NCERT English Class 8 | Chapter 5 | Princess September | Question Answer |

COMPREHENSION CHECK I                                                       PAGE 38

1. How many daughters did the royal couple have?

Answer: The royal couple had nine daughters.

2. Why were they named after the months of the year?

Answer: It was difficult for them to remember so many names. Hence, they named their daughters after the months of the year.

3. The King had a peculiar habit. What was it? Why is it called peculiar?

Answer: Yes, the king had a peculiar habit. Instead of taking gifts, he used to give gifts on his birthday. It is called peculiar or strange because in general, people receive gifts on their birthdays.

4. (i) What was Princess September’s reaction to the loss of her parrot?

Answer: The princess cried a lot. She burst into a flood of tears at the loss of her parrots.

   (ii) What was her mother’s reaction to it?

Answer: Her mother said that the princess’s weeping was nonsense. So, she asked the maids of honour to put the princess sleep without supper.

   (iii) What do the reactions indicate about the nature and temperament of each?

Answer: The reaction of Princess September indicates that she was a young, sensitive and kind girl. That is the reason, she cried a lot when her parrot died. On the other hand, her mother’s reaction indicates that she was a little harsh. She didn’t understand her daughter’s pain. She didn’t even try to console her.

5. What pulled the Princess out of her gloom?

Answer: It was the beautiful song of the little bird that pulled the princess out of her gloom. The bird came to the princess’s room when she was laying on her bed crying. She wiped her tears and heard the beautiful song sang by the little bird.

6. How did the Maids of Honour come to know that the Princess and the bird had become intimate friends?

Answer: In the morning, when the maids of honour brought breakfast for the Princess she saw that the princess was feeding rice to the bird by her hands. Also, the princess bathed the bird in her saucer. After that, the little bird sang a song for the princess. This showed maids of honour that the two had become intimate friends.

7. The new bird was full of new songs but the old parrots always repeated themselves. What did they say?

Answer: They said, “God save the king” and “Pretty Polly” in seven languages.

8. What is the King’s opinion about his Councillors? Why did he form that opinion?

Answer: The king repeatedly heard the parrots saying ‘Pretty Polly’ in seven different languages that reminded him of his councillors who said the same thing in seven different ways and meant nothing to the king. That’s why he formed that opinion about his councillors.

9. (i) The eight Princesses made an offer to Princess September. What was it?

Answer: The eight princesses were jealous of the little singing bird. So, they made an offer to princess September that they would contribute their pocket money and buy a lovely green and yellow parrot for her.

   (ii) Why, in your view, did they do it?

Answer: In my opinion, the other princesses were not happy as everyone praised the little singing bird. Their parrots were sad too. Hence, out of jealousy, they made and offer to Princess September to buy a new parrot for her.

10. What did the sisters advise the Princess to do about her bird?

Answer: The sisters advised the princess to keep the bird in the cage, otherwise it would fly away and never return.

 

COMPREHENSION CHECK II                                                     PAGE 43

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.

Answer: Under the circumstances

After the sisters’ advice about the singing bird, the princess feared that the bird might forget her and start liking someone else. Hence, under such circumstances, she would lose her little singing bird.

a very unfortunate remark

On returning, the little bird said that it would not have come as its father-in-law was giving a party and everyone wanted it to stay. But, the bird returned thinking that the princess might be anxious.  This was the remark that the princess wanted to hear.

2. (i) What did Princess September do to ensure the safety of her pet?

Answer: The princess September put her pet into the cage to ensure its safety.

    (ii) How did the bird react to it?

Answer: The bird didn’t like the cage. It wanted full freedom. It felt that it was imprisoned and gradually it stopped singing and eating.

3. Why did the bird refuse to be taken out in her cage?

Answer: The bird refused to be taken out in her cage because it loved nature, the lake, and the willow tree. It was not happy and normal when kept in the cage. Things looked different to the bird when seen through the bars of the cage.

4. (i) What persuaded Princess September to give the bird his freedom again?

Answer: After keeping the bird in the cage. The bird was not happy. It was not singing and eating at all. The next morning, when the princess saw the bird nearly dead, she felt very bad and decided to give the bird freedom.

    (ii) How did the bird react to it?

Answer: The bird was very happy when the princess set it free from the cage. The bird flew into the blue and promised that it would come and sing songs for her whenever she wanted.

5. Princess September kept her window open day and night.

(i) How did it help the bird?

Answer: This helped the bird to come into the princess’s room and leave whenever it wanted.

(ii) How did it help the Princess herself?

Answer: Sleeping and living in the room with an open window helped the sunlight and fresh air come to the princess’s room. Due to which she grew beautiful with time.

6. The eight sisters kept their windows shut. How did it affect them?

Answer: Since they kept their windows always shut. They didn’t get the natural light and fresh air. Hence, they grew up very ugly and later they got married to councillors with a pound of tea and a Siamese cat.

 

EXERCISE                                                                                                PAGE 44

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.

Answer: Yes, the sisters were unkind and cruel. They became jealous when they saw that the Princess September’s bird could sing and their parrots could repeat only two phrases. They made and offer to buy her a green and yellow parrot by contributing their pocket money. They advised her to keep the little bird in the cage so that it can never leave her. When the bird stopped singing and eating in the cage, her sisters told her to be firm even if it dies in the cage. Also, when the princess set the bird free her sisters mocked her saying that the bird would never come and sing songs for her.

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

Answer: In my opinion, the most important idea in this story is the value of freedom. No one should be kept prisoned. A prison always suffocates us or any living creatures. It doesn’t let us enjoy the beauty of life and nature. We’ve read in the story how the little bird used to sing songs when it was free. But, the moment it was put into the cage, it stopped singing. It became sad and stopped eating too. It was nearly dead. This indicates that the beauty of life is not in captivity, it is in freedom.