Grapes Are Sour Completing Story for Class 6, 7, 8, SSC, HSC

Completing a story is one of the most frequently set writing items in the English papers of Classes 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, SSC and HSC in Bangladesh. Students are given the first few lines of a story and must carry it forward in their own language to a suitable ending. This item rewards imagination, a good stock of words, correct grammar, and the ability to arrange events in a natural, flowing order.

Among all the short fables used in completing-story questions, the Grapes Are Sour completing story is a favourite of examiners. It is brief, amusing, and carries a sharp lesson about human nature that everyone recognises: people often despise the very thing they cannot get. The story of the hungry fox and the unreachable grapes has been asked in school and board examinations for years, and it is easy to score full marks on it with a little practice.

In this post, you will find the given beginning of the Grapes Are Sour story exactly as it appears in question papers, a full-length completed version for SSC and HSC candidates, a shorter version for Class 6 and Class 7 students, the moral of the story, difficult word meanings in Bangla and English, practical exam-writing tips, and answers to the most frequently asked questions about this story.

Given Beginning of the Grapes Are Sour Completing Story

Read the incomplete beginning carefully. In the exam, this is the part given in the question paper, and you must continue from where it ends:

Once a hungry fox was roaming in a forest in search of food. Suddenly he saw some ripe grapes hanging from a vine high above his head. His mouth watered...

Grapes Are Sour Completing Story — Full Version with Moral

Once a hungry fox was roaming in a forest in search of food. Suddenly he saw some ripe grapes hanging from a vine high above his head. His mouth watered at the sight of the juicy, purple bunches. "What delicious grapes!" he thought. "I must eat them at once."

The fox jumped up to reach the grapes, but they were too high. He jumped again with all his strength, yet his teeth could not touch even the lowest bunch. He tried again and again, leaping higher each time, but every attempt ended in failure. Tired and panting, he sat down under the vine and looked up at the grapes once more. Then he noticed a big stone nearby, climbed upon it, and jumped again — but still the grapes hung just beyond his reach.

At last the fox gave up. He was exhausted, and his pride was hurt. As he walked away, he glanced back at the grapes and said with a sneer, "Those grapes are sour. I do not want them anyway. Sour grapes are not worth eating." And with these words, the hungry fox went his way, pretending that he had never wanted the grapes at all.

Moral: It is easy to despise what you cannot get. People often hate what is beyond their reach.

Moral of the Grapes Are Sour Completing Story

The moral of the Grapes Are Sour story is: it is easy to despise what you cannot get — people often declare worthless the very thing they fail to obtain.

This moral describes a weakness of human nature that we see around us every day. When a student fails to win a prize, he may say the prize was not important; when someone cannot afford something, he may call it useless. The fox did exactly this: unable to reach the grapes, he comforted himself by calling them sour. The lesson for us is to be honest with ourselves instead of blaming others or despising what we could not achieve through our own effort.

Difficult Words and Meanings from the Grapes Are Sour Completing Story

Short Version of the Grapes Are Sour Completing Story for Class 6 and Class 7

Once a hungry fox saw some ripe grapes hanging high from a vine. His mouth watered. He jumped again and again to reach them, but the grapes were too high. He climbed a stone and jumped once more, yet he failed every time. Tired at last, the fox walked away, saying, "The grapes are sour. I do not want them." In truth, the grapes were sweet, but the fox could not reach them, so he called them sour.

Moral: It is easy to despise what you cannot get.

How to Write a Completing Story in the Exam — Tips for SSC and HSC Students

1. Read the given beginning two or three times and understand the situation — a hungry fox, high grapes, and his repeated failure — before you start writing.

2. Decide the ending in your mind first — the Grapes Are Sour story must end with the fox walking away calling the grapes sour, followed by the moral.

3. Keep the tense consistent. The Grapes Are Sour story is told in the past tense, so continue in the past tense throughout.

4. Write in simple, correct sentences. Do not use difficult words you are unsure about; examiners reward clarity, not complexity.

5. Maintain the word limit given in the question, usually 150 to 250 words for school exams and a little more for SSC and HSC.

6. Connect your sentences with linking words like then, suddenly, at last, therefore, and meanwhile to keep the story flowing.

7. Keep the characters and setting unchanged. Do not introduce new characters or change the forest setting of the story.

8. End the story with the moral in a separate line. For the Grapes Are Sour story, the moral is that it is easy to despise what you cannot get.

9. Leave one line after finishing and revise your answer for spelling and grammar mistakes before submitting the script.

10. Practise at least five to ten completing stories before the exam so that you can write smoothly within the time limit.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the Grapes Are Sour Completing Story

Q1. What is the Grapes Are Sour completing story for class 6?

For Class 6, the Grapes Are Sour completing story is written in short and simple sentences within about 120 to 150 words. A hungry fox sees ripe grapes hanging high, jumps again and again but cannot reach them, and at last walks away saying the grapes are sour. Junior students should keep the language easy, describe the fox's jumps in two or three lines, and end with the moral that it is easy to despise what you cannot get.

Q2. How do I write the Grapes Are Sour completing story for class 7?

For Class 7, start from the given lines about the hungry fox and the ripe grapes, then describe his repeated jumps in your own words. Mention that he even climbed a stone to jump higher but failed every time. Finish with the fox walking away and calling the grapes sour, though they were really sweet. Keep the story between 150 and 200 words, use past tense throughout, and close with the moral.

Q3. What is the Grapes Are Sour completing story for class 8?

The Class 8 version of the Grapes Are Sour completing story follows the same plot — the hungry fox, the high grapes, the failed jumps, and the "sour grapes" remark — but students at this level should use richer vocabulary and better sentence variety. Add descriptive details, such as the fox's watering mouth, his panting after many attempts, and his sneering remark at the end, and write about 200 words. End with the moral in bold or a separate line.

Q4. What is the moral of the Grapes Are Sour story?

The moral of the Grapes Are Sour story is "It is easy to despise what you cannot get." The fox could not reach the sweet grapes, so to comfort his hurt pride he declared them sour. The story teaches us about a common human weakness: instead of admitting our failure, we often blame the thing we could not obtain and call it worthless.

Q5. Can you give a short Grapes Are Sour completing story?

Yes. Here is a short version: A hungry fox saw ripe grapes hanging high from a vine and his mouth watered. He jumped again and again but could not reach them. At last, tired and disappointed, he walked away saying, "The grapes are sour." But the grapes were sweet; the fox only said so because he could not get them. Moral: it is easy to despise what you cannot get.

Q6. How should I write the Grapes Are Sour completing story in the SSC exam?

In the SSC exam, write the Grapes Are Sour completing story in about 200 to 250 words with correct grammar and a lively sequence of events. Start from the given beginning, describe the fox's repeated attempts with growing detail — jumping, climbing the stone, panting with tiredness — and end with his famous remark and the moral. Examiners look for proper tense, linking words, vivid details, and a clearly stated moral, so revise your answer for spelling mistakes before submitting.

Q7. What is the "sour grapes" attitude?

The "sour grapes" attitude means pretending to dislike something only because you cannot have it. The phrase comes directly from this story: the fox, unable to reach the sweet grapes, called them sour to hide his disappointment. In real life, people show this attitude when they say a prize, a job, or a thing they failed to get was not worth having anyway.

Q8. Why did the fox call the grapes sour?

The fox called the grapes sour because his pride was hurt after failing again and again to reach them. He did not want to admit that he was too weak or too short to get what he wanted, so he comforted himself by declaring the grapes sour and worthless. In truth the grapes were ripe and sweet; the word "sour" was only an excuse for his failure.