Class-8 Supplementary Reader (It so happened….) Chapter-5, Princess September – Solutions and Additional Exercises / NCERT/CBSE
Princess September
Fill
in the blanks:
|
Ominously, put their heads together, sob
of relief, day and night, tweet |
1. The eight princesses put their heads together
and went to Princess September.
2. “Safety first,” said eight sisters ominously.
3. Suddenly September heard a tweet just behind
her ear and she saw the little bird sitting on her shoulder.
4. She gave a sob of relief, for she felt that his
little heart was beating still.
5. September kept her window open day and night so
that the little bird might come into her room whenever he felt inclined
Match these words with their meanings:
|
Word |
Meaning |
|
handy |
moving
about quietly |
|
vexed |
immediately
available |
|
glum |
came
down |
|
alighted |
sad
|
|
prowling |
distressed;
worried |
Ans-
|
Word |
Meaning |
|
handy |
immediately available |
|
vexed |
distressed; worried |
|
glum |
sad |
|
alighted |
came down |
|
prowling |
moving about quietly |
State
whether these statements are true or false:
1.
Princess
September receives the gift of a nightingale in a golden cage on her father’s birthday.
False
2.
Princess
September acts upon her sisters’ advice. True
3.
I want to
have a good fly while the dew is still on the ground. True
4.
Princess
September decides to put her happiness above the bird’s. False
5.
She threw open
the window and gently placed the little bird on the sill. True
Write
one word for the following:
1.
Coming from or
belonging to the East of Far East
Oriental
2.
Opposite of
oriental
Occident
3.
Place where a
bird sits or rests
perch
4.
Women attending
the Princess
Maids of Honour
5.
A device (trap)
used to catch birds or small animals
Snare
Comprehension Check I
Answer
these questions:
Q.1 How
many daughters did the royal couple have?
Ans-
The royal couple had nine daughters.
Q.2 Why
were they named after the months of the year?
Ans-
They were named after the months of the year because it confused the Queen to
have to remember so many names.
Q.3 The
King had a peculiar habit. What was it? Why is it called peculiar?
Ans-
The king had a peculiar habit of giving gifts on his birthday. It is called peculiar
because in general people receive gifts on their birthday.
Q.4 (i)
What was Princess September’s reaction to the loss of her parrot?
Ans-
She burst into a flood of tears, and nothing that her Maids of Honour could say
comforted her when she lost her parrot.
(ii)
What was her mother’s reaction to it?
Ans-
Her mother said it was stuff and nonsense and the child had better
go
to bed without any supper.
(iii)
What do the reactions indicate about the nature and temperament of each?
Ans-
Princess September’s reaction shows that she was empathetic and kind hearted
while her was reckless and had no
empathy towards the child.
Q.5
What pulled the Princess out of her gloom?
Ans-
A little bird came hopping in Princess’s room and sang a beautiful song. This
pulled the Princess out of her gloom.
Q.6 How
did the Maids of Honour come to know that the Princess and the bird had become
intimate friends?
Ans-
The bird he ate rice out of her hand and he had his bath in her saucer. Thus
the Maids of Honour came to know that the Princess and the bird had become
intimate friends.
Q.7 The
new bird was full of new songs but the old parrots always repeated themselves.
What did they say?
Ans-
The new bird was full of new songs but the parrots could only say ‘God save the
king’ and ‘Pretty Polly’.
Q.8
What is the King’s opinion about his Councillors? Why did he form that opinion?
Ans-
The King’s opinion about his councillors was that they said the same thing in
seven different ways the way parrots said ‘God save the king’ and ‘Pretty
Polly’ in seven different languages.
He
formed this opinion because it never meant anything in any way they said it.
Q.9 (i)
The eight Princesses made an offer to Princess September.
What
was it?
Ans-
The eight Princesses made an offer to Princess September that they would put
their pocket money together and buy a lovely yellow green parrot fir her.
(ii)
Why, in your view, did they do it?
Ans-
In my opinion, they did so because they wanted Princess September to have a
parrot like them instead of that beautiful singing bird.
Q.10
What did the sisters advise the Princess to do about her bird?
Ans-
The sisters advised the Princess to keep the little bird in cage to be sure of
him.
Comprehension Check II
Answer
these questions:
Q.1 In
the following sentence elaborate the parts given in bold.
Under
the circumstances it was a very
unfortunate remark for the bird to make.
Ans-
The bird said that the fact was he very nearly didn’t come back that night at
all. His father-in-law was giving a party and they all wanted him to stay, but he
thought she’d be anxious. This was very unfortunate remark because the eight
sisters had already made her uneasy by talking ominously about the little bird.
Thus she made up her mind to take no more risks and popped him into the cage.
Q.2 (i)
What did Princess September do to ensure the safety of her pet?
Ans-
Princess September popped him into the cage to ensure the safety of her pet.
(ii)
How did the bird react to it?
Ans-
The bird could think of nothing to say for a moment. But in a moment or two he
hopped up to the ivory perch and said, “What is the joke?”
Q.3 Why
did the bird refuse to be taken out in her cage?
Ans-
The bird was refused to be taken out in her cage because the Princess was at
unease and made up her mind to take no more risks.
Q.4 (i)
What persuaded Princess September to give the bird his freedom again?
Ans-
The little bird persuaded Princess September to give him his freedom by saying
that he cannot sing unless he’s free, and if he cannot sing he die.
(ii)
How did the bird react to it?
Ans-
He told the Princess that he would come because he loved her and that he would
sing her the sweetest songs he knew, he should go far away, but he should
always come back and never forget her.
Q.5
Princess September kept her window open day and night.
(i) How
did it help the bird?
Ans-
It helped the little bird come into her room whenever he felt
Inclined.
(ii)
How did it help the Princess herself?
Ans-
The Princess grew extremely beautiful because she kept windows open day and
night.
Q.6 The
eight sisters kept their windows shut. How did it affect them?
Ans-
The eight sisters never slept with their windows open, so they grew extremely
ugly as well as disagreeable, and when the time came to marry them off they
were given away to the King’s Councillors with a pound of tea and a Siamese
cat.
Think Over It
Discuss
the following questions in small groups. Write their answers later.
1. Are
the sisters unkind and cruel? Find evidence in the text to support your idea.
Yes
the sisters were unkind and cruel. When they saw that the little bird could
sing different songs so melodiously and their parrots could repeat only two
lines, they became distressed. They put up their heads together and offered
Princess September to buy a green and yellow parrot for her. When she denied
their offer, they convinced her to put the bird in cage by sating ominous
things.
After
putting into the cage when the little bird stopped eating and singing and the
Princess consulted her sisters they said it would soon get used to the cage.
They even said that she should be firm and if it died then it would be very
ungrateful of it. If it was obstinate and died then it would serve it right.
All
these instances show that they were very unkind and cruel.
2.
Which, to you, is the most important idea in this story, and why?
(i)
importance of music
(ii)
value of freedom
(iii)
beauty of nature
The
most important idea in this story is the value of freedom. The bird stopped
eating anything when it was locked up in the golden cage on the advice of the
eight sisters. It was not able to sing any son then and without singing songs
he would have surely died.
As
soon as Princess September gave him his freedom he began to sing melodiously
again. Freedom is every creature’s basic right on this planet.
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