Class Notes NCERT Solutions for CBSE Students
In the Kingdom of Fools: NCERT 9th Class CBSE English Moments Chapter 04
Question: What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?
Answer – In the Kingdom of Fools: When the guru and the disciple reached the Kingdom of Fools, the first strange thing they noticed was that there was no one about. There was not a single soul to be found on the streets, not even cattle. They were amazed by what they saw around them and wandered here and there till evening. The second strange thing was that everything cost the same in the Kingdom of Fools i.e., a single duddu. Whatever they bought, a bunch of bananas or a portion of rice, cost the same i.e., a duddu.
Question: Why does the disciple’s decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?
Answer: The disciple was a great lover of food. He decided to stay back in the Kingdom of Fools because all food items were cheap here. He could buy whatever he wanted for a rupee and all he wanted was good, cheap food.
The disciple decision to stay back was not a good idea because anything could have happened to him in the Kingdom of Fools, as he was rightly told by the guru.
Question: Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.
Answer: Four persons were tried in the king’s court: the owner of the house, the bricklayer, the dancing girl and the goldsmith.
The owner of the house in which the theft had occurred was the first person to be summoned to the court. He was pronounced guilty as his wall was weak because of which the thief had died. The owner of the house cleverly passed the guilt on to the bricklayer by saying that it was actually the bricklayer who had built the wall in the first place.
When the bricklayer was told about his fault, he passed the blame to the dancing girl. He said that she kept going up and down the street with her anklets jingling and he could not keep his eyes off her. As a result, he lost his concentration and built a weak wall.
The king decided to punish the dancing girl and she was summoned to the court next. In her defence, she said that at that time, she had given some gold to a goldsmith to make some jewellery for her. Since the goldsmith was extremely lazy, he made several excuses and made her walk up and down to his house a dozen times and that was when the bricklayer had seen her.
The king then came to the conclusion that the goldsmith should be punished. When he was summoned to the court, he claimed that he was very poor and it was because of a rich merchant, who would not wait for his order to be complete, that he kept delaying and making excuses to the dancing girl. Incidentally, this merchant was none other than the father of the owner of the house.
Question: Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?
Answer: According to the king, the owner of the house was the real culprit. The owner arrived crying and said that it was not him but his father who had ordered the jewellery. Since his father was long dead, he could not be held responsible for the death of the thief. On consulting his ministers, the king came to the conclusion that the merchant’s father was the culprit. However, since he was dead, the punishment would be carried out on the owner of the house.
As the servants sharpened the stake for the punishment, the minister realized that the merchant was too thin to be properly executed on the stake. The king then realised that they needed a man fat enough to fit the stake. Hence, the owner of the house escapes the punishment.
Question: What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them?
Answer: The guru’s words of wisdom were that it was the city of fools. He advised the disciple to leave the city because he would not know what they would do next.
The disciple remembered these words when he was being carried to the place of execution. Even though he tried to explain that he was innocent and was just a disciple, the servants said that it was a royal decree to find a man fat enough to fit the stake. As he was waiting for his death, he remembered his guru’s words of wisdom and prayed to him in his heart.
Question: How does the guru mange to save his disciple’s life?
Answer: Since the guru had magical powers, he saw in a vision that the disciple was praying to him. As soon as he arrived to save him, he whispered something to him. He then went to the king and asked who was greater, the guru or the disciple. The king answered that the guru was greater. Immediately, the guru asked the king to put him to the stake first and then his disciple. The disciple understood the guru’s trick and began saying that he was brought there first and therefore, he should be put to death first.
The guru and disciple got into a fight. The king was puzzled. He knew there was something mysterious about the fight. So, he promised the guru that he would put him to death first if he told him what the mystery was. The guru told him that he and his disciple had been all over the world, but they had never found a city like that or a king like him. The stake was the stake of the god of justice. It was new and a criminal had never been put on it. Whoever would die on it first would be reborn as the king of that kingdom and whoever would die next, would be the future minister. The guru said that they were tired of their ascetic lives. Hence, they wanted to be reborn as king and minister.
