SHANTI ASIATIC SCHOOL, JAIPUR

English Notebook Work

Class:-VIII

Poem – The Elephant and the Tragopan

By Vikram Seth

New words
1. unanimity 11. fief
2. proximity 12. Eisteddfods
3. vicious 13. rhododendron
4. capricious 14. trout
5. brutal 15. snuff
6. sane 16. forestall
7. modest 17. denizen
8. whim 18. slaughter
9. quench
10. truce

Word meanings
1. tragopan- a large Asian bird with a long tail and bright- coloured
feathers (like a peacock)
2. modest- humble
3. unanimity- full agreement amongst a number of people
4. proximity- closeness; nearness
5. capricious- difficult to predict or understand
6.whim- a sudden desire or impulse
7. quench- satisfy the craving for something
8. spur- to inspire or motivate
9. truce or grace- peace or kindness
10. fief- lawfully owned property
11. forestall- to prevent something from happening

Question & Answers

Q1.‘I speak to you as one whose clan/ Has served and therefore studied
man’ says the elephant and it goes on to list a series of different qualities

Page 1
 found in man. What strikes you about that list? Are the reasons
consistent or contradictory? Give two examples.
What, according to the elephant, is in the middle of all such
contradictions?
Do you agree with this opinion of human nature?
Ans. The list of qualities that the elephant gives brings out the contradictions
in human nature. Man is sane and mad, loving and brutal, says the
elephant. In the middle of all this is man’s selfish nature. It is because of
his selfish thinking that he behaves irrationally and in a destructive way.

Q2. He sees the planet as his fief… What kind of thinking follows from it?
What is the consequence for the rest of the planet?
Ans. Man thinks that the world belongs to him. Because of this, he destroys
the environment indiscriminately, without regard to any of the creatures
co-habiting the planet. Therefore, everything living on it is in danger of
destruction because of this attitude.

Q3. ‘When the road comes, the forest goes.’ Explain what this means in its
context. (Why are roads made to a forest?)
Ans. When more and more roads are built, it inevitably leads to
deforestation. As our cities grow bigger and humans spread out deeper
into the wilderness, more roads are built in forests.

Q4. A reservoir is being built by destroying a lot of bamboo, which is eaten

by the elephant and the tragopan- the trout thinks happily that the
reservoir will provide it with ‘endless space’. How does the elephant
correct the trout’s notion? Which line in that stanza means ‘we will all
die together’?
Ans. The fire set/lit to burn down the forest will leave soot and ash that will
kill the creatures in the stream before the reservoir can be built. The line
from the poem is, ‘What tolls for us is your own bell.’

Q5. ‘You will all be homeless, like us all.’ Who is saying this to whom?
What will make the listeners homeless?
Ans. The elephant is saying this to the leopard and all the forest denizens.
Man’s destructive behavior will cause all animals to be homeless.

Page 2