Very Short Question Answer: The Last Bargain | English Honeydew Class 8 PDF Download

Q1: Who is the speaker in the poem?
Ans: The speaker of the poem is the poet "Rabindranath Tagore."

Q2: Explain, "I hire you with nothing"?
Ans: The child had no material possessions, so he used the phrase "I hire you with nothing." He meant that he could only offer goodwill and cheer to the speaker.

Q3: What did the old man want? Was he successful in his bargain?
Ans: The old man wanted to hire the speaker with his money. No, he was not successful in his bargain.

Q4: "The king, sword in hand" suggests
(i) wealth
(ii) power
(iii) more power than wealth
Mark the appropriate item in the context of stanza 1.
Ans: (ii) power

Q5: How did the speaker feel after talking to the child on the beach?
Ans: After talking to the child on the beach, the speaker felt extremely happy.

Q6: The old man offered the speaker a lot of money. Why did he turn down the offer?
Ans: The speaker turned down the old man's offer of a lot of money because he realized that money couldn't bring him true happiness. He understood that once the money was spent, he would be unemployed again.

Q7: Find the lines in the poem that match the following sentences. Read both one after another.
(i) I have nothing to give you except goodwill and cheer.
(ii) Her happiness was no more than sorrow in disguise.
(iii) The king's might was not worth much.
Ans:
(i) 'I hire you with nothing.'
(ii) 'Her smile paled and melted into tears.'
(iii) 'But his power counted for naught.'

Q8: Why did the speaker deny the king's proposal?
Ans: The speaker denied the king's proposal because he stated that the king's power was worth nothing, and thus he rejected the offer.

Q9: Read the extract and answer the questions that follow:
“Come and hire me”, I cried, while in the morning
I was walking on the stone-paved road.
Sword in hand the king came in his chariot
He held my hand and said, “I will hire you with my power”
But his power counted for naught and he went away in his chariot.

(i) Who is the speaker of the above lines?
Ans: An unemployed but freedom loving person is the speaker of these lines.

(ii) What does ’sword in hand’ suggest?
Ans: ‘Sword in hand’ suggests the power of the king.

(iii) Why could the king not conquer the narrator?
Ans: The king could not conquer the narrator because the narrator did not give any importance to his power.

Q10: Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
In the heat of the mid-day the houses stood with shut doors
I wandered along the crooked lane
An old man came out with his bag of gold.
He pondered and said, “I will hire you with my money.”
He weighed his coins one by one, but I turned away.

(i) Why were the houses with the doors shut?
Ans: The houses had the doors shut because of the heat of the mid-day.

(ii) What did the old man bring out?
Ans: The old man brought out a bag of gold to hire the man.

(iii) How did the speaker react to the old man’s offer?
Ans: Speaker turned down the old man’s offer.