A Father learns A Lesson from His Son

Velan was a carpenter. He was living in a village. His mother dies a long time back. His aged father, Kuppan, lived with Velan. Kuppan was very weak. He could not even walk well. He was so weak. It was because Velan did not give him enough food. He had given his father a small earthen plate. Even a small quantity of rice in the plate appeared to be much. Velan was a bad man. He was a drunkard also. After taking drinks, he abused his father badly.
Velan had a son. His name is Muthu. Muthu was just ten years old. He was a very good boy. He loved his grandfather. He had great respect for his grandfather. He did not like his father’s attitude and character, because his father was treating his grandfather cruelly.
One day Kuppan was eating his food out of earthen plate that his son had given to him. The earthen plate fell down. The plate broke into pieces. The food also fell on the floor. Velan was working at the other end of the room. He saw the broken plate. He was very angry with his father and used very harsh words to abuse his father. The old man felt bad about what happened. He was sorry for his mistake. Velan’s words wounded him very deeply.
Velan’s son, Muthu, saw this. He did not like his father. His father was ill-treating his grandfather. He was afraid to speak against his father. He was sad about his grandfather. But he was not powerful to stand in support of his grandfather.
The next day Muthu took some of his father’s carpentry tools and a piece of wood. He worked with the tools to make a wooden plate. His father saw him working.
“What are you making, Muthu?" he asked.
“I am making a wooden plate!" replied Muthu.

“A wooden plate! What for?" asked his father.
“I am making it for you, father. When you grow old, like my grandfather, you will need a plate for food. A plate made from earth mat break very easily. Then I may scold you severely. So, I want to give you a wooden plate. It may not break so easily."
The carpenter was shocked to hear this. Only now he realized his mistake. His father was kind to Velan He had looked after Velan very well. Now, he was old. Velan was treating his father severely. Velan was now very sad about his own behavior. He realized his mistakes. He then became a different person.
From that day, Velan treated his father with great respect. He gave up drinking too. Velan learnt a lesson from his own son.
You should honor your parents at all times. It is your duty. It brings you their blessings.

Question Card 29

Eureka! Eureka!

Archimedes was a Greek scientist. He lives in Syracuse nearly 200 years ago. The King of the land wanted to wear a Golden Crown. He gave some gold to a goldsmith to make a suitable crown. After few days, the goldsmith brought the finished crown to the King. The crown was weighed. The weight of the crown was equal to the gold given to the goldsmith by the King. The King looked at the color of the crown. He had a suspicion. The goldsmith could have stolen some gold from the gold given to him. The King wanted to find out the truth. He asked his court scientist Archimedes to find out. The King said, “Find out how much gold had been stolen?”
How to find out the truth? Archimedes thought about the problem day and night. One day he was about to have his bath, but he was busy thinking. He did not notice the bathtub. The water in the bathtub was already full to the brim. He slid into the bathtub. Immediately a large quantity of water flowed over the brim of the bath tub. He noticed this suddenly. His brain wave worked suddenly. He jumped out of the bathtub, shouting, “Eureka! Eureka!” Eureka in Greek means “I have found it.”
Different metals of the same weight have different volumes. Objects, put in water, will displace water. The displaced water will be equal to their volume.
For example, an iron cube weighing a kilogram will disperse some water. But an aluminums cube of the same weight will displace more water than the iron cube.
Archimedes knew all these theories. Using this as the basic knowledge, Archimedes worked out a plan to find out the purity of the crown.
Archimedes took two bowls. He filled them with water to the brim. Then he placed each bowl separately in the middle of the large vessels. He placed the crown in one bowl. Water overflowed. It collected at the bottom of the outer vessel. Then he took a cube of pure gold. This cube of gold was equal in weight to the crown. He kept this gold cube in the middle of the second bowl. Here also water overflowed. Water got collected at the bottom of the outer bowl.
Archimedes then measured the quantity of water in the two vessels. He found out the difference in the water overflow. The crown had sent out more water. The cube of gold had sent out less water. But both the crown and the gold cube were of the same weight. So, they should have sent out the same quantity of water. Therefore, the crown had some other metals mixed in it. These metals took up more space in the water than pure gold.
Archimedes reported this finding to the King. The King demanded the truth from the goldsmith. The goldsmith then confessed. He had stolen some gold. He had added some other metals.

Question Card 30

Louis Pasteur

Mary had just returned from her school. She was thirsty. “Mary, you can have a cup of milk," called her mother. Mary went into the dining hall. “Mummy, the milk is spoilt," she cried out. Her mother came in. “Let me see. Yes. This milk is spoilt," her mother said. She took out a sachet from the cupboard. “See, Mary, the milk in the sachet is alright," she said. Mary could not understand. The milk got from the milk vendor in the morning got spoilt. But the sachet got from the supermarket was still good. How is that? She asked her mother the reason for this. Her mother explained, “The sachet milk is pasteurized. The milk got from the milk vendor is not pasteurized one."
“But what is the meaning of pasteurized," asked Mary. “Pasteurizing is a scientific method. Fresh milk is boiled to a high degree. Then it is cooled rapidly. In this process the germs in the milk get killed. This was first done by Louis Pasteur. His name is given to this process."
Who is Louis Pasteur? Louis Pasteur was a chemist. He was born in 1822 in a town in France. His parents were not rich. But they gave him a good education. He secured a degree in science. His marks in Chemistry were not high. But his interest in Chemistry made him continue his studies in Chemistry. He spent lot of time in the laboratory. He was continually looking through a microscope at the germs. His professor made a fun of him. “They are useless to man. You are wasting your time," he said. But Pasteur replied, “Sir, the germs cause sickness. I must find out which germs cause which disease?"
“Where do germs come from?" asked his professor.
“Sir, that I must find out" replied Pasteur.
And Pasteur found out after a long and patient work. The germs are present in water, earth, dust and even in the air we breathe. These germs turn milk sour. Milk is a carrier of germs. These germs can cause diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid. He made many experiments. Finally he found out the method to kill the germs in the milk.
Pasteur did not stop with milk. He continued his research. Anthrax, diphtheria and rabies were terrible diseases. Pasteur found out certain vaccines. These vaccines can prevent and cure these terrible diseases.
One day a mother brought her son, Joseph, to Pasteur. Joseph had been bitten by a mad dog. He had been fourteen wound all over his body. The dog had rabies. Every one felt sorry for the boy. They said, “The child is sure to die." Even Pasteur had no hopes. But he had decided to save the boy.
Pasteur had prepared a serum from a rabbit. The rabbit had died of rabies. He injected the serum into the boy’s body, at first small quantities. Slowly, he increased the dosage. On the ninth day Joseph showed improvement. He was out of danger. In three months time, Joseph walked out of the hospital. He then became a perfectly healthy child. The year was 1885. Many had been bitten by mad dogs. But no one had escaped death.
Since 1885, thousands of lives have been saved by anti-rabies treatment. The world has to thank Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur is considered to be the greatest scientist of France, by the people of France.

Question Card 31

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 3337