KSEEB 8th English The Miser Lesson Lesson Notes Summary Questions and Answers
Pre-reading task:
(i) Think of the earlier world, where there was no ‘money’ as a medium of exchange.
(ii) What role do ‘Money and wealth’ play in our lives?
Answer:
Money and wealth are necessary to provide not only for our basic necessities but also for the comforts of our lives.
(iii) Along with money, what are the other things required to lead a ‘happy life’? Discuss with your classmates.
Answer:
A good family environment, good friends, secure job, good health, entertainment etc are some of the other things required to lead a happy life.
Textbook Questions and Answers
Comprehension
I. Answer the following questions in 2-3 sentences each:
Question 1.
What was there in Surenders’ hoard to call him wealthy?
Answer:
Surender was so wealthy that he had had three huge bams heaped high with gold and silver, rare diamonds and precious stones.
Question 2.
What did he see in the market place one day?
Answer:
One day, while he was walking in the market place, Surender saw a man eating a large, soft, yellow ladoo, rich with raisins and cashew nuts in it.
Question 3.
How did he savour the thought of having a ladoo?
Answer:
When Surender saw a man eating a ladoo he mouth began to water. He could almost feel its sweetness tickling his tongue.
Question 4.
How did Surender’s longing for a ladoo make him suffer?
Answer:
Surender found that his longing for a ladoo would not go away.He wanted to eat one so badly that he began to drool. His legs grew weak and his stomach began to rumble loudly.
Question 5.
Why was Vandana happy when Surender asked for a ladoo?
Answer:
Vandana was happy when Surender asked for a ladoo because she could make dozons of iadoos, to share them with their children, neighbours and servants too.
Question 6.
Why didn’t Vandana’s happiness last long?
Answer:
Vandana’s happiness did not last long because Surender asked her not to prepare dozons of Ladoos, but just one ladoo for himself.
Question 7.
How many ladoos did Vandana finally make? Why?
Answer:
Vandana finally made only one ladoo for her husband Surender because he found it unnecessary to make them for anybody else.
Question 8.
Who was witnessing the whole course of Surender’s miserliness?
Answer:
Sakka, the King of the Gods and the Ruler of the Heavens was witnessing the whole course of Surender’s miserliness from his magnificent palace in heaven.
Question 9.
When did Sakka assume Surenders’ own form and walk into his house?
Answer:
When Surender went out for his morning walk, Sakka assumed Surender’s own form and walked into his house. This happened the day after Surender ate the ladoo all by himself.
Question 10.
Why was Vandana astonished?
Answer:
Vandana was astonished because she heard her miserly husband announce that he was going to share his wealth with others.
Question 11.
What was the warning given by the make-believe Surender to the crowd at his barns?
Answer:
Surender told the crowd that an impostor who looked like him could come and threaten them and even stop them. If he did so, they could drive him away fearlessly.
Question 12.
What was the real Surender’s complaint to his Majesty?
Answer:
Surrender complained to the Majesty that . he was being looted and robbed of all his treasure by the people of the town. When he tried to stop them, they even chased him away.
Question 13.
Whom did the puzzled king request to decide on the two look alike Surenders’?
Answer:
The puzzled king asked Vandana to decide which of the two was her husband.
Question 14.
What was Vandana’s trial?
Answer:
Vandana’s trial was to ask a simple question to both the Surenders. The question would help her to identify which of the two was her husband.
Question 15.
How did Sakka convince Surender to mend his miserly ways?
Answer:
Sakka told surrender that due to his miserly attitude even his own wife and children had disowned him. He asked Surender to give up being a miser or he threatened to come back for him again.
Question 16.
How did Vandana want to celebrate when the ordeal was over?
Answer:
Vandana wanted to celebrate the end of the ordeal by making dazons of ladoos.
II. Answer the following questions in about 50 words each:
Question 1.
Explain Surender’s miserliness.
Answer:
Surender was such a miser that his family was just short of starving, even when his three bams were overflowing with heaps of gold, silver, rare diamonds and precious stones. He bought his children the cheapest and most ordinary clothes. His family supped on gruel most of the time.
When he craved for a ladoo, he was adamant that his wife make only one ladoo, for himself. He felt that it was not necessary to make for the entire family and he gave lame excuses for it.
Question 2.
Why didn’t Surender ask his wife to make a ladoo?
Answer:
Surrender didn’t ask his wife to make a ladoo because he knew that she would definitely make one for herself, one each for their four children, some for their servants and the neighbours as well. The thought of the total expenditure for making so many ladoos made him quite ill. Therefore, he never asked his wife to make a ladoo.
Question 3.
How did Sakka, the king of the Gods teach a lesson to Surender ?
Answer:
When Sakka observed the miserly attitude of Surender, he decided to teach him a lesson. He assumed the form of Surender and entered his house when Surender had gone out for his morning walk. He then announced that the townsfolk could take whatever they wanted from his bam. On hearing this, the people gathered in large numbers and collected as much wealth as they could. When the real Surender came back home, he could not believe his eyes and the people chased him away.
He took the matter to the king. At the king’s court, Sakka took his original form and warned Surender to give up his miserly attitude and threatened to come back if he didn’t Surender had to agree as even his own wife and children had disowned him. Thus Sakka taught a lesson to Surender.
Question 4.
