Princess September
Extract I
He cried
bitterly.......ever had.
1.
What
did the King say, which made him cry bitterly in the company of the queen? What
do you find strange in the way he treated the queen? Why was the queen uneasy?
He said that
after the birth of their twelfth daughter, he would have her head cut off.
The king is
rather a mysterious character. While on the one hand, he is extremely fond
of the queen, on the other hand, he
decides to cut off the queen’s head
after the birth of his twelfth daughter,
for he thinks that twelve daughters are enough for any man.
The queen would
be uneasy more because the king would be distressed to have her executed.
2.
How
many daughters did the king and queen have ? Why were they named after the
months of the year? How were the king’s daughters named earlier?
They had nine
daughters. First, the king had two daughters, so they were named Night and Day.
When they had two more daughters, the king named them after the four seasons-
Summer, Winter, Spring and Autumn. When their number further increased, their
names changed to the days of the week, and finally to the months in a year.
3.
How
was September different from her elder sisters? What was the reason for this
difference? Give examples to show that the elder sisters of Princess September
were jealous of her.
The elder
daughters, whose names had been changed many times, had embittered character.
On the other hand, Princess September had very sweet and charming nature.
The nightingale
sings beautifully and much better than the parrots, which her sisters have as
their pets and therefore, all the elder princesses get jealous of princess September.
The sisters out
of jealousy , advised Princess September to keep the nightingale in the cage.
4.
The
king of Siam had an odd character. Show how this is shown in the following
situations:
a)
His
liking for the parrot’s greeting
The king loves flattery. When the queen
says that he must have got tired of people saying ‘God save the king,’ the king
replies that, ‘the sentiment is admirable, and
I never mind how often I hear it.’ Thus, he loves the parrots repeating
the phrase, ‘God save the king,’ but he does get tired of hearing them say
‘Pretty Polly.’
b)
His
act of giving presents on his birth day celebrations.
The king likes to give presents, instead
of receiving them, on his birthday. His giving away his wedding presents to the
people as gifts, shows that he does not value the feelings or sentiments of the
donors. He even gives away his old crowns as gifts to people.
5.
We
are told that the king was extremely fond of the queen. Still, he would have
her head cut off. What does this tell us about him? How was the queen finally
saved from this situation?
The king is
rather a mysterious character. While on the one hand, he is extremely fond
of the queen, on the other hand, he
decides to cut off the queen’s head
after the birth of his twelfth daughter,
for he thinks that twelve daughters are enough for any man.
The queen saved
herself because after the birth of
princess September, the queen had only sons who were named after the letters of
the alphabet.
Extract II
The nine
princesses..............oriental languages.
1.
Compare
the parrots to the nightingale. How does the author show that the nightingale
represents an artist?
The nightingale
is quite accomplished: he sings a variety of songs about the lake in the king’s
garden, the willow trees and the goldfish. Besides, he sings a different song
for each of the eight elder princesses. The bird is much confident of his talents,
for it tells the princess, ‘It is true that I am not so pretty to look at, but
on the other hand I have a much better voice.’ The king and the queen
are delighted at the bird’s special skills.
The parrots
could repeat only ‘ God save the king’ and ‘Pretty Poly.’
When the
nightingale is imprisoned in the cage for long, he gets restless. Deprived of
artistic freedom, he cannot sing, he stops eating, and is almost near his
death, when the princess sets him free.
2.
What
was the king’s opinion about the phrases ‘God save the king’ and ‘Pretty Poly’
which the parrots repeated?
The king loves flattery. When the queen
says that he must have got tired of people saying ‘God save the king,’ the king
replies that, ‘the sentiment is admirable, and
I never mind how often I hear it.’ Thus, he loves the parrots repeating
the phrase, ‘God save the king,’ but he does get tired of hearing them say
‘Pretty Polly.’
3.
What
happened to princess September’s parrot? How did she react to it?
One day princess September found her
parrot lying dead at the bottom of its golden cage. She was so grieved, that
she burst into tears. When nothing could comfort the princess, the queen got
very annoyed and sent her little child to bed, without supper.
4.
How
did the queen react to it?
When nothing could comfort the princess,
the queen got very annoyed and sent her little child to bed, without supper.
5.
What
did the Maids of Honour do with the Princess?
She burst into a flood of tears, and
nothing that her Maids of Honour could say comforted her. She cried so much
that the Maids of Honour, not knowing what to do, told the queen.
6.
What
pulled the princess out of her gloom?
As the princess lay all by herself in
her bed, hungry and crying, a little bird hopped into her room. Then the little
bird began to sing beautifully. The melodious songs of the little bird pulled
the princess out of her gloom.
Extract III
“ That was a very nice..........better
voice.’
1.
What
did the little bird sing about?
He sang a variety of songs about the
lake in the king’s garden, the willow
trees and the goldfish.
2.
What effect did it have on the princess?
His beautiful songs pulled the princess
out of her gloom. She soon forgot about her pet parrot who was found dead at
the bottom of its golden cage.
3.
Why
did the bird give the princess a bow? What does it tell us about him?
When the bird had finished singing, the
princess appreciated his song. The little bird gave her a bow, like a
good-mannered artist, expressing his gratitude.
4.
Why does the little bird offer to take the place f
the princess’ parrot?
It is because of
her charming nature that the nightingale offers to stay with her. He does
not leave her even though she has kept him in the cage
for some time.
5.
How
did the princess react to the bird’s offer?
The nightingale asked princess September
if she would have him in place of her parrot. Princess September was delighted
at the offer and accepted it.
6.
What
in the story tells us that the princess and the bird had become friends?