The king started thinking immediately. He did not want to lose his kingdom to someone else in the next life. He postponed the execution till the next day and talked to his minister and decided that they would go on the stakes themselves and would be reborn as king and minister. The king and the minister secretly released the guru and his disciple and took their place and got executed on the stake. Hence, the guru used his cleverness to save his disciple’s life.
Question: Why were the people of the kingdom confused when they saw the dead bodies of the king and his minister?
Answer: The people of the kingdom were confused as to how their king and the minister were dead instead of the Guru and the disciple The people were not able to see through the plan which was executed by the Guru against their king and minister.
Question: When does the disciple remember the words of his Guru?
Answer: The disciple did not pay any heed to the advice of his Guru, when the Guru asked him to leave the kingdom of fools. When the king decided that the disciple was the suitable person for execution, he remembered the words of the Guru.
Question: How was the kingdom of fools different from any other place?
Answer: Everything was different at the kingdom of fools. The night was considered as day and day as night. Not only the human beings even the animals stayed awake at night. Anything and everything could be bought for a Dudu.
Question: Why did the Guru want that he and his disciple should die first?
Answer: The king had ordered the execution of the rich merchant. Since the rich merchant could not be executed the disciple was chosen to fit the stake. The disciple’s Guru had a vision and saw everything. In order to save his disciple, the Guru hatched a plan.
Question: On what conditions did the Guru and his distiple agree to rule that kingdom?
Answer: He laid the condition that he would be free to change all the old and foolish laws. Hence night was considered as night and day was regarded as a normal working day. Even persuaded prices were changed according to the value of the material.
Question: Why did the Guru not want to stay in the Kingdom of fools?
Answer: The Guru did not wanted to stay in the Kingdom of fools as the people over there were foolish. He was not sure about them and felt that they could harm him.
Question: Why does the disciple not want to leave the Kingdom of the fools?
Answer: The disciple did not wanted to leave the place because of the sale of cheap eatables and other commodities and since everything was easily available and life seemed to be very simple and easy.
Question: Why did the king decide to postpone the execution of the Guru and his disciple?
Answer: The Guru befooled the king. He told him that the people dying now would be the king and minister in their next birth. The foolish king fell for the words of the Guru and postponed their execution.
Question: What was so strange about the Kingdom of fools?
Answer: The strange thing about the Kingdom of fools was that not only humans but animals were also made to sleep during the day. Everything in this kingdom used to come for a dudu.
Question: Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape from the punishment?
Answer: The rich merchant was thjB real culprit. He had inherited everything from his criminal father. He was too thin to be properly executed on the newly made stake. The worried king started searching foolishly for a fat man to fit the stake and the merchant escaped the punishment.
Question: What advice did the Guru give to the disciple before going out of the city?
Answer: The Guru told his disciple that it was dangerous to stay in a Kingdom of fools. He said that there was no justice only foolish, unpredictable behaviour. According to him the kingdom would not last long.
Question: What is the Guru’s wisdom ? When does the disciple realize this?
Answer: The Guru’s wisdom was that there was no justice in the Kingdom of fools and due to the unpredictable behaviour of the fools, he wanted to leave the kingdom at once. The disciple remembers these words when the king decided that the disciple was the suitable person for execution was weak.
Question: Why did the king want to punish the merchant?
Answer: The king wanted to punish the merchant because the wall of his house and it fell on the thief killing him. Since the merchant had inherited his father’s wealth he inherited his sins too therefore, he should be punished.
Question: Who became the king and the prime minister of the kingdom?
Answer: As the kingdom was without a king, the people of the kingdom persuaded the Guru and the disciple to take over the throne. So, the holy man became the king and his disciple took the charge of Prime Minister.
Question: What two things were different in the kingdom of fools?
