Back to the story

A. How much did you understand?

These sentences are headings for each of the seven sections of the story. Put them in the right order.

1. The little girl's friend shows her the body of her mother.
2. The little girl's father invites his friends and family to a ceremony, and borrows his neighbour's pots.
3. Everyone learns about the man with the evil eye, and he brings the dead woman back to life.
4. Hannah's old neighbour comes to ask for some coffee.
5. The little girl in the story visits her friend, because her father has gone to the market.
6. The little girl tells her father that the pot with the chip is really her dead mother.
7. Hannah's father tells her that the story isn't true.

B. When, where, who, what 

1. Who told Hannah the story of the man with the evil eye?
2. Where was Hannah when she told the story to her parents?
3. In the story, something had spoiled the beauty of the little girl's mother. What was it?
4. Where did the fathers of the little girl and the older girl go one day?
5. Where was the stick that the big girl used to touch the pot with the chip?
6. When did the little girl's father make a ceremony for his wife?
7. What did the little girl and her aunts make for the ceremony?
8. What did the little girl's father make inside the neighbour's pots?
9. The little girl's father told some people to bring their weapons to the ceremony. Who were they?
10. When did the daughter of Hannah's old neighbour die? 

C. Questions with WHY and answers with BECAUSE 

Match these questions starting with WHY to the answers below, that start with BECAUSE.

1. Hannah's old neighbour was sad ……
2. The big girl didn't welcome the little girl into her house ……
3. The big girl told the little girl to go home ……
4. The little girl's father believed his daughter's story about her dead mother at last……
5. The neighbour didn't want to lend his pots to the little girl's father ……
6. The little girl went with her father to fetch the stick from the neighbour's house ……
7. The neighbour tried to move away when everyone saw the body of the dead woman……
8. Hannah stopped being frightened of the old woman……

1. …… because he didn't want anyone to find out the truth about the pot with the chip in the top.
2. …… because she understood that she was sad and old and lonely.
3. …… because he was frightened.
4. …… because she had seen the little girl's dead mother in her house. 
5. …… because she told him about the chip at the top of the pot.
6. …… because she had to show her father where it was.
7. …… because her husband and her little daughter had died and her other children had gone away.
8. …… because her father was coming.

D. What do you think?

Many people believe that stories about the evil eye are true. Do you?

Why does belief in these stories make innocent people suffer?

How can you decide what is true and what is not true?

Check the answers