Before you read

Often, instead of rushing to the doctor to treat a small cut or burn, we find quick and
effective cures using things available at home. Can you think of some such
‘home remedies’ for a cut on your knee? a burn on
your arm?
a bee sting?
In this story, Jody’s father has been bitten by a rattlesnake. He quickly kills a doe and
uses its heart and liver to draw out the poison. Jody wonders what will happen to
the little fawn left without a mother.

I
back to: Jody allowed his thoughts to drift back to the fawn. He could not keep it out of his
ack to mind. He had held it, in his dreams, in his arms. He slipped from the table and went
ed:
to his father’s bedside. Penny lay at rest. His eyes were open and clear, but the
rged
pupils were still dark and dilated. Jody said, “How are you feeling, Pa?”
ose shave:
rrow “Just fine, son. O1d Death has gone thieving elsewhere.
pe But wasn’t it a close shave!”
your “I agree.”
d: Penny said, “I’m proud of you, boy, the way you kept your
ed calm in
fficult
head and did what was needed.”
ation “Pa-”
“Yes, son.”
“Pa, do you recollect the doe and the fawn?”

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 hemmed in:
“I can never forget them. The poor doe saved (here
me,) caught
in a situation

that’s certain.”
“Pa, the fawn may be out there yet. It might be hungry and very scared.”
“I suppose so.”
“Pa, I’m a big boy now and don’t need to drink milk.
Why don’t I go and see if I can find the fawn?”
“And bring it here?”
“And raise it.”
Penny lay quiet, staring at the ceiling.
“Boy, you’ve got me hemmed in.”
“It won’t take much to raise it, Pa. It’ll soon start
eating leaves and acorns.” where one
“You are smarter than boys of your age.” can’t say ’no’
acorns: small
“We took its mother, and it wasn’t to blame.” brown nuts
and see if I can
“Surely it seems ungrateful to leave it to starve. Son, I can’t say
‘No’ to you. I never thought I’d live to see another day.”
at down. His mother

ing back the fawn.”

ir.

we killed. We used
n and save Pa.”

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o leave it to starve.”
Ma’am. Nothing in
ck with me. I’ll help

—we’ve got nothing

This is Jody’s Fawn 87
Mill-wheel said,
“Come on, boy. We’ve got to get riding.”
Ma Baxter asked anxiously, “You’ll not
be gone long?”
Jody said, “I’ll be back before dinner
for sure. ”

his horse and pulled Jody up behind him.

Mill-wheel mounted He said to Mill-wheel,
“Do you think the fawn’s still there? Will
you help me find him?” “We’ll find him if
he’s alive. How you know
it’s a he?”
“The spots were all in
a line. On a doe-fawn, Pa
says the spots are every
every which
which way…” way:
in different
Comprehension Check directions
1. What had happened to
Jody’s father?
2. How did the doe save
Penny’s life?
3. Why does Jody want to bring the fawn home? 4. How does Jody know
that the fawn is a male?

II
Jody gave himself over to thoughts of the fawn. They passed the
abandoned clearing.
He said, “Cut to the north, Mill-wheel. It was up here that Pa
got bitten by the snake and killed the doe and I saw the fawn.”
Suddenly Jody was unwilling to have Mill-wheel with him. If the
fawn was dead, or could not be found, he could not have his

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makes a
 acts as a
compass and
helps to

disappointment seen. And if the fawn was there, the meeting would be so lovely
and so secret that he could not endure to share it.
He said, “It’s not far now, but the scrub is very thick for a horse. I can make it on
foot.”
“But I’m afraid to leave you, boy. Suppose you got lost or got bitten by the
snake, too?”
“I’ll take care. It might take me a long time to find the fawn, if he’s wandered.
Leave me off right here.”
“All right, but you take it easy now. You know north here, and east?”
“There, and there. That tall pine makes a bearing.”
“So long.”
“So long, Mill-wheel. I’m obliged.”
He waited for the sound of the hooves to end, then identify cut to the right. The
scrub was still. Only his own directions crackling of twigs sounded across the silence.
He wondered for an instant if he had mistaken his direction.
This is Jody’s Fawn 8
buzzard: Then
a buzzard rose in front of him and flapped into a large bird the air.
9
He came into the clearing under the oaks. like the
Buzzards sat in a circle around the carcass of the doe.
vulture that
eats the flesh They turned their heads on their long scrawny necks and hissed at him.
of dead He threw his bough at them and they flew into
animals an adjacent tree. The sand showed large cat
adjacent: prints but the big cats killed fresh, and they
nearby
had left the doe to the carrion birds.
parted:
moved or
He parted the grass at the place where he had seen the fawn.
pushed aside It did not seem possible that it was only yesterday. The fawn was
not there. He circled the clearing. There was no sound, no sign.
The buzzards clacked their wings, impatient to return to their
business. He returned to the spot where the fawn had emerged
and dropped on all fours, studying the sand for the small hoof
prints. The night’s rain had washed away all tracks except those
of cat and buzzards.

