A new reading: try it before revealing help

Read a story about a bird named Raju with the pronunciation and English hidden. Work out what happens, then open each answer to check your reading.

≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

The pronunciation and the English begin hidden. Aim for the scene, not a perfect translation.
The bird is named राजुrāju“Raju” — Nepali has no capital letters, so nothing on the line marks a name.
Bird and tiger are both male, so every past verb takes the plain -यो ending or its negative -एन.
The last line is the moral, and it does not announce itself as one.

Every word here is a word you have met, apart from the bird’s name. Two past verbs appear in the negative, and both put their न inside the ending.

Raju and the big tree

Read each line aloud, say what you think happened, then reveal.

उहिले उहिले एउटा बनमा एउटा ठूलो रूख थियो। त्यो रूखमा एउटा सानो चरा थियो।
The opening formula, then the past is-word twice.
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uhile uhile euṭā banmā euṭā ṭhūlo rūkh thiyo. tyo rūkhmā euṭā sāno carā thiyo — “Long, long ago there was a big tree in a forest. In that tree there was a small bird.”
चराको नाम राजु थियो। एक दिन एउटा ठूलो बाघ त्यहाँ आयो।
The owning tag on the first noun, and then the action starts.
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carāko nām rāju thiyo. ek din euṭā ṭhūlo bāgh tyahā̃ āyo — “The bird’s name was Raju. One day a big tiger came there.”
बाघले राजुलाई देख्यो। “यो बन मेरो हो,” भनेर उसले भन्यो।
Two tags, then a closed quotation.
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bāghle rājulāī dekhyo. “yo ban mero ho,” bhanera usle bhanyo — “The tiger saw Raju. ‘This forest is mine,’ he said.”
“यो रूख तिम्रो होइन।” राजु दुखी भयो। अनि ऊ अर्को सानो रूखमा गयो।
Two past verbs, both with the plain ending.
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“yo rūkh timro hoina.” rāju dukhī bhayo. ani ū arko sāno rūkhmā gayo — “‘This tree is not yours.’ Raju became sad. And then he went to another small tree.”
त्यो रात धेरै ठूलो हावा आयो। ठूलो रूख ढल्यो। तर सानो रूख ढलेन।
The last verb is the same as the one before it, made negative.
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tyo rāt dherai ṭhūlo hāvā āyo. ṭhūlo rūkh ḍhalyo. tara sāno rūkh ḍhalena — “That night a very big wind came. The big tree fell over. But the small tree did not fall over.”
बाघको घर थिएन। “सानो घर पनि राम्रो घर हो,” भनेर राजुले भन्यो।
The second sentence is the moral, and it does not say so.
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bāghko ghar thiena. “sāno ghar pani rāmro ghar ho,” bhanera rājule bhanyo — “The tiger had no house. ‘A small house is also a good house,’ said Raju.”

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