Let us go back in time, centuries or millenniums ago, when man had evolved from apes or when God created man—whichever notion you may adhere to, with ape-like features, attitude, habits he learnt from nature. He learnt that weather and seasons changed, that some berries were sweet to taste, some were bitter and some made him feel uneasy. He learnt the basic feeling of fear when smoke rose, a huge hairy beast came charging down at him and when he threw a stone or stick at it, he learnt that it went away. He tried harder and threw larger stones to scare away larger animals. When the early man discovered fire, he thought hard and preserved to make ways to ignite fire. He would light it up to keep away the beast or escape cold. Accidentally, when a piece of meat fell into the fire, he picked it up and ate it; it tasted good but was burnt at places—so the early man tried to burn the raw meat just enough to get a good taste but not turn it to ash. Similar trials, tribulations, patient watch, hard work and perseverance transformed the early man into kings and nobles of early riverside civilizations. Pottery, agriculture, painting, invention of grinding stones, wheels, chariots, arms, keys, locks, furniture and forts—all these were due to the necessities of man that egged him on to persevere and make life easier and comfortable. Perseverance to survive under enemy attacks and other such tough tasks brought us to the modern age—the age of renaissance, political, social, economic, religious and industrial revolution, the machine age, the computer age and the space age. All we are today is the result of hard work and perseverance.
Vocabulary
Uneasy—uncomfortable
Tribulations—difficult times
