Page 54 - English Expedition Class 4

On her own, she cleaned the hut and yard, tended the chickens, washed her clothes
in the river, carried water, cut firewood and cooked her solitary meals.
2
At the end of each day, Shindo gazed up at the snowy peak.
‘Great Mountain Spirit!’ she would pray, ‘my work is too hard. Please send me help!’
3
One day, Shindo was weeding her small field by the river where she grew vegetables
4
and bananas and gourds. Suddenly, a noble chieftain appeared beside her.
5
‘I am a messenger from the Great Mountain Spirit,’ he told the astonished woman
and handed her some gourd seeds. ‘Plant these carefully. They are the answer to your
prayers.’
Then the chieftain vanished. Shindo wondered, ‘What help could I get from
a handful of seeds?’ However, she planted and tended them as carefully as she could.
6
She was amazed at how quickly they grew. In a week, long vines trailed over the
ground and ripe gourds hung from them.
Shindo brought the gourds home, sliced off the tops and scooped out the pulp.
7
Then she laid the gourds on the rafters of her hut to dry. When they hardened, she
could sell them at the market to be made into bowls and jugs.

2 gazed: looked steadily 5 astonished: surprised
3 weeding: removing unwanted plants from the ground 6 trailed: grew
4 chieftain: the leader of a tribe 7 rafter: a parallel beam that supports a roof
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