NCERT Textbook: The Cherry Tree | English Poorvi Class 8 - New NCERT PDF Download

 Page 1


The Cherry Tree
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and answer the questions that follow. Share your answers 
with your classmates and teacher.
1. Have you ever used a seed or a sapling to grow a plant?
2. What kind of care did the plant need? Who helped you with it?
3. How did you feel when you saw the plant grow?
II What kind of trees do people plant in their homes? Why is it important 
to plant trees?
III Name some fruit trees that grow in your region. What type of conditions 
help these fruit trees to grow?
Unit 4
ENVIRONMENT
Unit 4.indd   155 20-05-2025   11:27:56
Page 2


The Cherry Tree
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and answer the questions that follow. Share your answers 
with your classmates and teacher.
1. Have you ever used a seed or a sapling to grow a plant?
2. What kind of care did the plant need? Who helped you with it?
3. How did you feel when you saw the plant grow?
II What kind of trees do people plant in their homes? Why is it important 
to plant trees?
III Name some fruit trees that grow in your region. What type of conditions 
help these fruit trees to grow?
Unit 4
ENVIRONMENT
Unit 4.indd   155 20-05-2025   11:27:56
Poorvi
156
Let us read
I
One day, when Rakesh was six, he walked home 
from the Mussoorie bazaar eating cherries. They 
were a little sweet, a little sour; small, bright red 
cherries, which had come all the way from the 
Kashmir Valley.
Here in the Himalayan foothills 
where Rakesh lived, there were not 
many fruit trees. The soil was stony, 
and the dry cold winds stunted the 
growth of most plants. But on the 
more sheltered slopes there were 
forests of oak and deodar.
Rakesh lived with his grandfather 
on the outskirts of Mussoorie, just 
where the forest began. His father 
and mother lived in a small 
village fifty miles away, 
where they grew maize and 
rice and barley in narrow 
terraced fields on the lower 
slopes of the mountain.
But there were no schools in the village, and Rakesh’s parents 
were keen that he should go to school. As soon as he was of 
school-going age, they sent him to stay with his grandfather in 
Mussoorie.
He had a little cottage outside the town.
Rakesh was on his way home from school when he bought the 
cherries. He paid fifty paise for the bunch. It took him about 
half-an-hour to walk home, and by the time he reached the 
cottage there were only three cherries left.
‘Have a cherry, Grandfather,’ he said, as soon as he saw his 
grandfather in the garden.
Grandfather took one cherry and Rakesh promptly ate the 
other two. He kept the last seed in his mouth for some time, 
stunted: stopped 
(from growing to 
the usual size)
outskirts: the 
areas that form 
the edge of a 
town or city
Unit 4.indd   156 13-05-2025   12:51:14
Page 3


The Cherry Tree
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and answer the questions that follow. Share your answers 
with your classmates and teacher.
1. Have you ever used a seed or a sapling to grow a plant?
2. What kind of care did the plant need? Who helped you with it?
3. How did you feel when you saw the plant grow?
II What kind of trees do people plant in their homes? Why is it important 
to plant trees?
III Name some fruit trees that grow in your region. What type of conditions 
help these fruit trees to grow?
Unit 4
ENVIRONMENT
Unit 4.indd   155 20-05-2025   11:27:56
Poorvi
156
Let us read
I
One day, when Rakesh was six, he walked home 
from the Mussoorie bazaar eating cherries. They 
were a little sweet, a little sour; small, bright red 
cherries, which had come all the way from the 
Kashmir Valley.
Here in the Himalayan foothills 
where Rakesh lived, there were not 
many fruit trees. The soil was stony, 
and the dry cold winds stunted the 
growth of most plants. But on the 
more sheltered slopes there were 
forests of oak and deodar.
Rakesh lived with his grandfather 
on the outskirts of Mussoorie, just 
where the forest began. His father 
and mother lived in a small 
village fifty miles away, 
where they grew maize and 
rice and barley in narrow 
terraced fields on the lower 
slopes of the mountain.
But there were no schools in the village, and Rakesh’s parents 
were keen that he should go to school. As soon as he was of 
school-going age, they sent him to stay with his grandfather in 
Mussoorie.
He had a little cottage outside the town.
Rakesh was on his way home from school when he bought the 
cherries. He paid fifty paise for the bunch. It took him about 
half-an-hour to walk home, and by the time he reached the 
cottage there were only three cherries left.
