1.
How did the author introduce the king at the very outset of the story?
A: The author
introduced the king as Sata Vyaghra Samhari, Maharajadhiraja Samrat. Sir Jung
Jung Bahadur as described by the author, the king was often known as Tiger King
shortly. Despite a critical life-threatening prophecy, the king set out for
a journey to kill a hundred tigers and become tiger king eventually.
2. What
did the author mean by bringing the reference of Stuka?
A: The author’s mentality to describe his readers that why Maharaja of Pratibandapuram came to
be known as ”Tiger King” could not be threatened by the horrifying Stuka
bomber. Even the German Stuka bomber could not compel him to step back from
describing the King of Pratibandapuram.
3. What
did the author indicate by bringing in Rama and Bharata?
A: In Ramayana,
Dasaratha’s death was told by Bharata to his elder brother Rama. With this
insight reference, the author at the beginning of the story hinted that the tiger
king has reached the final abode of all living creatures. In other words, the
story started with the news of the Maharaja being dead.
4. How
did the beginning of the story set the tune of humour of the story?
A: The author at
the advent of the story, described the king in a bold character and his
indomitable courage. Readers at the beginning thought the king’s mightiness was
beyond measures but the author declared the King to be dead at the start of the
story. So, the beginning of the story marked a tone of humour for the rest of
the story.
5. What
was shocking about the ten-day-old king?
A: Being an
infant, the ten-day-old king questioned something very sensible to the
astrologers, who foretold the death of the king as soon as he was born. The
king in his little squeaky voice described that death was normal but he was
interested in knowing the reason and cause for his death. The King’s concern
towards his death mesmerized the astrologers.
6. What
did the astrologers predict? And how did the baby king react to it?
A: The
transfixed astrologers, who witnessed the arousing concern from the king to
know the reason behind his death predicted that a tiger might be the reason for
King’s death as he was born in the hours of Bull. The Tiger and the bulls were
enemies and death should come from a Tiger.
The prince, Jung Jung Bahadur got
electrified by the name of his enemy. Despite being in fear, without any
hesitation, he gave a deep growl and was ready to go in a war against the Tigers.
7. How
does part of the baby talking reflect the fun and humour filled with fantasy
fiction?
A: Despite being
an infant, the ten-day-old king set out on a journey to eliminate his foes as
prophecy marked the death of the king in the hands of a tiger. The baby got boasted
to change his fate of death by eradicating the tiger’s population in his state.
So, the story hinted at the desire of the baby king to wipe out tigers from his
state by himself.
8. What
logic did the chief astrologer give for the death of the Tiger King?
A: A sensible
question from a ten-day-old baby king in a squeaky voice about his own death
made everyone surprise. The chief astrologer answered that the king was born in
the hour of a bull, and it was believed that the bull and tiger are enemies.
So, it was predicted by the chief astrologer that the king was going to be
killed by a tiger in his future.
9.
How did the baby king react when he heard the word ‘Tiger’?
A: The baby king
was born in the hours of the bull and as per astrology, bull and tiger are
enemies. The chief astrologer described the death of the king was due to a
tiger. The baby king got accompanied by the thoughts of wiping out his enemies
when he heard the prophecy. His reaction was arrogant and indomitable in
nature.
10.
How was the Tiger King brought up in this childhood?
A: The Tiger
king was brought up like crown prince of all other Indian states. He was
surrounded by the atmosphere of western culture, was taken care by an English
nanny, was tutored in English by an Englishmen. The milk he drank was from an
English cow and he watched English films only. At the age of twenty, he was
handed the Court of Wards.
11.
What logic did the king give for killing a tiger in defence?
A: When the king
grew up he encountered situations where he has reminded the prediction made by
the chief astrologer about his death. He strategised to kill the tigers in the
forest of Pratibandapuram state. He remembered an old logic to kill any animal
even a cow in self-defence. So, based on that old saying he started his tiger
hunt.
12.
Discuss in your own words the conversation between the king and the chief
astrologer.
A: During the
king’s first tiger hunt, he was beyond measure of happiness as he killed a
tiger. He called out for the chief astrologer and described his flawless
victory over his enemy but suddenly the chief pointed out that even if he
succeded to kill ninety-nine tigers, the hundredth tiger should be the reason
for his death.
13.
Reflect the confidence of the astrologer about his prediction while having a
row with the king.
A: The chief the astrologer was challenged by the king that what if the hundred tigers was put to
death. The chief charmed out in confidence and guaranteed the king if that
happens then he would tear and set fire to his astrology books along with that
he would crop his hair short and might change his profession to an insurance
agent.
14.
Why did the tigers start celebrating?