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quivering:
shaking
slightly
delirious:
(here )
extremely
excited Comprehension Check
convulsion: 1. Jody didn’t want Mill-wheel with him for two reasons. What were they?
shiver 2. Why was Mill-wheel afraid to leave Jody alone?

90 Honeydew
III
Movement directly in front of him startled him so that he tumbled backward. The
fawn lifted its face to his. It turned its head with a wide, wondering motion and
shook him through with the stare of its liquid eyes. It was quivering. It made no
effort to rise or run. Jody could not trust himself to move.
He whispered, “It’s me.”
The fawn lifted its nose, scenting him. He reached out one hand and laid it on
the soft neck. The touch made him delirious. He moved forward on
all fours until he was close beside it. He put his arms around its
body. A light
convulsion
passed over it but
it did not stir.
He stroked its a china deer:
sides as gently as a clay deer
that is easily
though the fawn broken
were a china sleek:
deer and he smooth and
might break it. Its shiny
skin was very
soft. It was sleek
and clean and
hoist:
had a pull up higher
sweet scent of grass. He rose slowly and
lifted the fawn from the ground. Its legs hung limply. They were
surprisingly long and he had to hoist the fawn as high as possible
under his arm.
He was afraid that it might kick and bleat at sight and smell of
its mother. He skirted the clearing and pushed his way into the
thicket. It was difficult to fight through with his burden. The fawn’s
legs caught in the bushes and he could not lift his own with

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freedom. He tried to shield its face from prickling vines. Its head bobbed with his
stride. His heart thumped with the marvel of its acceptance of him. He reached the
trail and walked as fast as he could until he came to the intersection with the road
home. He stopped to rest and set the fawn down on its dangling legs. It wavered on
them. It looked at him and bleated.
He said, enchanted, “I’ll carry you after I get my breath.”
He remembered his father saying that a fawn would follow if it had first been
carried. He started away slowly. The fawn stared after him. He came back to it and

91
stroked it and walked away again. It took a few wobbling
steps toward him and cried piteously. It was willing to follow him. light-headed:
It belonged to him. It was his own. He was light-headed with his unable to think
joy. He wanted to fondle it, to run clearly
This is Jody’s Fawn

9
Here are some questions in direct speech. Put them into reported speech.
3

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 (i) Penny said, “Do you really want it son?”
(ii) Mill-wheel said, “Will he ride back with me?”
(iii) He said to Mill-wheel, “Do you think the fawn is still there?”
(iv) He asked Mill-wheel, “Will you help me find him?” (v) He said, “Was it up here
that Pa got bitten by the snake?”
2. Look at these two sentences.
He tumbled backward.
It turned its head.
The first sentence has an intransitive verb, a verb without an object.
The second sentence has a transitive verb. It has a direct object. We can ask: “What did
it turn?” You can answer: “Its head. It turned its head.”
Say whether the verb in each sentence below transitive or intransitive. Ask yourself a
‘what’ question about the verb, as in the example above. (For some verbs, the object is a
person, so ask the question ‘who’ instead of ‘what’).
(i) Jody then went to the kitchen.
(ii) The fawn wobbled after him.
(iii) You found him.
(iv) He picked it up.
(v) He dipped his fingers in the milk.
(vi) It bleated frantically and butted him.
(vii) The fawn sucked his fingers.
(viii) He lowered his fingers slowly into the milk.
(ix) It stamped its small hoofs impatiently.
(x) He held his fingers below the level of the milk.
(xi) The fawn followed him.
(xii) He walked all day.
(xiii) He stroked its sides.
(xiv) The fawn lifted its nose.
(xv) Its legs hung limply.

9 Honeydew

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3. Here are some words from the lesson. Working in groups, arrange them in the order in
which they would appear in the dictionary. Write down some idioms and phrasal verbs
connected to these words. Use the dictionary for more idioms and phrasal verbs.

close draw make wonder scrawny parted clearing sweet light pick

1. Do you think it is right to kill an animal to save a human life? Give reasons for your answer.
2. Imagine you wake up one morning and find a tiny animal on your doorstep. You want to
keep it as a pet but your parents are not too happy about it. How would you persuade
them to let you keep it? Discuss it in groups and present your arguments to the class.

1. Imagine you have a new pet that keeps you busy. Write a paragraph describing your pet,
the things it does, and the way it makes you feel. Here are some words and phrases that
you could use.
frisky, smart, disobedient, loyal, happy, enthusiastic, companion, sharing,
friend, rolls in mud, dirties the bed, naughty, lively, playful, eats up food, hides
the newspaper, drinks up milk, runs away when called, floats on the water as
if dead
2. Human life is dependent on nature (that’s why we call her Mother Nature). We take
everything from nature to live our lives. Do we give back anything to nature?
(i) Write down some examples of the natural resources that we use.
(ii) Write a paragraph expressing your point of view regarding our relationship with nature.
3. In This is Jody’s Fawn, Jody’s father uses a ‘home remedy’ for a snake bite. What should a
person now do if he or she is bitten by a snake? Are all snakes poisonous? With the help of
your teacher and others, find out answers to such questions. Then write a short paragraph
on — What to do if a snake chooses to bite you.

This is Jody’s Fawn 9

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