‘Have a cherry, Grandfather,’ he said, as soon as he saw his 
grandfather in the garden.
Grandfather took one cherry and Rakesh promptly ate the 
other two. He kept the last seed in his mouth for some time, 
stunted: stopped 
(from growing to 
the usual size)
outskirts: the 
areas that form 
the edge of a 
town or city
Unit 4.indd   156 13-05-2025   12:51:14
Environment
157
yielding: giving 
way under 
pressure
tang: a strong, 
sharp taste
   rolling it round and 
            round on his tongue until all 
the tang had gone. Then he placed 
the seed on the palm of his hand and 
studied it.
‘Are cherry seeds lucky?’ asked 
Rakesh.
‘Of course.’
‘Then I’ll keep it.’
‘Nothing is lucky if you put it away. 
If you want luck, you must put it to 
some use.’ ‘What can I 
do with a seed?’
‘Plant it.’
So Rakesh found a small 
space and began to dig 
up a flowerbed.
‘Hey, not there,’ said 
Grandfather. ‘I’ve sown 
mustard in that bed. 
Plant it in that shady 
corner, where it won’t 
be disturbed.’
Rakesh went to a corner 
of the garden where the earth was soft and yielding. He did 
not have to dig.
He pressed the seed into the soil with his thumb and it went 
right in.
Then he had his lunch, and ran off to play cricket with his 
friends, and forgot all about the cherry seed.
When it was winter in the hills, a cold wind blew down from 
the snows and went whoo-whoo-whoo in the deodar trees, 
and the garden was dry and bare.
In the evenings Grandfather and Rakesh sat over a charcoal 
fire, and Grandfather told Rakesh stories—stories about people 
Unit 4.indd   157 13-05-2025   12:51:15
Page 4


The Cherry Tree
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and answer the questions that follow. Share your answers 
with your classmates and teacher.
1. Have you ever used a seed or a sapling to grow a plant?
2. What kind of care did the plant need? Who helped you with it?
3. How did you feel when you saw the plant grow?
II What kind of trees do people plant in their homes? Why is it important 
to plant trees?
III Name some fruit trees that grow in your region. What type of conditions 
help these fruit trees to grow?
Unit 4
ENVIRONMENT
Unit 4.indd   155 20-05-2025   11:27:56
Poorvi
156
Let us read
I
One day, when Rakesh was six, he walked home 
from the Mussoorie bazaar eating cherries. They 
were a little sweet, a little sour; small, bright red 
cherries, which had come all the way from the 
Kashmir Valley.
Here in the Himalayan foothills 
where Rakesh lived, there were not 
many fruit trees. The soil was stony, 
and the dry cold winds stunted the 
growth of most plants. But on the 
more sheltered slopes there were 
forests of oak and deodar.
Rakesh lived with his grandfather 
on the outskirts of Mussoorie, just 
where the forest began. His father 
and mother lived in a small 
village fifty miles away, 
where they grew maize and 
rice and barley in narrow 
terraced fields on the lower 
slopes of the mountain.
But there were no schools in the village, and Rakesh’s parents 
were keen that he should go to school. As soon as he was of 
school-going age, they sent him to stay with his grandfather in 
Mussoorie.
He had a little cottage outside the town.
Rakesh was on his way home from school when he bought the 
cherries. He paid fifty paise for the bunch. It took him about 
half-an-hour to walk home, and by the time he reached the 
cottage there were only three cherries left.
‘Have a cherry, Grandfather,’ he said, as soon as he saw his 
grandfather in the garden.
Grandfather took one cherry and Rakesh promptly ate the 
other two. He kept the last seed in his mouth for some time, 
stunted: stopped 
(from growing to 
the usual size)
outskirts: the 
areas that form 
the edge of a 
town or city
Unit 4.indd   156 13-05-2025   12:51:14
Environment
157
yielding: giving 
way under 
pressure
tang: a strong, 
sharp taste
   rolling it round and 
            round on his tongue until all 
the tang had gone. Then he placed 
the seed on the palm of his hand and 
studied it.
‘Are cherry seeds lucky?’ asked 
Rakesh.
‘Of course.’
‘Then I’ll keep it.’
‘Nothing is lucky if you put it away. 
If you want luck, you must put it to 
some use.’ ‘What can I 
do with a seed?’
‘Plant it.’
So Rakesh found a small 
space and began to dig 
up a flowerbed.