A: After the
king and the astrologer had a long argument prior to the prophecy, new laws
were introduced on banning the tiger hunt in the forest of Pratibandapuram
state. So, the author described that it was the celebrating time for the tigers
as no one except the king would hunt them due to the fear of property
confiscation by the state.
15.
How was the initial part of the king’s tiger hunting?
A: After new
laws were imposed by the state on banning the tiger hunt in Pratibandapuram,
the king himself went for hunting tigers in the forest. He faced several
challenges in his hunting adventure. Sometimes the bullet missed the target and
the tiger would leap upon the king but the king fought the beast with his bare
hands, every time the Maharaja would win. During the initial journey, the
Maharaja was solemnly determined to kill each and every tiger by himself.
16.
What were the changing desires of the British officer?
A: The british the officer who visited Pratibandapuram wanted to hunt the tigers of that state as
he was fond of tiger hunting. After knowing that tigers could be hunted only
by the king, the British officer sent
words that Maharaja could do the actual killing but only a photograph is
important to him where he will be holding a gun and standing over the tiger’s
carcass. This was the changing desires of the British officer from hunting a
tiger to having a photograph with a dead tiger.
17.
How did the king react to the desire of the British officer?
A: The british officer changed his desire from hunting a tiger to having a photograph with a
dead tiger killed by Maharaja, after knowing that in Pratibandapuram tiger
hunting was banned. But Maharaj Jung Jung bahadur refused the second proposal
too. According to him if he accepts this proposal from the British officer then
other officers would also urge for hunting tigers in his state.
18.
How did the king save the kingdom ultimately?
A: Maharaja
prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desires, which made his kingdom
to fall in danger. In order to safeguard his kingdom, Maharaja dispatched a
telegram to the famous British jewellers in Calcutta and ordered samples of
around fifty expensive diamond rings for the lady of the British officer. The
king offered the officer’s lady to choose one or two rings from the sample and
accept them as a gift from the king. The king was very happy that although he
lost three lakh rupees for the rings he had managed to retain his
kingdom.
19. What
made the tiger killing to a halt?
A: The
prediction of the chief astrologer about the death of the king by a tiger, made
the king become a tiger hunter of Pratibandapuram. He continued hunting the
tigers till the population came to an extinct in his state. Almost after
killing seventy tigers, there were no more tigers found in Pratibandapuram, it
was believed that either the tigers were following birth control measures or
they have migrated away from the state of Pratibandapuram in fear of being
hunted by the king. In this way, tiger killing came to a halt temporarily.
20. How
did the king brandish his gun?
A: The king on his hunting adventure killed
almost every tiger in his state and for that the population of the tiger got
devasted. He summoned for the dewan to put forward a strategy for hunting the
last thirty tigers. In utmost excitement, the king waved his gun around and
pointed it towards the dewan.
21. How
marriage created fun and confusion?
A: On king’s
order, the dewan was summoned to the king’s court for discussing strategies on
hunting the last thirty tigers. Suddenly, the bandishing and pointing of the
gun towards the dewan scared him and he got confused on the king’s proposal for
marriage. The dewan babbled a lot as he thought the proposal for the king’s
marriage was meant for him. Nextly, king’s and his dewan’s conversation took
another direction which induced fun and laughter as the dewan thought the king
wanted to marry a tigress as a queen.
22. Why
did the tiger king decide to marry? What filtering did he want for that?
A: The marriage the proposal was highlighted by the Tiger king so he could accomplish his goal of
killing a hundred tigers and falsify the chief astrologer’s prophecy.
He called out for his dewan to draw a
strategy for the fulfilment of his target. He told the dewan to look after for
native states with tiger population and then to investigate for any princess
that the king himself could marry.
23.
What had been the benefits of marrying a girl with the state of big tiger
population?
A: Statistics
were drawn out, the dewan followed his orders on the king’s advice and lastly, the
king got married to a girl from the state with a big tiger population. Every time Jung Jung Bahadur visited his father in law, he went for hunting where he could
kill five or six tigers. Following this strategy, the tiger king was able to
adorn the walls of his reception hall with ninety-nine tiger skins.
24.
What had been the effect of the non-availability of the tiger on the king?
A: The King’s
anxiety had reached a fever pitch when there remained just one tiger to achieve
his tally of a hundred. By this time, the tiger farms had run dry even in his
father in law’s kingdom. The king at that moment got occupied with thoughts
from a chief astrologer and his dream of killing all hundred tigers. It nearly
seemed impossible as it was easier to find the tiger’s milk than a living tiger.
25.
What thought did the king have about the hundredth tiger?
A: The prophecy
had revealed that the tiger king has to be very careful with the hundredth
tiger as it might be the reason for the king’s demise. He addressed tiger as a
savage beast and he worried about the consequences as compared to the previous
tiger hunting session.
26.
What news brought happiness to the king?
