Page 72 - Viva Real English 2 : Ebook

9 Kalidasa

Kalidasa was the court poet of King Vikramaditya of Ujjain. He wrote many

plays and poems in Sanskrit.

There is a beautiful story of how Kalidasa got his name. It also tells us how

he became a great poet. He could not go to school because he was very poor.
He had to tend his father’s sheep.

In a nearby city lived a king who had a beautiful and intelligent daughter.
Her name was Vidyawati. She said, ‘Whoever can answer my questions will be

my husband.’

Many kings, warriors and learned men

tried to answer her questions but
they could not. They had to go away
disappointed. She laughed at them.

They were very angry with her. They
wanted to teach her a lesson.

One day some disappointed learned
men saw a young shepherd sitting on
the branch of a tree. He was cutting it.

They thought, ‘How foolish this young
shepherd is! He is cutting the branch

on which he is sitting. Soon he will fall
down.’

Suddenly they had an idea. They made a plan. They asked him to go with them

to the city. He agreed to do so. There they gave him tasty food to eat and
delicious buttermilk to drink. Then he slept on a soft bed. When he got up, they

tend : take care of learned : having a lot of knowledge

warriors : people who fight in a disappointed : upset because what

battle or a war they hoped for did not happen
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