‘Hey, not there,’ said 
Grandfather. ‘I’ve sown 
mustard in that bed. 
Plant it in that shady 
corner, where it won’t 
be disturbed.’
Rakesh went to a corner 
of the garden where the earth was soft and yielding. He did 
not have to dig.
He pressed the seed into the soil with his thumb and it went 
right in.
Then he had his lunch, and ran off to play cricket with his 
friends, and forgot all about the cherry seed.
When it was winter in the hills, a cold wind blew down from 
the snows and went whoo-whoo-whoo in the deodar trees, 
and the garden was dry and bare.
In the evenings Grandfather and Rakesh sat over a charcoal 
fire, and Grandfather told Rakesh stories—stories about people 
Unit 4.indd   157 13-05-2025   12:51:15
Poorvi
158 158
   who turned into animals, and ghosts who 
  lived in trees, and beans that jumped and stones 
       that wept—and in turn, Rakesh would read to him 
  from the newspaper, Grandfather’s eyesight being 
rather weak. Rakesh found the newspaper very dull—
especially after the stories—but Grandfather wanted all 
the news...
They knew it was spring when the wild duck flew north 
again, to Siberia. Early in the morning, when he got up 
to chop wood and light a fire, Rakesh saw the V-shaped 
formation streaming northward, the calls of the birds 
carrying clearly through the thin mountain air.
One morning in the garden he 
bent to pick up what he thought 
was a small twig and found to his 
surprise that it was well rooted. 
He stared at it for a moment, then 
ran to fetch Grandfather, calling, 
‘Dada, come and look, the cherry 
tree has come up!’
‘What cherry tree?’ asked 
Grandfather, who had forgotten 
about it. ‘The seed we planted last 
year—look, it’s come up!’
Rakesh went down on his 
haunches, while Grandfather bent 
almost double and peered down at the tiny tree. It was about 
four inches high.
‘Yes, it’s a cherry tree,’ said 
Grandfather. ‘You should 
water it now and then.’
Rakesh ran indoors and came 
back with a bucket of water.
‘Don’t drown it!’ said 
Grandfather.
Rakesh gave it a sprinkling 
and circled it with 
pebbles.
haunches: sit 
on the feet with 
legs bent
peered down:
looked carefully 
or with 
difficulty
Unit 4.indd   158 13-05-2025   12:51:17
Page 5


The Cherry Tree
Let us do these activities before we read.
I Work in pairs and answer the questions that follow. Share your answers 
with your classmates and teacher.
1. Have you ever used a seed or a sapling to grow a plant?
2. What kind of care did the plant need? Who helped you with it?
3. How did you feel when you saw the plant grow?
II What kind of trees do people plant in their homes? Why is it important 
to plant trees?
III Name some fruit trees that grow in your region. What type of conditions 
help these fruit trees to grow?
Unit 4
ENVIRONMENT
Unit 4.indd   155 20-05-2025   11:27:56
Poorvi
156
Let us read
I
One day, when Rakesh was six, he walked home 
from the Mussoorie bazaar eating cherries. They 
were a little sweet, a little sour; small, bright red 
cherries, which had come all the way from the 
Kashmir Valley.
Here in the Himalayan foothills 
where Rakesh lived, there were not 
many fruit trees. The soil was stony, 
and the dry cold winds stunted the 
growth of most plants. But on the 
more sheltered slopes there were 
forests of oak and deodar.
Rakesh lived with his grandfather 
on the outskirts of Mussoorie, just 
where the forest began. His father 
and mother lived in a small 
village fifty miles away, 
where they grew maize and 
rice and barley in narrow 
terraced fields on the lower 
slopes of the mountain.
But there were no schools in the village, and Rakesh’s parents 
were keen that he should go to school. As soon as he was of 
school-going age, they sent him to stay with his grandfather in 
Mussoorie.
He had a little cottage outside the town.
Rakesh was on his way home from school when he bought the 
cherries. He paid fifty paise for the bunch. It took him about 
half-an-hour to walk home, and by the time he reached the 
cottage there were only three cherries left.
‘Have a cherry, Grandfather,’ he said, as soon as he saw his 
grandfather in the garden.
