## Exercises for The Leopard's Child

Back to the story

A. How much did you understand?

Part One

Are these sentences about the story true or false?

1. A woman left her child in the house when she went to fetch water.
2. When the little boy saw the leopard, he was afraid.
3. The leopard liked the little boy because he had beautiful eyes, and he was like her cubs.
4. The child hunted for meat with his foster mother.
5. The child asked the leopard to take him back to his parents.

Part Two

Are these sentences about the story true or false?

1. The boy could not speak to his parents because he did not know the language of people.
2. The boy liked to eat his mother's food.
3. The boy's father killed a bushbuck and gave it to his son to eat.
4. The leopard lay in the forest and watched the boy because she still loved him.
5. The boy told his parents that the leopard had been kind to him.

Part Three

Are these sentences about the story true or false?

1. The boy's mother said good things about the leopard.
2. The boy said that he didn't like the leopard's smell.
3. The leopard was angry when she heard the boy's words.
4. The leopard killed the boy's father's cow, and left it at the house.
5. The leopard killed the boy.

B. WHY and BECAUSE

Match the first halves of these sentences with the endings below to show the reasons for the characters’ actions.

1. The boy's mother left her son in the house alone because ……
2. The leopard did not give the boy to her cubs to eat because ……
3. The leopard could not keep the little boy because …...
4. The leopard caught meat and left it at the boy's house ……
5. The boy's mother was angry with her son because ……
6. The leopard killed the boy's father because ……
7. The leopard did not kill the boy because ……

1. …… he had tried to turn the boy's love away from her.
2. …… he had beautiful eyes and he was young like her cubs.
3. …… she thought that he was hungry.
4. …… he only said good things about the leopard.
5. …… she needed to fetch water from the river.
6. …… she was tired and she was growing old.
7. …… she loved him and could not hurt him.

C. What do you think?

Was the boy wrong to say that the leopard smelled horrible?

Did the leopard have a good reason to kill the boy's parents?

What will happen to the boy, now that his parents are dead?

Check the answers