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NCERT QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS

Page No: 27

Think About It

1. What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?

Answer

The two strange things that the guru and his disciple observe in the kingdom of fools are:

► Every sleeps during the day and carry out their work at night

► The cost to purchase anything from the market was the same, one duddu (one rupee).

Whether it was a measure of rice or a bunch of banana it cost the same

2. Why does the disciple’s decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?

Answer

The disciple decided to stay in the Kingdom of Fools because he was delighted that everything cost a single duddu and everything was very cheap. All that he wanted was good and very cheap food.

According to the Guru, staying there was not a good idea as they were all fools and so he felt this situation would not last long and was not sure about what they would do in the future.

3. Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.

Answer

Following people were tried in the king’s court:

► The merchant whose house was burgled: Because his house’s wall was weak and it fell upon the burgular and killed him.

► The bricklayer who built the wall: Because he built a wall which was weak and which collapsed killing the burglar

► The dancing girl: Because she distracted the bricklayer with her jingling anklets by walking up and down the road where bricklayer was laying the wall

► The goldsmith: Because he didn’t complete the dancing girl’s order on time and so she had to go to the goldsmith a dozen times.

► The merchant whose house was burgled (second time): because his father persuaded the

goldsmith to finish his order first thereby delaying the dancing girl’s order. Since the merchant’s father died, the merchant had to be executed in his father’s place

► The disciple: Because the merchant was too thin to be executed by the newly made stake

and a fat man was required to fit the stake. The disciple was very fat, hence he was caught

4. Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?

Answer

The real culprit according to the king is the merchant because although his old father was the real murderer he was dead and someone had to be punishment in his place. He escapes the punishment because he is too thin to be properly executed on the stake.

5. What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them?'

Answer

The guru’s words of wisdom were that it was the city of fools. He advised the disciple to leave the city because he would not know what they would do next. The disciple remembers this when he was going to be executed.

6. How does the guru mange to save his disciple’s life?

The guru tries to confuse the king by expressing his desire to be killed first. Then to further confuse the king he tells the story of becoming the king in the next incarnation. Apparently it may sound like a case of pure lie to save your dear one’s life. But if we go deeper consciously or unconsciously the sage is trying to save everybody’s life in the kingdom. Ultimately he is able to pull everybody out of

the misery of living in the kingdom of fools.

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Page No: 36

Think About It

1. Why do the courtiers call the prince ‘the Happy Prince’? Is he really happy? What does he see all around him?

Answer

The courtiers called the prince ‘the Happy Prince’ because he was always happy. When he was alive, he did not know what tears were for he lived in a palace where sorrow was not allowed to enter. However, when he died and was made into a statue, he was not happy and tears flowed down his

eyes on seeing the state of his city. He could see all the misery and ugliness of the city around him.

2. Why does the Happy Prince send a ruby for the seamstress? What does the swallow do in the seamstress’ house?

Answer

The Happy Prince sent a ruby for the seamstress as she was extremely poor and could not feed her child who was suffering from fever.

The swallow, on being persuaded by the prince, went to the seamstress’s house. She had fallen asleep so the swallow kept the ruby on the table where the woman worked. He then flew round the bed fanning the boy’s forehead with his wings. This made the boy feel relaxed and he went to sleep.

3. For whom does the prince send the sapphires and why?

Answer

The Happy Prince sent the sapphires for two people: the young writer across the city and the matchgirl. The young writer was trying to finish a play for the Director of the Theatre. However, he was too cold to write anymore, there was no fire in the grate and hunger had made him faint. He sent the sapphire to the young playwright so that he could sell it to the jeweller, buy firewood, and finish his play. On seeing the sapphire, the young man felt appreciated and believed that he could finish his play.

The Happy Prince then saw a little matchgirl who was standing in the square just below him. She had let her matches fall in the gutter because of which they were all spoiled. The prince knew that her father would beat her if she did not bring home some money. When the swallow slipped the jewel into the palm of the little girl’s hand, she ran home happy and laughing.

4. What does the swallow see when it flies over the city?

Answer

When the swallow flew over the city it saw the stark contrast of plenty and poverty. It saw rich men making merry oblivious to the plight of the poor down the lane. It saw the nadir of condition of poor when they are denied even a sound sleep by police patrolling the street.

5. Why did the swallow not leave the prince and go to Egypt?

Answer

Since the price had given away the two sapphires of his eyes, he had become blind. Therefore, the swallow decided to stay with the prince always. It can be inferred that the swallow was so touched by prince’s kindness that he decided to stay back rather than flying to Egypt and be with his friends. What this suggests is that kind hearted people always attract friends who will stay with them forever.

6. What are the precious things mentioned in the story? Why are they precious?

Answer

The precious things mentioned in the story are the leaden heart of the happy prince and the dead bird. 

They are precious because both the happy prince and the swallow were very kind, generous and selfless. The prince could not bear to see the ugliness, misery and suffering in his city and so gave away all his precious stones and gold to make his people happy. Similarly the swallow sacrificed his trip to Egypt and acted as the prince’s messenger carrying the precious stones and gold to the needy spreading happiness around. When the prince was blind he still loved him so much that he never left

him even though it kept getting colder and colder with winter approaching. Finally when he could no longer bear the cold he died at the feet of the statue and the statue loved him so much that its leaden heart broke into two. That is why when God asked one of the angels to bring him the two precious things in the garden the angel took the leaden heart and the dead bird and God said that in his garden of Paradise the little bird shall sing for ever more and in the city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise God.

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