NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: Ch 4 A Question of Trust

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English FootPrint Without Feet NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 20
Read and Find Out

1. What does Horace Danby like to collect?
Answer
Horace Danby liked to collect rare and expensive books.

2. Why does he steal every year?
Answer
He stole every year so that he could buy the rare and expensive books that he loved to collect. Each year, he planned carefully, stole enough to last twelve months, and secretly bought the books, through an agent.

Page No: 22

Read and Find Out

1. Who is speaking to Horace Danby?
Answer
A lady standing in the doorway was speaking to Horace Danby. She was young and pretty, and was dressed in red. She said she had come just in time, or else her family would have been robbed by Horace. She, thus, pretended to be one of the members of the family living at Shotover Grange.

2. Who is the real culprit in the story?

Answer
The real culprit was the woman who pretended to be a member of the family living at Shotover Grange. She tricked Horace into believing her, and cleverly took away all the jewels that were kept in the safe.

Page No: 25

Think about It

1. Did you begin to suspect, before the end of the story, that the lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be? If so, at what point did you realize this, and how?

Answer
Yes, one does begin to suspect before the end of the story that the lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be. She was unusually calm on seeing Horace. This seemed strange enough. When she did not call the police, and instead asked Horace to take out all the jewels from the safe, even if it meant breaking it open, it seemed suspicious. Moreover, it also seemed unlikely that she would forget the numbers to open the safe. Therefore, it was evident, before the story ended, that the lady was not the person Horace had taken her to be.

2. What are the subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she is the lady of the house? Why doesn’t Horace suspect that something is wrong?
Answer
Her confident walk, her act of touching up her make-up and the ease with which she picks cigarette from the right place are enough to deceive anybody. Horace was too frightened to think properly so he didn’t suspect anything.

3. “Horace Danby was good and respectable − but not completely honest”. Why do you think this description is apt for Horace? Why can’t he be categorized as a typical thief?
Answer
“Horace Danby was good and respectable − but not completely honest”. This description is apt for Horace. He was about fifty years old. He robbed only from rich people, and his purpose was to buy rare and expensive books with the money. He stole only once a year. The intention of buying books was good. However, the fact that he stole to achieve this end showed that he was not completely honest. He cannot be categorized as a typical thief because he did not steal to eat or drink. He had a house. He made locks, had two people to help him, and was successful in his business. He only stole enough money to buy the books. For a couple of days, he even kept his promise to the lady he met at Shotover Grange by not stealing or planning any robbery.

4. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Answer
Horace Danby failed to get enough information about real occupants of the house. He seems to be too occupied with collecting information about house map, wiring and location of valuable things. Although he was smart enough to know the dog’s actual name but overlooked getting identity of each and every occupants of the house. Once he was in problem then probably his clever mind gave way to carelessness leading him to open the safe without wearing gloves.

Talk about It

1. Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got?

Answer
He deserved what he got. A crime is a crime no matter if it is committed a hundred times or just once.

2. Do intentions justify actions? Would you, like Horace Danby, do something wrong if you thought your ends justified the means? Do you think that there are situations in which it is excusable to act less than honestly?

Answer
“Ends do not justify means”, this is a very old and time tested saying. For own benefit nobody should harm others. But this world doesn’t function on idealism. There are many examples of people duping people for quick gains. These acts should be deplored and dealt with severely.

Important Link

Short Summary-  Ch 4 A Question of Trust

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: Ch 3 Midnight Visitor

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English FootPrint Without Feet NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 14
Read and Find Out

1. How is Ausable different from other secret agents?
Answer
Ausable was different from other secret agents in more ways than one. He had a small room in the musty corridor of a gloomy French hotel. It was on the sixth and top floor and it was scarcely the setting for a romantic adventure. He was extremely fat. Inspite of living in Paris for over twenty years, he spoke French and German only passably and had an American accent. Instead of getting messages slipped into his hands by dark-eyed beauties, he got only a telephone call making an appointment. In these ways, he was different from the conventional notion of a spy.

2. Who is Fowler and what is his first authentic thrill of the day?
Answer
Fowler was a writer and he had come to meet Ausable.
Fowler’s first authentic thrill of the day came when he saw a man in Ausable’s room pointing a pistol towards Ausable and himself.

Page No: 15

Read and Find Out

1. How has Max got in?
Answer
Max had got into the room with a passkey or a master key.

2. How does Ausable say he got in?
Answer
Ausable said that he thought Max had got into the room through the balcony. He said that it was the second time in a month that somebody had got into his room this way.

Page No: 18

Think about It

1. “Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler hand ever read.” What do secret agents in books and films look like, in your opinion? Discuss in groups or in class some stories or movies featuring spies, detectives and secret agents, and compare their appearance with that of Ausable in this story. (You may mention characters from fiction in languages other than English. In English fiction you may have come across Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or Miss Marple. Have you watched any movies featuring James Bond?)
Answer
Secret agents in fiction are projected like ideal men, ‘Tall dark and handsome’. They are usually well built and keep have beautiful women for company. They would always smoke pipe or cigar and do death defying stunts. James Bond is a very famous character by Ian Fleming. Movies based on James Bond show hi-tech gizmos whch assist the detective in countering villains. There are some exceptions as well. There is a character named Feluda which was created by Satyajit Ray, the famous Bangla Filmmaker. Feluda was typical bhadralok by appearance.

2. How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room? Look back at his detailed description of it. What makes it a convincing story?
Answer
Ausable tells Max that someone entered his room through the balcony before also. He also told him that he had asked police to give him protection as he had some important papers with him. On listening Max became nervous and just wanted to escape from police, as a result without noticing he jumped out of the window and fell down. Ausable’s ability to think quickly and calmly, in a situation of panic makes it convincing.

3. Looking back at the story, when do you think Ausable thought up his plan for getting rid of Max? Do you think he had worked out his plan in detail right from the beginning? Or did he make up a plan taking advantage of events as they happened?
Answer
No, I don’t think that he had worked out his plan in detail. He took advantages of the event as they happened. Ausable made a story of the balcony outside the room and as there was a knock at the door, he told it would be police, all this events threatened Max. In such a hurry, he became restless and without seeing jumped out of the window.

Talk about It

1. In this story, Ausable shows great ‘presence of mind’ or the ability to think quickly and act calmly and wisely, in a situation of danger and surprise. Give examples from your own experience, or narrate a story, which shows someone’s presence of mind.
Answer
This story is reference to the play ‘If I were you’. Gurrad was captured by a criminal and the criminal pointed gun towards him but he treated the criminal as a guest and trapped him in his confidence. He achieved the criminal to run away as police is behind him. He told the criminal to run through the exit door, which was actually a cupboard door. The criminal exited through the door and was caught in the cupboard.

Important Link

Short Summary-  Ch 3 Midnight Visitor

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: Ch 2 The Thief’s Story

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English FootPrint Without Feet NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 8
Read and Find Out

1. Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?

Answer
In this story, ‘I’ refers to the thief.

2. What is he “a fairly successful hand” at?
Answer
He was “a fairly successful hand” at stealing and robbing people.

3. What does he get from Anil in return for his work?
Answer
When Hari asked Anil if he could work for him, Anil said that he could not pay him. Finally, the agreement was that if he would cook, then Anil would feed him. However, Anil soon found out that he did not know how to cook. Therefore, he taught him how to cook and later, how to write his name. He promised he would teach him how to write whole sentences and how to add numbers. Apart from this, when Hari went out to buy the day’s supplies, he would make a profit of a rupee a day.

Page No: 10

Read and Find Out

1. How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?
Answer
The thief thought that on discovering the theft, Anil’s face would show a touch of sadness. The sadness would not be for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.

2. What does he say about the different reactions of people when they are robbed?
Answer
In his short career as a thief, he had made a study of men’s faces when they lost their goods. He said that the greedy men showed fear; the rich men showed anger and the poor men showed acceptance.

3. Does Anil realize that he has been robbed?
Answer
Yes, Anil had realized that he had been robbed. He knew this probably because all the notes were wet and damp from the rain. However, he did not say anything to the thief and behaved normally.

Page No: 13

Think about It

1. What are Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of receiving an education? Do they change over time? (Hint: compare, for example, the thought: “I knew that once I could write like an educated man there would be no limit to what I could achieve” with these later thoughts: ‘Whole sentences, I knew, cloud one day bring me more than a few hundred rupees. It was a simple matter to steal − and sometimes just as simple to be caught. But to be a really big man, a clever and respected man, was something else.”) What makes him return to Anil?
Answer
Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of receiving an education change over time. When he started living with Anil he wanted to be literate so that he could become a more cunning cheat. Later on there is a change in his heart. He wants to earn respect in life. Probably he is influenced by the calm in Anil’s life. Although, both of them depend on irregular sources of income, but Anil seems to be more satisfied. Hari Singh develops a desire to be part of the civilized society.

2. Why does not Anil hand the thief over to the police? Do you think most people would have done so? In what ways is Anil different from such employers?
Answer
Anil does not hand the thief over to the police because he has put the money back at its place. It shows that he realized his fault. He wants to make amends for his ways. He must have felt guilty with himself. Anil wants to give him one more chance and therefore forgives him.
No, in today’s world most people would not have done so. Although it must be done but such sort of patience and compassion are rarely found now a days in this human world.

Talk about It

1. Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in fiction, or are there such people in real life?
Answer
No, I don’t think that people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in fiction. There are such people in real life also. Although such people are rare in today’s society. If one is caught stealing, people will first beat him severely. Then he will be handed over to the police. It should be realized that a human being is bound to commit error. One chance for reforming oneself must be given. This is the only way to bring anyone to right path. Punishing severely is not the only solution. Strictness can make them absolute criminal.

2. Do you think it a significant detail in the story that Anil is a struggling writer? Does this explain his behaviour in any way?
Answer
Hari Singh’s observation about Anil getting irregular income and Anil’s statement about his sale of a book to a publisher indicates that he is a struggling writer. He lives life according to the flow of money he gets at a given time. When he gets the money he enjoys eating out with his friends. When he is having less money then he even dosen’t accept paying salary to Hari Singh.

Important Link

Short Summary-  Ch 2 The Thief’s Story

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: Ch 1 A Triumph of Surgery

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English FootPrint Without Feet NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 1
Read and Find Out

 1. Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki?

Answer
Mrs Pumphrey was worried and distraught because Tricki would not eat anything. It even refused its favourite dishes. It had bouts of vomiting. It spent all its time lying on the rug and panting. It did not want to go for walks or do anything.

2. What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this?
Answer
She called the doctor to help Tricki. Yes, her decision was wise. The doctor suggested that Tricki should be hospitalised. She swooned and wailed, but let the dog go with the doctor. Ultimately, the doctor was successful in curing Tricki.

3. Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
Answer
In this story, ‘I’ refers to the veterinary surgeon, Mr Herriot.

Page No: 3

Read and Find out

1. Is the narrator as rich as Tricki’s mistress?
Answer
Though not clearly stated, there are instances in the story which suggest that the narrator is not as rich as Tricki’s mistress, Mrs Pumphrey.
While the narrator is able to provide Tricki with a warm loose box as a bed, at Mrs Pumphrey’s house, Tricki has a day bed, a night bed, cushions, toys, rubber rings, a breakfast bowl, a lunch bowl, a supper bowl, a whole wardrobe of tweed coats and perhaps many more things.
When he arrives to take the dog with him, Mrs Pumphrey has her entire staff at her disposal to transfer all of Tricki’s belongings to the doctor’s car.
On hearing from the doctor about Tricki’s gradual recovery, Mrs Pumphrey sends along two dozen eggs at a time, along with bottles of wine and brandy—all in order to help in Tricki’s speedy recovery.
Finally, when she calls upon the narrator to take her recovered dog back home, she comes in a chauffer-driven “thirty feet of gleaming black metal” (an obvious reference to a limousine).
All these instances point to the fact that Mrs Pumphrey lived a luxurious life.

2. How does he treat the dog?
Answer
The doctor gave Tricki no food, but plenty of water for two days. Slowly, the dog started showing interest in his surroundings and began mixing with the other dogs at the surgery. On the third day, the doctor saw Tricki licking the empty supper bowls of the other dogs. Next day, a separate bowl was kept for it and the doctor was pleased to note that Tricki had run to eat its food with enthusiasm. From that day onwards, its progress was rapid. It did not require medicinal treatment of any kind and recovered quite well at the end.

