Chapter 1: A Bottle of Dew
In this folk tale by Sudha Murty, a landlord who dreams of a magic gold-making potion learns a surprising lesson from a wise sage. Read the story in your Poorvi book, then use these topics to understand it, learn its words and grammar, and practise speaking and writing.
In this chapter you will
- understand and retell the story
- explain the story's message about hard work
- use homophones and linking words
- say /s/ and /z/ sounds and describe things using your senses
Topics
- Read: The Story NCERT pp. 1–5
Rama Natha wanted a magic potion to make gold; the sage set him a task: collect five litres of dew.
- Think and Reflect NCERT pp. 6–7
The sage used a clever task to turn Rama Natha towards hard work.
- Words: Homophones and Linking Words NCERT pp. 8–9
Homophones sound the same but have different spellings and meanings (dew/due, son/sun, one/won).
- Listen, Speak and Write NCERT pp. 10–12
The letter s can sound like /s/ (sage) or /z/ (trees, wisdom).
Key words
- Potion
- a liquid with magical properties
- Dew
- small drops of water that form on leaves at night
- Sage
- a wise person
- Tended
- looked after
- Homophones
- words that sound the same but differ in spelling and meaning
- Wisdom
- deep understanding
Summary
- Rama Natha wanted a magic potion; the sage asked him to collect five litres of dew with his own hands.
- Six years of work on a banana plantation, with Madhumati selling the fruit, made them rich.
- Message: hard work, not magic, creates wealth.
- Homophones sound alike but differ in meaning; s can sound like /s/ or /z/.