8 English Princess September

Finish Line & Beyond

Princess September 1. How many daughters did the royal couple have? Answer: The fact that the names of the royal couple’s daughters started with January and ended with September indicates they had nine daughters. 2. Why were they named after the months of the year? Answer: Because of large number of daughters they found it convenient to name them after the months of the year. 3. The King had a peculiar habit. What was it? Why is it called peculiar? Answer: The king had a peculiar habit of giving gifts instead of receiving them on his birthdays. Normally, people get and enjoy getting gifts during their birthdays. The kind was the opposite in this sense. So, his behaviour is called peculiar. 4. (i) What was Princess September’s reaction to the loss of her parrot? (ii) What was her mother’s reaction to it? (iii) What do the reactions indicate about the nature and temperament of each? Answer: The princess became very sad after the loss of her parrot. She was so sad that she cried inconsolably. Her mother was angry at her behaviour. She said her to be left at that state because she thought that hunger and isolation will put her mental state in proper shape. The princess’ reaction says that she is an emotional girl. She became so emotionally attached to the parrot that she couldn’t think of anything else after the parrot’s death. On the other hand the queen is practical but somewhat rude. She doesn’t know how to console a child. 5. What pulled the Princess out of her gloom? Answer: The arrival of the little bird and its pleasant song lifted the princess out of gloom. 6. How did the Maids of Honour come to know that the Princess and the bird had become intimate friends? Answer: When the Maids of Honour brought breakfast, they saw the bird eating rice from princess’ hands. After savouring the rice the bird sang a beautiful song. This was enough for the Maids of Honour to know about the new friendship of the princess and the little bird.

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Finish Line & Beyond 7. The new bird was full of new songs but the old parrots always repeated themselves. What did they say? Answer: All the old parrots said the same things, “God save the king,” and “Pretty Polly” in seven different languages. 8. What is the King’s opinion about his Councillors? Why did he form that opinion? Answer: King’s councilors always sang praise in the name of the king. All of them were sycophants because the king could observe there was no emotion involved in the councilors saying. They parroted everything like machines. 9. (i) The eight Princesses made an offer to Princess September. What was it? (ii) Why, in your view, did they do it? Answer: The eight princesses offered to purchase a new parrot out of their pocket money for the youngest princess. They were jealous of the real happiness on the youngest princess face. They were also jealous the way the King appreciated the little bird’s song. 10. What did the sisters advice the Princess to do about her bird? Answer: The sisters scared the Princess about safety of the little bird. They advised her to keep the little bird in a cage instead of letting it roam freely everywhere. 11. 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: The princess was worried about the little bird’s safety as she was under her sister’s influence. On the same time the bird said that it might not have returned on that day. This statement was enough to provoke the princess to put the little bird in the cage. The mental condition of the princess was further aggravated by the bird’s statement leading to its imprisonment. Chances of the bird losing its freedom increased after its statement. So it was an unfortunate statement under those circumstances. 12. (i) What did Princess September do to ensure the safety of her pet? (ii) How did the bird react to it? Answer: Princess September put the bird inside a cage. Initially the bird thought it to be a joke, a childhood prank. 13. Why did the bird refuse to be taken out in her cage?

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Finish Line & Beyond Answer: The little bird valued its freedom. It did not like the idea of seeing the world from inside a prison. It wanted to feel and touch the nature. So the bird refused to be taken out in her cage.

14. (i) What persuaded Princess September to give the bird his freedom again? (ii) How did the bird react to it? Answer: The falling condition of the bird and danger of its death convinced the princess to give freedom to the bird. The bird was happy and thankful to the Princess. She promised to come everyday and sing for the Princess. 15. Princess September kept her window open day and night. (i) How did it help the bird? (ii) How did it help the Princess herself? Answer: The open windows helped the bird to come to meet the princess as and when it wished. The princess could get nature’s nourishment which enhanced her beauty. It brought a beautiful glow on her face. 16. The eight sisters kept their windows shut. How did it affect them? Answer: The eight sisters couldn’t get nature’s nourishment. They grew pale and ugly. It is common knowledge that natural air and sunshine helps keep you in beautiful and cheerful shape.

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