Do you know the meaning of Sage? Discuss with your friends.

Draw a picture of a mouse in the box given below:

The Sage and the Mouse
Once upon a time, there lived a Sage. He lived in a hut outside the Gautam forest. He was very talented
and powerful man. He had learned many art forms. He was very skilled. But he was never proud of his
powers. He was very kind and helpful to others.
One day, he was returning from his regular bath at the river. There he found weak a mouse. It seemed
to be very hungry. The sage pitied it and took it home. He fed the mouse and cared for it. He treated it
like a son. One morning, he saw the mouse was being chased by a cat. It looked very scared. The Sage
thought of helping it. He turned the mouse into a cat.
Few days later, the mouse-cat was being chased by a dog. The sage changed it into a dog this time. The
dog followed him everywhere. It came wagging its tail whenever it saw the Sage coming. The dog went
towards the jungle one day. It nearly got killed by a tiger. The Sage saw this. He felt sorry for the mouse-
dog. He changed it into a tiger.
People were very scared of the tiger. So, the Sage kept it tied whenever others came to visit. The Sage
always assured them they were safe. He told them it was not a real tiger. It was a mouse which he had
changed into a tiger. After hearing that, people made fun of the mouse-tiger.
Do you think the mouse-tiger liked people making fun of him? What do you think it did?
The Mouse-Tiger started to get angry at the Sage. One day, he jumped at the Sage to kill him. But the
Sage changed him back. He again became the small helpless mouse. No one feared it anymore. The Sage
realized he should not try to change natural course. He should not misuse his powers. The mouse was
chased by the cat again and again.
Word Meaning
pitied: to feel sorry for
chase: try to get
assure: promise
1. Answer the following.
a. Where did the Sage live?
b. Why did the Sage took the mouse home?
c. Why did the Sage change the mouse into a dog?
d. What did the mouse-tiger do?
c. What did the Sage do to mouse-tiger?

2. Choose the words that describe sage and the mouse and write them in the correct boxes
below.
Talented Helpless Powerful Angry
Weak Skilled Kind Hungry
Sage Mouse









3. Complete the word puzzle below by using words from the text.


I
P
M U
R
S E

4. Class discussion.
Tell a story to the class. The story must involve animals.

5. What would you do?

a. Suppose you are the Sage and you found a weak and hungry mouse, would you take it in? Why?

b. What would you do if you had magical powers?