NCERT Solutions for Chapter 3 Gopal and the Hilsa Fish Class 7 English Honeycomb
Gopal, a wise man in a kingdom, accepted a challenge from the king. A huge Hilsa fish had been brought to the palace without anyone knowing about it. People always talked about Hilsa fish during Hilsa season. Gopal was challenged by the king to stop talking about the fish. In a few days, Gopal shaved his beard and applied ash to his face. In court, everyone was shocked to see Gopal dressed like a madman. Gopal was questioned by the king about the reason for his strange clothing. Gopal told the king that no one had asked him anything about the Hilsa fish from the market to the palace. In this way, Gopal won the challenge This lesson teaches us that nothing is impossible in this world. A smart person will make a smart decision and that's the most important factor in how things turn out. An intelligent person is capable of achieving anything in the world.
Gopal and the Hilsa Fish Questions and Answer
Chapter Name | Gopal and the Hilsa Fish NCERT Solutions |
Class | CBSE Class 7 |
Textbook Name | Honeycomb |
Related Readings |
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Exercise
Question 1: Why did the king want no more talk about the hilsa-fish?
Answer:
The king was fed hilsa-fish, the topic being discussed from court to market and among court men to peasants. There was only talk about Hilsa-fish so the king didn't want to hear more.
Question 2: What did the king ask Gopal to do to prove that he was clever?
Answer:
The king challenged Gopal to bring hilsa-fish to court. Every word should be kept quiet throughout the process.
Question 3: What three things did Gopal do before he went to buy his hilsa- fish?
Answer:
Before going to buy his Hilsa-fish, Gopal shaved his beard, applied ash to his face, and wore stained, torn clothes.
Question 4: How did Gopal get inside the palace to see the king after he had bought the fish?
Answer:
First, Gopal asked courtiers for permission to enter the palace after buying the fish to see the king. When he wasn't allowed inside, he started singing and dancing loudly. When the king heard the noise, he sent his messenger to call Gopal inside.
Question 5: Explain how no one seemed to be interested in talking about the hilsa-fish which Gopal had bought.
Answer:
Gopal played a very clever trick to win the King's challenge. Gopal shaved his half face, covered it with ash, and wore dirty clothes so no one noticed him. People would talk about his mad man's look and he'd bring the fish to court without saying a word about it at all.
Question 6: Write 'True' or 'false' against each of the following sentences.
(i) The king lost his temper easily.
(ii) Gopal was a madman.
(iii) Gopal was a clever man.
(iv) Gopal was too poor to afford decent clothes.
(v) The king got angry when he was shown to be wrong.
Answer:
(i) True
The king lost his temper when everyone was talking about fish only.
(ii) False
Gopal was not a mad-man. He was rather a very clever man who accepted and won king's challenge.
(iii) True
He was a clever man who could plan very well and can executive the plan too very effectively.
(iv) False
He was not poor peasant who could not afford decent clothes. It was his part of plan to dress in rags.
(v) False
The king was not angry. He gladly acknowledged presence of mind of Gopal.
Working with Language
Question 1: Notice how in a comic book, there are no speech marks when characters talk. Instead what they say is put in a speech *ebubbei'. However, if we wish to repeat or 'report' what they say, we must put it into reported speech.
Change the following sentences in the story to reported speech.
The first one has been done for you.
(ii) Why is your face half-shaven?
Gopal's wife asked him _____
(iii) I accept the challenge, Your Majesty.
Gopal told the king _____
(iv) I want to see the king.
Gopal told the guards _____
(v) Bring the man to me at once.
The king ordered the guard _________________.
Answer:
(ii) Gopal's wife asked him why his face was half-shaven.
(iii) Gopal told the king that he has accepted the challenge.
(iv) Gopal told the guards that he wanted to see the king.
(v) The king ordered the guard to bring the man to him immediately.
Question 2: Find out the meaning of the following words by looking them up in the dictionary. Then use them in sentences of your own.
