Tiger King

ERC

There were innumerable forests in the Pratibandapuram State. They had tigers in them. The Maharaja
knew the old saying, ‘You may kill even a cow in self-defence’. There could certainly be no objection to
killing tigers in self-defence.

Questions

(a) What is the old saying that the King knew?

(b) How many forests were there in Pratibandapuram ?

(c) What did the King think before he started out on a tiger hunt?

(d) A word in the passage which means ‘too many to be counted’ is…

Answers

(a) The old saying is -You may kill even a cow in self-defence’.

(b) There were innumerable forests in Pratibandapuram.

(C)The King thought that there could be no objection to killing tigers in self-defence.

(d) innumerable.

Short Answer

. The manner of his (the Tiger King’s) death is a matter of extraordinary interest. Comment.

Ans. His death was no doubt a matter of extraordinary interest because he had been told by an
astrologer at the time of his birth that he had taken birth in bull hours. The bull becomes enemy to tiger,
so his death would come from 100th tiger.In reality the 100th real tiger was not killed by his bullet. The
king was killed by 100th wooden tiger.

Long Answer

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. As we see in the story when the king kills the first tiger, he brought his dead body before the
astrologer to show that he is more powerful than the tiger. However, the astrologer warns the king that
he should be careful with the hundredth tiger. The king chooses to prove the astrologer wrong once
again and makes frantic efforts to kill hundred tigers. Having shot at the old tiger, he believes that he has
killed it and completed his mission but in reality, he was not killed by the king's gun's bullet. Ultimately,
the king was killed by the splinter of a wooden tiger that pierced his finger and developed into a sore.
The writer Kalki satirizes the powers who refuse to take ‘no’ for anything and whose whims and fancies
are law unto their subjects. People in power are conceited and insincere. It is more than proved by the
eccentric behaviour of the tiger king. Those who go out on a hunting spree and kill one hundred tigers
just to prove themselves brave and fearless and to make the prediction of the astrologer wrong are in
fact cowards.