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प्रश्न
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“That only leaves October, November, and December,”’ said the Queen. "And after that, we shall have to begin all over again.”
“No, we shan’t,” said the King, “because I think twelve daughters are enough for any man and after the birth of dear little December I shall be reluctantly compelled to cut off your head.”
He cried bitterly when he said this, for he was extremely fond of the Queen.
(i) Why did the king change the names of his daughters so many times?
(ii) In what way was Princess September different from her sisters? What reason does the author give for this difference in their temperaments?
(iii) Which unusual birthday tradition did the King of Siam observe? Mention some of the gifts that he gave.
(iv) Why did Princess September put the Nightingale in a cage? What reasons did she give to the bird for putting it in a cage and then keeping it there?
(v) How did the bird behave upon being locked in a cage? What is the message of the story?
उत्तर
(i) The king of Siam is an odd character. He had a peculiar manner of naming his children. When he had two daughters he named them day and night. When he has two more, he changed the names of the first ones and called the four of them after the seasons. When he had three others he called all seven by the days of the week. On more daughters being born he called them by the months of the year.
(ii) The Princess September’s name had never been changed. She had a very sweet and charming nature. She was basically innocent and kind-hearted. On the other hand, her sisters had annoying nature. They were petty-minded and cunning because their names were changed more than once.
(iii) The King of Siam used to give, not receive gifts on his birthdays. One year on his birthday he gifted each of his daughters a green parrot in a golden cage. The other gifts that he gave were his wedding presents and his own crowns which had gone out of fashion.
(iv) Princess September put the bird in a cage because her sisters advised her that the bird could fly away and never come back. Actually they wanted to trouble the bird for they were jealous of it. Princess September truly became worried about the bird.
September said to the bird that it should remain in the cage. The cage was golden and made by the best workman. She feared it would go and never return and also was worried about its safety.
(v) The bird being locked in the cage was feeling troubled and weak. It refused to sing, it stopped eating and then it lay in the cage as if it were dead.
The message is, freedom is cherished by all creatures. Nature has a good effect on one’s physical and mental growth.
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Miss Fernandes is our new class teacher. She is slim and fit even at the age of 50. With her grey hair, spectacles, and plain formal clothes, she looks so strict! But we discovered that her classes can be great fun. We begin each class with a simple two-minute game or activity. Today we had to write as many words beginning with 'a' as we could, within 60 seconds. I wrote 50! I got a pot on my back for making 'the best effort'! I feel on top of the world. |
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| (1) | “Can I see the Manager?” I said, and added solemnly, “Alone.” I don't know why I said “Alone.” “Certainly,” said the accountant and fetched him. | |
| (2) | The Manager was a grave, calm man. I held my fifty-six dollars clutched in a crumpled ball in my pocket. “Are you the Manager?” I asked. God knows I did not doubt it. “Yes,” he said. “Can I see you …. alone?” I asked. |
5 |
| (3) | The Manager looked at me in some alarm. He felt that I had an awful secret to reveal. “Come in here,” he said, and led the way to a private room. He turned the key in the lock. “We are safe from interruption here,” he said; “Sit down.” We both sat down and looked at each other. I found no voice to speak. “You are one of Pinkerton’s men, I presume,” he said. |
10 |
| (4) |
He had gathered from my mysterious manner that I was a detective. I knew what he was thinking, and it made me worse. |
15
20
|
| (5) | The Manager got up and opened the door. He called to the accountant. “Mr. Montgomery,” he said unkindly loud, “this gentleman is opening an account, he will deposit fifty-six dollars. Good morning.” I rose. A big iron door stood open at the side of the room. “Good morning,” I said, and stepped into the safe. “Come out,” said the Manager coldly and showed me the other way. |
30 |
| (6) | I went up to the accountant’s wicket and poked the ball of money at him with a quick convulsive movement as if I were doing a conjuring trick. My face was ghastly pale. “Here,” I said, “deposit it.” The tone of the words seemed to mean, “Let us do this painful thing while the fit is on us.” He took the money and gave it to another clerk. |
35 |
| (7) | He made me write the sum on a slip and sign my name in a book. I no longer knew what I was doing. The bank swam before my eyes. “Is it deposited?” I asked in a hollow, vibrating voice. “It is,” said the accountant. “Then I want to draw a cheque.” My idea was to draw out six dollars of it for present use. Someone gave me a chequebook through a wicket and someone else began telling me how to write it out. The people in the bank had the impression that I was an invalid millionaire. I wrote something on the cheque and thrust it in at the clerk. He looked at it. |
40
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| (8) | “What! Are you drawing it all out again?” he asked in surprise. Then I realised that I had written fifty-six instead of six. I was too far gone to reason now. I had a feeling that it was impossible to explain the thing. I had burned my boats. All the clerks had stopped writing to look at me. Reckless with misery, I made a plunge. “Yes, the whole thing.” “You withdraw all your money from the bank?” “Every cent of it.” “Are you not going to deposit anymore?” said the clerk, astonished. “Never.” |
50
55 |
| (9) | An idiot hope struck me that they might think something had insulted me while I was writing the cheque and that I had changed my mind. I made a wretched attempt to look like a man with a fearfully quick temper. | |
| (10) | The clerk prepared to pay the money. “How will you have it?” he said. This question came as a bolt from the blue. “What?” “How will you have it?” “Oh!”— I caught his meaning and answered without even trying to think— “in fifties.” He gave me a fifty-dollar bill. “And the six?” he asked dryly. “In sixes,” I said. He gave it to me and I rushed out. As the big door swung behind me. I caught the echo of a roar of laughter that went up to the ceiling of the bank. Since then, I bank no more. I keep my money in cash in my trousers pocket and my savings in silver dollars in a sock. |
60
65
70 |
| Adapted from: My Financial Career By Stephen Leacock |
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- Find a single word from the passage that will exactly replace the underlined word or words in the following sentences. [3]
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- The firm experienced a financial loss when the contract went to a contender who had just entered the business.
- For each of the words given below, choose the correct sentence that uses the same word unchanged in spelling, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage. [3]
- alarm (line 8)
- The silence from the other end set off alarm bells in her head.
- The pallor of his skin alarmed those standing around.
- I set my alarm for six o’clock but slept through it.
- The sound of the approaching jets caused some alarm in the war room.
- wicket (line 44)
- The wicketkeeper was the true saviour of the day for that one match.
- The team wanted to bat while the wicket was still dry.
- The man at the window handed us our tickets through the wicket.
- The quick loss of wickets demoralised the team.
- reason (line 48)
- After the tragedy, his ability to reason is severely diminished.
- They reasoned they could get better seats if they arrived early.
- Recipients of funds were selected without rhyme or reason.
- We have every reason to celebrate.
- alarm (line 8)
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- Cite any two instances of the behaviour of the bank employees that indicate the insignificance of a deposit of fifty-six dollars. [2]
- Why do you think the people in the bank thought of the narrator as an “invalid millionaire?” [2]
- Summarise why the narrator decided ‘to bank no more’ (paragraphs 6 to 10). You are required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words. Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised. [8]
