The Happy Prince

 

 

 LANGUAGE EXERCISES

 

 A. Comprehension Questions

(i) Answer the following Questions:

1. Where did the statue of the Happy Prince stand?

Ans. The statue of the Happy Prince stood on a high column above the city.

 

2. How was the statue decorated?

Ans. There were two sapphires in the eyes of the statue of the Happy Prince. There was a red ruby on the hilt of his sword. The entire body of the status was covered with fine gold. It was a splendid and highly decorated statue.

 

3. Where was the Swallow going?

Ans. The swallow was going to Egypt in the company of his friends. But he decided to stay behind for some time before to Egypt.

 

4. Why did the swallow put up between the feet of the Happy Prince?

Ans. The swallow put up between the feet of the Happy Prince because it was a fine place on the statue and there was plenty of fresh air.

 

5. Where were the drops coming from?

Ans. The drops were coming from the eyes of the statue of the Happy Prince.

 

6. Why was the Happy Prince crying?

Ans. The Happy Prince was crying because he could see the sorrows and miseries of the people of the city. The Prince had a sympathetic heart. So he shed tears of sorrow.

 

7. Describe the seamstress in the words of the prince.

Ans. According to the Prince, the seamstress was a very poor woman. She lived in a poor house. Her face was very thin and worn. She had coarse and red hands, all picked by the needle. She was embroidering flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the Queen’s maids of honour.

 

8. Why was the seamstress's little boy crying?

Ans. Seamstress's little boy was suffering from fever. He was asking his mother to give him oranges. But the poor mother could not afford to buy oranges. So he was crying.

 

9. How did both the Happy Prince and the Swallow help the seamstress?

Ans. The Happy Prince had a ruby on the hilt of his sword. He asked the swallow to take that ruby to the seamstress. By selling it to somebody,  she could get enough money. The swallow went to the seamstress and gave her the ruby. Thus they both helped.

 

10. Why did the Swallow feel warm?

Ans. The Swallow had done a good deed. The thought of it made him feel warm.

 

11. What troubled the young man in the garret?

Ans. The young man living in the garret was a playwright. He was writing a play for the Director of the Theatre. It was too cold and there was no fire in the grate. He was feeling hungry also. He was finding it difficult to do the work of writing in that extremely cold weather.

 

12. How was the young man helped?

Ans. The Prince asked the swallow to remove a sapphire from one of his eyes and give it to the poor playwright. The swallow did as he was told. Thus the kindness of the Prince ended the poverty of the playwright.

 

13. Why was the match girl crying?

Ans. The matches of the little match girl had fallen in the gutter. She belonged to a very poor family. She knew that her father would beat her if she did not bring home some money. So she was crying.

 

14. The Swallow said to the prince, “I will stay with you always.” Why?

Ans. The Prince had given both the sapphires from his eyes to the needy people. He was now blind. The swallow felt great sympathy for this blind helper of the poor. So he told the Prince that he would not go to Egypt and would not go to Egypt and would always stay

with him.

 

15. How did the poor Swallow manage to live in so much cold?

Ans. The Prince had had become blind. The Swallow did not want to desert the prince. It was very cold, but the swallow tried to keep himself warm by the flapping his wings. This he managed to live in so much cold.

 

16. Why was the statue of the Happy Prince pulled down?

Ans. The Mayor of the city thought that the statue of the Prince looked very ugly. It had lost all its gold, ruby and sapphires. So the Mayor ordered his men to pull it down.

 

17. What were the two most precious things in the city?

Ans. The leaden heart of the Prince and the dead Swallow were the two most precious things in the city.

 

(ii) Answer the following in about 50 words each:

1.     Why was the Prince called the Happy Prince?

Ans. When the Prince was alive, he was living happily in his palace. No sorrow was allowed to enter there. He did not know about tears. Thus he lived with happiness and died happily. So he was called the Happy Prince.

 

2.     “I cannot choose but weep.” Why did the Happy Prince say so?

Ans. The statue of the Prince stood on the huge column above the city. From there, he could see the sorrows and miseries of the people. The Prince had a sympathetic heart. So when he saw miserable life of the poor, he uttered these words.

 

3.     Comment on the remark – ‘The living always think that gold can make them happy.’

Ans. Money indeed has the power to make people live a happy life. They need food, clothes and houses to live in. They cannot get these things if their pockets are empty and they have no means to acquire wealth. But money is not everything in life. Real happiness lies in sympathy and contentment which are required for real enjoyment in life. So it is not true to think that gold can make people happy.

