'You are old, Father William,' the young man said, 'And your hair has become very white; And yet you incessantly stand on your head - Do you think, at your age, it is right?'

'In my youth,' Father William replied to his son, 'I feared it might injure the brain; 'But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, 'Why, I do it again and again.'

'You are old,' said the youth, 'as I mentioned before, 'And have grown most uncommonly fat;

'Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door - 'Pray, what is the reason of that?' 'In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks, 'I kept all my limbs very supple.

'By the use of this ointment - one shilling the box - 'Allow me to send you a couple?'

Now answer these questions:

a) Father William was certainly a queer man. Mention two queer things that he did.

b) When he was young, Father William thought that one of his pranks might do him harm. When he was old, he changed his mind. Why?

c) What does 'incessantly' mean? What is a back-somersault?

d) What does the word 'supple' mean? How did Father William keep supple? Do you keep supple in the same way?

e) What signs of old age did Father William show?