Gopal And The Hilsa-fish
Class 7th English Honeycomb CBSE Solution
- Why did the king want no more talk about the hilsa-fish?
- What did the king ask Gopal to do to prove that he was clever?
- What three things did Gopal do before he went to buy his hilsa-fish?…
- How did Gopal get inside the palace to see the king after he had bought the fish?…
- Explain how no one seemed to be interested in talking about the hilsa-fish which Gopal had…
- Write ‘True’ or ‘false’ against each of the following sentences. (i) The king lost his…
- Notice how in a comic book, there are no speech marks when characters talk. Instead what…
- Find out the meaning of the following words by looking them up in the dictionary. Then use…
Working With The Text
Question 1.Why did the king want no more talk about the hilsa-fish?
Answer:
The king was fed of hilsa-fish topic was being discussed from court to market and among courtmen to peasants. Everyone was discussing only it so king wanted no more talk about Hilsa-fish.
Question 2.
What did the king ask Gopal to do to prove that he was clever?
Answer:
The king gave Gopal a challenge to bring hilsa-fish to court. Not even a single word should be talked about it throughout the way by anyone.
Question 3.
What three things did Gopal do before he went to buy his hilsa-fish?
Answer:
Gopal shaved off his half beard, he applied ash on his face and wore dirty torn away cloths before he went to buy his Hilsa-fish.
Question 4.
How did Gopal get inside the palace to see the king after he had bought the fish?
Answer:
Firstly Gopal seeked permission of courtiers to let him get inside the palace to see the king after he had bought the fish. When they didn't permit him to get inside, he started singing and dancing loudly. The king heard the noise and asked his messenger to call Gopal inside the palace.
Question 5.
Explain how no one seemed to be interested in talking about the hilsa-fish which Gopal had bought.
Answer:
Gopal played a very clever trick to win the challenge given to him by the King. He shaved his half face, smeared it with ash and worn torn dirty clothes so that no one's attention would get diverted toward fish. Everybody would talk about his mad man`s look and he would bought the fish to court without even a single word being talked about it through out the way.
Question 6.
Write ‘True’ or ‘false’ against each of the following sentences.
(i) The king lost his temper easily.
(ii) Gopal was a madman.
(iii) Gopal was a clever man.
(iv) Gopal was too poor to afford decent clothes.
(v) The king got angry when he was shown to be wrong.
Answer:
(i) True
The king lost his temper when everyone was talking about fish only.
(ii) False
Gopal was not a mad-man. He was rather a very clever man who accepted and won king`s challenge.
(iii) True
He was a clever man who could plan very well and can executive the plan too very effectively.
(iv) False
He was not poor peasant who could not afford decent clothes. It was his part of plan to dress in rags.
(v) False
The king was not angry. He gladly acknowledged presence of mind of Gopal.
Working With Language
Question 1.Notice how in a comic book, there are no speech marks when characters talk. Instead what they say is put in a speech ‘ebubbei’. However, if we wish to repeat or ‘report’ what they say, we must put it into reported speech.
Change the following sentences in the story to reported speech. The first one has been done for you.
(ii) Why is your face half-shaven?
Gopal's wife asked him _____________
(iii I accept the challenge, Your Majesty.
Gopal told the king _____________
(iv) I want to see the king.
Gopal told the guards _____________
Answer:
(ii) Gopal's wife asked him why his face was half- shaven.
(iii) Gopal told the king that he has accepted the challenge.
(iv) Gopal told the guards that he wanted to see the king.
(v) The king ordered the guard to bring the man to him immediately.
Question 2.
Find out the meaning of the following words by looking them up in the dictionary. Then use them in sentences of your own.
Challenge, mystic, comical, courtier, smearing
Answer:
(i) Challenge -- Ask for identification / A call to engage in a contest or fight
My friend has challenged me for a bicycle race.
(ii) Mystic--- beyond ordinary understanding
Only god is in possession of mystic powers.
(iii) comical ---- Arousing or provoking laughter
The character of joker was very comical in circus ring.