3. Why is he tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest?
Answer
Mrs Pumphrey had started bringing around eggs to build Tricki’s strength. Later, even bottles of wineand brandy began to arrive. The narrator and his partners started enjoying the eggs, wine and brandy meant for Tricki. According to the narrator, they were days of deep content for them—starting with the extra egg in the morning, then the midday wine, and finally finishing the day with brandy. This was the reason why the narrator was tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest.

4. Why does Mrs Pumphrey think the dog’s recovery is “a triumph of surgery”?
Answer
Mrs Pumphrey thought that the dog’s recovery was “a triumph of surgery” because in two weeks, Tricki had recovered completely and had been transformed into a hard-muscled animal. When Tricki saw her,it leaped into her lap and licked her face. She was so excited that tears started rolling out of her eyes. She declared Tricki’s recovery as a triumph of surgery to express her happiness and gratitude towards the doctor.

Page No: 6

Think about It

1. What kind of a person do you think the narrator, a veterinary surgeon, is? Would you say he is tactful as well as full of common sense?

Answer
I think the narrator; a veterinary surgeon is a very tactful person. He knows how to deal with people. He adjusts himself well to the circumstances. He immediately understand tricki’s problem. Tricki doesn’t suffer from any sort of illness. The main cause of its illness is overfeeding. He takes the dog to his surgery. There he keeps it in natural environment. The dog gets well under his supervision and natural environment of surgery.

2. Do you think Tricki was happy to go home? What do you think will happen now?
Answer
Yes, Tricki was very happy to go home. Tricki was also happy at the surgery. When the dog was brought into the surgery, it was ill. But in spite of it dog got cured in two days without any medication. The proper diet and regular exercise helped a lot in its speedy recovery. The dog regained its best health and was no longer listless.
Now, I think same pampering will start again. Mrs. Pumphrey will take excessive
care of the dog. There is no doubt it was her lone, but excess of anything is harmful.

3. Do you think this is a real-life episode, or mere fiction? Or is it a mixture of both?
Answer
This story could be a mixture of both: real life episode and a mere fiction. Mrs. Pumphrey is a rich lady and has a pet dog. It is because of her pampering that she overfeeds her dog which results in its illness. Although she has good intention in her mind but excess of everything is bad. This episode can be treated as a fiction who do not take it seriously. It can be called real life for those parents who take excessive care of their child.

Talk about It

1. This episode describes the silly behaviour of a rich woman who is foolishly indulgent, Perhaps because she is lonely. Do you think such people are merely silly, or can their action cause harm to others?

AnswerThis episode describes the silly behaviour of a rich woman who is foolishly. This may be because of her loneliness. They are ignorant about results of their actions. They show their excessive lone and affection for someone without knowing the consequences. There is no doubt that their intentions are good, and don’t have any sort of ill-will, but they are not aware their action can cause harm to others.  

2. Do you think there are also parents like Mrs. Pumphrey?
AnswerYes there are parents who are too much possessive about their kids. The sense of overindulgence can go in either way. There are examples of parents spoiling their child by meeting each and every demand of the child. There are also examples of strict parents who put unnecessary pressure on their child for study and particular behaviour pattern.

Important Link

Short Summary-  Ch 1 A Triumph of Surgery

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: For Anne Gregory (Poem)

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English First Flight NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 141
Thinking about the Poem

1. What does the young man mean by “great honey-coloured/Ramparts at your ear?” Why does he say that young men are “thrown into despair” by them?
Answer
The “great honey-coloured/Ramparts at your ear” refers to the beautiful yellow coloured hair that falls at the woman’s ear and cover it like a wall around a fort. He says that the young men are “thrown into despair” by them because they look so beautiful on the woman that her beauty gets thoroughly enhanced. The young men fall in love with her and feel despair. He says that it is not possible that someone would love her alone and not her yellow hair.

2. What colour is the young woman’s hair? What does she say she can change it to? Why would she want to do so?
Answer
The young woman’s hair is of yellow colour. She says that she could get her hair dyed to brown, black or carrot colour. She would change the colour of her hair so that the young men in despair would love her only and not her yellow hair. She wanted them to love her for what she was and not for her appearance such as her hair colour.

