By Kalki
A. Answer the following in 30-40 words each.
Ans: The author has no intention of praising the king. In fact, he ridicules him by giving his abnormally long identification and in the last of it he shortens it to ‘The Tiger King’. In the whole story also though he is presented as a determined and fearless king but in reality, the writer has shown him as a selfish, short sighted, and foolish king.
Ans: The astrologers predicted that the newly born prince will grow up to become the hero of heroes, bravest of the bravest and a great warrior. He also predicted that the baby was born in the hour of the bull. The bull and tiger were enemies. Therefore, he would die because of the tiger.
Ans: The Tiger King is the king of Pratibandapuram, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur. The astrologers predicted that the newly born prince will grow up to become the hero of heroes, bravest of the bravest and a great warrior. He also predicted that the baby was born in the hour of the bull. The bull and tiger were enemies. Therefore, he would die because of the tiger.
Ans: The royal infant, Jung Jung Bahadur, grew to be a fine and healthy boy. He was brought up by an English nanny, drank the milk of an English cow, and tutored in English by an Englishman. He got the control of his state when he came of age at twenty. For him killing tigers was not a sin because he would kill them in self-defense.
Ans: After killing the first tiger the Maharaja was thrilled beyond measure. He called the state astrologer and showed him the dead body. The state astrologer said that the Maharaja might kill 99 tigers in the same manner, but he would not be able to kill the hundredth one. If it happens, he promises that he would set his books of astrology on fire, cut off his tuft, crop his hair short and become an insurance agent.
Ans: The Maharaja was determined to prove astrologers wrong by killing 100 tigers. First of all, he banned tiger hunting by anyone except himself in Pratibandapuram. Therefore, from that day onwards it was celebration time for all the tigers of Pratibandapuram. A proclamation was issued to the effect that if anyone dared to fling so much as a stone at a tiger, all his wealth and property would be confiscated. Lastly, the Maharaja vowed he would attend to all other matters only after killing the hundred tigers.
Ans: The Maharaja had annoyed a high-ranking British officer by refusing him permission to hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram. Then the officer requested for only a photograph of himself holding the gun and standing over the tiger’s dead body. The Maharaja would do the actual killing. The Maharaja did not accept even this proposal as it might attract other officers for the tiger hunt. Therefore, the Maharaja stood in danger of losing his throne because he prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire.
Ans: The Maharaja had annoyed a high-rank British officer by denying him the tiger hunting. He thought to make him happy by bribing the officer’s wife with a gift of a diamond ring. A famous British company of jewelers in Calcutta sent fifty samples of expensive diamond rings of different designs. The Maharaja sent the whole lot to the British officer’s good lady. He expected her to choose one or two rings and send the rest back. But she simply sent a letter of thanks. The Maharaja was happy that though he had lost three lakhs of rupees, he had managed to retain his kingdom.
Ans: The Maharaja had killed only 70 tigers in 10 years when he realized that the tiger population became instinct in his estate. Then he married to a girl of that royal family which had a large number of tiger population in their estate. Each time he visited his father-in-law, he killed five or six tigers. In this manner he raised the tally of tigers killed by him from seventy to ninety-nine.
Ans. The Maharaja’s anxiety reached a fever pitch when there remained just one tiger to achieve his tally of a hundred. He had this one thought during the day and the same dream at night. By then, the had become extinct even in his father-in-law’s kingdom. It became impossible to locate tigers anywhere. One can’t get tiger’s milk without finding the tigress. Yet it is thought easier than finding a live tiger. The sentence implies the difficulty in locating a tiger.
Ans: The Maharaj’s anxiety had reached a fever pitch to find the hundredth tiger. After a long wait, a news came from the villagers that in his own state sheep had started getting disappear. It meant there was a tiger. The Maharaja announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village and set out on the hunt at once. For many days he could not locate the tiger. The Maharaja’s fury and obstinacy mounted alarmingly. Many officers lost their jobs. One day when his rage was at its height, the Maharaja called the dewan and ordered him to double the land tax forthwith.
Ans: The dewan knew the danger of the delay in finding the 100th tiger. He brought an old tiger from the People’s Park in Madras. He kept it hidden in his house. At midnight he and his wife dragged the tiger to the car and shoved it into the seat. He drove the car himself straight to the forest and hauled the beast out of the car and pushed it down to the ground near the Maharaja’s camp.