Grandfather took one cherry and Rakesh promptly ate the 
other two. He kept the last seed in his mouth for some time, 
stunted: stopped 
(from growing to 
the usual size)
outskirts: the 
areas that form 
the edge of a 
town or city
Unit 4.indd   156 13-05-2025   12:51:14
Environment
157
yielding: giving 
way under 
pressure
tang: a strong, 
sharp taste
   rolling it round and 
            round on his tongue until all 
the tang had gone. Then he placed 
the seed on the palm of his hand and 
studied it.
‘Are cherry seeds lucky?’ asked 
Rakesh.
‘Of course.’
‘Then I’ll keep it.’
‘Nothing is lucky if you put it away. 
If you want luck, you must put it to 
some use.’ ‘What can I 
do with a seed?’
‘Plant it.’
So Rakesh found a small 
space and began to dig 
up a flowerbed.
‘Hey, not there,’ said 
Grandfather. ‘I’ve sown 
mustard in that bed. 
Plant it in that shady 
corner, where it won’t 
be disturbed.’
Rakesh went to a corner 
of the garden where the earth was soft and yielding. He did 
not have to dig.
He pressed the seed into the soil with his thumb and it went 
right in.
Then he had his lunch, and ran off to play cricket with his 
friends, and forgot all about the cherry seed.
When it was winter in the hills, a cold wind blew down from 
the snows and went whoo-whoo-whoo in the deodar trees, 
and the garden was dry and bare.
In the evenings Grandfather and Rakesh sat over a charcoal 
fire, and Grandfather told Rakesh stories—stories about people 
Unit 4.indd   157 13-05-2025   12:51:15
Poorvi
158 158
   who turned into animals, and ghosts who 
  lived in trees, and beans that jumped and stones 
       that wept—and in turn, Rakesh would read to him 
  from the newspaper, Grandfather’s eyesight being 
rather weak. Rakesh found the newspaper very dull—
especially after the stories—but Grandfather wanted all 
the news...
They knew it was spring when the wild duck flew north 
again, to Siberia. Early in the morning, when he got up 
to chop wood and light a fire, Rakesh saw the V-shaped 
formation streaming northward, the calls of the birds 
carrying clearly through the thin mountain air.
One morning in the garden he 
bent to pick up what he thought 
was a small twig and found to his 
surprise that it was well rooted. 
He stared at it for a moment, then 
ran to fetch Grandfather, calling, 
‘Dada, come and look, the cherry 
tree has come up!’
‘What cherry tree?’ asked 
Grandfather, who had forgotten 
about it. ‘The seed we planted last 
year—look, it’s come up!’
Rakesh went down on his 
haunches, while Grandfather bent 
almost double and peered down at the tiny tree. It was about 
four inches high.
‘Yes, it’s a cherry tree,’ said 
Grandfather. ‘You should 
water it now and then.’
Rakesh ran indoors and came 
back with a bucket of water.
‘Don’t drown it!’ said 
Grandfather.
Rakesh gave it a sprinkling 
and circled it with 
pebbles.
haunches: sit 
on the feet with 
legs bent
peered down:
looked carefully 
or with 
difficulty
Unit 4.indd   158 13-05-2025   12:51:17
Environment
159
Environment
‘What are the pebbles for?’ asked Grandfather.
‘For privacy,’ said Rakesh.
He looked at the tree every morning but it did not seem to be 
growing very fast, so he stopped looking at it except quickly, 
out of the corner of his eye. And, after a week or two, when 
he allowed himself to look at it properly, he found that it had 
grown—at least an inch! 
That year the monsoon rains came early and Rakesh
plodded to and from school in raincoat and chappals.
Ferns sprang from the trunks of trees, strange-looking
lilies came up in the long grass, and even when it
wasn’t raining the trees dripped and mist came 
curling up the valley. The cherry tree grew 
quickly in this season.
It was about two feet high
when a goat entered the garden
and ate all the leaves. Only the
main stem and two thin
branches remained.
‘Never mind,’ said Grandfather,
seeing that Rakesh was upset.
‘It will grow again, cherry trees
are tough.’
plodded: walked 
slowly
Let us discuss
I Arrange the events in order of occurrence in the story.
Two have been done for you. Share your answers with your classmates 
and the teacher. 
1. Rakesh discovered that the small, well-rooted twig, had grown 
into a cherry tree. 
2. Rakesh was sent to live with his grandfather in Mussoorie.
3. Rakesh pressed the cherry seed into the soft soil with his thumb. 
4. The cherry tree grew quickly after the rains arrived early.
(5)
Unit 4.indd   159 13-05-2025   12:51:18