HSC EnglisH

A WISE JUDGE
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Once a golden necklace was lost from a rich man's house. A few servants worked in that house. Naturally it was suspected that any one of the servants had stolen the necklace. Each of them was asked. But nobody confessed the guilt. So, the master of the house lodged a complaint before the Judge. All of the servants were summoned to the court. But all of the servants denied the charge. Then the Judge hit upon a plan. He gave each of them a stick of same length and told them to submit them to the court the following day. He told them that the person who had stolen the necklace, his stick would increase an inch. When they returned home, they kept their sticks as they were. But the servant who stole the necklace shortened it by an inch. The next day when everybody submitted the sticks, it was found that one stick was short by an inch. Then the thief was detected and he was given punishment.

THE JUDGEMENT OF KING SOLOMON

Once there lived two women in a village. One of them had a baby. But another woman claimed that baby. As a result, both of them entangled in a quarrel. None could find a solution to the problem. Last of all they went to the court of King Solomon. King Solomon was a very wise and just king. Finding out the truth he could solve any problem. When he saw that none left the claim of the baby, he thought what to do. Then he ordered one of his men to cut the baby into two equal halves and give one half to each of the women. The first woman became very elated. She said, "I'm agreed with the decision. Please give me my half." But the second woman started howling. She told the king, "Don't kill the baby. I don't need my share. Give the baby to her." The king understood the fact and gave the baby to the second woman and the first woman was sent to prison.

A summary from the "Education Passage" :

The passage deals with the functions and benefits of education in one's life. Education helps us to gain knowledge, and provides us a set of abilities to function meaningfully in life. It helps us to learn how to read, write, and do any difficult operation. We learn to think, how to articulate our thoughts, and think independently to make the right choices and take proper decisions. Thus, it makes us active members of our family, society, community, or even of our country.