A: The tiger the population went dry in his as well as his father in law’s kingdom. He was
preoccupied with thoughts from the prophecy and hunting the last remaining
tiger to reach a tally of hundred was lately impossible. But the news of sheep
getting frequently disappeared from the hill-side village opened a new door to
a possibility as the king thought the culprit to be none other than humans but
a tiger.
27.
How do we find Maharaja whimsical about tax and how he was losing his sanity?
A: Frequent
disappearing of sheep from hillside village ascertained the king about the
presence of a tiger in that region of his state. After being informed by the
villagers, the king announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that
village and he set out for hunting.
As days passed, the tiger never showed up, as a result, the king’s fury and obstinacy mounted alarmingly. Many officers had
to lose jobs and then king summoned his dewan to double the land tax which
might raise discontent among the villagers. the king even told his dewan to
resign from his duty as his state might fall prey to INC.
28.
Why did the reference of ‘Indian
National Congress’ come?
A: The
Maharaja was equally determined not to leave the forest until the tiger was
found. His obstinacy for hunting grew alarmingly as days passed and many
officers had to lose their job for their failure to spot the tiger. At that
moment, his rage went its height and he wanted to double the land tax for that
village. So, he thought if people get discontented then his state might fall
prey in the hands of Indian national congress.
29.
How did the Dewan manage a tiger?
A: The
dewan knew the results would be catastrophic if the Maharaja didn’t find the
tiger. So, he looked out elsewhere to find the beast and fortunately he found
one from People’s Park in Madras. The dewan consulted with his wife to capture
the beast and bring it in front of the king. This was only the possible way
for dewan to save him from Maharaja’s
wrath and secure his position in the kingdom. At midnight, old dewan along with
his wife went to the park and dragged the beast to their car and kept it hidden
in his house.
30.
What happened the next day when Maharaja saw the tiger?
A: On finding
the beast next day in front of him, the Maharaja without hesitation took careful aim at
the beast and shot his fire. The tiger collapsed on the ground and in no moment
with boundless joy the king hastened away in his car and ordered for the tiger
to be brought to the capital in grand procession
as he felt his vow was fulfilled.
31.
What was the flaw in killing the hundredth tiger? How was it managed?
A: When the
tiger fell in a crumpled heap, without a second look the King hastened away in
his car as he thought his vow to be fulfilled and ordered to bring the tiger in
his kingdom. Suddenly, the hunters found out the tiger to be alive as it was
rolling its eyes in bafflement towards them. Then it was discovered that the
tiger fainted from the shock of the bullet sound.
The hunters with the fear of losing
their job called out this to be an urgent situation and with no second thought
one of them responded by taking aim at the tiger and left the beast shot dead.
32.
What gift did the king give to his son? How is the gift a symbolic one?
A: On his third
birthday, the king gifted his son a hand-crafted small wooden tiger that he spotted in a toy shop as it was the perfect
gift at that moment of time.
The Maharaja had given his entire mind
over to tiger hunting and no time to spare for the crown prince, so on his the third birthday the king gifted his son a small wooden tiger as a mark of
remembrance of his flawless victory over his enemy and symbolises the sense of
completeness within his work.
33.
How did the hundredth tiger take his revenge?
A: Maharaja
thought that he succeeded in killing a hundred tigers, but it was actually ninety-nine tigers that he killed. As all his misfortunes were over, the started to
look after his child and thought of
gifting him a wooden tiger to the on his third birthday. The wooden tiger had
tiny silvers in its body which pierced into the right hand of the king,
gradually the infection started to spread all over the king’s body and in this
way the king was put to death by the hundredth tiger as was predicted by the
chief astrologer earlier. This is how the hundredth tiger took its revenge.
34.
” The operation was successful. And the Maharaja is dead ” Explain
critically.
A: The slivers
of wood pierced king’s hand and the infection flared all over king’s right
arm. Three famous surgeons of the state were assigned to operate this critical
condition to cure the king out of the poison. The operation took place and it
was successful but they could not save the king as infection got spread
throughout his body rapidly. So, lastly, the hundredth tiger in this manner took
its revenge over the king.
6 MARKS ANSWERS
1.
How did you find the story to be a social satire?
A: The story is
a poignant satire on self-importance
that people in power always do. When the king heard the prophecy of his death
by a tiger, he swore to kill all the tigers of Pratibandapuram just to
conclude the prophecy wrong. He was so indulged in killing the tigers that he did not pay even a bit of attention towards his subjects, till the population of the tiger came to an extinct. He kept on wiping off the tigers in the name of
self-defence and harsh measurements were invoked by the king to pressurize
local innocent people in name of self-worth and importance. His indulgence
towards the benefit of the kingdom was demised by his preoccupied thoughts over
the talkings from the chief astrologer and his prophecy. Though he was educated
by an Englishman, his ideologies were savage. He spent his whole life running
and gunning down tigers in the forest thus disbalancing the
ecosystem. Lastly, his pursuit did not make any sense as his demise was called out
by a handcrafted wooden tiger.
