Today is our topic of discussion-The Landlord and the Barber
The Landlord and the Barber
Discussion
Long long ago there lived a barber in a village. He was very hard-working. He toured the whole village every day and cut people’s hairs. But he didn’t earn enough money. He didn’t have any other source of income. And so he and his family members were very poor.
One day he was returning home from a nearby village. He was all alone. It was the rainy season. Clouds were gathering in the sky. The wind was blowing. People were running away from the fields. They knew that it was going to rain. So they were looking for some shelter.
The barber was passing by a banyan tree when the rain started. He stopped walking and came under the tree. He was waiting for the rain to stop. But it was not stopping. He was getting wet because it was not a good shelter. So he started walking again.
After some time he entered his village. He was passing by the landlord’s house when the landlord saw him. At that time the landlord was sitting on a chair in a veranda. He was watching the rain. He asked the barber to come to him. The barber became afraid. He thought that the landlord was going to threaten him for some fault.
He was walking to the house when the rain stopped. He stopped near the veranda and saluted the landlord. The landlord was looking at him. He was completely wet.
The landlord felt pity for the poor man. He knew his condition very well. So he gave him a piece of land. He told him to cultivate it and grow crops there. The barber became very happy. He saluted the landlord again and went away.
Read Think and Answer
Say whether the following statements are True or False
1. The barber was very lazy and so he was poor.
2.Cutting people’s hairs was his only source of income.
3.The barber knew that the landlord was going to give him the land.
4. The landlord was a kind man.
5. He gave the land to the barber only for a short time.
6. The land was not good for cultivation.
7. The harber was very happy and thankful to the landlord.
Overall Questions
Answer each of the following questions.
1.What was the barber waiting for to stop?
2. What was the barber passing by?
3Who was sitting on a chair in the veranda?
4. Why was the barber getting wet?
5. When was it raining?
6. Where was the barber returning from?
Let’s Learn Grammar
A. Look at the following sentences from the above story.
1. One day he was retuming home from a nearby village.
2. He was walking alone.
3. Clouds were gathering in the sky.
Note that all these sentences are about activities which were going on for some time in the past. If you want to say that something was happening or someone was doing something for a short time, you can use this form.
This is called the past progressive or past continuous tense.
Look at the formation of past progressive verbs.
Exercise: Make past progressive verbs with the following sets of words. The
first one is done for you.
1. The passengers / wait/ for the train. past progressive: The passengers were waiting for the train.
2. The mother/feed/ her baby
past progressive:
3. It/rain/in the morning.
past progressive :
4. Students / make noises / in the class.
past progressive:
5. A bird/fly/in the sky
past progressive :
6. The phone/ring/in the drawing room.
past progressive:
7. The singer/sing/songs/ on TV
past progressive:
Look at the following sentences from the above story.
1. The barber was passing by a banyan tree when the rain started
2. He was passing by the landlord’s house when the landlord saw him.
You see that in both the sentences there are two actions.
Sentence 1: The barber was passing by a banyan tree + the rain started.
Sentence 2: He was passing by the landlord’s house + the landlord saw him. We understand from
the sentences that the first action was going on for some time. Then suddenly the second action took place.
Remember that we use the past progressive for the first action that was going on for some time and we use the past simple for the later action. You can also note that the action of the past progressive goes on for a longer time.
Exercise: Use the right forms of verbs in the brackets. The first two are done for you.
1. The electricity (go) away while we (watch) TV
= The electricity went away while we were watching TV.
2. I (take) dinner when the phone (ring).
= I was taking dinner when the phone rang.
3. They (walk) to school when the rain (start).
4.The bell (ring) while the students (listen) to their teacher.
=
5. She (cook) in the kitchen when the guest (enter) the house
6.The man (catch) fish in the pond when the snake (bite) him.
7. He (ride) the bicycle when the chain (fall) down.
8.The advertisement (come) while we (watch) a drama serial,
Let’s talk
We can make Yes/No qustions in the past progressive. We use Was or Were for this.
Exercise: Make questions with the following statements. The first one is done for you.
1. He was walking home. Question: Was he walking home? Answer: Yes, he was.
2. The landlord was looking at him.
Question: Answer:
Bony’s mother was cooking fish.
Question:
Answer:
The people were running to the fields.
Question: Answer:
The wind was stopping.
Question: