Page 31 - NEW_English_Spring 7

He looked above the top of his glasses and seemed as if he would like to bite Manu.
‘Next!’ he barked at the peon.

Mr Geography stood up shakily and went to the witness box. He was in a worse
condition than Ms English. He had no cover, the ‘Contents’ page was hanging on its last
threads but the worst part was the maps. They had been filled in mercilessly with all the
colours in the paint box!

‘Yes!’ prompted Justice Mathematics.

‘My story is quite similar to Ms English’s,’ Mr Geography said in a broken voice. ‘All my
fellow brothers laugh at me whenever Manu pulls me out of his bag. I especially envy my
brother who belongs to Sushmita. She has not only covered him neatly, her handling is so

gentle that he always looks as if he has just stepped out of the bookseller’s shop, and,’ he
added, ‘she fills in her maps with a pencil!’
And so it went on with all the books, copies, pencil box

and even the school bag complaining about Manu’s

negligence. They looked battered and the worse for
wear.

Justice Mathematics’ face became dark when he heard
that Manu tore off pages from the copies to make paper
planes. Manu withered under his murderous look.

Mr Pencil Box complained that Manu never cleaned
it. As a matter of fact, he had covered the court floor
with pencil shavings the moment he had stood up as a

witness and accidentally opened himself! This was not all. Manu chewed him whenever
he got stuck for an answer! He pointed at his pock-marked body for everyone to see.

The elderly and ponderous Mr School Bag lumbered
to the witness box with his broken straps and buckles
dragging behind him. ‘I might as well be a sack of
cement,’ he began in a grave voice, ‘as that is how I
am treated. Manu never packs me the night before as
all sensible children do but leaves it till the very last

moment.

envy: to wish you had the same qualities, possessions,
opportunities, etc. as somebody else
negligence: carelessness
battered: damaged or worn out
worse for wear: in a poor condition because of being used a lot
withered: (here) felt humiliated
pock-marked: covered with marks or scars
ponderous: clumsy and heavy-footed
lumbered: moved in a slow, heavy way

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