Ah, there is a swing in the web again. I guess someone is in!
Oh God, again the cobweb, I’m caught!
Good, welcome fly dear, I was waiting for you While this happened, a lady was cleaning her room. She sucked the spider, the fly and the web all into the vacuum cleaner.
Eh, it’s so dark (grgrgr. gr…..). What’s that
noise? What’s happening?
My head is whirling.
I’m falling. What is going on? Help! Help!
By this time, the lady switched off the vacuum cleaner and everything became quiet.
Who’s that ? I can’t see anyone.
It’s me, a poor spider. Who’s there?
Oh, are you Miss Spider? I’m the fly you were going to eat a few
minutes ago.
That’s the rule. Spiders eat flies, birds eat spiders and cats eat
birds.
It’s so nice to hear you. Are we going to die?
Ah, no, it can’t be so.
I think we have been eaten up by something bigger than
both of us.
I really feel sorry for all the flies I’ve eaten. If I get out of here, I would be a different person.
I wish there was a world where spiders and flies would be friends and insects would be free from fear!
I would like to drink honey-like butterflies. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn to eat berries.
Oh, I was also thinking the same.
If I live longer, I would change myself too. I won’t go to rubbish heaps and sit on rotten things. I wouldn’t walk on anyone’s plate with dirty shoes on.
That’s interesting! I don’t think we have ever had a chance to
talk to each other and know each other’s feelings like this before u…n….u….n…. But…. but it’s too late, or else we could have changed the world.
What will happen next?
In the meantime, someone took the bag of the vacuum cleaner and emptied it onto the garbage heap.
The spider got frightened. But, in a short while, he recovered. It stretched its legs and began making a new web.
Fly dear, are you here?
Yes, Miss Spider are you there?
Look, I’ve made a beautiful and peaceful new web.
Do come and see it.
Boo..n… both! This is where you have to be Miss Spider. It looks just like the old one. I’m going. I can’t wait.
We were friends but after all, I’m a fly
and you are a spider.
And the fly was ready to take off.
But where are are you going?
To a new rubbish heap and then walk on someone’s lunch with my dirty shoes.
But, fly dear, we are friends now.
Do forget the past.
Ah, me ……. but I won’t be again!
The fly rubbed its legs clean and flew off! And the spider sat and eagerly waited for an insect to get trapped in its web.
Reading Comprehension
Q.1. Use numbers to put the sentences in the order in which the events happened.
(i) The vacuum cleaner sucked the spider and the fly. 2
(ii) And the spider thought she was going to die. 7
(iii) A fly was caught in a cobweb. 1
(iv) The spider was inside the tube of the vacuum cleaner. 3
(v) The fly couldn’t see the spider but he spoke to her. 6
(vi) The spider asked for help. 5 (vii) The spider’s head was whirling. 4
(viii) Then both the fly and the spider reached a soft surface when the machine stopped. 8
(ix) The spider felt sorry for all the flies she had eaten. 9
(x) Someone emptied the bag of the vacuum- cleaner on a garbage heap. 10
(xi) The spider recovered from her fright . 11
(xii) The fly went off in search of a new rubbish heap. 13
(xiii) The spider invited the fly to her new web. 12
Q. 3. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words : (a lady, pipe, bag, sucker)
(a) The part of the vacuum cleaner that sucked the cobweb was the Nozzle.
(b) The part of the vacuum cleaner in which the spider and the fly were moving about was the dust bag.
(c) The part of the vacuum cleaner that was emptied into the garbage was the bag.
(d) The vacuum cleaner was operated by a lady.