The Tiger King Question Answer 12th English

Ch-2 The Tiger King by Kalki

1. ABOUT THE STORY

Introduction

The Tiger King is a satire of eccentric nature of the ruling class. From the ancient time,the kings, the sultans and the white men in power had been hunting birds and beasts in the forest. Their foremost target had always been the biggest and the strongest wild cat-the tiger. Hunting in the past was a fun, a pastime, a matter of pride for those in power. A stuffed tiger was a decoration piece in big drawing rooms. But today the fast decreasing number of tigers is causing a deep concern to environmentalists and nature lovers. Tigers are killed to meet the demand of the Chinese for medicinal purposes. The killers are professional poachers and the tribal people.

The Tiger King gives us the funny portrait of an Indian king who resolves to kill 100 tigers in order to disprove the prophecy of an astrologer. But the real hundredth tiger was in fact, killed by a hunter The king died of infection caused by a wooden tiger. In this way, the 100 tiger takes its final revenge upon the tiger king.

Eccentric-सनकी

pastime-मनोरंजन

poachers-शिकारी

prophecy-भविष्यवा

Q1.Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?

Ans.The Tiger King is the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram.At the time of his birth,an astrologer made a prophecy that when he grew up, he would be killed by a tiger.The ten-day-old prince asked the astrologers to reveal the manner of his death. The wise men were baffled at this miracle. The chief astrologer said that the prince is born in Bull Hour. Bull and Tiger are enemy each other.Thus his death would come from a tiger. The young prince growled and uttered terrifying words: ‘Let tigers beware!’ He decided to kill one hundred tigers,thus he got the name ‘Tiger King'.

baffled-हैरान होना

astrologers-ज्योतिषी

Q2. What did the royal infant grow up to be?

Ans. The royal infant drank the milk of an English cow, was brought up by an English nanny, tutored English by an Englishman, saw nothing but English films. His life was exactly like the other crown princes of the other Indian states.He got the control of his state at the age of twenty.

infant-शाही राजकुमार

nanny-नर्स

Q3 How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate?

Ans: Maharaja’s anxiety reached the highest level of excitement when only one tiger remained to be killed. If he could kill just that one single beast, the Maharaja would have no fear left. As the late chief astrologer had said that Maharaja should beware of the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja was sunk in gloom. Then came a happy news. In his own state sheep began to disappear frequently from a hillside village. Surely, a tiger was at work. The villagers ran to inform the Maharaja. The Maharaja announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village. He set out on the hunt at once. But the tiger was not easily found. The Maharaja continued camping in the forest and waiting for the tiger.

anxiety-चिंता

beware-सावधान

frequently-प्राय‌:

sunk in gloom-दुखी होना

exemption-माफ करना

Q4-. What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved?

Ans: The astrologer dies before the king of Pratibandapuram gets an opportunity to kill one hundred tigers. Disproving his prophecy seems to be the sole reason for the king's existence. Except for killing hundred tigers, everything else takes a backseat for the king.

The prophecy cannot be indisputably disproved as the king was ultimately killed by a tiger, though neither by a real one nor by the hundredth one. Looking at the weak, old and almost lifeless tiger that was the hundredth one, no one would have thought that it would escape the king's bullet by fainting at the shock of the bullet whizzing past. It was the "tiny little wooden tiger" from the toy shop that caused the death of Tiger King.

sole-केवल

existence-जीवन चक्र

indisputably-निर्विवाद

escape-बच निकलना

Q5. The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. How does the author employ the literary device of dramatic irony in the story?

Ans.The Maharaja embodies the conceit of a powerful man who tends to defy his fate. He is an autocratic dictator who uses his entire might to fulfil his eccentric mission to kill a hundred tigers. The writer ridicules the ways that the Maharaja uses to fulfil his vow. He even marries a girl for the purpose of killing the tigers. The way taxes and bans are imposed and cancelled is mocking. The irony is that despite the killing a hundred tigers, the cause of his death is nothing else but a tiger made of wood. The very name of the kingdom 'Pratibandapuram' is an example of irony as it means a city of restrictions. But, ironically, there is no restriction for anyone.

satire-व्यंग

conceit-अहंकार

embodies-अवतार

defy-चैलेंज

restriction-रुकावट

ridicules-हास्यास्पद

tend-प्रवृत्ति या झुकाव होना

vow- प्रतिज्ञा

Q6. What is the author's indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the wilfulness of human beings?

Ans: This story is a satire on the will fullness of man. He kills innocent animal just to satisfy his ego. The innocent animals live in the forest. They do not kill men but man in order to satisfy his ego or willfullness goes on killing these animals.

The king killed hundred tigers just to prove the astrologers wrong. At the time of his birth, the astrologers had predicted that he would meet his death from a tiger. Just to prove himself mightier than the tigers, the Maharaja ruthlessly killed a hundred innocent tigers. It was his pursuit to prove himself the most powerful that he didn't care about killing innocent animals. He wanted to defy his fate.

