ROADSIDE STAND

1. What is in the 'news' as mentioned in 'A Roadside

Stand'? (2015, 20)
Ans: It was in the news that the innocent rural folk would be brought out with all their
belonging and settled in villages. They won't have to think for themselves anymore as the
so-called 'good-doers' will take care of them.

2. Why do the people who are running the roadside stand 'ask for some city money'?(2015)
Ans: The people who are running the roadside stand ask for some city money to bring some
changes and prosperity in their lives.

3. 'Of the thousand selfish cars' some stop there but not for buying something. Why do they
stop there at all? (2016)
Ans: Contrary to the expectations of the poor farmers' cars never stop by their roadside
stands. If sometimes they do at all, it is only to use the yard to back and to turn round the
car. Sometime cars stop only to ask their way ahead or to ask for a gallon of gas(petrol).

4. Who will soothe the rural poor out of their wits and how? (2016)
Ans: Some cunning and selfish city people will soothe the rural poor out of their wits. They
will swarm over their lives and earn money befooling them. They are cruel like flesh-eating
wild animals and destroy the peace and sleep of the innocent rural folk.

5. What is being sold in the Roadside stand? (2017, 12)

Ans: Wild berries and crook-necked squash and such other products are sold on the
roadside stand.

6. What is the 'childish longing that the poet refers to? Why is it 'vain'? (2017, 12)
Ans: The poet has the childish longing that he could hardly bear the pain of the farmer and
wants to put the all-poor people out of their pain at one stroke. This longing of the poet is in
vain because it is never possible for him to help all the poor people out of their pain.

7. Who referred to as the 'flower of cities' in 'A Roadside Stand'? (2018)

Ans: The best thing about the cities is referred to as 'the flower of cities'.

8. Which things irritated the passers-by who stooped at the road-side stand? (2018, 12) 
Ans: The passers-by who stooped at the road-side stand was irritated at the part that the
letter 'N' and 'S' turned wrong.

9. How did the travellers on the highways react to the roadside stand? (2019)
Ans: The travellers on the highway reacted very strangely to the roadside stand. They didn't
even stop and bought any goods from the poor people. If any traveler would stop there, it is
only for the turn round the car or to ask ahead direction or ask for petrol.
10. What is the word 'Pathetic' used for the roadside stand? (2013)
Ans: The word 'Pathetic' is used for the roadside stand because it is totally unattractive and
has no appeal to passers-by.

1. The city folk who drove through the countryside hardly paid any heed to the roadside
stand or to the people who ran it. If at all they did, it was to complain. Which lines bring this
out? What was their complaint about?
Ans: The Complaints of the city folk who drove through the countryside was that the artless
& clumsy paint painted on the roadside stand had spoiled the landscape. They were also
irritated at the part that the letter 'N' and 'S' turned wrong.

2. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand?
Ans: The folk who had put up the roadside stand pleaded pathetically for some money or
ready cash for their survival. Money city-dwellers passed through the road and the folk
expected them to stop there for buying their goods.

3. The government and other social service agencies appear to help the poor rural people,
but actually do them no good. Pick out the words and phrases that the poet uses to show
their double standards.
Ans: The two phrases that the poet uses to show their double standards and the social
service agencies are
(i) Greedy good-doers.
(ii) Beneficial beast of prey.

4. What is the 'childish longing that the poet refers to? Why is it 'vain'?
Ans: The poet has the childish longing that he could hardly bear the pain of the farmer and
wants to put the all-poor people out of their pain at one stroke. This longing of the poet is in
vain because it is never possible for him to help all the poor people out of their pain.

5. Which lines tell us about the insufferable pain that the poet feels at the thought of the
plight of the rural poor?
Ans: "Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear
The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer"

Q. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to in the poem ‘A Roadside
Stand’? Why is it ‘vain’?

Ans: Robert Frost thinks that the people who are running the roadside stand suffer from a
childish longing. The poet refers to the eager and anxious wait of the farmers for
prospective customers. They keep their windows open with a hope that someone would
stop the car at the stand to buy the goods on display. Though they keep their windows open
to attract customers, nobody stops there.
Their hard work to earn money is devalued by the rich selfish city people. They are ignored
and insult as nobody visits the stand to buy their commodities. In this way, ‘childish longing’
of these farmers goes in vain.

Q4. Name some of the things that the roadside stand offered for sale?

Ans: Wild berries and crook-necked golden squash with silver warts were some of the things
offered for sale in that roadside stand.

Q5. Which things irritated the passers-by who stepped at the roadside stand?

Ans: The clumsy paint of the old house that hurt the beauty of the landscape and the
signboards indicating wrong directions irritated the passers-by who stopped at the roadside
stand.

Q6. What is in the news as mentioned in ‘A Roadside Stand’?

Ans: It is in the news that all the poor people who are known as ‘pitiful kii.* are to be bought
out. They will be settled in villages. Their places will be taken over by the rich and cunning
people. The so-called ‘good doers’ or ‘greedy people’ will exploit them and swarm over their
lives for earning benefits.

Q7. Who will soothe the rural poor out of their wits and how?

Ans: The Greedy people posing as ‘good-doers’ will swarm over their lives. They will plan to
extract maximum profits from them. There are people who are crueller than the beasts of
prey. Their only aim is to mint money. They earn benefits by befooling the innocent rural
people. In reality they will cheat them in ‘teaching them how to sleep’ and will take away
their peace of mind by their unscrupulous designs.

Q8. What was not complaint of the poet in ‘A Roadside Stand’?

Ans: The clumsy paint of the old house that hurt the beauty of the landscape and the
signboards indicating wrong directions were not the complaint of the poet in the poem ‘A
Roadside Stand’.

Q9. What will be of great relief to the poet?

Ans: The poet feels an unbearable pain at the plight of the rural poor. He will feel greatly
relieved if they are put out of their pains ‘at one stroke’. Their miserable living is no way
better than death. The poet wants an immediate end to the sufferings of the rural poor.

Q10. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand?

Ans: The rural folk had put up the roadside stand far from the city beside the road along
with an old house which was surrounded by beautiful natural scenery to attract the
attention of city people who travelled in their expensive polished vehicles. They pleaded
pathetically fur some customers to earn some city money by selling their commodities on
display.

Again, please go through the url mentioned below

https://www.iitianacademy.com/ncert-solutions-for-class-12-english-flamingo-poem-a-
roadside-stand/