The Smart Monkey: NCERT Class 2 English Story (Mridang Unit 4)

etmantra3 Nov 20264 min read

This short story teaches cleanliness without a single lecture. Children laugh at the idea of a monkey being tidier than people, and remember the lesson.

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From NCERT’s new English book Mridang for Class 2, unit “Life Around Us”. Unit 4.

What your child learns

Keeping public places clean
Market and food words: groundnuts, packet, bottle
Clapping syllables in names and words
Blends 'cl' and 'fl': clock, flag

What the story is about

Anju and Farida go to the market and buy a bag, a water bottle, some groundnuts and a bottle of juice. Feeling tired, they sit on a bench under a tree. They do not notice a monkey on a branch above them, eating a banana.

The girls eat and throw the empty packet and bottle on the ground. Then the monkey climbs down and drops his banana peel into a nearby dustbin. Anju and Farida feel ashamed. They pick up their rubbish and put it in the dustbin too.

New words, with Hindi meanings

market: a place with many shops (हिंदी: बाज़ार)
groundnuts: small nuts in a shell, also called peanuts (हिंदी: मूंगफली)
tired: needing rest (हिंदी: थका हुआ)
branch: an arm of a tree (हिंदी: डाल)
peel: the skin of a fruit (हिंदी: छिलका)
dustbin: a box for rubbish (हिंदी: कूड़ेदान)
empty: with nothing inside (हिंदी: खाली)
ashamed: feeling bad about something you did (हिंदी: शर्मिंदा)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

What did Anju and Farida buy?
Where was the monkey sitting?
What did the monkey do with the banana peel?
What do you do with a wrapper after eating biscuits?

Answers for parents

Anju bought a bag, Farida bought a water bottle, and they bought groundnuts and juice.
On a branch of the tree above them.
He threw it into the dustbin.
For example: I keep it in my pocket and put it in a dustbin later.

Grammar corner: Past tense: things that already happened

Stories often tell what already happened, so the action words change. 'Buy' becomes 'bought', 'throw' becomes 'threw', and 'pick' becomes 'picked'.

Farida bought a red water bottle.
The monkey threw the peel in the bin.
The girls picked up the empty packet.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: The monkey threw the banana ___ into the dustbin.
True or false: The girls went to their school.
Change to past: Anju (buy) a bag.

Answers: 1. peel · 2. False. They went to the market. · 3. Anju bought a bag.

Try this

Play 'Smart Monkey'. Drop a few clean paper balls around the room. The child becomes the smart monkey and puts each one in a bin, saying in English what it is: 'paper', 'packet', 'wrapper'. Then talk about where the nearest dustbin is at school or in your street.

Tip for parents

Ask your child in Hindi, 'बंदर ने क्या किया?' and let them answer in any mix of Hindi and English. Then use the English word 'dustbin' every day at home. When your child throws rubbish in the bin, say 'Smart monkey!' as praise.

Questions parents ask

What is the moral of The Smart Monkey?

We should keep places clean and always put rubbish in a dustbin. Even the monkey did it, and the girls learnt from him.

Who are the characters in The Smart Monkey?

Two girls, Anju and Farida, and a monkey sitting on a tree.

Is The Smart Monkey in the new NCERT book?

Yes. It is Chapter 4 of Unit 4 in NCERT's new Mridang book for Class 2.

Learn every Class 2 lesson with CALP

Every lesson of Mridang, NCERT’s new book, with read-along videos, new words with Hindi meanings, and listen-and-say practice with a score, made for young children with a parent nearby. ₹999 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →