Jharkhand Board Class 9TH English Notes | A LEGEND OF THE NORTHLAND
JAC Board Solution For Class 9TH English Poetry Chapter 5
COMPREHENSION
■ Read the following passage and answer the questions that
follow :―
1. Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in winter
That they cannot sleep them through;
Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges, when it snows;
And the children look like bear's cubs
In their furry, funny clothes:
Q. Name the poem from where this extract has been
taken.
(b) Who has written these lines?
(c) Why do the people not sleep through the long nights?
(d) Why do they harness the reindeer to the sledges?
(e) How do the children look like?
Ans. (a) Poem- A Legend of the Northland.
(b) Written by- Phoebe Cary.
(c) The nights are very long in the Northland. People can't
sleep for long hours during nights in the winter.
(d) The snow falls heavily in the Northland. The reindeer
is used to pull the sledges on it.
(e) They look like the bear-cubs. They wear funny, furry
clothes made from the skin of bears.
2. They tell them a curious story-
I don't believe 'tis true':
And yet you may learn a lesson
If I tell the tale to you.
Once, when the good Saint Peter
Lived in the world below,
And walked about it, preaching,
Just as he did, you know.
Q. (a) Why does the poetess want to tell about this story.
(b) What would Saint Peter do while walking on the earth?
(e) Give another word for "preaching".
Ans.(a) The poetess wanted to tell about this story because she
want us to learn a lesson from the story.
(b) He preaches the people.
(c) 'delivering'.
3. He came to the door of a cottage,
In travelling round the earth,
Where a little woman was making cakes,
And baking them on the hearth;
And being faint with fasting,
For the day was almost done,
He asked her, from her store of cakes,
To give him a single one.
Q. (a) Where did he come at the end of the day?
(b) Describe St. Peter condition when he arrived at the
cottage.
(c) What did St. Peter ask for and why?
Ans. (a) At the end of the day he came to the door of a cottage.
(b) St. Peter was fasting. Travelling and fasting had made
him weak, tired and hungry.
(c) St. Peter asked for a single cake from her store of
cakes.
4. So she made a very little cake,
But as it baking lay.
She looked at it, and thought it seemed
Too large to give away.
Therefore she kneaded another.
And still a smaller one;
But it looked, when she turned it over,
As large as the first had done.
Q. (a) What did women do?
(b) Why did she not give the cake to St. Peter?
(c) Name the poem and the poet.
Ans. (a) Women made a very little cake.
(b) She did not give it to st. Peter. She thought it too big to
give away.
(c) The poem is "A Legend of The Northland" and poet is
"Phoebe Cary".
5. Then she took a tiny scrap of dough,
And rolled and rolled it flat;
And baked it thin as a wafer-
But she couldn't part with that.
For she said, "My cakes that seem too small
When I eat of them myself
Are yet too large to give away."
So she put them on the shelf.
Q. (a) Why was the dough rolled flat?
(b) Why did she bake the cake thin as a wafer?
(c) Why did they look too large to give them away?
Ans.(a) The dough was rolled flat to make a specially thin and
small cake.
(b) She did so as she wanted to five some dough.
(c) The cake appeared too large to be given away. It reflects
the greed of the lady. She couldn't part with anything.
She couldn't sacrifice even a wafer-like cake for anyone.
6. Then good Saint Peter grew angry.
For he was hungry and faint;
And surely such as woman
Was enough to provoke a saint.
And he said, 'You are far too selfish
To dwell in a human form,
To have both food and shelter,
And fire to keep you warm!
Q. (a) Why did a good saint like St. Peter grow angry?
(b) Explain-'was enough to provoke a saint'.
(C) Find words from the passage which mean-Live, Shape.
Ans. (a) A good saint like St. Peter become angry because a lady
did not oblige by not giving him a single cake.
(b) Her insulting behavior and greed could have provoked
even a saint.
(c) It is Dwell. Form.
7. Now, you shall build as the birds do,
And shall get your scanty food
By boring, and boring, and boring.
All day in the hard, dry wood."
Then up she went through the chimney,
Never speaking a word,
And out of the top flew a woodpecker,
For she was changed to a bird.
Q. (a) What will the old lady build for her living?
(b) What will the old lady have to do to get her scanty
food?
(c) What was the effect of St. Peter's curse on the old lady?
Ans.(a) The old lady has been changed to a woodpecker. So she
will have to build a nest for her dwelling like a
woodpecker.
(b) The old lady will get scanty food even after boring the
hard wood all day.
(c) St. Peter's curse had its immediate effect. She was
changed to a bird.
