Birbal the Wise | Lesson 2 | English | Class 5th | Questions and Answers

JANDKNCERT |Tulip Series | English 5th

Birbal the Wise | Lesson 2 | English | Class 5th | Questions and Answers |

Lesson 2: Birbal the Wise

 

Words to Remember

mission:   a specific task or duty assigned to a person مہم

nightfall:  the approach of darkness; night آغاز شب

doubt:      uncertainty about the truth, fact, etc. شک

rein:         a leather strap used to control the horse لگام

stable:      a place where horses are kept اصطبل

recognize: to accept or be aware of شناخت کرنا

offer:        to present پیش کرنا

rob:          to take something from someone illegally, as by force or threat of violence لٗوٹنا

whip:       a length of leather used to beat a person or urge an animal چابُک

wisdom:   knowledge, judgment and good sense دانائ

 

Thinking about the Text

 

A. Answer these questions:

 

Q1. Who was Surya Singh? Who did he meet on his way?

Ans. Surya Singh was the Prince of Manipur. On the way, he met a weak and tired-looking man.

Q2. How did Surya Singh help the traveller?

Ans. Surya Singh got off his horse and offered the traveller to ride his horse.

Q3. Where did the two men go to settle the dispute?

Ans. The two men went to Birbal to settle the dispute.

Q4. How did Birbal settle the dispute?

Ans. Firstly, Birbal told the two men to leave the horse with him. Then he told his servant to free the horse and see which one of the two it followed. The next day, he called both the men and asked them to recognise their horse in the stable where there were a dozen of horses of the same size and colour. The traveller could not recognise his horse but the Prince found him at once. In this way, Birbal settled the dispute.

 

B. Complete the following sentences:

 

a) Surya Singh was kind because he asked the man ………………......

Ans. Surya Singh was kind because he asked the man to ride his horse.

b) The traveller was dishonest because ………………….

Ans. The traveller was dishonest because he tried to rob a kind man.

 

Language Work

 

A. Horses live in stables and cows live in sheds. In Column A, the names of some animals are given. Match them with the places they live in Column B:

 

Column A	Column B
1. horse	shed
2. lion	web
3. chicken	water
4. bird	tree
5. cow	stable
6. rabbit	hive
7. spider	coop
8. bee	nest
9. fish	burrow
10. owl	den

 

Ans.

 

Column A	Column B
1. horse	stable
2. lion	den
3. chicken	coop
4. bird	nest
5. cow	shed
6. rabbit	burrow
7. spider	web
8. bee	hive
9. fish	water
10. owl	tree

 

B. Phrasal Verbs: A phrasal verb consists of a verb and a particle (preposition, adverb, or both).

Its meaning has to be understood as a whole e.g., look into means to investigate. Here are some phrasal verbs which have been used in the story. Use them in sentences of your own.

get off, get on, get down, ride away, bring back, put in, look at, arrange for

 

Ans.

get off: depart, dismount

The king got off his horse and asked the man to get on to it.

get on: proceed, ride

The man got on to the horse when the king offered him to ride.

get down: dismount

The Prince asked the man to get down his horse when they reached the city gates.

ride away: ride off, run riding on a horse

The traveller tried to ride away but the Prince took hold of the reins and asked him to settle the dispute first.

bring back: evoke, cause to remember

The old house brought back memories of his childhood.

put in: keep

The thief was put in jail after he was found guilty.

look at: see (object or something)

The students looked at the black shining shoes when the teacher entered the classroom.

arrange for: manage, arrangement

They invited the king to their country and arranged for his stay there.

 

Grammar Work

 

A) Past Simple Tense

Look at the following sentence:

1. I met him yesterday.

The above sentence expresses some action which happened at some time in the past.

Thus, Past Simple Tense is used to show an action that happened or took place at some time in the past and the Second Form of the Verb is used with all Subjects.

But in Negative and Interrogative Sentences of Past Simple, ‘did’ is used to form the sentences.

Thus, the Negative sentence of the above will be:

(a) I did not (didn’t) meet him yesterday.