Describe Surender’s ordeal in the king’s palace.
Answer:
At the king’s palace, Surender informed the king that the townsfolk were looting his treasure. The king told him that the people were taking it away as per his invitation. Surender denied it. Therefore, the king summoned the one who gave the order.
When Sakka in Surender’s form appeared before the court, everyone including the real Surender was shocked. The king could not proceed with the case unless the real Surender was identified. He, therefore asked Vandana to identify her husband. She asked a very simple question regarding generosity, to both of them.
The real Surender, being a miser was against generosity. Fed up with Surender’s miserliness, Vandana said that Sakka in the form of her husband was her real husband. Surender could not believe his ears. He wept bitterly unable to prove his true identity. This was the ordeal that Surender faced at the palace.
III. Vocabulary
Fill in the missing letters to get the synonyms of the following:
Question 1.
stone p _ b _ l _
Answer:
p e b b l e
Question 2.
inactive p _ s _ _ v e
Answer:
p a s s i v e
Question 3.
forgive p _ _ d_n
Answer:
p a r d o n
Question 4.
suffering p _ i n _ ul
Answer:
p a i n f u l
Question 5.
location p _ _ c _
Answer:
p l a c e
Question 6.
choose P _ _ f _ r
Answer:
p r e f e r
Question 7.
artist p _ _ nt_ r
Answer:
p a i n t e r
Question 8.
couple P _ _ r
Answer:
p a i r
Question 9.
picture P_ o _ o _ r _ _ h
Answer:
p h o t o g r a p h
Question 10.
strong p _ w _ _ f _ l
Answer:
p o w e r f u l
Additional Questions with Answers
I. Answer the following questions
Question 1.
How did Surender treat his family?
Answer:
Surender was such a miser that his family was neither fed well nor clothed well. They were fed just short of starving. He bought the cheapest, dowdiest and the most ordinary clothes for his children. His miserly nature was exhibited to the greatest extent when he asked his wife to prepare a ladoo only for him and not for anyone else in the family.
Question 2.
Who was Sakka?
Answer:
Sakka was the king of the Gods and Ruler of the heavens.
Question 3.
Who was Vandana?
Answer:
Vandana was Surender’s wife.
II. Rewrite as directed
Question 1.
“What is wrong with you, dear husband? Vandana asked anxiously.
(Change into indirect speech)
Answer:
Vandana anxiously asked her husband what was wrong with him.
Question 2.
“Get me a ladoo to eat,” said Surender to his wife.
(into indirect speech)
Answer:
Surrender asked his wife to get him a ladoo to eat.
Question 3.
Sakka said, “Can you bring yourself to be more generous?”
(into indirect speech)
Answer:
Sakka asked if he could bring himself to be more generous.
The Miser Lesson Summary in English
It is a very interesting story of a miser who almost starves his family; but is taught a good lesson by the king of the Gods.
Surender was a wealthy miser. He had three huge barns heaped high with gold, silver, rare diamonds and precious stones. Yet he didn’t feed his family well. They were given the bare minimum meals. They were just short of starving.
One day, when Surender walking through a market place , he saw a man eating a rich, juicy ladoo, with plenty of raisins and cashew nuts in it. Surender craved for a ladoo. He was frightened to ask his wife to prepare a ladoo because if he told her about his desire, she would prepare ladoos for all the family members, servants and neighbours. The thought of the expenditure made him remain silent. His stomach began to rumble loudly, and his legs grew weak as the desire of the ladoo grew stronger.
Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he asked his wife to prepare a ladoo. When his wife mentioned about preparing ladoos to share them with their children, servants and neighbours, he discouraged her sternly. He asked her to prepare only one ladoo, for himself. He devoured the ladoo in front of his wife, without even sharing it with her. His miserly actions were being watched by Sakka, the king of the Gods and Ruler of the Heavens. He decided to teach Surender a lesson.
‘When Surender went out for his morning walk, Sakka assumed his form and entered the house. He told Vandana, Surender’s wife that he had decided to share his wealth with the others. He asked Vandana to send the servant to call all the people. The bam doors were opened. People who gathered there took as much wealth as they could. Sakka, who was in Surender’s appearance told the people that if an impostor came to stop them, they could chase him away fearlessly.
Surender who returned back, was shocked to see the scene at home. When the people chased him away, he took the matter to the king. The king told him that people were taking away things from his barn, on his invitation. Surender said that he had done no such thing. The king therefore summoned the one who had sent the invitation. Sakka, appeared before the king. Everyone was surprised to see two Surenders. When the king could not identify who the real Surender was, he asked Vandana to identify her husband.
She asked each of them a simple question which was “is it good to be generous to yourself, your family, your neighbours and friends or your servants?” Sakka replied that it was good to be generous to all. When the same question was asked to the real Surender, he said that it was not good to be generous at all.
On hearing those answers, Vandana said that Sakka, was her husbsnd and went to him with her children. Surender let out a cry in anguish and stated the he was the real Surender. Immediately, Sakka assumed his real form and asked Surender to give up being a miser and to be a lot more generous. Sakka threatened to come back again if he would not give up his miserly nature, and he vanished. Yandana asked if she could celebrate the end of Surender’s ordeal by preparing dozons of ladoos. Surender could do nothing, but agree. Thus, with the intervention of Sakka. Surender was transformed.