NCERT Solutions for Class-9 English Chapter 4 IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS | English Moments
IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS
NCERT Solutions for Class-9 English Chapter 4 IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS | English Moments
Summary: In the kingdom of Fools, both the king and the minister were idiots. They decided to change night into day and day into night. They ordered that everyone should be awake at night, till their fields and run their businesses only after dark, and go to bed as soon as the sun came up. Anyone who disobeyed would be punished with death. One day a guru and his disciple arrived in the city. When they felt hungry they found that everything cost the same. The guru realized that it was a kingdom of fools where their lives could be in danger. The guru left the kingdom but his disciple stayed there.
One day a thief made a hole in the wall and entered the house. When he was carrying out his loot, the wall of the house collapsed on his head and killed him. Now the thief's brother complained against the merchant that because of the weak wall his brother had died. So the merchant must be punished for that. The merchant was summoned and he answered that he had not put up the wall but the bricklayer. Then the bricklayer was called who pleaded that a dancing girl was responsible for that. Then that dancing girl was summoned and she replied that she had to walk up and down because she had to take her jewellery from goldsmith. Now that goldsmith was called upon and he said that he had to finish the order of a rich man. This rich man was the same merchant whose wall had killed the thief. The king ordered him to be executed. But when the servants sharpened the stake, it occurred to the minister that the rich merchant was somehow too thin for the stake. Then the king ordered that a man fat enough to fit the stake must be found. Then the servants caught the disciple to hang him in place of the merchant. At this moment the disciple remembered his guru and prayed to him save him. His guru saw everything in a vision. He arrived at once and told him something in a whisper. Now they started to quarrel and wanted to die in place of the other. The king and minister asked them the reason for that mess. Then the guru told that as this stake was new, therefore, the person, who would be executed first, would be the king and next will be the minister. The king and the minister had the same wish. Thus, the next day the king and the minister were executed.
When the people came to know about the wisdom of the guru and his disciple, they begged both to be king and their minister respectively. From then on, night would again be night and day would again be the day and this kingdom became like others.
NCERT Solutions for Class-9 English Chapter 4 IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS | English Moments
TEXTUAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
THINK
ABOUT IT
Q.1. What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?
Ans. The Guru and the disciple found that in the Kingdom of Fools people used to work during nights and sleep during days. Everything was cheap and cost the same.
Q. 2. Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?
Ans. Everything was cheap in the Kingdom of Fools. The disciple had peculiarity of diet. He was tempted by the cheap food. So, he decided to stay in that kingdom. It was not a good idea to stay there for a long time as one could be in danger any time because of unpredictable behaviour of fools.
Q. 3. Name all the people who are tried in the king's court, and give the reasons for their trial.
Ans. The owner of the house i.e. the merchant, the bricklayer, the dancing girl and the goldsmith were tried in the king's court. They all were tried as the thief died when the wall of merchant's house collapsed. The merchant was tried for building a weak wall. The bricklayer was tried for doing his work carelessly. The dancing girl was tried for disturbing the concentration of the bricklayer. The goldsmith was blamed for making the dancing girl walk up and down to his house a dozen times.
Q.4. Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment.
Ans.The merchant's dead father was held responsible for making the wall weak. But according to the king the rich merchant was the real culprit because he had inherited both sins and riches of his father. He escaped the punishment because he was too thin to fit the stake.
NCERT Solutions for Class-9 English Chapter 4 IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS | English Moments
Q. 5. What are the Guru's words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them?
Ans. The Guru was full of wisdom and knew well that the unpredictable behaviour of the fools could create danger anytime. The Guru's words were, "They are all fools. This won't last very long, and you can't tell what they'll do to you next". The disciple remembered them when he was arrested by the men of the king to execute merely because he fitted the stake. It was because of the Guru's words of wisdom that the execution was postponed.
Q. 6. How does the Guru manage to save his disciple's life?
Ans. The Guru arrived on time to save his disciple and created a drama. He told the king that it was not an ordinary stake and whoever went to the stake first would become the king in next life. The second to die would become his minister. The king wanted to avail himself of the opportunity. The Guru and his disciple were released. Thus the Guru managed to save his disciple's life.
NCERT Solutions for Class-9 English Chapter 4 IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS | English Moments
I. SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. How were the king and the minister? What did they want to do?
Ans. Both the king and the minister were idiots. They wanted to do something unique. So they decided to change -night into day and vice-versa. The king ordered every citizen to follow the rule strictly. The king ordered everyone to work after dark and sleep as soon as the sun came up. The people had to obey the order of king for fear of death. The king felt delighted at the success of this new order.
Q. 2. Why were the two strangers i.e. the guru and the disciple, amazed?
Ans. The condition of the kingdom was quite different after the king's order was implemented. When the guru and his disciple arrived in the city, they found everyone sleeping in a board daylight. In the evening the whole town woke up and started its business. This surprised the guru and his disciple.
Q. 3. What did the thief do when he broke into a rich merchant's house? What happened to him?
Ans. The thief broke into a rich merchant's house by making a hole in the wall. He carried out his loot all for a while. Suddenly, the wall of the old house collapsed on his head and killed his on the spot.
Q.4. How did the merchant defend himself?
Ans. When the rich merchant was called, he told the king that he had not built the wall. The bricklayer had built the wall long ago when his father was alive. He argued before the king that bricklayer should be held responsible for the death of thief. He was not at all responsible or the thief’s death.
Q.5. How did the bricklayer defend himself ?
Ans. The king ordered the bricklayer to be brought to the court for the thief's death. The bricklayer had been held responsible for the death of the thief. But he tried to defend himself saying that a dancing girl disturbed his concentration. Hence, she should be held responsible for the thief's death.
NCERT Solutions for Class-9 English Chapter 4 IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS | English Moments
Q. 6. How did the dancing girl and the goldsmith defend themselves?
Ans. The dancing girl defended herself by holding the goldsmith responsible for the death. She argued that the goldsmith made her walk up and down to his house a dozen times. As soon is the king summoned the goldsmith, the goldsmith argued that he had to make jewellery of a merchant who was impatient. So he could not finish making her jewellery before. Hence, the merchant should be punished.
Q. 7. What mystery did the Guru create before the king?
Ans. Everyone knows that Gum in Guru. The Guru told the king about his desire to die first. The king asked him the reason for doing so. The Guru told that it was not an ordinary state, it was the state of the God of justice. Whoever chooses the stake first, shall become the king in future, and whoever goes next would be the minister in future. This tempted the king and the sinister and they chose the stake one by one. The Guru succeeded in saving his disciple this way.
Q.8. How did the kingdom become normal again?
Ans. When the Guru and the disciple became the King and the minister after the death of the real king and the minister, the people began to work during day and sleep at night. Duddo system too met an end. Thus, the kingdom became normal again.
Q. 9. How was the Kingdom of Fools different from other places.
Ans. The Kingdom of Fools was entirely different from other places. Here things were done differently. Both the king and his minister were idiots. He ordered the people to work at flight and sleep during the
day. Even the cattle were made to sleep by day. In this kingdom, everything cost the same, whatever may be its quantity.
NCERT Solutions for Class-9 English Chapter 4 IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS | English Moments
II. LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. How was life different in the Kingdom of Fools?
Ans. The king and the minister behaved like rules. They did not do any work using their wits. They had decided to make the kingdom unique. They ordered to change the working hours and the people followed them. They warned people that if they did not obey the new rule, they would be punished with death. Now everything was different in the Kingdom of Fools. The people worked during nights and slept during days. At this grand success of making the kingdom unique, both the king and the minister felt delighted. The next thing they did was that they set equal price for everything. The things were cheaper and anything could be bought for a ‘dudu'. Hence, life was different here.
Q. 2. The disciple had done nothing wrong. Why was he arrested?
Ans. In the Kingdom of Fools, everything was different. In the end the rich merchant was found guilty of negligence on his father's behalf. The king ordered him to be executed. But as soon as he was taken to the stake, the stake did not fit him. It was important to test the stake for first time. Hence, the king ordered that a person should be found who could fit the stake. The king's men caught the disciple and found him fit for the stake. The disciple had become healthy due to overeating. The king ordered him to be executed. But his Guru saved him. It was such a situation which none could imagine in real life. It becomes quite clear that living in such a kingdom is dangerous. Anything could happen here.
NCERT Solutions for Class-9 English Chapter 4 IN THE KINGDOM OF FOOLS | English Moments
Q. 3. How did the Guru save his disciple?
Ans. The disciple was arrested and was to be executed soon. At that moment he recalled the words of his Guru and prayed to save his life. The Guru was a divine figure and heard the prayer. He reached there at once and created a drama. They started quarrelling for the stake. They expressed their willingness to choose the stake before the other. On seeing this situation the king got confused and could not decide what to do. On being asked, the Guru told that whoever chose the stake first would become the king in the next birth and the second would become the minister. Both the king and the minister were tempted and chose the stake one by one. In this way the Guru could save his disciple.
4. Why did the people choose and crown the Guru and his disciple?
Ans. In the Kingdom of Pools everything looked odd. The disciple was arrested in place of the rice merchant. He was to be executed soon but the disciple started praying. The guru reached there and made a plan to save the disciple's life. The king and his minister became the victims of this Plan and got themselves executed. Now there was no king in the kingdom. The throne was vacant. People wanted that a wise person should become the king. After the death of the king and the disciple the people were impressed by the wisdom and power of the Guru. They thought that if the Guru and his disciple became the king and the minister, there would be peace all around. So the people chose to crown the Guru and his disciple.
5. Discuss the importance of wisdom in life.
Ans. Life is a precious gift of God. We should enjoy it. We can make our life both a bed of roses and a bed of thorns. It depends upon our wisdom. Life without wisdom is useless. It becomes dangerous too many a time. One who leads a life without wisdom can never enjoy it. We can enjoy our life when we are full of wisdom. Life is a combination of positive and negative aspects. It depends upon us what side we chose. It is our wisdom only that helps us distinguish between wrong and right. Wisdom makes our life full of comfort and provides us with various sources of enjoyment. Life without wisdom has no meaning.