Similarly, the Interrogative sentence of the above will be:

(b) Did I meet him yesterday?

NOTE: The Second Form of the Verb (met) is changed to the First Form of the Verb (meet) in both the Negative and Interrogative sentences.

This tense is also used to express some past habit, e.g.:

1. She never came here in the daytime.

2. She studied for many hours every day.

 

EXERCISE

 

Use the correct tense form (Simple Past Tense) in the following sentences:

 

1. I ___________ the zoo last Friday. (visit)

2. He __________ the President last night. (see)

3. She _________ out half an hour ago. (go)

4. The snake ___________ the boy. (bite, not)

5. They ____________ their fields last week. (plough)

6. ______ they _________ the house last Sunday? (leave)

7. He __________ her last Wednesday. (meet)

8. We _____________ the party last week. (enjoy, not)

9. When ________ the rain _________? (stop)

10. We ______________ to the movie yesterday. (go)

 

Ans.

1. I visited the zoo last Friday. (visit)

2. He saw the President last night. (see)

3. She went out half an hour ago. (go)

4. The snake did not bite the boy. (bite, not)

5. They ploughed their fields last week. (plough)

6. Did they leave the house last Sunday? (leave)

7. He met her last Wednesday. (meet)

8. We did not enjoy the party last week. (enjoy, not)

9. When did the rain stop? (stop)

10. We went to the movie yesterday. (go)

 

B) Look at the following sentence used in the text:

·      He stopped the horse and asked him, “Which way are you going?’

This sentence is in direct speech or direct narration. The same sentence can be turned into indirect speech in the following way:

·     He stopped the horse and asked him which way he was going.

While turning a Wh-question into indirect narration we use the subject before the verb.

Note: Wh-question is a question that starts with a Wh-word e.g. What, Which, Why, Where, When, Who, etc.

 

Now turn the following sentences into indirect narration:

 

1. He said to him, “How old are you?”

Indirect: He asked him how old he was.

2. He said to me, “Where do you live?”

Indirect: He asked me where I lived.

Or He inquired of me where I lived. (Or did I live)

3. “When did he arrive?” she asked me.

Indirect: She asked me when he arrived.

4. You said to her, “Who told you?”

Indirect: You asked her who told her.

5. The teacher asked us, “Why are you late?”

Indirect: The teacher asked us why we were late.

 

Let’s Talk

 

The stories regarding Birbal’s wisdom are very popular. Learn any such story and share it with your classmates.

     Birbal was a wise man in the court of Akbar. He is remembered for his wisdom. We have already read a story about his wisdom in our English textbook. Now I want to share one more story about the wisdom of Birbal. Once Birbal wanted to visit a nearby kingdom as an ambassador of Akbar. The news reached the ruler of that kingdom. He had heard of the intellect of Birbal and wanted to test his wisdom. The king got a dozen lookalikes and dressed them like him and made them sit on a throne identical to the real one.

        Birbal reached the kingdom and entered the court of thirteen identical rulers. He had never seen the king. At once Birbal understood that he was being tested. He panned his head around to take a look at the 'kings'. He set his gaze on one of the kings. He walked towards the king, bowed, and said, “Greetings your majesty.”

        The King was surprised and so were the lookalikes. Then the King said to the Birbal, “How did you know I was the real king? We have never met before?”

Birbal said,

“Your majesty, the confidence on your face set you apart. While your lookalikes kept giving you glances to see your reaction, you continued seeing straight without to see the reaction of others. Only an emperor can display such fortitude, and that is how I identified you.”

Let’s Write

 

Write a paragraph on your pet animal.

    I have a parrot as a pet animal at my home. His name is Tota. His feathers a yellow and he has a curved beak. Sometimes I keep him in a cage but most of the time I let him move freely. He often bids me goodbye when I go to school and also welcomes me when I come home. He kisses my cheeks to show his love. He brings pencils and sketches for when I begin my homework. He is so fond of me and I also like him very much. He sometimes tries to repeat the words of a speaker.