Page 24 - English Class 04

“Hey! Where would you go?” asked the old man.

Just then, they heard the horse whinning in the stable.

“That’s it!” cried Rahim. “The stable. Yes! I’ll sleep in the stable with our

horse. The horse won’t mind my snores,” chuckled Rahim. So, from that night
onwards, Rahim started sleeping in the stable with the horse. The old man had a

sound sleep and felt well.

Some days later, the old man went up to the mountain to cut wood. He

loaded the wood onto a cart for the horse to pull. But..... there was something
wrong. The horse could not budge the cart an inch!

“Come on,” said the old man.

“I have not been sleeping well for the last few days, and that is why I am
feeling weak......,” said the horse with a deep sigh.

The old man unloaded half of the wood and pushed it from behind. With a
lot of effort and difficulty, he managed to reach home.

“Why...... what happened dad?” asked Rahim with a shock, when he saw his

father pushing the cart.
chuckled : low, quiet laugh with
Father told his son about what the horse told closed mouth

him. He was sad to hear all this. agile : active

Then he decided to sleep with the dog in its shed.

So, from the next night onwards he started sleeping with his dog.

After some days, the old man went to the dog’s shed to clean it. The dog
which had been very healthy and active, was looking no longer healthy and agile .

He was skinny as a scarecrow!

“Why....... what happened to you, dear pet?” said the old man who was

utterly shocked to see his healthy dog in such a mess.

The dog breathed a deep sigh. “How can I keep on getting healthy when I

don’t get any sleep in the night,” answered the dog.

Rahim was silent when he came to know about the dog and his answer.

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