VISTAS (SUPPLEMENTARY READER) 1.THE TIGER KING
Q.1. Who is the tiger? Why does he get that
name?
Ans:-The
maharaja of pratibandapuram has been called the tiger king. He gets that name
as he kills ninety-nine tigers in order to evade his predicted death from a
tiger.
Q.2. What did the royal infant grow up to be?
Ans:- The
royal grew taller and stronger day by day. The boy drank the milk of an English
cow. He was brought up by an English nurse. He was tutored in English by an
Englishman. He saw nothing but English films. When he was twenty years old, he
becomes the king of the state.
Q.3. What will the maharaja do to find the
required number of tigers to kill?
Ans:- He
would try to establish relations with a royal family that had a large number of
tigers in its state. He would try to find such a girl and marry her. Then he
would be free to hunt in the state of his father-in law.
Q.4. How will the maharaja prepare himself for
the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate?
Ans:- The
maharaja still remembered the astrologer’s words. So he had to be extremely
careful with the hundredth tiger. He thought to himself,” the tiger is a save
beast. One has to be wary of it.” however, he was determined to seek the
hundred tiger and kill it. And after that, he could give up tiger hunting
altogether.
Q.5. What will now happen to the astrologer?
Do you think prophecy was indisputably proved?
Ans:- The
astrologer had warned the maharaja to be careful about the hundred tiger. “What
if the hundred tiger were also killed?” the maharaja had said. At this, the
astrologer’s reply was: “then I will tear up all my books on astrology and set
fire to them. I shall cut off my tuft, crop my hair short and become an
insurance agent.” But I don’t think such a thing would happen because the old
astrologer must be dead already. Also, I don’t think the prophecy was proved
indisputably true because it was not the hundredth that killed the maharaja. We
can only say that the maharaja was killed because of the hundredth tiger.
Without ascertaining that the tiger was actually killed, he left the forest and
started celebrating his success.
Q.6. The story is a satire on the conceit of
those in power. How does the author employ the literary device of dramatic
irony in the story?
Ans:- The
story in indeed a satire on the conceit of those in power. The tiger king has
been used as the symbol of this conceit. The astrologers tell him that his
death will come a tiger. After the king has killed a tiger, he is filled with
conceit. He calls the state astrologer and says proudly, “what do you say now?”
The astrologer says humbly,” your majesty may kill ninety nine tigers in the
same manner, but you must be very careful with the hundredth tiger.” So he
starts hunting tigers to achieve his goal. After the hundredth has been killed,
he feels that he has no fear of any tiger now. But ironically, his death comes
soon after from a tiger only. And it comes not from a real tiger, but from the
device of dramatic irony.
Q.7.
What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the
willfulness of human beings?
Ans:- The
author brings out the cruelty and heartlessness of human beings towards
innocent animals. The behavior of the tiger king is an indirect comment on this
cruelty and heartlessness. The astrologers had only predicted that the king’s
death will come from a tiger. Instead of keeping himself safe and away from
tigers, the king chooses to go hunting and kill the tigers in his kingdom. He
kills so many that no tigers are left in the forests of his kingdom. He kill
the so many that no tigers are left in the forests of his kingdom. Now he
marries a girl from a royal family. His sole purpose is to kill the tigers in
his father-in-law’s kingdom. He kills all the tigers there also. At last, the
Dewan has to arrange an old tigers for the king to hunt. The old tiger stands
humbly before the king, yet the king shows no pity. He takes a careful aim and
fires. Thus the author exposes the folly, cruelty and heartlessness of human
beings with regard to their behavior towards innocent animals. And then there
is the case of the British officer also. He wants to have a tiger killed simply
because he wants himself photographed holding the gun and standing over the
dead tiger.
Q.8. Can you relate instances of game-hunting
among the rich and the powerful in the present times that illustrate the
callousness of human beings towards wildlife?
Ans:- There have been a number of instances
of game-hunting among the rich and the powerful in recent times. There were
reports about a known film actor hunting a deer of the protected species. Then
there were reports of a former nawab having indulged in illegal game-hunting.
In spite of the fact that the government has banned game –hunting all over the
country, such reports keep pouring in.
Q.9.
We need a new system for the age of
ecology- a system which is embedded in the care of all people and also in the
care of the earth and all life upon it. Discuss.
Ans:- knowledge of ecology is probably more
important today than at any other time. Ecology is concerned with the way
living things share the earth we live on. Under normal conditions, the3 living
things of any community go through a cycle of birth, reproduction, eating and
being eaten. This cycle is called ‘the balance of nature’. It keeps communities
fairly stable. When this balance is disturbed due to the immense increase or
decreases of a species, starvation or disease sets in. this is what is
happening in the present-day world. Human population has increased so much that
our natural resources, our fore4st wealth and our wildlife are depleting very
fast. Global warming has become the biggest threat for all life on this earth.
Therefore, it is need of the hour to evolve a new system which can take care of
all people and also all life on this earth.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (ADDITIONAL
QUESTIONS)
Q.1. What did the astrologers foretell as soon
as the tiger king was born?
Ans:- They
foretold that child would grow up to become the warrior of warriors. He will be
the hero of heroes, and champion. But they added that one day the tiger king
would actually have to die.
Q.2.
What were the astrologers forced to do and why?
Ans:- As
soon as the tiger was born, the astrologers foretold that one day he would
actually have to die. They were compelled to explain what they meant by their
forecast. Then they said,” the child born under this star will one day have
to meet earth.”