The nightingale offers himself as a new
companion to the princess in place of her parrot, and the princess readily
agrees. It is here that their friendship begins. The princess would take care
of the bird. The bird, in return sings beautiful songs to the princess as and
when she desires and even sings her to sleep.
Friendship demands sacrifice. The
princess loved the nightingale and shuts him in the cage so that she could have
him all to herself. But , she soon realises that the real happiness of the bird
lies in his freedom. Thus she sacrifices her own wishes and grants the bird
freedom.
Extract IV
They say it seven different.......very
glum indeed.
1.
Who
are they as referred to in the extract? What did they say?
‘They’ refers to the parrots of the princesses.
They repeated ‘God save the king’ and ‘Pretty Poly’ in seven different
languages.
2.
To
what remark made by the king, do the princess say this?
The king said that he got tired of
hearing the parrots say Pretty Poly. To this remark of the king, the princesses
replied that the parrots say Pretty Poly in seven different languages.
3.
What is the king’s opinion about his councillors?
What does it tell us about him?
The king has his own set of fixed
principles of administration and he does not readily take in the ideas of his
councillors. When the princesses say that their parrots say the phrases in
seven different language, the king replies , ‘......but it reminds me too much
of my councillors. They say the same thing in seven different ways and it never
means anything in any way they say it.’
4.
Why
were the princess’ characters naturally embittered?
The elder sisters of princess September
had their character naturally embittered because their names had been changed
many times.
5.
What
do the princess do to avenge themselves on princess September?
The eight princesses were so jealous
of princess September that they decided
to do something about it. They went to their youngest sister, and expressing
grief over the loss of her dear parrot, offered to buy her another green and
yellow parrot. Princess September declined their offer, saying that she was
quite happy with the little bird that she had.
Then the elder princesses told the
little princess that she must put her
bird in a cage so that he would be more safe. The princess being concerned for
his safety does not want to lose him as she had lost her parrot. This makes her
keep the little bird in the cage. The result is that the bird stops singing and
eating; and nears death, before it is freed.
Extract V
Suddenly September
heard.................tonight at all.
1.
Where
had the little bird gone? Why did he return so late?
The bird had gone to pay a visit to his
father-in-law. He was late because his
father-in-law was giving a party and they all wanted him to stay for the party.
2.
What
thoughts troubled the princess when the bird did not come back in time?
She thought that something might have
happened to the bird. She was reminded of the danger that could be caused by
hawks and men with snares. Besides, he might forget her, or he might take a
fancy to somebody else.
3.
Why
did the princess finally put the bird in the cage?
The elder princesses told princess
September that she must put her bird in a cage so that he would be more safe.
September did not quite like the idea of
restricting the bird’s movements. However, that evening, the bird returned to
her room a little late. This made September very anxious. Taking hold of the
bird, she placed him into the cage and shut the door.
4.
What
was the bird’s reaction to the princess’ action?
Though the nightingale is a free bird of
the wilds, it frequents the palace for the sake of the princess’ happiness. He
doesn’t mind her putting him in
a cage when she says it is for
his own safety. However, when he is imprisoned in the cage for
long, he gets restless. Deprived of
artistic freedom, he cannot sing, he stops eating, and is almost near his death, when the
princess sets him free.
5.
What
reasons did the princess September give for her unusual action? Was the bird
satisfied with it? Why?
The princess told the nightingale that
the queen’s cats are prowling about that night and it would be unsafe for the
nightingale to be outside.
The nightingale doesn’t mind her
putting him in a cage when she says it is for his own safety. However, when he is
imprisoned in the cage for long, he gets
restless.
Extract VI
I know what’s good ..............forget
your troubles?
1.
Did
the princess really know what was good for the bird? Give reasons for your
answer.
Princess September is quite innocent.
Though at first she rules out her sisters’ suggestion to imprison the bird in a
cage, she soon gives in because of their false concern for the safety of the
bird. Therefore, she puts the little bird in the cage.
The little princess fails to understand
the bird’s need for freedom. However, she is quite sensitive, for she does take
the bird out in the open air to look at the rice-fields, the lake and the willow
trees. When she sees the act little
creature’s life in trouble, she does not act selfishly, but decides to grant
the bird freedom for ever.
2.
What
reason does the bird give for not singing?
Deprived of artistic freedom, he cannot
sing, he stops eating, and is almost near his death, when the princess sets him
free.
3.
What
did the princess do to satisfy the bird’s wish? Did it help any way?
The little princess fails to understand
the bird’s need for freedom. However, she is quite sensitive, for she does take
the bird out in the open air to look at the rice-fields, the lake and the
willow trees.
It didn’t help the bird in any way. The
bird said that the rice-fields and the lake and the willow trees look quite
different when you see them through the bars of a cage.
4.
What
did the other princesses say, when September informed them that the bird had
stopped eating?
They told her to firm. They remarked
that it would be ungrateful of him. if
he is obstinate and dies it will serve him right and you will be well
rid of him.
5.
When
the princess woke up the next morning, what did she see?
She found the little bird lay, at
the bottom, on his side, with his eyes
closed, and looked as if he were dead.
6.
What
did the princess do then? What did she say to the bird?
She began to cry and her tears fell on
the little bird. He opened his eyes and felt that the bars of the cage were no
longer round him.
Princess September granted him freedom.
7.
How
did her action help the bird? How did it
help the princess herself?
The princess is finally rewarded for her goodness and tenderness towards the
little bird. The bird becomes her lifelong friend, singing beautiful songs for
her. Further, as the princess keeps the window of her room open all the time
for the bird, it allows sunlight and fresh air to enter her room. Consequently,
she gets nature’s nourishment, and grows up to be extremely beautiful. She is
married to the king of Cambodia.
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