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KAUTILYA (COM) 12th Board

The Tiger King, My Mother at Sixty Six DPP-01
and The Last Lesson
1. Why was Franz surprised by the school’s 7. What were the poet’s parting words?
atmosphere on that day?
8. What is the poetic device used in these lines?
2. Is the story ‘The last lesson’ all about linguistic
chauvinism? If yes, comment. 9. Why did the poet smile and smile?

3. What had been put on the bulletin board? 10. What happened to the tiger provided by the Dewan
Saheb? (Delhi 2009)
4. What did the poet notice about her mother?
11. What did the British officer’s secretary tell the j
5. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet Maharaja? Why did the Maharaja refuse permission?
feels? (All India 2010)

I looked again at her, wan, pale 12. Why, do you think, was the Maharaja in danger of
as a late winter’s moon and felt that old losing his throne? (All India 2010)
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was see you soon, Amma, 13. How did the hundredth tiger take its revenge on the
all I did was smile and smile and smile…… King? (Comptt. All India 2010)
(Foreign 2014; Modified)

6. What was the poet’s childhood fear?


Hint & Solution
1. Franz was surprised by the unusual atmosphere of
school on that day because on usual days the school
began with a great bustle, there were noises of
opening and closing of desks, the noise of lessons
being repeated in unison and teachers’ rulers
striking against the table hard. But that day,
everything was still and quiet as a Sunday morning.
All his classmates were already in their place and
M. Hamel pacing up and down with the ruler under
his arm. At first, Franz was scared to enter the class
but M. Hamel was unexpectedly kind and he was
dressed formally. The whole school wore a strange
and serious look and the backbenches which were
generally empty were occupied by the village
people.
2. Yes, the story ‘The last lesson’ is all about linguistic
chauvinism as in this story the Prussians are
dominating the people of Alsace. They are also
imposing their own language on the people of
France which leads to loss of identity. Their own
pride suppresses humanity to an extent that they are
not able to respect and accept others’ language. This
story highlights linguistic chauvinism in their
language which also leads to political disturbances
and wars all around the world.
3. The Bulletin board was the board of bad news. It
always had news of lost battles, drafts and orders
from the commanding officer.
The latest information on the bulletin board was
from a German ruler who ordered to ban the
teaching of French in Alsace and Lorraine. He
ordered that German should replace French.
4. The poet looked at her mother and saw that her
mother was dozing with her mouth open.. She
noticed that her mother was looking pale and lifeless
like a dead body.
5. When the poet sees the pale face of her mother, her
old familiar childhood fear returns. Ageing is a
natural process. The poet’s mother is old and will
die soon. This thought makes the poet feel
miserable.
6. In her childhood, the poet was insecure about losing
her mother, just as all young children often are.
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7. The poet’s parting words were, “See you soon,
Amma”, which are suggestive of the hope that they
will meet again.
8. The poetic device used in these lines is simile,
where the mother’s dull and lifeless face is
compared to a late winter’s moon.
9. The poet smiled and smiled (meaning that she
smiled continuously) because she was trying to hide
her real feelings. She feared the fact that she might
not see her mother again, which left her almost in
tears.
10. The tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb was old and
agile. It was passive and exhausting. The Tiger King
did not take careful aim at the hundredth tiger. The
tiger fainted due to the sound of the bullet and fell
into a crumpled heap. No one wanted the Maharaja
to know this. It was a hunter who shot the tiger later.
11. When the British officer was denied permission to
hunt a tiger, his secretary sent a message to the
Maharaja that the Maharaja himself could kill the
tiger and then allow his office to get photographed
holding the gun over the dead tiger. But the
Maharaja did not agree to his request because he felt
doing so would mean other officers would come
with similar demands.
12. A high-ranking British officer wished to go tiger
hunting, but he declined permission from the
Maharaja. The officer then requested to be
photographed with a tiger killed by the Maharaja.
The Maharaja rejected that request also. Turning
down a senior British officer’s request twice could
have put the Maharaja in danger of losing his
throne.
13. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, who was also
known as the Tiger King, tried to go against what
destined in his fate? The result was tragic and ironic.
The chief astrologer had predicted that a tiger would
cause the King’s death, and he should especially be
wary of the hundredth tiger. The vain King banned
the hunting of tigers in the State by everyone except
himself and was able to kill ninety-nine tigers. He
thought he had killed the hundredth tiger also, but
somehow the bullet missed its mark, and the
hundredth tiger survived. Then on his son’s
birthday, the King bought him a wooden tiger which
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he felt was a perfect gift for his son. A splinter in it

pierced the King’s hand, and the infection spread all
over his arm, causing his death. Ironically, despite
killing all the tigers in his kingdom, the King finally
became the victim of the hundredth tiger, and the
astrologer’s prediction came true.

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