Class 9 English Chapter 5 Previous Year Questions - The Happy Prince

Very Short Answer Type Questions 

Q1: What was used to make the eyes of the statue of the Happy Prince?
Ans: Two bright, shining sapphire stones were used to make the eyes of the statue of the Happy Prince.

Q2: Where was the swallow going?
Ans: The little swallow was going to Egypt.

Q3: Where did the bird take shelter for a night on the way to Egypt?
Ans: The bird took shelter between the feet of the statue of the Happy Prince.

Q4: Where did the bird think to change his shelter from the feet of the statue?
Ans: The bird decided to take a new shelter in the chimney of a house.

Q5: What did the swallow see after the third drop fell on it?
Ans: The swallow saw tears in the eyes of the Happy Prince.

Q6: What were the things seen by the Swallow on the way to the poor woman’s house?
Ans: The Swallow saw the cathedral, the palace of the city, a beautiful girl with her lover on the balcony, and lanterns hanging on the masts of the ships.

Q7: What kind of warmth was felt by the little swallow?
Ans: The little swallow felt the warmth of humanity, the warmth of positivity, which one can get after helping others.

Q8: Whose story was told next by the statue to the swallow?
Ans: The story of a young writer was told next to the swallow by the statue.

Q9: What was offered to the young writer to heal his problem?
Ans: The Happy Prince offered one of his sapphires from his eyes to the young writer.

Q10: Where did the writer find the beautiful sapphire?
Ans: The writer found the beautiful sapphire lying on the withered violets. 

Q11: What happened to the matchsticks of the match girl?
Ans: All the matches had fallen in the gutter and spoiled.

Short Answer Type Questions 

Q1. What made the statue of the Happy Prince cry? 

Ans: The statue of the Happy Prince cried because it could see the misery and suffering of people from its high position. When it saw a seamstress who had nothing to give her sick son except for river water, the Happy Prince was moved to tears.

Q2. Why was the statue called the Happy Prince? 

Ans: The statue was called the Happy Prince because it was a likeness of a prince who had lived a life free from sorrow and tears. He had lived in a palace and died happy, hence earning the name Happy Prince.

Q3.  Why did the Happy Prince request the swallow to stay with him for the night? 

Ans: The Happy Prince requested the swallow to stay with him for the night because he wished to send the ruby from his sword hilt to the seamstress to help her and her sick son. 

However, he was unable to do so as he was just a statue, and the swallow could help him by carrying the ruby to the seamstress.

Q4. What was the last wish of the swallow? 

Ans: The swallow knew that her end had come. He flew on to the shoulder of the Happy Prince and said, “wish to kiss your hand.”  The Happy Prince asked him to kiss him on the lips. He kissed on his lips and then died.

Q5. Describe the statue of the Happy Prince as depicted at the beginning of the story. 

Ans: The statue of the Happy Prince was mounted on a tall column high above the city. It had thin leaves of fine gold-gilded all over. Two bright sapphires were its eyes and a large red ruby glowed on its sword hilt.

Q6. Where was the swallow going? Why did he decide not to go there? 

Ans: The swallow was going to Egypt to join his friends who had already reached there six weeks ago. Initially, he had stopped by only for a night to break his long journey but later got so attached to the Happy Prince that he could not bear to see him crying. He stayed back to be his messenger.

Q7. What were the drops of rain actually? Why did they fall? 

Ans: The drops of rain were actually the tears that rolled down the Happy Prince’s sapphire eyes.  The Prince’s sapphire eyes shed them because he was sad to see the poverty and misery of the city dwellers.

Q8. What made the statue of the Happy Prince cry?

Ans: The Happy Prince had never seen or experienced sorrow all his life. 

But after his death, his statue was put up on a high pedestal from where he could see the ugliness and misery of his land. This made him cry with sorrow.

Q9. Why and how did the Happy Prince help the seamstress? 

Ans: The Happy Prince decided to help the poor seamstress who was dead tired and whose son was hungry and lay in the fever. 

The poor woman had no money to feed her son and get him medicine. She only gave him water to drink. The Prince wanted the swallow to carry the ruby from his sword hilt so that the seamstress could get rid of her poverty and buy her son food and medicine.

Q10. How did the swallow become the Prince’s eyes? 

