Sweet Truth It was the lion king's birthday. All
the birds and animals preened themselves as best as they could. Then with gifts, they all left for the king's den. At the den, all the arrangements had been made. The king had invited all the animals and birds for a grand buffet, All were present there for they did not want to offend the lion. At the fixed time the cake was cut. Then everyone sang the birthday song and enjoyed the feast. After the party, the lion noticed that all had come except the donkey. Then he thought, may be some urgent work had stopped him. The next day when the lion met the donkey, he asked him about it The donkey replied, "Oh! I don't like attending parties. There is no place like home. So I stayed home and relaxed." The donkey had told the truth but in an insulting way. In anger the lion banished the donkey from the jungle. Since then the donkey has lived with men and carried their loads because he could not speak the truth sweetly.

Find the past tense words and direct speech​