What is the main idea of the fable?

Visible beauty can welcome people, but dependable care must come before decoration. (The garland adds welcome, but the feast relies on Mole's sound rope; Peacock finally combines beauty with checking the essential structure first.)

Why does Mole lift and lower three heavy buckets?

He is testing whether the new rope and knots can bear repeated weight. (The repeated heavy lifts occur just after Mole fastens the rope, and the text says he checks the strain, so they are a load test.)

What does “frayed” mean as used to describe the rope?

Worn so that some fibers are coming apart (Mole replaces the rope and later teaches Peacock to spot worn fibers, showing that “frayed” means worn and beginning to separate.)

What scatters most of Peacock's petals?

A sharp wind (The third paragraph states that a sharp wind sweeps across the square and scatters most of the petals.)

The Peacock and the Well Rope: Level 4 Reading Comprehension Questions

Before the spring feast, Peacock decided that the village well looked too plain. She braided a garland of leaves and bright petals around its posts, then polished the bucket until the wood shone. Mole noticed that the rope was frayed where it crossed the stone rim. He brought a new coil and began measuring, knotting, and testing it.

While Peacock worked, she drew a cheerful crowd. The animals admired how the petals fluttered and how their faces gleamed in the bucket's metal bands. Nearby, Mole fastened the replacement rope and pulled up three heavy buckets. Hardly anyone watched him lower each one again to check the strain.

When the cooks arrived, they needed water for the feast. Peacock's garland made the well inviting, but Mole's rope carried bucket after bucket without slipping. Then a sharp wind swept across the square and scattered most of the petals. The polished bucket still shone, and the water kept rising.

Peacock first mourned the empty posts. Then she saw the cooks filling their pots and understood which work the feast depended upon. The next morning, she asked Mole to show her how to spot worn fibers. At the following feast, the well was again beautiful, but Peacock checked the rope before she gathered a single flower.

Comprehension questions