Reading II
Look at the picture and answer these questions.
a. Who do you think is the person in the picture a king or a wrestler? Why?
b. How has he put on so much weight?
c. Do you think he is healthy?
Health is Wealth
Once upon a time, there lived a benevolent and kind-hearted king. But, the people weren’t happy with their king because he was very lazy and would not do anything other than eat and sleeping. He spent days and weeks and months in his bed either eating something or sleeping. The king became a couch potato and the people started to worry about him.
One day, the king realized that he couldn’t move his body, not even his foot. He became very fat and his obesity became a matter of fun, calling him ‘fatty king’, ‘bulky king’ etc. The king invited expert doctors from various parts of his country and offered them generous rewards to make him fit. Unfortunately, none could help him gain his health and fitness. The king spent enormous amounts of money but everything went in vain.
One fine morning, a holy man visited the country. He heard about the ill-health of the king and informed the minister at the palace that he could easily cure the king. Hearing these promising words, the minister became very happy. He requested the king to meet the holy man to get rid of his problem. The holy man resided at a distant place. Since the king could not move his body, he asked the minister to bring the holy man to the palace, but the holy man refused. He said that the king had to go to him, in order to get cured. After strenuous efforts, the king met the holy man at the latter’s residence.
The holy man complimented the king saying that he was a good ruler, and said that he would soon regain his health. He asked the king to come for treatment the next day. He also told the king that the king would be treated only if he came on foot to the holy man’s residence. The king was unable to walk even a few steps on the road, but aided by his followers, he reached the holy man’s place.
Unfortunately, the holy man was not available there and his devotee requested the king to come and meet him the next day for treatment. This was repeated for two weeks and the king never met the holy man, and never had any treatment.
Gradually, the king realized that he felt a lot lighter, lost a considerable amount of weight, and felt more active than before. He realized the reason why the holy man asked him to reach his place by walking. Very soon, the king regained his health, and the people were very happy in his kingdom.
Learn these words and complete the sentences with them.
benevolent, couch potato, obesity, devotee, strenuous.
a. Obesity can increase the risk of heart disease because fat people are likely to suffer from heart problems.
b. My father is kind, helpful and generous. He has a benevolent attitude.
c. Take rest for a week. Avoid tasks which require strenuous physical activity.
d. I like God Shiva. I'm actually a devotee of him.
e. My younger sister is a great couch potato She can watch TV 24 hours a day.
Answer the following questions.
a. Why did people not like the king though he was kind?
➡ Despite his kindness the king was lazy and did not work hard for his health and fitness so the people did not like the king.
b. Why were the specialists called for at the palace and offered huge prizes?
➡ Specialists were called to treat the king to reduce his weight as the King could not move even a foot from the place where he had been.
c. Why did the minister become so happy?
➡ The promising word from the holy man; that the king could be cured easily made the minister happy.
d. On what condition would the holy man treat the king?
➡ The holy man would treat the king if only he approached the holy man's residence on foot.
e. How did the king recover his health?
➡ The king recover his health by walking on foot for two weeks.
f. What lesson did you learn from the story?
➡ From this story we can learn that we should not be couch-potato; we should maintain our health and we need enough physical exercise to be healthy.