Important Link

Short Summary-  For Anne Gregory (Poem)

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: The Tale of Custard the Dragon (Poem)

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English First Flight NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 132
Thinking about the Poem

1. Who are the characters in this poem? List them with their pet names.
Answer
The characters in this poem are Belinda, a little black kitten, a little grey mouse, a little yellow dog, a little pet dragon and a pirate.

2. Why did Custard cry for a nice, safe cage? Why is the dragon called a “cowardly dragon”?
AnswerCustard cried for a nice, safe cage because it was a coward. It is called a ‘cowardly dragon’ because everybody else in the house was brave. Belinda was as brave as a barrel of bears. Ink and Blink are described as so brave that they could chase lions down the stairs and Mustard was as brave as a tiger in rage. Compared to them, Custard cried asking for a nice and safe cage, which is why it is called a coward.
3. “Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful…” Why?

Answer
Belinda tickled the dragon unmercifully because it was very scared and cried for a safe cage. They all laughed at it as it was a coward.

4. The poet has employed many poetic devices in the poem. For example: “Clashed his tail like iron in a dungeon” − the poetic device here is a simile. Can you, with your partner, list some more such poetic devices used in the poem?
Answer
In the entire poem, the poet has made extensive use of similes. Apart from simile, another poetic device that has been used is repetition. For example, the repetitive use of the word ‘little’ in the first stanza to emphasise how everything from the house to Belinda to her pets were all little. Also, in the seventh stanza, the poet has made use of incorrect spelling as a poetic device to maintain the rhyme scheme of the poem. He has chosen to write ‘winda’ instead of ‘window’ as ‘winda’ rhymes with ‘Belinda’, whereas ‘window’ does not. He has also used alliteration in the poem. For example, in the tenth stanza, ‘Custard’ has ‘clashed’ his tail with a ‘clatter’ and a ‘clank’. Similarly, in stanza eleven, the pirate ‘gaped’ at the dragon and ‘gulped’ some ‘grog’.

6. Can you find out the rhyme scheme of two or three stanzas of the poem?
Answer
The rhyme scheme of each stanza of this poem is aabb.

7. Writers use words to give us a picture or image without actually saying what they mean. Can you trace some images used in the poem?
Answer
Some such images used in the poem are ‘mouth like a fireplace’, ‘chimney for a nose’, ‘brave as a barrel full of bears’, ‘brave as a tiger in a rage’, ‘went at the pirate like a robin at a worm’, etc.

8. Do you find The Tale of Custard the Dragon to be a serious or a light-hearted poem? Give reasons to support your answer.
Answer
The Tale of Custard the Dragon is a light-hearted poem. It is almost a parody. The names of the pets of Belinda are all rhyming and funny. Belinda has been compared to a barrel full of bears. The kitten and mouse, both little, could chase lions down the stairs. The little yellow dog was as brave as a tiger, while the dragon was a coward and they all teased him. However, when the pirate came to their little house, all of them were engulfed in fear and had hid themselves. Ironically, the ‘cowardly’ dragon came to their rescue and jumped snorting like an engine. It clashed its tail and charged at the pirate like a robin at a worm and ate him up. Even as everybody became happy to see the bravery of the dragon, they again came back to glorifying themselves that they could have been twice or thrice braver than the dragon. Finally, at the end of the poem, the situation again came back to the other pets being brave and the dragon being the coward.

Important Link

Short Summary-  The Tale of Custard the Dragon (Poem)

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: Fog (Poem)

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English First Flight NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 115
Thinking about the Poem

1. (i) What does Sandburg think the fog is like?
(ii) How does the fog come?
(iii) What does ‘it’ in the third line refer to?
(iv) Does the poet actually say that the fog is like a cat? Find three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat.

Answer
(i) According to Sandburg, the fog is like a cat.

(ii) The fog comes on little cat feet.

(iii) In the third line ‘it’ refers to the fog that has covered the city and it seems as if it is looking over the city like a cat.

(iv) No, the poet does not actually say that the fog is like a cat. However, he has used cat as a metaphor for describing the fog. He says that the fog comes on its little cat feet, which implies that the fog is like a cat as it comes slowly. He also says that the fog looks over the harbour and the city and then moves on, implying that the fog has covered the city and is sitting and looking at it, thereby again comparing it to a cat. This is reiterated when he says that the fog looks over the city sitting on ‘silent hunches’. This also shows the reference to a cat as a cat always sits with its knees bent. Hence, he has compared the fog to a cat without actually saying so.

