Animal Food Chains - There Was a Old Lady

Narrative Overview

• The story revolves around an old lady living alone in a village who encounters a peculiar situation after swallowing a fly.
• Her decision-making leads to a chain reaction of swallowing various animals to solve her problem.

Key Events

• The old lady swallowed a fly under unknown circumstances, sparking her chain of illogical decisions.
• To catch the fly, she swallowed a spider, but it failed to help and instead caused discomfort.
• Attempting to solve her dilemma, she then swallowed a bird with the intention of it catching the spider, but the bird built a nest inside her instead.
• Her next action was to swallow her cat, hoping it could catch the bird, but the cat fell asleep inside her.
• In her growing desperation, she went through multiple animals: the neighbor's dog and a goat, yet none resolved the issue.

Final Outcome

• Ultimately, the old lady decided to swallow a horse, leading to a dramatic climax where her stomach could not handle it.
• The horse swallowing culminated in her exploding, leaving a bizarre scene with animals wandering off.

Character Traits

• The old lady is depicted as somewhat foolish and illogical in her thought process regarding solving a simple problem.
• Her desperation grows as she tries increasingly absurd solutions to her issue.

Vocabulary Insights

• "Drastic" indicates a severe or extreme event affecting her.
• The term "predators" implies that spiders eat flies.
• "Pondered" refers to thinking deeply or considering carefully.
• A synonym for "was definitely going to happen" is "inevitable."
• The old lady's appearance changed due to her growing discomfort and eventual explosion.

VIPERS Questions

• Reason for swallowing the fly: Possible reasons include being hungry or practicing for an event.
• Cause of explosion: The cumulative result of swallowing excessive animals.
• Order of swallowing animals: She swallowed them based on her mistaken belief that each would solve the problem.
• Horse ownership: The horse belonged to a farmer in the village.
• Total animals swallowed: The old lady swallowed five animals: a fly, a spider, a bird, a cat, and a horse.