Q.3
What did the chief astrologer say
about the manner of the tiger king’s death?
Ans:- The
chief astrologer said that the prince was born in the hour of the bull. The
bull and the tiger are enemies. Therefore, the prince’s death will come from a
tiger.
Q.4. How did the crown prince Jung Bahadur
reacts when he heard the chief astrologer’s prediction?
Ans:-The chief astrologer had said that the
prince’s death would come from a tiger. Hearing this, the prince was not afraid
at all. Rather he gave a deep growl and said in terrifying words, “Let tigers
beware”
Q.5. How was the crown prince Jung Bahadur
brought up?
Ans:- The
crown prince was brought up like the crown prince of any other Indian state. He
was brought up by an English nanny. He drank the milk of an English cow. He was
taught English by an Englishman. He saw nothing but English films.
Q.6. How did the tiger king celebrate the
killing of the hundredth tiger?
Ans:-
There were great celebrations when the hundredth tiger was killed. The dead
body of the tiger was taken in procession through the town. Then the tiger was
buried and a tomb was raised over it.
Q.7. What did the chief astrologer predict
about the tiger king?
Ans:- The
chief astrologer prediction about the tiger king that his death would come from
a tiger. So astrologer had warned the maharaja to be careful about the
hundredth tiger. And the maharaja was not careful. The hundredth tiger happened
to be an old tiger. The old tiger fell in a heap. Without caring whether the
tiger had actually been killed or not, he left the place in great joy. He gave
orders to bring the tiger to the capital in a grand procession. After the
maharaja had left, the hunters found
that the tiger was not dead. The hundredth tiger becomes the cause of the
maharaja’s death.
Q.8. What explanation was given by the chief
astrologer to the query of the little tiger king?
Ans:- same above q. no. 7
Q.9. What did the maharaja decide to do when
he remembered the astrologer’s prediction?
Ans:- When maharaja remembered the astrologer’s
prediction he decided to kills tiger because his death would come from a tiger.
He thought of an old saving. “You may kill even a cow in self-defense.” So the
maharaja saw nothing wrong in killing tigers in self-defense.
Q.10. How did the tiger acquire his name?
Ans:- The
maharaja of pratibandapuram has been called the tiger king. The chief
astrologer
Had said
that his death would his death come the hundredth tiger he would hunt. With an
aim to kill a hundred tigers, the maharaja started hunting tigers one after the
other. Thus he came to be called the
tiger
king.
Q.11. Why did a British officer visit
Pratibandapuram?
Ans:-The
British officer visited Pratibandapuram because he was very fond of hunting
tigers. But more than that, he wanted to be photographed with the tigers he had
shot.
Q.12. How did the British maharaja stand in
danger of losing his kingdom?
OR
Why do you think was the maharaja in danger of
losing his throne?
Ans:- A
high-ranking British officers came to the state. He wanted to hunt tigers
there. He
Loved to
be photographed with the tigers he had shot. But the maharaja firmly refused
any such permission. Thus there could be a danger of his losing the kingdom.
Q.13. What was the Dewan’s tiger like? How did he take it into the forest?
Ans:-
Dewan’s tiger was a an old tiger. It had been brought from the people’s park in
madras. The Dewan took the tiger into the forest. He loaded it in his car and
left it where the maharaja was hunting.
Q.14. Why did the Dewan decide to give up his
own tiger to be killed by the maharaja
Ans:- The
maharaja was in great fury when he failed to find the hundredth tiger. Many
officers had to lose their job. The maharaja asked the Dewan also to resign. In
order to save his job, the Dewan decided to arrange a tiger of his own and give
it up for the maharaja.
Q.15. What happened to the tiger provided by
the Dewan?
Ans:- The
tiger provided by the Dewan was very old. It stood before the maharaja in
humble Submission. With boundless joy, the maharaja took aim and fired. The old
tiger fell in a heap. The mahar4aja shouted that he had fulfilled his vow. He
gave orders to bring the tiger to the capital in a grand procession. Then he
hurried away in his car.
LONG
QUESTIONS
Q.1. Draw a character sketch of the tiger
king.
Ans:- The
maharaja of pratibandapuram, known as the tiger king, is an inttlige4nt and
determined person. His intelligent questions, when he is just an infant to ten
days, come as a miracle to the astrologer’s.
When he grows up, he takes a vow to skill hundred tigers to escape from
the predicted death from a tiger. He is a ruthless person. In order to save
himself, he starts on a massive tiger hunt. He kills ninety-nine tigers, and
almost wipes out the whole tiger population in the forests of his kingdom and
the nearby area. He is
moody and whi8msical. At one time, he needs one more tiger to kill to fulfill
his vow. When some villagers come to tell him about a tiger, he gets elated. He
announces a three- year exemption from all taxes for their village. When he
finds no tiger, he becomes furious. He asks his Dewan to double the land tax
forthwith. He is quite tactful. He refuses permission for the tiger hunt to
British officer. In order tom save his throne from the possible risk, he sends
expensive diamond rings to the officer’s wife. He does not insist on doubling
the land tax when the dewan tells him that it may make their state a prey to
the Indian national congress. But in spite of his cleverness and tactfulness,
he fails to evade his death. He falls a prey not to a real, ferocious tiger but
to a tiny, wooden toy- tiger.
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