8. She had a scarlet cap on her head,
And that was left the same;
But all the rest of her clothes were burned
Black as a coal in the flame.
And every country schoolboy
Has seen her in the wood,
Where she lives in the trees till this very day,
Boring and boring for food.
Q. (a) Where has she been seen?
(b) What does she do in the forest?
(c) Which portion of the body was left the same?
Ans. (a) She has been seen in the woods.
(b) She goes on boring the hard dry wood to get her food.
(c) The lady's scarlet cap was on her head.
Short Answer Type Quesions
■ Answer these questions in about 30-40 words each:―
Q. 1. What did St. Peter ask the old lady for? What was the
lady's reaction?
Ans. St. Peter saw an old woman making cakes in the cottage.
He was feeling very hungry. So he asked the lady for a cake. The
lady made a small cake. But as it lay baking on the fire, the lady
thought it was too large to give away. She made a still smaller one.
But this also appears her to be big. Then she made a cake as thin as
wafer. But she did not give that also. At last she put away all her
cakes on the self gave St. Peter nothing.
Q. 2. How does the wood pecker get her food?
Ans. The wood pecker gets her food by boring in the hard, dry
trees.
Q. 3. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?
Ans. A legend is an oid story which conveys a message from
generation to generation. It is not based on facts and truth. The
title of the poem calls it 'a legend'. The poet himself says, 'I don't
believe its true. It is a story about an old lady in the Northland.
Q.4. What is the central idea of the poem "A Legend of the
Northland"?
Ans. The central idea of the poem is not to be selfish and
greedy. We must be sympathetic and considerate, ready to help
the needy. These are human virtues. If we don't possess them, we
are not fit to be human beings. If we are selfish and greedy God is
sure to be angry with us and punish us.
Q. 5. How did he punish her?
Ans. St. Peter got angry. He changed the lady into a
woodpecker. She was to get her food by boring into the hard dry
wood.
Q.6. How did St. Peter behave when the old lady didn't give
him any bread?
Ans. St. Peter was tired and hungry. He even felt weak. He
asked for a single cake from the old woman. But She refused to
oblige him. St. Peter lost is patience. He was provoked to curse her.
Q.7. Describe the Northland which is the place of this legend.
Ans. The Northland is a polar region. The days are shorter and
the nights are longer there. The people can't sleep through these
long nights. It is a land of sledges. These are driven by swift
reindeers. The people wear furry clothes. The children look like
bear cubs in their funny furry dresses.
Q.8. What did St. Peter use to do? How did he reach the old
woman's cottage?
Ans. St. Peter was an apostle of Christ. His job was to spread
the teachings of Christ. He travelled from one place to another for
preaching. He came to the old woman's cottage, during his travels.
Q.9. What was the old woman doing when St. Peter reached
the door of her cottage ?
Ans. St. Peter used to travel and preach the teachings of Christ.
When he came to the old woman's hut, she was making cakes.
After making cakes she lay them baking on he hearth.
Q.10. Why did St. Peter ask for a single cake from the old
lady?
Ans. St. Peter had travelled a lot. Travelling and preaching
tired him. He felt weak and hungry. Therefore, he asked for a single
cake from her store of cakes. The old lady was making and baking
cakes at that time.
Q. 11. What did the old lady do when St. Peter asked for a
cake?
Ans. She made a very thin cake. After making it she lay it on
the hearth for baking. She looked at it. The cake looked too big.
Therefore, she didn't give it to St. Peter.
Q. 12. Why didn't she even part with the third cake?
Ans. Like the two cakes the third cake also appeared very big
to the greedy lady. She had made the third cake even smaller. It
looked like a wafer. But her greed stopped her from giving that
cake to St. Peter.
Q. 13. What did St. Peter say about the greedy old lady?
Ans. St. Peter found her too selfish. She disgraced womanhood.
She didn't deserve food, shelter and fire to warm herself. She was
very greedy. She lacked basic human qualities.
Q. 14. What was the effect of St. Peter's curse on the old
lady?
Ans. St. Peter cursed her to be a bird. It had its immediate
effect. She was changed into a woodpecker. She still had a scarlet
cap. But all her clothes were burnt black. She went to the top and
flew out of the chimney.
Q. 15. Why was an apostle like St. Peter provoked to curse
the old lady?
Ans. St. Peter was an apostle of Christ. Generally, he was not
provoked so easily. But the greedy old lady made St. Peter angry.
He was tired, weak and hungry. He went to her for food. But she
didn't give even a single cake to him. So he was provoked to curse
her.
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