The Great Stone Face – I: 8th Class English Honeydew Ch 9

The Great Stone Face – I 8th Class NCERT CBSE English Honeydew Chapter 9

Question: Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against each of the following statements.

1. The Great Stone Face stood near where Ernest and his mother lived. ______
2. One would clearly distinguish the features of the Stone Face only from a distance. ______
3. Ernest loved his mother and helped her in her work. ______
4. Though not very rich, Gathergold was a skillful merchant. ______
5. Gathergold died in poverty and neglect. ______
6. The Great Stone Face seemed to suggest that Ernest should not fear the general. ______

Answer:

1. False
   The Great Stone Face stood miles away from where Ernest and his mother lived.
2. True
3. True
4. False
   Gathergold was very rich.
5. True
6. False

The Great Stone Face seemed to suggest that Earnest should not lose heart, but believe that the man whose face resembled the Great Stone Face would come.

Question:

1. What was the Great Stone Face?
2. What did young Ernest wish when he gazed at it?

Answer:

1. The Great Stone Face was a work of nature. It was formed on the perpendicular side of a mountain by some immense rocks that had been thrown together so that when viewed at a proper distance, they resembled the features of a human face.
2. Gazing at the Great Stone Face, young Ernest wished that it could speak because it looked so very kindly that he thought its voice must be pleasant. He also said that if he ever saw a man with such a face, he would love him very much.

Question: What was the story attributed to the Stone Face?

Answer: The story that was attributed to the Stone Face was that at some future day, a child would be born near there, and he would be destined to become the greatest and noblest person of his time. His face, in manhood, would bear an exact resemblance to the Great Stone Face.

Question: What gave the people of the valley the idea that the prophecy was about to come true for the first time?

Answer: The people got the idea that the prophecy was about to come true from a rumour that went throughout the valley. The rumour was that the great man, who was to bear a resemblance to the Great Stone Face, had appeared at last. Many years before, a young man named Gathergold had left the valley and settled at a distant seaport. He had set up as a shopkeeper and being sharp in business matters, had become so rich that it would have taken him a hundred years only to count his wealth. In time, he thought of his native valley, and decided to go back there and end his days where he had been born. The people believed that this was the prophesied man.

Question:

1. Did Ernest see in Gathergold the likeness of the Stone Face?
2. Who did he confide in and how was he proved right?

Answer:

1. No, Ernest did not see in Gathergold the likeness of the Stone Face.
2. He confided in the Great Stone Face. When everybody else believed that Gathergold resembled the Stone Face, he turned away from the wrinkled shrewdness of that unpleasant face and gazed up the valley, where the Stone Face seemed to say “He will come! Fear not, Ernest; the man will come!” He was proved right when later Gathergold died and was buried. His wealth, which was the body and spirit of his existence, had disappeared before his death. Since the time he lost his gold, it had been generally agreed that there was no likeness between him and the majestic face upon the mountain.

Question:

1. What made people believe General Blood-and-Thunder was their man?
2. Ernest compared the man’s face with the Stone Face. What did he conclude?

Answer:

1. The people believed that General Blood-and-Thunder was their man because he had become a soldier many years before. After a great deal of hard fighting, he became a famous commander. He had lately expressed a desire to return to his native valley as he was old and tired. Preparations of welcoming him were made. It was being said that at last, the likeness of the Great Stone Face had actually appeared. When they saw him, they could see the resemblance and were sure that he was the man as they believed he was the greatest man of that or any other age beyond a doubt.
2. When Ernest compared the man’s face with the Stone Face, he concluded that there was no resemblance. If there was such a likeness as the crowd proclaimed, then Ernest could not recognize it.

Question: Look at the following words.
like                    –           likeness
punctual         –            punctuality

The words on the left are adjectives and those on the right are their noun forms.

Write the noun forms of the following words by adding -ness or -ity to them appropriately. Check the spelling of the new words.