2.
Evaluate the story catering humour.
A: At the
beginning of the story, the author introduced the king with massive titles
which made the readers curious about his bold character but suddenly he was
declared dead when the story got its grip. Nextly, the readers were amused as
they went through the roaring conversation which took place in between the ten-year-old king and the astrologers. Another part that delivered the large humour
bomb was king’s conversation with the dewan about his marriage that plotted
massive laughter to the readers as a misunderstanding and confusion that
developed within the dewan about his marriage with the king. Lastly, a
surprising gag was delivered by the author at the end of the story where
readers found out the reason for the king’s death was due to an infection from
the silver woods of a handcrafted tiger. So, indirectly the hundredth tiger took
his revenge upon the king. In this way, the story served humour plates to the
reader’s mind.
3.
How was Maharaja a person of superstition and fanatic?
A: The Maharaja
was born in the hours of the bull, the astrologers predicted that he would be
killed by a tiger. As he grew up, he got acquainted with the old prophecy and
felt threatened deep down his heart so he conceived in his mind to kill a hundred
tigers. Though he was taught by an Englishman and even he knew death is
unavoidable at any circumstance he got trapped in the waves of superstition. He
went insane to fulfil his vow and took drastic measures which might have ended
in an apocalyptic tone for his state in the name of self-worth and importance.
His foolish acts were embarkment to the disturbance in the ecosystem. The
biggest irony was that he was killed by a wooden tiger while playing with his
son due to the infection that got spread from the silver woods of the tiger,
even he succeeded in killing them all and achieving a tally of hundred.
4.
Evaluate story catering tigers as an endangered animal in civilised human society.
A: Tiger is one
of the endangered species, and it is becoming extinct day by day. Just like
other animals, tigers are also hunted for their skin, teeth and other body
parts. In some places, the Tiger hunting is also considered as a symbol of
royalty to a family. In the story of ‘The Tiger King’ the author portraits
that how a superstitious king kept on killing tigers unnecessarily in order to
make the prophecy of the chief astrologer wrong, he said that the king would
face his demise by a tiger. The king was so indulged in killing the tigers that
he detached himself from his subjects. He killed seventy tigers of his own
state and twenty-nine tigers of his father in law’s state making the two places
totally extinct of the tiger. After killing the tigers, he decorated his reception
hall with the skin of the dead tigers, which shows the arrogancy over nature
and thus in a way he was responsible for disbalancing the ecosystem. The
tradition of tiger hunting started since ancient time and is still prevailing
in some parts of modern India.
5.
Create a pen picture of the social, political and economical situation of then
India.
A: The story is
set in the time of British ruled India and author within his story pen
picturised the emerging social, political and economical situation of India
under British reign. Like the prince of other native states, our tiger king grew up
in English culture, saw English movies and spend more time in adoring
western culture. Though he was educated, he got trapped in the waves of
superstition and carried out an apocalyptic mission without giving mind to his
people, state and ecosystem. His aim to change his destiny charged him with the adverse political and economical situation. He set out for a tiger hunting
adventure which was heard by many British officers and one approached him for
attending a hunt with him which the king denied and due to the fear of his
state being confiscated, he has to made offerings in terms of a large sum of
money. Apart from this, to fulfil his aim he even targeted the poor innocent
village people. He called out for his dewan to increase the land tax if the
village people failed to present the tiger in front of him. His whimsical acts might have got the attention of the Indian
National Congress and his state could be in danger. Finally, the king was
successful in hunting a hundred tigers but he could not change his destiny as his
death came from a wooden toy tiger.
6.
Discuss the plot development and climax of the story.
A: From the
beginning of the story, we came to know how the Maharaja was honoured by
supreme titles which show his courage and bravery later when the story
proceeds we come to know about the prophecy from the chief astrologer that the
king would be put to death by a tiger. It was due to the prophecy that the
king got enraged upon all the tigers of his state. In order to prove
his arrogance he kept on killing the tigers and pledged to reach a tally of
hundred tigers. He was bought up in an English culture still he was possessed
with a superstitious mind and wanted to run away from his fate. He tried his
level best, to wipe off the tigers but he could not make the prophecy wrong. He
was killed not by a real tiger but by a wooden tiger that he brought for his
child. The wooden tiger had silver woods in it which pierced in the right hand
of the king and the infection flared all over his body which was the reason for
his death. As was said by the chief astrologer the king was killed by the
hundredth tiger which was in form of a toy and the hundredth tiger took the
revenge of all the ninety-nine tigers which the king killed unnecessarily.