 

4.     Why did the Mayor dislike the statue so much?

Ans. The statue had no gold covering on its body. The two sapphires in the eyes were missing. There was no ruby on the hilt of the sword. It had become an ugly thing. The Mayor wanted to see the city look beautiful. He could not tolerate anything on his city that was dirty, ugly or unattractive. Hence he disliked the statue so much.

 

5.     Write a short note on the sufferings of the poor people in the city.

Ans. The poor people in the city lived a miserable life. The seamstress in the city had no money to buy oranges for her son who was crying and suffering from fever. The playwright had no money to buy wood and there was no fire in the grate to keep him warm in the winter. The match girl belonged to a poor family. She sold matches to earn some money. She was crying because her matches had fallen in a gutter. All these were scenes of sorrow and suffering of the poor people in the city.

 

6. What is the message conveyed by the author?

Ans. In the message, the author brings out the secret of true happiness. The Happy Prince sacrifices almost everything to help the poor and the needy. The swallow sacrifices his life for the sake of the Happy Prince. God blesses both of them and gives them place in the Paradise. Thus the message of the author is quite clear and very simple. True happiness comes from helping the needy and the poor. God also blesses such person.

 

B. Vocabulary Exercises

(i) Look at the following sentence:

“It is a fine position with plenty of fresh air.” The word fine means good. But have you ever heard this word elsewhere? What are you supposed to pay when you are late for school? That money paid by you as punishment is also called fine. Words like these which are identical in form but have more than one meaning are called homonyms. Now fill in the blanks with words meaning both A and B, for example:

a. A. gift present

B. the time now passing present

 

b. A. riverside bank

B. a financial institution where money is deposited bank

 

c. A. solid and reliable sound

B. noise sound

 

d. A. portray draw

B. pull out draw

 

e. A. cause to pass down one’s throat, gulp Swallow

B. a small migratory bird Swallow

 

f. A. shut close

B. near close

g. A. fireplace, framework of metal bars for holding fuel grate

B. rub into small pieces grate

 

h. A. try to win the love of court

B. the place where legal trials take place court

 

ii. Students are liable to confuse and misuse words that appear similar in sound but are different in meaning. There are many such words in this lesson. Fill in the blanks choosing the correct word from the following sets:

 

a. You have quite drenched me. The patient is sleeping, please keep quiet                   quiet/quite

 

b. The poet’s heart was filled with joy. Do not hunt the hart. You can be punished for it.

 

                                                                                                                                 hart/heart

 

c. Winter dryness makes her skin coarse You need good marks to get into this university course                                                                                                                coarse/course

 

d. There is no fire in the grate She takes great care of her kids.                                    grate/great

 

e. Do not wander in the rain. The Pyramids are a great wonder                              wonder/wander

 

f. They pulled down the statue of the happy prince. Penalties are laid down in the statute statue/statute

 

g. Human nature is the same everywhere All nations believe in the humane treatment of the prisoners of war.                                                                                                  humane/human

 

h. They held their council meeting on Tuesday. I will bear your counsel in mind.       council/counsel

 

i.                   A bird in hand is better than two in the bush. batter the mixture into a thick paste. batter/better

 

j. He wrote an official letter. His officious manner made him many enemies.  official/officious

 

(iii) Match the following words with their antonyms:

 

Above                              destroy

 

Plenty                             hostile

 

Bright                             vanish

 

Sorrow                           happiness 

 

Entrance                         agree

 

Personal                         reject

 

Coarse                           devil

 

Delicious                        health

 

Strange                          departure

 

Shabby                           below

 

Friendly                         scarcity

 

Arrival                           dull

 

Disease                         joy

 

Angel                             public

 

Accept                           smooth

 

Agree                             exit

 

Misery                           insipid

 

 

Appear                          familiar

 

Create                           neat

 

 

 

 

Ans.   Above                                     below                                     

 

Plenty                                       scarcity 

                                    

 Bright                                      dull      

         

          Sorrow                                    joy

 

           Entrance                                 exit       

 

           Disagree                                 agree

 

           Personal                                 public

                  

           Coarse                                    smooth                

 

          Delicious                                 insipid

 

          Strange                                    familiar

 

Shabby                                    neat

          

Friendly                                   hostile                    

 

          Arrival                                     departure                   

 

          Disease                                    health

 

