पाठक्रमः → Level 6 · प्रवाहः → पाठः 14
Level 6 · Lesson 14 श्रवणकथा — बुद्धिमान् काकः
Listening story I: the clever crow
तृषितकाकस्य कथा — श्रुत्वा प्रश्नानाम् उत्तराणि वदतु।
The thirsty crow, told for listening practice, with comprehension questions.
श्रवणम् · Listen
कथा — बुद्धिमान् काकः
Once, in summer, a crow was terribly thirsty.
He flew about everywhere in search of water but found none anywhere.
At last, near a house, he spotted a pot.
There was a little water at the bottom, but his beak could not reach it.
The crow did not despair. He thought a moment and hit upon a plan.
He brought small pieces of stone and dropped them in, one by one.
Gradually the water rose. The crow drank his fill and flew away content.
Moral: with wit and effort, even the impossible becomes possible.
विवरणम् · Explanation
श्रवणाभ्यासस्य विधिः — प्रथमं चक्षुषी निमील्य कथां केवलं शृणोतु, आङ्ग्लानुवादं मा पश्यतु। द्वितीयवारं पदानि अनुसरतु। ततः अधः प्रश्नान् उत्तरतु। कथायां भूतकालः बहुधा प्रयुक्तः — अपश्यत्, अभवत्, अक्षिपत् — तथा च ‘न प्राप्नोति स्म’ इति स्म-प्रयोगः।
How to use a listening story: first close your eyes (or hide the English) and just listen; second time, follow the words; then answer the questions below from memory. Notice the narrative past forms — अपश्यत् ‘saw’, अभवत् ‘became’, अक्षिपत् ‘threw’ — and the habitual past with स्म (न प्राप्नोति स्म, ‘could not reach’).
सुभाषितम् · Verse of the day
उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति कार्याणि न मनोरथैः। न हि सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य प्रविशन्ति मुखे मृगाः॥
अर्थः — कार्याणि उद्यमेन एव सिध्यन्ति, न तु मनोरथमात्रेण। सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य मुखे मृगाः स्वयं न प्रविशन्ति खलु!
Deeds succeed by effort, not by daydreams: deer do not walk into a sleeping lion's mouth! The crow is this verse with feathers — he worked, stone by stone.
शब्दाः · Vocabulary
| शब्दः | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तृषितः | thirsty |
| घटः | pot |
| चञ्चुः | beak |
| उपायः | plan, means |
| पाषाणः | stone |
| एकैकशः | one by one |
| क्रमशः | gradually |
| निराशः | despairing, hopeless |
अभ्यासः · Practice
वाक्यव्यवहारः · Use it
पुस्तकं पिधाय इमां कथां स्वशब्दैः पुनः वदतु — पञ्चभिः षड्भिः वा वाक्यैः। ततः कथां वर्तमानकाले परिवर्त्य वदतु — “काकः तृषितः अस्ति, सः घटं पश्यति…” इति। एषः कालपरिवर्तनाभ्यासः कथनशक्तिं दृढीकरोति।
Close the book and retell the story in your own words — five or six sentences. Then tell it again entirely in the present tense (‘the crow is thirsty, he sees a pot…’). Retelling across tenses is the fastest road to fluent narration.