Ans: When the tiger came within the sight of the Maharaja he took a careful aim but missed it. In the elation of having killed the hundredth tiger, he could not see that the tiger was not killed but only fainted. After the Maharaja had gone, the hunters noticed the beast still alive. For the fear of losing their job they did not inform the Maharaja that he had missed the target. Therefore, one of the hunters took aim from a distance of one foot and shot the tiger dead.
Ans: The Tiger King met his end through the wooden tiger, which e had bought as a gift for his son on his third birthday. While he was playing with his son, a splinter of the poorly made toy tiger pricked the king’s hand. The infection turned into a sore, which spread all over his arm. Despite the best surgeons, the king’s life could not be saved. The irony is in the fact that the hundredth tiger was a wooden toy that killed the king. Thus, the astrologer’s prediction about the death of the Tiger King proved to be correct.
Note: Prepare the SAQs only, to frame the answer of an LAQ.
B. Extract Based Questions
Extract 1:
The Maharaja’s anxiety reached a fever pitch when there remained just one tiger to achieve his tally of a hundred. He had this one thought during the day and the same dream at night. By this time the tiger farms had run dry even in his father-in-law’s kingdom. It became impossible to locate tigers anywhere. Yet only one more was needed. If he could kill just that one single beast, the Maharaja would have no fears left. He could give up tiger hunting altogether.
But he had to be extremely careful with that last tiger. What had the late chief astrologer said? “Even after killing ninety-nine tigers the Maharaja should beware of the hundredth...’’ True enough. The tiger was a savage beast after all. One had to be wary of it. But where was that hundredth tiger to be found? It seemed easier to find tiger’s milk than a live tiger.
1. In the passage, the term "fever pitch" is used to describe the Maharaja's state of mind. What does "fever pitch" mean in this context?
2. What does "wary" mean in the passage?
3. What was the significance of the hundredth tiger to the Maharaja?
a) It would mark the end of his tiger hunting days.
b) It would leave no threat to his life.
c) It was a rare white tiger he wished to display.
d) It was a notorious man-eating tiger he wanted to capture.
4. Why did the Maharaja have to be cautious when dealing with the hundredth tiger?
- Tigers were ruthless and powerful.
- The astrologer had warned him about its danger.
- It was the last tiger left in the kingdom.
- The Maharaja had already failed to capture it multiple times.
a) 1 and 2
b) 2 and 3
c) 3 and 4
d) 2 and 4
Extract 2:
From that day onwards it was celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram. The state banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja. A Proclamation was issued to the effect that if anyone dared to fling so much as a stone at a tiger, all his wealth and property would be confiscated.The Maharaja vowed he would attend to all other matters only after killing the hundred tigers. Initially the king seemed well set to realize his ambition.
Not that he faced no dangers. There were times when the bullet missed its mark, the tiger leapt upon him and he fought the beast with his bare hands. Each time it was the Maharaja who won.
1. The tone of the author when he says, ‘it was celebration time for all tigers’ isa) solemn.
b) sarcastic.
c) sympathetic.
d) mocking.
2. Pick the pair of TRUE statements based on the extract.
1. Tiger hunting was absolutely banned in the kingdom.2. The Maharaja was extremely courageous and fearless.3. The Maharaja paid no heed to matters related to his kingdom.4. The Maharaja was able to fulfil his ambition, without any perils.
a) 1 and 2b) 2 and 4c) 2 and 3d) 1 and 4
3. In which of the following options can the underlined words NOT be replaced with ‘proclamation’?
a) The politician shared his manifesto during the election meeting.b) All the citizens of the kingdom had to abide by the emperor’s edict.c) The communique made by the official had a disastrous effect.d) The decree of the state forbade cruelty against animals.
4. On the basis of this passage, pick the option that enumerates the characteristics of the king.
1. Gullible2. Arrogant3. Wilful4. Aggressive5. Apathetic6. Scrupulous
a) 1, 2 and 6b) 3, 4 and 6c) 3, 5 and 6d) 2, 3 and 5
great sir thank you so much
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