NCERT Solutions for Class 4th English Chapter 5 A. Answer the following — Let us Think

The old stag was popular because he was kind to everyone.

The story says he “was known for his kindness”. Each day he warmly greeted his fellow animals and birds. Even though he lived up on the hillock, he came down every single day just to meet his friends. That is why “all the animals and birds loved him”.

Because he had fallen ill and was too weak to walk down.

One day the stag fell ill. He even “struggled to reach the hillock”. He knew that fresh, healthy food and proper rest would make him well, so he ate the tender grass and decided to rest.

When the deer asked, “Dear stag! How are you?”, the stag himself gave the reason: “Too weak to come down and meet you all.”

Because every animal who came to visit the stag ate the grass.

It began on the very first visit. The animals wished the stag a speedy recovery, “but before they went back into the forest, the animals ate the fresh green grass growing on the hillock”.

Then they told others how good it was. The elephant said, “The grass is so tender and nice.” The giraffe said, “I have never eaten such juicy green leaves.” The story says, “Word soon spread about the tender green grass” — and after that, “anyone who came to visit the stag would also eat the grass”.

Yes, they did realise their mistake. The story says, “His friends felt ashamed. They realised how their greed had made them forget about their friend, the old stag.”

They understood that not much grass was left for the stag to eat and recover. So they did three things:

1. They decided to find food elsewhere in the forest.
2. They decided not to disturb the hillock any more.
3. Some of them brought fresh leaves for their friend.

It rained well that week. The grass grew back, the stag had enough food again, and he slowly recovered.