1. lofty ______________
2. able ______________
3. happy ______________
4. near ______________
5. noble ______________
6. enormous ______________
7. pleasant ______________
8. dense ______________
9. great ______________
10. stable ______________

Answer:

1. lofty loftiness
2. able ability
3. happy happiness
4. near nearness
5. noble nobility
6. enormous enormity
7. pleasant pleasantness
8. dense density
9. great greatness
10. stable stability

Question: Add -ly to each of the following adjectives, then use them to fill in the blanks.

1. Why didn’t you turn up at the meeting? We all were _______ waiting for you.
2. _________ write your name and address in capital letters.
3. I was _________ surprised to see him at the railway station. I thought he was not coming.
4. It is _________ believable that I am not responsible for this mess.
5. He fell over the step and _________ broke his arm.

Answer:

1. Why didn’t you turn up at the meeting? We all were eagerly waiting for you.
2. Kindly write your name and address in capital letters.
3. I was pleasantly surprised to see him at the railway station. I thought he was not coming.
4. It is perfectly believable that I am not responsible for this mess.
5. He fell over the step and nearly broke his arm.

Question: Complete each sentence below using the appropriate forms of the verbs in brackets.

1. I _________ (phone) you when I _________ (get) home from school.
2. Hurry up! Madam _________ (be) annoyed if we _________ (be) late.
3. If it _________ (rain) today, we _________ (not) go to the play.
4. When you _________ (see) Mandal again, you _________ (not/recognise) him. He is growing a beard.
5. We are off today. We _________ (write) to you after we _________ (be) back.

Answer:

1. I will phone you when I will get home from school.
2. Hurry up! Madam will be annoyed if we are late.
3. If it rains today, we will not go to the play.
4. When you see Mandal again, you will not recognize him. He is growing a beard.
5. We are off today. We will write to you after we are back.

Question: What is the significance of the Great Stone Face?

Answer: The Stone Face was a work of nature. It was formed on the side of a mountain by rocks. Viewed from a distance, those rocks looked like the features of a human face. People linked stories to that face. The people living in that valley believed that some day a great and noble person with the likeness of that face would come.

Question: What did the spectator see when he went near the Great Stone Face?

Answer: When the spectator went near the Great Stone Face, he lost the outline of the enormous face and could see only a heap of gigantic rocks, piled one upon an¬other.

Question: How did Ernest grow up to be a mild and quiet youth?

Answer: Ernest never forgot of the story that his mother told him. He was dutiful to his mother and helpful to her many things, assisting her much with his little hands, and .more with his loving heart. In this manner he grew up to be a mild and quiet youth.

Question: How did Gathergold become rich?

Answer: Gathergold was a young man when he left his native valley and settled at a distant seaport. He set up there as a shopkeeper. He was very sharp in business matters and therefore became very rich in a very short span of time.

Question: How did people’s opinion change about Gathergold after his death?

Answer: Gathergold died one day. His wealth had disappeared before his death. Since the melting away of his gold, it had been generally believed that there was no likeness between the ruined merchant and the majestic face upon the mountain.

Question: What was the prophecy connected with the Stone Face? Did it come true?

Answer: The prophecy is a statement about some event in future. The people of the valley believed that the Stone Face was auspicious for them. It made the land fertile with its gaze. The old prophecy about the Stone Face was that at some future day a child would be born there who will grow up to become great and noble. The child would look like the Stone Face. Some people thought it was just idle talk. It appears finally Ernest himself would be declared to be the great man resembling the Stone Face.

Question: Who was Ernest? What personal qualities made him great?

Answer: Ernest was a little boy who lived with his Mother in a valley. His interest grew in the Great Stone Face which smiled on him. His Mother told him the prophecy about that Face. The boy never forgot that story. He spent hours looking at that face. He regarded it as his teacher. He was inspired to be noble, kind and helpful. These qualities could make him the man with the likeness of the Face.