Class 8 English (It so Happened) Chapter 5 Important Question Answers - Princess September

Q1: How many daughters did the royal couple have, and why were they named after the months of the year?
Ans: The King and Queen of Siam were blessed with nine daughters, but the Queen was often confused with remembering each of their names. Therefore, to make matters simple, the royal couple named their daughters after the months of the year.

Q2: Did the King enjoy all that the parrots said? What comparison does he make between the parrots and his Councillors?
Ans: The King appreciated the parrots saying ‘God save the King’ but felt irritated when the birds said ‘Pretty Polly’ in seven different Oriental languages. His Councillors similarly repeated every statement in seven different languages without meaning even one.

Q3: What did the sisters advise the Princess to do about her bird?
Ans: The sisters were jealous of Princess September, who now owned a melodious bird. They offered money to the Princess to buy a pet caged bird and forget about the new bird. When their younger sister refused, they advised her to cage the new bird whenever he came in next so that he does not escape or fly around freely. Indirectly they try to restrict the new bird’s freedom and their sister’s happiness.

Q4: The new bird was full of new songs, but the old parrots always repeated themselves. What did they say?
Ans: All the parrots in the golden cage owned by the eight older Princesses could say only two phrases, namely ‘God save the King’ and ‘Pretty Polly’, but in seven different languages. On the other hand, the new bird could sing a different melodious song for each member of the royal family, which delighted Princess September and the King and the Queen.

Q5: What pulled the Princess out of her gloom?
Ans: Princess September cried incessantly when her green parrot died and even went without supper. But then a little bird entered her room and started singing about the lake in the royal garden showing the reflection of the willow trees with gold fishes gliding in and out of it. The song was so melodious that the Princess forgot about her hunger and despair and sat up with total appreciation of the bird. The bird offered to take the place of her parrot, which made the Princess forget her gloom and sleep happily with the bird singing to her.

Q6: Why did the bird refuse to be taken out of her cage?
(i) The bird felt dizzy while being carried around in the cage.
(ii) Nature didn’t feel the same when viewed through the cage bars.
(iii) The bird could not sing while being inside the cage.
Ans: (ii) Nature didn’t feel the same when viewed through the cage bars.
The bird loved to look at the rice fields, the willow trees, the lake and all things around him in the open and not sitting inside any cage. The happiness of freedom inspired his songs and singing.

Q7. (i) What persuaded Princess September to give the bird his freedom again?
 (ii) How did the bird react to it?
Ans:
(i) The bird was depressed and sad after being caged and stopped eating and singing, to such an extent that it faced near death. Princess September loved the bird too much to allow this to happen and immediately let the bird free so that it may live and be happy.
(ii) The bird was grateful to the Princess for the freedom and promised to come back to her to sing many more beautiful songs. The bird also expressed its love for the Princess.

Q8: (i) What did Princess September do to ensure the safety of her pet? (ii) How did the bird react to it
Ans:
(i) Egged by the sisters, Princess September was convinced that the best way to keep the bird to herself and to protect it from some unwanted danger was to cage the bird.  
(ii) The bird thought the Princess was playing some joke and would let him out in the morning. He ate supper and slept without completing a song. But when he realised that Princess September had decided to keep it in a cage for good, the bird was heartbroken and stopped eating and singing altogether.

Q9: In the following sentence, elaborate on the parts underlined. Under the circumstances, it was a very unfortunate remark for the bird to make.
Ans: Under the circumstances: The sisters had warned the Princess that the bird might never return. Also, with a cat prowling around, it was not safe for a little bird to fly in and out. In this context, Princess September worried about the bird and wanted it to always be near her.
A very unfortunate remark: The bird had mentioned that his father-in-law was throwing a party, and his family didn’t want him to leave. He had almost decided not to return, but the thought that the Princess might get anxious coaxed him to fly back to her.

Q10: The eight sisters kept their windows shut. How did it affect them?
Ans: The eight sisters bred ill will and negativity with their windows tightly shut, as a result of which their personality and beauty degraded. They did not get good suitors and had to be married off to the King’s Councillors with a pound of tea and accompanied by a Siamese cat.