(iv) courtier----An attendant / official at the court of the king
Birbal was the cleverest courtier during Akbar`s reign.
(v) smearing ---- to stain with a dirty substance
Smearing his new school uniform, the boy kept on playing in the rain.
Picture Reading
Question 1.Look at the picture and read the text aloud.
Answer:
Student do it yourself.
Question 2.
Now ask your partner questions about each picture.
(i) Where is the stag?
(ii) What is he doing?
(iii) Does he like his antlers (horns)?
(iv) Does he like his legs?
(v) Why is the stag running?
(vi) Is he able to hide in the bushes?
(vii) Where are the hunters now?
(viii) Are they closing is on the stag?
(ix) Is the stag free?
(x) What does the stag say about his horns and his legs?
Answer:
(i) The stag is standing near a pond.
(ii) He is drinking water.
(iii) Yes, he likes his antlers very much.
(iv) No, he doesn’t like his legs as they are very thin and ugly.
(v) The stag is running because the hunters are after him.
(vi) No, he is unable to hide in the bushes as his antlers got stuck in them.
(vii) The hunters are now quite near to the stag.
(viii) Yes, they are closing in on the stag.
(ix) Yes, the stag is free as he runs away.
(x) The stag said that he was proud of his horns but they could have caused his death as they got stuck in the bushes. Though, he was ashamed of his legs they saved him by helping him run away when the hunters were close to him.
Question 3.
Now write the story in your own words. Give it a title.
Answer:
Title is --- A thing of beauty is not a joy forever
Once there was a stag that had very pretty antlers but very ugly and thin legs. He realised this one day while drinking water in the pond. There he saw the shade of two and became happy and sad simultaneously. All of a sudden he heard noise of hunters approaching him. He ran fast and tried to hide in bushes but his beautiful horns got stuck in them. The hunters were closing him. With great efforts he was able to get his horns released from bushes and ran away saving his life. Thereafter he realised that his beautiful antlers could have actually costed him his life whereas the ugly and thin legs came to his rescue as a life saviour.
Question 4.
Complete the following word ladder with the help of the clues given below:
Clues
1. Mother will be very ___________ if you don’t go to school.
2. As soon as he caught ___________ of the teacher, Mohan started writing.
3. How do you like my ___________ kitchen garden? Big enough for you, is it?
4. My youngest sister is now a ___________ old.
5. Standing on the ___________, he saw children playing on the road.
6. Don’t make such a ___________. Nothing will happen.
7. Don’t cross the ___________ till the green light comes on.
Answer:
1. Class
2. Sight
3. Tiny
4. Year
5. Roof
6. Fuss
7. Street
The answers in the crossword are:
The Shed - Working With The Poem
Question 1.Answer the following questions.
(i) Who is the speaker in the poem?
(ii) Is she/he afraid or curious, or both?
(iii) What is she/he planning to do soon?
(iv) “But not just yet …….” Suggests doubt, fear, hesitation, laziness or something else. Choose the word which seems right to you. Tell others why you chose it.
Answer:
(i) The speaker in the poem is a little boy.
(ii) He is curious, as he wants to go inside the shed and check for the ghost in it. His brother has told him stories about the ghost who resides there but he knew himself that there are no ghosts in reality.
(iii) He is planning to go inside the shed one day soon.
(iv) “But not just yet…………..” suggests his hesitation as he is just a small boy who is afraid of his elder brother.
The shed must be his brother `s hideout that he didn’t want to share with anyone. In order to keep younger brother away from going into shed he made false stories of ghost.
Question 2.
Is there a room in your house or a house in your neighbourhood/locality where you would rather not go alone, and never at night? If there is such a place and a story to go with it, let others hear all about it.
Answer:
There is a dark corner in our locality where I fear going alone because all the people says that it is haunted by ghost. This place is under pupil tree which stands in dark end of our house lane. Different sounds can be heard in that lonely corner and scenario becomes worse when people lit earthen lamp under it at night.