Ans: The swallow stayed back with the blind Prince. He would fly over the city and see its people in all their colours. He would report their miseries and sufferings to the Prince. Then, on the Prince’s orders, he would pluck the golden leaves from his statue and give them to the needy.

Q11. Why was a cracking sound heard when the swallow died?
OR
What happened when the little swallow fell down dead at the feet of the Happy Prince?

Ans: The Happy Prince loved the swallow dearly. So when the bird kissed the Prince and fell down dead at his feet, the latter’s leaden heart broke into two with a curious cracking sound.

Long Answer Type Questions 

Q1. Why do the courtiers call the prince ‘The Happy Prince’? Is he really happy? What does he see all around him?
Or
Why was ‘Happy Prince’ not really happy?

Ans: The courtiers call the prince the ‘Happy Prince’ because he lived a happy life during which no sorrow could enter his palace. 

However, the prince was not actually happy because he had never got the chance to witness the misery and plight of his people. 

By keeping him away from sorrow, his heart was never given a chance to feel the virtues of pity and compassion. So, when his statue was placed at a point from where he could see the city laid before him, he saw pain, hunger, want, and suffering all around. Even his lead heart could not help but weep at this site.

Q2. When and how did the Happy Prince realise the true meaning of life? What did this realisation prompt him to do?

Ans: The Happy Prince had lived a very comfortable life and had not known any sorrow when he was alive. In fact, sorrow was not allowed to enter the palace where he lived. Thus, he was called the ‘Happy Prince’ by his ministers. 

However, after his death, his gold and jewel-studded statue were put up on a high column in the city. 

From here, the Happy Prince, like a statue, got to see the pain and miseries of the people. He then realised that ugliness and sufferings are the true faces of life. He felt that the misery suffered by humans was the greatest mystery and the plight of – men and women was more marvellous than the grandeurs of riches. 

He then started giving away his riches to the needy and tried to relieve them of the pain of poverty.

Q3. How did the Happy Prince discover true happiness? How did he spread it?
Or
What the Happy Prince does as a statue should have been done by him when he was alive? Discuss.

Ans: The Happy Prince had lived a very comfortable life as long as he lived. He had never seen sorrow as it was not allowed to enter his palace. Hence his courtiers called him the ‘Happy Prince’. 

However, after his death, his statue was put up on a high column and he got to see the miseries, sorrows, and sufferings of the people in his city and decided to do his bit to lessen them. That is when he discovered true happiness and from thereon he spread it by sacrificing all that he had.

Example: He had the ruby in his sword hilt sent to a poor seamstress to help her get over poverty and buy food and medicines for her ailing son. Again, the Happy Prince sent one of his sapphire eyes to a poor playwright in need of warmth and food so that he could complete his play for a show. The other sapphire was sent to a matchgirl who was crying because her matches had fallen in a gutter and she feared her father would beat her for not bringing home any money. And whatever leaves of the fine gold the Prince had were distributed among the poor to bring them success. 

Thus, the Prince donated all that he had to end misery and poverty in the city. This is what he, and for that matter, any prince on the earth, should have done, for the true purpose of life is to be happy by spreading happiness.

Q4. Why did the Happy Prince request the swallow to stay for another day? 

Ans: The Happy Prince was on a tall column. From there he could see the miseries of people. He wanted to help the poor. But he could not move. 

The Prince wanted to help a poor seamstress. He sent a ruby to her through the swallow, then the Prince saw a playwright. He was leaning on his desk. He was very handsome. His hair was brown and crisp. He was trying to finish a play. 

But he was feeling very cold. He had no firewood to keep himself warm. The Prince wanted to help him. He wanted to send one of the sapphires of his eyes to the young man. So he requested the swallow to stay for another day.

Q5. Give a brief character sketch of the swallow.

Ans: The little swallow plays an important role in this story. He was going to Egypt. His friends were waiting for him. But the Prince requested him to stay for one day more. He agreed.

At the request of the Prince, he took the ruby to the seamstress. He took the sapphires of the Prince’s eyes to the young man and the poor girl. Now the Prince was blind. So he decided to stay with the Prince. The swallow had a kind heart. He fanned the son of the poor woman and gave him comfort. 

Then winter came. The swallow lived in the snow. He had only crumbs to eat. But he did not leave the Prince. One day the swallow died. But even death could not separate hint from the prince. The angel of God took the swallow and the Prince’s heart to paradise.