2. You know that a metaphor compares two things by transferring a feature of one thing to the other (See Unit 1).

(i) Find metaphors for the following words and complete the table below.
Also try to say how they are alike. The first is done for you.

Answer

3. Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have an obvious rhythm or rhyme is called ‘free verse’.
Answer
No, this poem does not have a rhyme scheme. It is written in free verse.

Important Link

Short Summary-  Fog (Poem)

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: The Trees (Poem)

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English First Flight NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 100
Thinking about the Poem

1. (i) Find, in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest.
(ii) What picture do these words create in your mind: “… sun bury its feet in shadow…”? What could the poet mean by the sun’s ‘feet’?
Answer
(i) The three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest are the sitting of a bird on trees, the hiding of insects and the sun burying its feet in the shadow of the forest.

(ii) The sun radiates heat and the given words create a picture of the hot, radiating sun cooling its feet in the cool shadow of the forest. The sun’s ‘feet’ refers to its rays that reach the earth.

2. (i) Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves and their twigs do?
(ii) What does the poet compare their branches to?
Answer
(i) In the poem, the trees are in the poet’s house. Their roots work all night to disengage themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor. The leaves make efforts to move towards the glass, while the small twigs get stiff with exertion.

(ii) The poet compares the ‘long-cramped’ branches that have been shuffling under the roof to newly discharged patients who look half-dazed as they move towards the hospital doors after long illnesses and wait to get out of the hospital. The branches also have cramped under the roof and want to get out into the open to spread themselves in fresh air.

3. (i) How does the poet describe the moon: (a) at the beginning of the third stanza, and (b) at its end? What causes this change? (ii) What happens to the house when the trees move out of it?
Answer
(i) In the beginning of the third stanza, the poet says that the whole moon is shining in the open sky in the fresh night. However, at the end of the stanza, she describes the moon as broken into many pieces such as a shattered mirror. This change is caused by the trees that have made their way from her home to outside. Their branches have risen into the sky, blocking the moon, which is why the moon seems to be broken into many pieces. These pieces can be seen flashing at the top of the tallest oak tree.
(ii) When the trees move out of the house, the glass gets broken and the smell of the leaves and lichens still reaches the rooms of the house.

Page No: 101
4. Now that you have read the poem in detail, we can begin to ask what the poem might mean. Here are two suggestions. Can you think of others?

(i) Does the poem present a conflict between man and nature? Compare it with A Tiger in the Zoo. Is the poet suggesting that plants and trees, used for ‘interior decoration’ in cities while forests are cut down, are ‘imprisoned’, and need to ‘break out’?

(ii) On the other hand, Adrienne Rich has been known to use trees as a metaphor for human beings: this is a recurrent image in her poetry. What new meanings emerge from the poem if you take its trees to be symbolic of this particular meaning?
Answer

(i) Yes, the poem presents a conflict between man and nature. While nature is more free and unbounded, man prefers to live in bounded spaces and also wants to curb nature. He uses plants for interior decoration of houses, cuts trees to make a house for himself, kills animals for food or other purposes and cages them in zoos. In all these ways, man curbs nature and denies plants and animals the freedom in which they should live. The poem shows that trees and plants are rebelling against man as they strive to work their way out into the open. For instance, in the poem A Tiger in the Zoo, the poet presents the fact that animals feel bounded by cages. They can only take a few steps inside the cage, whereas they really want to run and leap into the open. This signifies the fact that plants and animals feel caged by humans and want to break out from the imprisonment at the hands of humans.

(ii) If trees are symbolic of human beings, then it could be said that humans too want to break away from the shackles of the busy and selfish lives they lead. They also want to go out into the nature and be free. They work all day and sometimes all night to try and achieve something though they do not have the time to enjoy it. They keep striving hard in their routines as they feel cramped under the roofs of their homes and offices. Even they want to break free and go out into the peaceful nature.

Important Link

Short Summary-  The Trees (Poem)

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: Animals (Poem)

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English First Flight NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 84
Thinking about the Poem

1. Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals…” What is the poet turning from?

