READING COMPREHENSION
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.
Text I
THE MIRACULOUS ESCAPE
I had been very wealthy and prosperous and was leading a very comfortable life. I had all the worldly pleasures with me. But soon I became bored of my idle life. The urge to go on a voyage became stronger and stronger day by day. It haunted me like anything. So one day I boarded a ship and went trading from island to island with other merchants.
When we started, the weather was fine and the sea was calm. But on the fourth day of our voyage, our ship was caught in a terrific/terrible hurricane and we wandered from our set course. The tempest continued for several days and drove us near an island. The captain of the ship was reluctant to cast anchor at the port as it was a much dreaded place.
The violent waves of the sea had exhausted us. We were all tired and hungry so we went in search of food and water.
We were fortunate enough to find fruit trees and a stream of fresh and cool water which gave us strength and energy and relieved us from hunger.
It had started getting dark. As we were tired we went to sleep but were soon startled by a rustling noise which came from a very long and huge python like serpent gliding swiftly towards us. We ran to save our lives but the serpent was quick enough to swallow one of my companions. We kept running till we had covered a good enough distance from the serpent. We felt a bit relieved but at the same time sad as we had lost a friend of ours. We took shelter on the top of a tree and thought ourselves to be safe.
But we were mistaken for we had hardly slept a little time when we heard a hissing sound which alarmed and frightened us. Coiling itself round the tree, the serpent reached my other companion who was positioned somewhat lower than me on the tree. It swallowed him and went away.
Terror stricken I clung to the branch of the tree tightly and I did not know when I fell asleep. It was daylight when I awoke. I climbed down. It seemed to me that I had no courage left. It took me no time to realise that if I would not think of a way to escape soon, I would be a dead man. It was just a matter of time when I would also be swallowed like my two other companions. The instinct to prevent one’s life is greater than any fear or frustration.
I thought I should spare no means to save myself. I collected a lot of dry wood and bushes and tied them into a bundle with reeds. I arranged them in a circular structure round the tree and tied some of them with the branches of the tree. In this way I made a tent like structure in which I sat after dusk and securely tied from within. I had the satisfaction that whatever I could do I did it to prevent myself. This time when the serpent arrived he crept round the tree but he could not penetrate the defensive structure I had made around me. It just sat and waited the whole night like a cat that waits for the mouse to emerge out of its hole.
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