.

“The seed we planted last year—look, it’s come up!”

Rakesh went down on his haunches while Grandfather bent almost double

and peered down at the tiny tree. It was about four inches high.

“Yes, it’s a cheery tree,” said Grandfather. “You should water it now and

then.”

Rakesh ran indoors and came back with a bucket of water.

“Don’t drown it!” said Grandfather.
wild duck (flew to Siberia) refers to the
Rakesh gave it a sprinkling and seasonal migration of various duck species flying

circled it with pebbles. “What again to temperate climate of Siberia from where
are the pebbles for?” asked they had flown to get away from the harsh winter
Grandfather. calls of birds the characteristic cries of birds
fetch to go to a place to bring something back
“For privacy,” said Rakesh. haunches area of body which partly includes the

lower part of the body like hips and the tops of
He looked at the tree every the legs
morning, but it did not seem peered looked carefully at something
to be growing very fast. So he privacy the state of being alone and not watched

stopped looking at it—except or disturbed by other people

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