Worksheet Solutions: Poem - The Last Bargain | English Class 8 PDF Download

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

Q1: What is the speaker doing in the poem?
(a) Selling goods
(b) Walking on a road
(c) Gardening
(d) Playing with a child
Ans: (b) Walking along a road

• The speaker is walking along a road.
• He encounters a child playing with shells.
• The child offers to hire him with nothing, symbolising innocence and freedom.
• This interaction leads the speaker to feel a sense of fulfilment and happiness.

Q2: Why does the speaker reject the king's offer?
(a) The king has no power
(b) The speaker dislikes the king
(c) The king's power is worthless
(d) The speaker prefers money
Ans: (c) The king's power is insignificant

• The speaker rejects the king's offer because the king's power is insignificant.
• He believes that true value lies beyond mere power.
• The speaker seeks something more meaningful than what the king can provide.

Q3: What does the old man offer to hire the speaker with?
(a) Power
(b) Gold coins
(c) A smile
(d) Shells
Ans: (b) Gold coins

• The old man offers to hire the speaker with gold coins.
• This offer is made while he weighs his coins one by one.
• However, the speaker chooses to turn down this offer.

Q4: Why does the speaker reject the old man's offer?
(a) Money cannot buy happiness
(b) The speaker dislikes gold coins
(c) The old man is not sincere
(d) The speaker prefers power
Ans: (a) Money cannot buy happiness

• The speaker rejects the old man's offer because money cannot buy happiness.

Q5: Who offers to hire the speaker with a smile?
(a) King
(b) Old man
(c) Fair lady
(d) Child
Ans: (d) A Child
A Child The speaker is approached by a child who offers to hire him with nothing in return. This simple yet profound offer signifies:

• The value of innocence and freedom over material wealth.
• The child's statement, "I hire you with nothing," highlights the idea that true happiness and fulfilment do not come from power or money.
• This moment represents a turning point for the speaker, making him feel like a free man.

Fill in the Blanks

Q1: In the evening, the garden fences were full of _________.
Ans: Flowers

• The garden fences were adorned with flowers.
• These flowers added colour and beauty to the evening.
• They created a vibrant atmosphere in the garden.

Q2: The fair lady's smile faded away, and she melted into _________.
Ans: Tears

• The fair lady's smile faded, and she melted into tears.

Q3: The child offers to hire the speaker with _________.
Ans: Nothing

• The child offers to hire the speaker with nothing.
• This signifies a sense of freedom and innocence.
• It highlights the value of goodwill over material possessions.

Q4: The speaker ultimately accepts the agreement of the _________.
Ans: Child
The speaker ultimately accepts the agreement of the child.

Q5: The bargain with the child makes the speaker a _________ man.
Ans: Free

• The speaker becomes a free man through the child's innocent offer.
• This bargain signifies a release from societal expectations and pressures.
• It highlights the value of innocence and genuine happiness over material gains.

Answer the following Questions

Q1: Why speaker deny the king proposal?
Ans: The speaker stated the king power as nothing so he denied the proposal of king. 

Q2: 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.

Q3: Explain, “I hire you with nothing”?
Ans: The child has no material thing so he used the word nothing here. He has only goodwill and cheer to hire to speaker.

Q4: Who is the speaker in the poem?
Ans: The Poet “Rabindranath Tagore” is the speaker of this poem.

Q5: “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 
The phrase indicates that the king's authority and power are more significant than his wealth.

Q6: The old man offered the speaker a lot of money. Why did he turn down the offer?
Ans: The old man offered the speaker a lot of money. But the speaker refused to take. Because the poet realised that money cannot give him happiness. When the old man was counting the gold coins, the speaker realised that once the money would be finished. He would again be out of work. Hence he turned away the bargain.

Q7: Find the poem, lines that match the following. 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: 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.

Q9: Read the 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 nag of gold.
He pondered and said, “I will hire you with my money.”
He weighed his coins one by one, but I turned away.
Paraphrase: During mid-day, an old man came with gold coins and said that he would hire with money but the speaker rejects all his money because money will soon be spent and money cannot buy us everlasting happiness.
(i) Where was the man heading to?
Ans: The man was wandering along the crooked lane on a hot day.
(ii) Who came to him and what did he offer?
Ans: An old man came to him with a bag of gold to offer.
(iii) Why did he ‘turned away’?
Ans: The poet turned away because he knew that money cannot buy everlasting happiness.
(iv) Explain – ‘weighed his coins one by one’?
Ans: The poet wanted to feel the worth of the memory. He decided not to gave his freedom and services for money.

Q10: Read the extract and answer the questions that follow:
It was evening. The garden hedge was all a flower.
The fair maid came out sand said, “I will hire you with a smile.”
Her smile paled and melted into tears, and she went back alone into the dark
Paraphrase: In the evening, the garden fences were full of flowers. A fair lady came out from garden and said that he would hire him with a smile but her smile faded away and she melted into tears and returned into the dark leaving the speaker alone.
(i) Where did the poet go in the evening?
Ans: The poet went across a garden full of beautiful flowers.
(ii) Who said ‘I will hire you’?
Ans: A beautiful maid was standing there to hire for his service.
(iii) What did she offer to pay?
Ans: The old man offered to pay with smile in return of his services.
(iv) Why had her ‘smile pale’?
Ans: Her smile paled because the poet disagreed to bestow his services in exchange of smile.