Challenge, mystic, comical, courtier, smearing
Answer:
(i) Challenge - Ask for identification / A call to engage in a contest or fight
My friend has challenged me for a bicycle race.
(ii) Mystic - beyond ordinary understanding
Only god is in possession of mystic powers.
(iii) comical - Arousing or provoking laughter
The character of joker was very comical in circus ring.
(iv) courtier - An attendant / official at the court of the king
Birbal was the cleverest courtier during Akbar's reign.
(v) smearing - to stain with a dirty substance
Smearing his new school uniform, the boy kept on playing in the rain.
Picture Reading
Question 1: Look at the picture and read the text aloud.
Answer:
Student do it yourself.
Question 2: Now ask your partner questions about each picture.
(i) Where is the stag?
(ii) What is he doing?
(iii) Does he like his antlers (horns)?
(iv) Does he like his legs?
(v) Why is the stag running?
(vi) Is he able to hide in the bushes?
(vii) Where are the hunters now?
(viii) Are they closing is on the stag?
(ix) Is the stag free?
(x) What does the stag say about his horns and his legs?
Answer:
(i) A stag stands near a pond.
(ii) The man is drinking water.
(iii) He likes his antlers very much.
(iv) He dislikes his legs because they are thin and ugly.
(v) The stag is running from the hunters.
(vi) His antlers are stuck in the bushes, so he cannot hide in them.
(vii) The hunters are close to the stag now.
(viii) The stage is closing in on them.
(ix) The stag is free as he runs away.
(X) The stag said that his horns were his pride, but they were stuck in the bushes and could have caused him to die. He was ashamed of his legs, but they saved him by helping him run away when the hunters approached.
Question 3: Now write the story in your own words. Give it a title.
Answer:
Title is - A thing of beauty is not a joy forever
Once there was a stag with beautiful antlers but ugly and thin legs. He realised this one day while drinking water from the pond. When he saw the shade of two, he was both happy and sad at the same time. He suddenly heard hunters moving closer him. His beautiful horns became stuck in bushes as he ran fast and tried to hide. He was being closed in by the hunters. He ran away saving his life after releasing his horns from bushes with great effort. As a result, he realised that his beautiful antlers could have killed him, while the ugly and thin legs saved him.
Question 4: Complete the following word ladder with the help of the clues given below:
Clues
- Mother will be very ____ if you don't go to school.
- As soon as he caught ____ of the teacher, Mohan started writing.
- How do you like my ____ kitchen garden? Big enough for you, is it?
- My youngest sister is now a ____ old.
- Standing on the ____ ,he saw children playing on the road.
- Don't make such a ____ , Nothing will happen.
- Don't cross the ____ till the green light comes on.
Answer:
- Class
- Sight
- Tiny
- Year
- Roof
- Fuss
- Street
The answers in the crossword are:
The Shed - Working with Poem
Question 1: Answer the following questions.
(i) Who is the speaker in the poem?
(ii) Is she/he afraid or curious, or both?
(iii) What is she/he planning to do soon?
(iv) "But not just yet......." Suggests doubt, fear, hesitation, laziness or something else. Choose the word which seems right to you. Tell others why you chose it.
Answer:
(i) The poem's speaker is a boy.
(ii) He is curious as he wants to go into the shed to see if there is a ghost inside. He has heard stories about the ghost there, but he knows that ghosts cannot exist in reality.
(iii) He plans on going inside the shed one day.
(iv) "But not yet... " suggests his hesitation since he is just a little boy afraid of his elder brother.
His brother was hiding out in the shed, and he didn't want to share it with anyone. The younger brother made false stories of ghosts in order to keep him from entering the shed.
Question 2: Is there a room in your house or a house in your neighbourhood/locality where you would rather not go alone, and never at night? If there is such a place and a story to go with it, let others hear all about it.
Answer:
My locality has a dark corner where I fear going alone because everyone says it is haunted by ghosts. The place is under the pupil tree in the dark part of our house lane. In that lonely corner, different sounds can be heard, and at night, people will light earthen lamps under it, making the situation worse.