Grade-6, English, Poem - Raven and the Fox

 

Poem - Raven and the Fox

 

 

Mr Raven was perched upon a limb,

And Reynard the Fox looked up at him; 

For the Raven held in his great big beak 

A morsel the Fox would go far to seek.

 

Said the Fox, in admiring tones: 'My word! 

Sir Raven, you are a handsome bird. 

Such feathers! If you would only sing, 

The birds of these woods would call you king.’

 

The Raven, who did not see the joke, 

Forgot that his voice was just a croak. 

He opened his beak, in his foolish pride - 

And down fell the morsel the Fox had spied.

 

'Ha-ha!' said the Fox. 'And now you see 

You should not listen to flattery.

 Vanity, Sir, is a horrid vice-

I'm sure the lesson is worth the price.'

 

Jean de La Fontaine

 

(Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) was a famous French poet and writer of fables. His fables were inspired by many traditional stories like Aesop's Fables and the Panchatantra.)

 

Glossary

 

perched : sitting on a branch or the end of a seat

limb: branch

morsel: a bite of food 

spied: secretly observed 

flattery: praise or smooth talk 

vanity: the state of having too much pride

horrid : very unpleasant or unkind

vice: a personal flaw

 

Say whether the following statements are True or False:

 

1. The raven was sitting on a wall. - False

2. The fox starts his flattery by praising the raven’s appearance. - True

3. The raven’s voice was melodious. - False

4. If the raven would sing, the birds of the jungle would call him king. - False

5. The fox’s real intention was to educate the raven about the vice of vanity. - False

 

Complete the following sentences.

 

1. Reynard, the fox noticed that Mr. Raven had a morsel in his beak.

2. The fox wanted the raven to open its beak because he wanted to get the morsel from its beak.

3. The fox flattered the raven by telling him that the raven was a handsome bird and had a melodious voice.

4. The raven was so pleased with the compliments that he opened his mouth to sing.

5. After getting the food the fox told the raven that he should not listen to flattery.

 

Answer these questions:

 

Q. Where was the raven perched?

Ans- Raven perched on the branch of a tree.

 

Q. What was the name of the Fox?

Ans- Fox's name was Reynard.

 

Q. What did the Fox call the Raven?

Ans- The Fox called the Raven ‘A handsome bird’. 

 

Q. What did the Fox want from the Raven?

Ans- The Fox wanted the morsel that raven had in its beak.

 

Q. Why did the fox flatter the raven?

Ans- The fox flattered the raven in order to get the morsel from his beak.

 

Q. Why did the Raven open its beak?

Ans- Raven opened its beak to sing.

 

Q. What did the raven in his beak?

Ans- The raven held a morsel in its beak.

 

Q. How did the fox flatter the raven?

Ans- The fox flattered the raven by saying that it is a handsome bird with elegant feathers and if it would sing only, the birds of the wood would accept it as their king.

 

Q. Do you think people use flattery to get their way in the world? Narrate an incident from your experience.

Ans- Yes, people use flattery to get their way in the world. My friend got to sit in the front row by flattering my class teacher.

 

Q. What was the raven's mistake?

And-​​​​​​The raven’s mistake was that he started to sing on hearing the compliments without realising that he was holding a morsel in its mouth.

 

Q. What quality of the raven’s character made him open his mouth to sing?

Ans. The raven’s weakness of giving in to flattery made him open his mouth to sing.

 

Q. What happened when the raven started to sing?

Ans- The morsel fell down when the raven started to sing.

 

Q. What should you not listen to?

Ans- We should not listen to the flattery

 

Q. ‘I’m sure the lesson is worth the price.’ What was the lesson and what was the price?

Or

What lesson did the raven learn?

Ans. The lesson was that we must never listen to or believe in flattery. The price paid by the raven was that it lost the morsel to the fox.

 

Q. Why do you think the fox preaches moral principles to the raven instead of just running away with the morsel?

Ans. The fox just wanted to prove that finally he had succeeded in fooling the raven before taking away the morsel. So he preached moral principles to the raven.

 

Q. What do we call a short story or narrative with a moral lesson which features animals?

Ans- A short story or narrative with a moral lesson which features animals is called Fable.

 

Q. What is the moral of this fable?

Ans- The moral of this fable is ‘Vanity is a vice’. Flattery can be deceiving, and we must not simply believe people because they say kind things to us.

 

Q. How many stanzas are there in the poem? What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Ans- There are four stanzas in the poem and the rhyme scheme of the poem is abcc.

 

Q. Describe Reynard, the Fox.

Ans- Reynard, the Fox was cunning. He used flattery to please the crow because it had an ulterior motive. He is ​​​​​​​sly, amoral and self-seeking. He is still a sympathetic hero, whose cunning is a necessity for survival.

 

Choose the suitable synonym for the words:

perched -         lit                   set down        called 

Lofty-               very high         gloomy            old 

glossy -            smooth            shiny   pretty 

croak -            croaking          roaring            spell 

snatch -           bring   grab                sneeze 

flatterer -         reader speaker           adulator 

aye-                 always             often               never 

Liveth-            lives                 seeks listens 

Swear-             write                vow                 regret

rogue -             cheater           thief                 actor 

cheat-             buy                  deceive           fulfil


It is proved in this poem that ‘Vanity is a vice. We should not be so self-obsessed as to believe in whatever someone has to say about us. Flattery can be deceiving, and we must not simply believe people because they say kind things to us.

 

Here the Fox was cunning, and used flattery to please the crow because it had an ulterior motive. ​​​​​​​The Crow on hearing the compliments starts to sing without realising that he is holding a morsel in its mouth.

 

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