Class 9 English Chapter 4 Previous Year Questions - In the Kingdom of Fools

Very Short Answer Type Questions 

Q1: What is Duddu?  [2025]
Ans: Duddu is a term in the Kannada language that means money.

Q2: Why did the disciple not want to leave that kingdom? [2024]
Ans: The disciple did not want to leave the kingdom, as everything was cheap there.

Q3: What were the things the disciple started eating every day? [2023]
Ans: The disciple started eating bananas, ghee, rice, and wheat every day.

Q4: Who went to search for the goldsmith? [2022]
Ans: A bailiff went to search for the goldsmith.

Q5: What problem was seen while giving the punishment to the old merchant? [2021]
Ans: The merchant was too thin to be executed on that stake. 

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. Now justice had come full circle, thought the king. What argument did the merchant come up with? What counter-argument did the king give?  [2025]
Ans: The merchant claimed that his father had ordered the jewellery, insisting that he was innocent. In response, the king argued that the merchant had inherited not only his father's riches but also his father's sins, and thus he must face punishment for the crime.

Q2. Why was it decided to execute the disciple? [2024]
Ans: The rich man was too thin to be executed properly on the stake.  A fat man was needed for this. So the disciple was chosen to be executed.

Q3. How did the kingdom become normal again? [2024]
Ans: The people requested the guru and the disciple to be their king and minister.  They finally agreed and changed all the old laws. Thus, the kingdom became normal again.

Q4. What did the dancing girl say in her defence? [2022]
Ans: The dancing girl explained that she had given some gold to the goldsmith to create jewellery for her. However, the goldsmith made numerous excuses, which forced her to walk back and forth to his house many times.

Q5. How did the guru come to know that his disciple was in trouble? [2021]
Ans: The guru had magical powers. He saw in a vision that his disciple was in trouble.

Q6. What did the king and his minister do at night? [2021]
Ans: At night, the king and his minister secretly visited the prison to release the guru and his disciple. They then disguised themselves as the two prisoners. Following their plan, they were taken to the stake, and executed.

Q7. Who were the people questioned during the course of the trial, and what was each person’s defence? [2020]
Ans: During the trial, several individuals were questioned, each providing their own defence. The owner of the house claimed that the responsibility lay with the bricklayer who built the wall. The bricklayer, in turn, explained that he was distracted by a dancing girl who passed by repeatedly. The dancing girl then stated that she had to walk through the street multiple times because the goldsmith had not completed her jewellery on time. The goldsmith defended himself by saying he was busy making ornaments for a wedding at the house of the same owner who had initially been summoned.

Q8. How was the Kingdom of Fools different from any other place? [2019]
OR
What was so strange about the Kingdom of Fools? 

Ans: The Kingdom of Fools was unique and peculiar compared to other places. It was ruled by an idiot king and his foolish minister, who enforced bizarre laws. They mandated that everyone should work at night and sleep during the day. Even cattle were trained to follow this strange routine. Additionally, all goods had a uniform price of one duddu, regardless of what was purchased.

Long Answer Type Questions 

Q1. Describe in brief the strange case brought to the king and the king’s judgment. [2024]
Ans: One day, a thief broke into the house of a rich man. A wall of the house fell on him, and he died on the spot. The brother of the thief complained to the king that the rich man was responsible for the thief’s death because the wall of his house was weak. The owner of the house was summoned. But he said that the bricklayer who had constructed the wall was responsible. The bricklayer said that when he was making a wall, a dancing girl passed several times through the street. She distracted his attention. 

So, she was responsible. The dancing girl told the king that she had ordered a goldsmith to make jewellery for her. He did not make it in time. So she had to pass through the street several times. The goldsmith was called. He said that he had to make ornaments for a wedding in the rich man’s house. So he could not finish the jewellery of the dancing girl in time. He was the same owner of the house where the thief had died. He said that his father had placed the order. The king and his minister decided that since the rich man’s father had died, he would be executed in his father’s place.

Q2. Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial. [2023]
Ans: The first person tried in the king's court was the merchant. He was accused because the wall of his house collapsed, resulting in the death of a thief who was burgling his property. Following him, the bricklayer was brought to trial, as the merchant claimed that the bricklayer's poor workmanship caused the wall to be weak. Next, a dancer was accused of distracting the bricklayer with the sound of her jingling anklets while he worked on the wall. The goldsmith was then implicated for repeatedly calling the dancer to his shop to collect her jewellery, which contributed to her distraction of the bricklayer. The merchant's father was also blamed for pressuring the goldsmith to prioritise his order, which further complicated the situation. Ultimately, the responsibility circled back to the merchant, who had inherited the house from his father, where the incident occurred. Thus, he was held accountable for the tragedy that unfolded.

Q3. How does the guru manage to save his disciple’s life? [2021]
Ans: The guru saved his disciple's life using his wisdom and magical powers. When the disciple prayed for help, the guru arrived instantly. He first confused the king by claiming he insisted on being executed before his disciple. Then, he cleverly flattered the king, suggesting that the stake was a part of the divine test. He proclaimed that whoever died first would be reborn as the king, while the second would become the minister. This trickery led the king to believe he could secure a better future for himself. Ultimately, he agreed to execute the guru and his disciple, thinking they would be reborn as rulers. In a twist of fate, the king and his minister disguised themselves as the guru and disciple and were executed instead. Thus, the guru not only saved his disciple but also rid the kingdom of the foolish king and his incompetent minister.

Q4. The guru was as wise as King Solomon. Discuss. [2020]
OR
Wisdom and far-sightedness were the most important qualities of the guru’s character. Discuss.
Ans: By saving his disciple's life and eventually becoming the ruler of the Kingdom of Fools, the guru demonstrated the immense value of wisdom. He was able to tackle even the most challenging problems because he remained calm during crises. His character illustrates that wisdom is a vital asset for overcoming tricky situations. Similar to King Solomon of Israel, the guru accomplished the seemingly impossible task of rescuing his disciple from the foolish execution orders of the king. As a well-travelled and knowledgeable man, the guru quickly realised that the Kingdom of Fools was misruled and that the king's foolishness could not persist indefinitely. His concerns were validated when his disciple was captured and condemned to execution simply for being fat enough to fit the stake. The wise guru devised a clever plan not only to save his disciple's life but also to eliminate the foolish king and his incompetent minister. In this way, wisdom triumphed over foolish and unrestrained power.