Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 3 Question Answers - Gopal and the Hilsa Fish

Q1. Why was Gopal stopped by the guards to enter the court?
Ans: The guards stopped Gopal from entering the court to meet the king. The guards didn’t allow him to enter the palace as he was dressed curiously, more like a madman. He wore shredded clothes, had his beard half shaved, and was covered in ash. So, he started dancing and singing very loudly so that the king could hear him. The king requested his guards to produce the man that was singing and dancing before him.

Q2. How did the king react to his losing the challenge?
Ans: The king was glad that Gopal had won the challenge. As Gopal was his cleverest courtier and he had absolutely an expectation from him. The king guffawed with delight and laughed harder than he'd ever laughed before, accepting that Gopal had once again accomplished the impossible.

Q3. Describe the house the poet has mentioned in the poem “The Shed”.
Ans: The Shed by the poet Frank Flynn is about the shed that he has in his garden. The shed has a spider’s web on its door, and the hinges are junked and creaky. He wishes to open the door one day. The shed has a dusty old window around the side that has three cracked panes of glass. The poet feels that someone is staring at him and he too would peep through the window one day. Poet’s brother told him that there is a ghost that is hidden under the rotten floorboards. And if the poet dared to set foot inside, then the ghost would jump out and chop off his head. But he will visit the shed one day.

Q4. What happened when Gopal reached the court?
Ans: When Gopal was asked to come inside the court, everyone was shocked to see him in such a situation. The king asked him the reason for his weird attire. Then Gopal reminded the king of the challenge that he had offered him about getting the Hilsa fish from the market to the palace without anybody demanding him a single thing. To the king’s surprise, no one asked Gopal about anything about the fish.

Q5. What is the moral of the story “Gopal and the Hilsa- fish?”
Ans: The moral of the story "Gopal and the Hilsa-fish" is that we must never surrender. The story reveals the never-giving-up attitude of Gopal who manages challenges very sensibly. He was given an impossible task and despite that, he overcame the challenge very smoothly. The story tells us that there are always many ways to solve a problem. We should just think and choose the best one. Rather than panicking or denying, we should be willing to do the task.

Q6. If a person take challenges, he put in his efforts to win it. How?
Ans: One should be resolute and firm. Yes, we should not give up in any situation. We should find out a solution to come out of it. Sometimes it might be tough to find the solution, but if we try hard nothing is impossible. We learn from the efforts we make in life. If we won’t make efforts then our learning will stop.

Q7. Why was Gopal stopped entry to the palace? What did he say to the king?
Ans: Gopal looked suspicious or rather mystic since he had dressed himself filthily. More over his beard was half- shaven and ash was smeared on it. In addition to that the guards barred his entry palace. He started dancing and singing loudly so that the king might hear him and call him inside. The king ordered him to be taken inside but he could not recognize him. When Gopal reminded him of his challenge and proved that he had fulfilled it the king was surprised and burst into laughter.

Q8. Describe the character sketch of Gopal?
Ans: Gopal is the courtier of the king’s palace. He is an intelligent and clever man. Though he belongs from low caste. He was the favourite courtier of the king. the king come with a challenge to Gopal that he should buy a Hilsa fish from the market and bring it to his palace without letting anyone ask him anything about it . He accept his challenge. Few days later, he dressed up like a beggar by showing holy face and smeared ashes. He wore torn clothes and walked towards the king’s palace holding the Hilsa fish. Later he explained to king that no one noticed the fish because of his wired look thus, he won the challenge.

Q9. Why were the people talking about the Hilsa fish?
Ans: People were talking nothing but only Hilsa fish because it was the season of Hilsa fish. People were buying the fish with lots of excitement all around. The courtiers, fisherman, etc were also talking nothing but only about the Hilsa fish. The fisherman were selling them with a very cheap price because of the availability in the market.

Q10. What was the challenge given to him by the king? How he won it?
Ans: Gopal happily accepted the challenge of buying a huge Hilsa fish from the market and to ensure on the way from the market to the palace no one should talk to him about the fish. He was an intelligent man. He dressed up like a mad man and his appearance caught everyone’s attention. He reached the court without anyone talking about the fish as everyone was drawn towards his appearance.

Q11. What happened when the king hear his courtiers talking about Hilsa fish?
Ans: The king was irritated as everyone was discussing nothing but the fish. When his courtiers were talking about Hilsa fish, he lost his temper and warned them that they were courtiers and not fishermen. But the talking soon felt guilty, looking at his nervous and humble courtier when he had rebuked. His tone changed and he said that it was the season of Hilsa and nobody could be stopped from talking about it.

Q12. How did Gopal enter the King’s Palace?
Ans: Due to the weird and disgraceful attire, Gopal was laughed at by the people in the market when he went to buy the Hilsa fish. As he reached the gate of the kings Palace and requested to let him in the court, he was restricted to enter by the guards. Gopal being a clever man, he began to sing and dance loudly infront of the gate. This made the king hear his voice and ordered the guards to bring him into his court. This is how Gopal entered the palace.