In this way, man's willfullness leads to death of innocent animals.

predicted-भविष्यवाणी करना है

ruthlessly-निर्दयता पूर्वक

pursuit-पीछा करना

mightier- ताकतवर

Q7-. How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja's Minions towards him? Do you find them truly sincere towards him or are they drive by fear when they obey him? Do we find a similarity in today's political order?

Ans. Maharaja's minions were scared of him but had no respect for him. They all obeyed him because they didn't want to lose their jobs. In fact, they all were sycophants. Just to please him, they supported his plan to kill a hundred tigers. Even the Dewan had no courage to the give the right advice to the king rather he made efforts to please the king by bringing an old tiger from a circus from Madras. Moreover, when the Maharaja missed his target, his hunters didn't tell him for fear of losing their jobs and killed it themselves. So it was only fear and not sincerity towards the king that the minions displayed.

A similar situation prevails in the present political order. No officer wants to go against the boss and be courageous enough to speak the truth. They simply follow the rule "Boss is always Right!"

Minions-मंत्री

sycophants- चापलूस

prevails- विद्यमान या प्रचलन में होना

Q8. What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?

Ans. Within ten years the Maharaja was able to kill seventy tigers. Then the tiger population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. So he decided to marry the princess from a royal family of a state with a large tiger population. The Maharaja killed five or six tigers each time he visited his father-in-law. Thus, he was able to find the required number of tigers to kill. He shot ninety-nine tigers. His Dewan presented the hundred Tiger before him. The king opened fire but missed the mark. The king failed to kill the hundred tiger.

Question 9.

When was the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom?

Answer:

A British officer wanted to hunt a tiger in the Tiger King’s kingdom. But the king denied him the permission. Then the officer sent the word that the actual killing could be done by the king himself, he only wanted to stand on the carcass of the tiger and be photographed. But the king even refused to do that. As a result the king was standing in danger of losing his kingdom. The Maharaja arranged for 50 expensive diamond rings. He sent all these to the officer's wife. He hoped that she would choose one or two and send the rest back but the lady kept all those and send her reply "Thank you very much for your gifts" The Maharaja had to pay three lakhs rupees for the rings but he was able to retain his Kingdom.

carcass-शव

Q10. How did the Maharaja feel when he killed his first tiger? What did the State Astrologer say at that occasion?

Ans. The Maharaja was greatly thrilled when he killed his first tiger. He sent for the State astrologer, showed him the dead beast and demanded his reaction. The astrologer replied that he might kill ninety-nine tigers in exactly the same manner. But he must be very careful with the hundredth tiger.

astrologer-ज्योतिषी

Q.11. Who actually killed the hundredth tiger?

Ans. After the Maharaja had gone, the hunters went near the tiger. They found that the tiger was not dead. The bullet had missed him. The tiger had fainted from the shock. But they dared not tell this secret to the king. One of the hunters shot at the tiger and killed him.

Q.12. How did the hundredth tiger take its revenge upon the Tiger King?

Ans. The king decided that a wooden toy-tiger was a perfect gift for his son's third birthday. One day he was playing with that wooden tiger. One of the slivers pierced the Maharaja's right hand. Infection spread all over the arm. Three famous surgeons from Madras performed an operation.The operation was successful but the Maharaja was dead. they couldn't able to save the King. Thus, the hundredth tiger took its revenge upon the King.

Q13. Why did the Maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state?

Ans. When the Maharaja came to know after killing his first Tiger that he had threat of life from the hundred tiger, he resolved to kill hundred tigers. To accomplish his mission, he banned tiger hunting in the state. A proclamation was issued to the effect that if anyone dare to fling so much as a stone at a tiger, all his wealth and property would be confiscated.

confiscated-जब्त कर लेना

proclamation-घोषणा पत्र

accomplish-किसी कठिन कार्य को करने में सफल होना

Fling- फेंकना

. Draw a character-sketch of the Tiger King in your own words.

And.The.Maharaja of Pratihandapurain, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, had many titles and sub names But he was popularly known as the Tiger King. At the time of his birth, the chief astrologer had predicted that his death would come from a tiger .Crown prince Jung Jung Bahadur grew taller and stronger day by day. He was brought up by an English governess. He was tutored in English by an Englishman. When he was twenty years old, he took the reign in his hands.

The Maharaja continued his campaign of tiger-hunting with rare single-mindedness. Within a span of

ten years he killed 70 tigers. It was his master strategy to marry a girl of a state which had a large tiger

population. So he was able to kill 99 tigers in all.The Tiger King could pay any price to maintain his kingdom. He had to give a bribe worth three lakh rupees to a high ranking British official to retain his kingdom. At last, the hundredth tiger took revenge upon him.