          Angel                                       devil                  

 

Accept                                     reject          

 

Misery                                    happiness             

 

Appear                                             vanish        

          

Create                                     destroy            

 

 

 

C. Grammar Exercises

 

(i)                Look at these sentences:

 

 

2. Leaf after leaf of the fine gold the Swallow picked off. Now do you understand the difference between of and off?

Fill in the blanks using these two prepositions:

 

1. Send me a cup of tea.

 

2. I washed the dirt off my hands.

 

3. Get off the bus at the next stop.

 

4. Send me a copy of this story.

 

5. Did you get a day off this week?

 

6. She died of heart failure.

 

7. It was nice of you to send me flowers.

 

8. He fell off the bed and broke his leg.

 

9. He is a member of the Parliament.

 

10. She is better off without him.

 

 

(ii) Rewrite the following sentences in their past perfect and past perfect continuous form:

(Past perfect tells us about action begun and completed in the past. We use ‘had’ before the verb. Past perfect continuous tells us that the action began in the past, continued for some time, then stopped. eg. The town had been making all preparations.)

 

1. The town has made all preparations.

Ans. The town had been making all preparations.

 

2. He passed by the cathedral tower.

Ans. He had been passing by the cathedral tower.

 

3. You have done a good action.

Ans. You had been doing a good action.

 

4. I have come to bid you goodbye.

Ans. I had been coming to bid you goodbye.

 

5. He slept at the prince’s feet.

Ans. He had been sleeping at the prince’s feet.

 

6. The Swallow flew over the great city.

Ans. The Swallow had been flying over the great city.

 

7.     They pulled down the statue of the Happy Prince.

Ans. They had been pulling down the statue of the Happy Prince.

 

 

8.     He picked up crumbs outside the baker’s door.

Ans. He had been picking up crumbs outside the baker’s door.

 

9. They melted the statue in a furnace.

Ans. They had been melting the statue in a furnace.

 

10. The poor little Swallow grew colder and colder.

Ans. The poor little Swallow had been growing colder and colder.

 

(i)                Punctuate the following paragraph :

 Jack shouted back at his accuser you want to massacre 150000 people for nothing spitting out his word with fury roger the senior officer in the room shouted I have never seen such a guts less general like you jack.

 

Ans. Jack shouted back at his accuser,” you want to massacre 150000 people for nothing!” spitting out his word with fury, Roger, the senior officer in the room shouted,” I have never seen such a guts less general like you, jack!”

 

(iv) Given below is the list of adverbs used in this lesson.

 

Make adjectives and use them in sentences.

 

1. Brilliantly                       2. Quickly

 

3. Nervously                       4. Brightly

 

5. Eagerly                           6. Carefully

 

7. Critically                        8. Simply

 

9. Suddenly                       10. Lovingly

 

Ans. Brilliantly:  Mohan is a brilliant student.                        

Quick: He gave a quick reply.

Nervous: He got nervous.

Bright: India has a bright future.

Eager: He is always eager to help the needy.

Careful: Be careful when you cross the road.

Critical: The patient is in a critical condition.

Simple: She is wearing a simple dress.

Sudden: The sudden death of his sister made him very sad.

Loving: His step mother always treated him with loving care.

 

D. Pronunciation Practice Say the following words aloud:

(The pairs of words given below differ in one sound only in the initial position. The words on the right start with /s/ sound (as in the word seat) while the words on the left start with the sound that appears in the beginning of the word ship:

Self                  - shelf

 Sin                  – shin

Sign                  - shine

Socks               - shocks

Sip                   - ship

Sift                  - shift                                

Sour                -shower

Sort                 -short

Sun                 -shun

Seek                -chic (meaning very fashionable and elegant)

 

E. Creative Writing and Extended Reading

 

1.     Imagine yourself to be the Happy Prince. Write your autobiography.

 

2.     Imagine yourself to be the Mayor of the city. Write your experiences vis-à-vis the statue of the Happy Prince.

 

3.     Prepare a speech on the topic: Service of Mankind is the Best Service

 

4.     Discuss the topic: “What Constitutes Real Happiness?” with your class-fellows in the light of your study of the story ‘The Happy Prince.’

 

5.     Every good short-story has a message in it. Read at least

 

5 short stories written by different authors. Try to find the message contained in each story.

 

6. Write about:

- What you feel when you see the statue of a person.

- What it would say if it had life

- What you think about the life of the person whose statue it is.