Answer

The poet is turning away from living with other humans as he finds them complicated and false. He would rather live with animals that are self-contained and non-complaining.

2. Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.
Answer

The poet has drawn three comparisons between humans and animals.
► Humans sweat and work to make a living and later whine and sulk about the amount of work they have to do to survive. Animals, on the other hand, do not whine about their condition.
► Humans lie awake at night and cry for the wrongs they have done. Animals do not weep for anything they do and sleep peacefully.
► Finally, humans make each other sick by discussing their duties to God. However, animals do not have any god and they live and survive without any prayers or fasts.

3. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Discuss this in groups.
Answer
Yes, humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. They worship their ancestors and pray by kneeling in front of their portraits. They hold religious sermons and ceremonies in their memory.

4. What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him? Discuss this in class. (Hint: Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature. What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny?

Answer
The token that the poet says he might have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him, is his true nature as a human. While humans came close to civilisation, they gradually moved away from their true nature. The natural instincts that humans had and the innocence with which they lived and helped each other have been left behind somewhere. As they got near civilisation, they chose to leave behind the virtues of kindness, sincerity, unselfishness, joy, satisfaction, respectability, and sharing. They took to vices such as greed, selfishness, desire to capture everything, and other such inhuman characteristics. Animals have carried forward the real instincts and characteristics, which the poet looks at and tries to remember where he had negligently lost his true nature.

Important Link

Short Summary-  Animals (Poem)

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NCERT Solutions for Class 10th: Amanda! (Poem)

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 will help the students in learning complex topics and problems in an easy way. Class 10 English First Flight NCERT Solutions will help students in understanding the topics in most simple manner and grasp it easily to perform better. You can study in an organized manner and set a good foundation for your future goals

Page No: 62
Thinking about the Poem

1. How old do you think Amanda is? How do you know this?
Answer
Amnada is must be about 9−10 years old. She is school going girl. The things that her mother scolds her for are all typical instructions given to a 9 or10 year old girl.

2. Who do you think is speaking to her?

Answer
Her mother is speaking to her.

3. Why are Stanzas 2, 4 and 6 given in parenthesis?
Answer
Stanzas 2, 4 and 6 are given in parenthesis because they are the thoughts of the child in between the instructions that she is being given by her mother, which are given in stanzas 1, 3 and 5. The scolding by the mother and the child’s thoughts are placed in alternate stanzas by the poet.

4. Who is the speaker in stanzas 2, 4 and 6? Do you think this speaker is listening to the speaker in stanzas 1, 3, 5 and 7?
Answer
In stanzas 2, 4 and 6, the speaker is the child, Amanda. No, she is not listening to her mother who is the speaker in stanzas 1, 3 and 5. She is lost in her own dreams and doesn’t listen to what is being said to her.

5. What could Amanda do if she were a mermaid?
Answer
If Amanda were a mermaid, then she would drift slowly on a languid emerald sea. She would be the sole inhabitant of the relaxed green sea and would move slowly on it.

6. Is Amanda an orphan? Why does she say so?
Answer
No, Amanda is not an orphan. She says so because she wants to be alone. She wants to roam around in the street alone and pattern dust wit her bare feet. She finds silence ‘golden’ and freedom ‘sweet’. It is for this reason that she calls herself an orphan.

7. Do you know the story of Rapunzel? Why does she want to be Rapunzel?
Answer
She wants to be Rapunzel because she wants to live alone. Rapunzel lived alone in a tall tower and had long, beautiful hair. She was held captive by her grandmother, who came up the tower by climbing her long hair. The girl also wants to live alone in a tower as she would not have to care about anything as life in a tower would be tranquil, peaceful and rare. However, she also decided that she would never throw down her hair for anyone to come up as she wanted to live alone always.

8. What does the girl yearn for? What does this poem tell you about Amanda?
Answer
The girl yearns for a life of freedom. The poem tells us that she is an imaginative girl who is constantly nagged by her unimaginative parent.

9. Read the last stanza. Do you think Amanda is sulking and is moody?
Answer
No, Amanda is neither sulking, nor is she moody. She is simply longs for her freedom. She wants to go out and play where she likes.

Important Link

Short Summary-  Amanda! (Poem)

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