Back to the exercises Back to the story

A. How much did you understand?

Part One

1. A woman left her child in the house when she went to fetch water.
   True
2. When the little boy saw the leopard, he was afraid.
   False. He was not afraid.
3. The leopard liked the little boy because he had beautiful eyes, and he was like her cubs.
   True
4. The child hunted for meat with his foster mother.
   False. He grew slowly and could not hunt.
5. The child asked the leopard to take him back to his parents.
   False. The leopard took the child back to his parents because she was old and tired.

Part Two

1. The boy could not speak to his parents because he did not know the language of people.
   True
2. The boy liked to eat his mother's food.
   False. The boy did not want cereals, and cooked meat.
3. The boy's father killed a bushbuck and gave it to his son to eat.
   False. The leopard killed a bushbuck and gave it to the boy.
4. The leopard lay in the forest and watched the boy because she still loved him.
   True
5. The boy told his parents that the leopard had been kind to him.
   True

Part Three

1. The boy's mother said good things about the leopard.
   False. She was angry with her son because he said good things about the leopard.
2. The boy said that he didn't like the leopard's smell.
   True
3. The leopard was angry when she heard the boy's words.
   True
4. The leopard killed the boy's father's cow, and left it at the house.
   False. The leopard killed the boy's father and carried him to the house.
5. The leopard killed the boy.
   False. The leopard could not hurt the boy because she loved him.

B. WHY and BECAUSE

1. 1/e The boy's mother left her son in the house alone because she needed to fetch water from the river.
2. 2/b The leopard did not give the boy to her cubs to eat because he had beautiful eyes and he was young like her cubs.
3. 3/f The leopard could not keep the little boy because she was tired and she was growing old.
4. 4/c The leopard caught meat and left it at the boy's house she thought that he was hungry.
5. 5/d The boy's mother was angry with her son because he only said good things about the leopard.
6. 6/a The leopard killed the boy's father because he had tried to turn the boy's love away from her.
7. 7/g The leopard did not kill the boy because she loved him and could not hurt him.