Answer: Two things that were different in the Kingdom of fools were that the people worked in the night and slept during the day. Everything was sold at the same price. A ‘Dudu’ could buy a mass of rice as well as a bunch of bananas.
Question: Disciple in the story didn’t look into the depth of the matter and took a hasty decision of not leaving the kingdom of fools. What light does the story throw on the importance of good decision making one’s life?
Answer: Disciple in the story didn’t look into the depth of the matter and took a hasty decision of not leaving the kingdom of fools. Disciple was waylaid by the prices of the commodities. Anything could be bought with a ‘Dudu’. Either it could be a mass of rice or a bunch of bananas. So, the disciple decided to stay back not listening to his Guru who advised his disciple that it was dangerous to stay back in the kingdom of fools as there was no justice, prevalent in such kingdom. It was when the disciple was chosen as the suitable person for execution that he realized his mistake. He regretted his decision of staying back. Just one small decision costed his life.
Question: Do you believe in the fact that our prayers are often heard and answered? There are miracles which change the course of life. Which miracle took place in the story. ‘In the Kingdom of Fools? What lesson do you learn from the Guru’s word of wisdom?
Answer: It is often believed that our prayers are often heard and answered which was proved in the story. ‘In the Kingdom of Fools’. The king had ordered to execute the disciple. He prayed to Guru to save him. It was a miracle that his Guru heard his prayer and came to rescue him. He whispered something in his ears and then asked the king to execute him first and then the disciple. The king released them both on knowing that whoever died first would be the king in his next birth. It was his Guru’s advice and presence of mind that saved the disciple. The disciple realized his mistake for Guru’s not listening to the Guru’s words of wisdom.
Question: You are the disciple in the story, “Kingdom of the fools”. You are in trouble as you are about to be hanged. You decide to write a letter to you Guru regretting your decision to stay in the kingdom of fools and requesting him to help you. Write the letter in 80 words.
Answer:
Respected Guru ji,
I am writing this letter out of sheer desperation. I regret not paying heed to your advice of leaving this Kingdom of fools. I fell a prey to my temptation for cheap and tasty food and now I am in serious trouble. I have been trapped and will shortly be hanged. Everyone here is foolish and there is no point in reasoning with them. You are my only hope who can save me from this situation. I request you to please come here at the earliest and save my life. I promise in future I will always pay heed to your advice and keep myself in control.
Your erring disciple.
Question: How did the Guru and his disciple become the king and the minister of the kingdom?
Answer: The Guru knew that his king and his minister were fools. In order to save his disciple, Guru hatched a plan. He said that the first one to be executed at the state, would become the king in the next life and the second to be executed would be the king’s minister. The foolish king and his minister got themselves executed. As the kingdom was without king, the guru and his disciple were made the king and the minister.
Question: How did the Guru manage to save his disciple?
Answer: The king ordered to execute the disciple. He prayed to his Guru to save him. The Guru heard his prayer in his vision and appeared to rescue his disciple. First, he whispered something in his disciple’s ears and then asked the king to execute him first. And the disciple followed suit, which puzzled the king. Knowing the secret, the king fell into the trap of his temptation and wanted to be the king in his rebirth. He went into the prison at night and set the guru and disciple free. In their place, he and his minister disguised themselves as the guru and the disciple and got executed. Thus, the Guru managed to save his disciple.
Question: “Guru was a wise man” – how does the story “The Kingdom of fools” reflect it?
Answer: “The Kingdom of Fools” clearly reflects that “Guru was a wise man” as he advised his disciple not to stay in that kingdom. As the disciple thought that the future is uncertain, he did not pay any heed to his Guru and stayed on. When he was imprisoned by the King’s men, he realized the significance of his Guru’s words and repented on his not following his Guru’s advice. So, it is proved that Guru was really very wise. And it was because of his wisdom that disciple was saved and they were made king and prime-minister of the kingdom.
