CLASS VIII IT SO HAPPENED 1.

HOW THE CAMEL GOT ITS HUMP

NEW WORDS
The camel said “Humph” to anyone who spoke to him.

Trot=running on two legs Djinn=a spirit

The horse asked the camel to trot. The Djinn was the master of all the deserts

Fetch =to go and bring

The dog was assigned the task of fetching and carrying things.

Plough =till
The ox was assigned the task of ploughing the fields.

Make up = compensate
The man asked the three animals to work double -time to make up the camel’s work.

KEY POINTS
-The world was new. Animals had begun to work for man.
-The Camel refused to work. He lived in the middle of the Howling Desert He said “Humph” to anyone
who spoke to him The Horse went to the Camel on Monday morning. He asked him to trot like as he
did. “Humph” said the Camel to the Horse.
- The Horse told the man about it. In the same way the Dog and the Ox came and went away. They
too got the same reply.
-The Man called the Horse, the Dog and the Ox. They were asked to work double time in order to
make up the Camel’s work. The three of them got very angry.
-They complained to the Djinn against the Camel. The Camel did not work.
- The Djinn, master of all Deserts assured them that he would set the camel right. The Djinn found the
Camel looking at his reflection in the pond water in the Desert. The Djinn asked him to work but the
Camel said “humph” only.
-The Djinn puffed up the Camel’s beautiful back which turned to be very ugly. It was his own hump
which the Camel had brought upon him by not working. The Djinn ordered the Camel to work. He
refused to work.
-His hump was a big hurdle. The Djinn told the Camel about the purpose of the hump. The Camel
would always be able to work for three days without eating. He could live on his hump.
-The Djinn asked the Camel to behave properly. The Camel went away to join the three animals.
-The Camel always has a hump from that day. He has not caught up with his three days. He had
missed them at the beginning of the world. He has not yet learnt to behave.

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS
Q1. What tasks, do you think, were assigned to the dog and the ox?
Ans. The dog was assigned the task of fetching and carrying things .The ox was given the task of
ploughing fields.

Q.2. Why did the camel live in the middle of the desert?
Ans. Camel lived in the middle of the desert because he did not want to work.

Q.3. What made the dog, the horse and the ox very angry?
Ans. The dog, the horse and the ox were very angry because man asked them to work double-time. It
was to compensate for the camel who did not work.

Q.4.How did the Djinn know the horse was complaining against the camel?
Ans. The Djinn was the master of all the deserts. He knew about all desert animals. When the horse
spoke of long legs, the Djinn knew he was talking of the camel.

Q.5.The camel was looking at his own reflection in the pool. What does it suggest to you about the
camel?
Ans. It suggests that the camel loved his own image. He considered himself charming.

Q.6. the camel said “Humph” repeatedly .How did it affect him?
Ans. The “Humph” ultimately became his ‘Hump’.

Q.7. What according to the Djinn, was the use of the “Hump”?
Ans. According to the Djinn, the hump had a purpose. It was full of food material. With its help, the
camel could survive without food for three days.

Q.8. “------he has never yet learnt to behave”. In the light of this, what is the writer’s opinion about the
camel?
Ans. In the opinion of the writer, the camel is still a very arrogant animal.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What did Man ask the three animals to do at the end of the day?
Ans: Man told them to work double time to make up work. The Camel didn’t work. He told them that
he was leaving the Camel alone.
2. How did the animals react to man about working double time? What did they do?
Ans: The animals got very angry. They held a Panchayat in the Desert for solving the problem.
3. What did the Camel do when he came before the Panchayat?
Ans: The Camel came chewing cud. He laughed at them. He said “Humph” and went away.
4. How did the Horse complain against the Camel without naming him?
Ans: The Horse told the Djinn about Camel’s long neck and long legs. He also told that such an
animal didn’t work. The Djinn understood it.
5. Where did the Djinn find the Camel? What was he doing?
Ans: The Djinn found the Camel near a pool of water. The Camel was looking at his own reflection in
it.
6. Who was the Djinn? How did he set the camel right?
Ans Djinn was in-charge of all deserts. So the horse, ox and the dog complained to him about the
camel’s laziness. The Djinn scolded the camel, gave a hump on its back and ordered it to serve man
as did other animals.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What made the three very angry?
Ans The Three (the Dog, the Horse and the Ox) were hard working animals. They did different works
for men. The Dog carried heavy loads, the Horse drew carts and the Ox ploughed the field. These
three were fed up with the Camel because he didn’t do any work. So one day they complained to Man
about the Camel’s laziness. At this the Man became angry. He told the three to leave the Camel
alone and work double time to compensate his (Camel’s) work. That made the three very angry. They
held a panchayat but it proved in vain. The Camel came chewing and laughed at them.
2. How did the Camel get a hump?
Ans In the beginning the Camel was a lazy animal. He didn’t want to work and lived in the middle of a
desert away from other working animals. But the animals never forgot him and his nature. They
wanted him to work like them. They complained against him to the Djinn, who was in-charge of all
deserts. The Djinn decided to punish such an idle animal. He told the Cael to work like other animals
but the Camel showed no willingness to work. This made the Djinn angry. He put a curse on the
Camel. Soon the Camel’s back puffed up into a big hump. This is how the Camel got a hump.