The Storyteller

4.
2 The Storyteller
PAGE 85
1) How many occupants did the compartment have?
Ans. The occupants of the compartment were a small girl and a smaller girl and a
small boy, their aunt and a bachelor who was a stranger to the others.
2) Why did the aunt have to use the word ‘Don’t’ so often?
Ans. The aunt had to use the word ‘Don’t’ so often as three children were
accompanying her. The three children were constantly distracted and doing things
they were not supposed to do. The small boy was smacking the cushion which was
producing the cloud of dust inside the cabin. Hence to keep them disciplined, the
aunt had to use the word don’t several times.
3) How did the smaller of the two girls irritate the bachelor?
Ans. The smaller of the two girls irritated the bachelor by reciting the first line of “On
the road to Mandalay.” She repeated the line over and over again, in a dreamy but
resolute and a very audible voice.
4) To which question from Cyril was aunt unable to give a reasonable answer?
Ans. The aunt was unable to give a reasonable answer to Cyril’s question when he
asked why the grass in the other field was better.
5) How did the children show their disapproval of their aunt’s story?
Ans. The children interrupted the story at frequent intervals with loud, questioning.
After the story was over, the bigger girl said that it was the stupidest story she had
ever heard. Cyril agreed with her that it was stupid. The smaller girl had stopped
listening and was repeating her favourite line from a poem.
6) For which three values did Bertha win medals? What was exceptional about it?
Ans. Bertha won medals for the three values of goodness, obedience and
punctuality. This was exceptional because no other child in the town where she lived
had as many as three medals.
7) How did the Prince reward Bertha?

Ans. The Prince rewarded Bertha by allowing her once a week to walk in his park
where no other children were allowed to go.
8) Why did the children approve of the prince’s decision?

Ans. The children approved of the prince’s decision as majority of the people would
have chosen flowers over animals.
9) Why did Bertha wish she had never come to the park?
Ans. Bertha had come to the park on the merits of her goodness. But the wolf had
attacked her and she was in the danger of being killed. If she had not come to the
park, she would be safe in the town. Hence Bertha wished she had never come to
the park.
10) Why was the wolf unable to trace Bertha?

Ans. The scent of the myrtle was so strong that the wolf could not sniff out where
Bertha was hiding and the bushes were so thick that he might have hunted about in
them for a long time without catching sight of her.
11) What gave Bertha away and how did she meet her end?
Ans. The sound of Bertha’s medal clinking gave her away. The wolf dragged Bertha
out and devoured her to the last morsel.
12) What impact did the story have on the children?

Ans. All three children loved the story and praised it a lot. They were quiet for ten
minutes while listening to the story.
13) Why was their aunt annoyed at the bachelor?

Ans. The aunt was annoyed at the bachelor as she felt it was the most improper
story to tell to young children and that he had undermined the effect of years of
careful teaching.
1. From the story (Part I and Part II), find 4 words that begin with the prefix ‘un’- and
write their opposites.
Unenterprising X enterprising
Unhappy X happy
Asympathetic X sympathetic
Unable X able
Uninteresting X interesting
Unexpected X expected
2. Find one example of the following punctuation marks from the story and copy the
sentence in which they are used
a) colon- ......................then he resumed:
b) semi- colon- “But there is lots of grass in that field”, protested the boy;
4. Write your opinion, in your own words:-

a) Why do you think the children dislike their aunt’s story?
Ans) The Aunt’s story had lacked adventures, no detailing of the characters and also
it was a monotonous tale of goodness that the children had been hearing since
infancy. Hence the children disliked their aunt’s story.
b) Why did they appreciate and praise the stranger’s story?

Ans) Unlike their aunt’s story, the stranger’s story had novelty, detailed description
and a surprise ending to it, which the children found fascinating. Hence they
appreciated and praised the stranger’s story.
c) Do you think Bertha should have met such a gory end to her life?
Justify the answer.
Ans) No, I don’t think Bertha should have met such a gory end to her life because
she never harmed anyone and throughout her little life, she had been righteous and
extremely good to everyone. In my opinion, she deserved a better ending.
d) What did the aunt fail to realise in Bertha’s story?

Ans) The aunt failed to realise in Bertha’s story that inspite of being an improper
story, it managed to keep the children quiet for more than ten minutes, which is the
original purpose of any children’s stories.
e) What is that one vice which nullifies all virtues that a person has?
Ans) According to the story, one vice which nullifies all virtues that a person has, is
over-indulgence. If Bertha had not overstayed her welcome to the park, she would
not have met such a gory ending.
f) Write down two or three proverbs/ axioms that suit the message in Bertha’s story?
Ans) All good things must come to an end.
It’s choice, not chance that determines your destiny.
All that live, must die, passing through nature to eternity.
5. Write 3 to 5 sentences about each of the following characters.

a) The Aunt-The Aunt is a gentle woman, who seems to care a lot for all the three
children. She tries to teach them all good values in life and also tries to suffice their
curious mind, but due to her lack of authoritative nature, she seems to be failing
miserably. She seems to be bad in answering their questions and in the art of story-
telling.
b) The Bachelor-He, at first seems, to dislike the children due to their constant
restlessness. When he realises that their aunt has failed to keep them quiet by telling
a story he finally decides to do it himself. He has an excellent skill in story- telling but
lacks moral values. At the end, it almost seems that he told an improper story on
purpose so that the children would trouble the aunt more.
c) Cyril-The small boy, Cyril seems to be very inquisitive. He is very restless and has
a very curious mind. He is also not satisfied easily and keeps asking questions till he
gets a satisfactory answer. He loved the stranger’s story and found it beautiful. He
found his aunt’s story so stupid that he didn’t even listen to it after the starting bit.
d) Bertha-Bertha was a good little girl. She did all that she was told, she was always
truthful, she kept her clothes clean, ate milk puddings as though, they were jam tarts,
learned her lessons. She had won three medals for her goodness, which she wore
proudly, which unfortunately resulted in her tragic ending.

The Storyteller

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Storyteller

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Storyteller

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

4.

7) How did the Prince reward Bertha?

8) Why did the children approve of the prince’s decision?

10) Why was the wolf unable to trace Bertha?

12) What impact did the story have on the children?

13) Why was their aunt annoyed at the bachelor?

4. Write your opinion, in your own words:-

b) Why did they appreciate and praise the stranger’s story?

d) What did the aunt fail to realise in Bertha’s story?

5. Write 3 to 5 sentences about each of the following characters.

You might also like