FABLE

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Extra questions
1. Who is the poet of the poem ‘Fable’?
Ans: The poet of the poem ‘Fable’ is Ralph Waldo Emerson.
2. Who had a quarrel with whom?
Ans: The mountain had a quarrel with the squirrel.
3. Who has been called the ‘former’ and who is the ‘latter’?
Ans: The ‘former’ and the ‘latter’ are the mountain and the squirrel
respectively.
4. Who called whom ‘Little Prig’?
Ans: The mountain called the squirrel ‘Little prig’.
5. Why did the mountain call the squirrel ‘Little Prig’?
Ans: The mountain called the squirrel ‘Little Prig’ mockingly to humiliate
him.
6. What did the bun reply? (2 marks)
Ans: The bun replied that the mountain is huge in size doubtlessly but the
latter must admit that the earth and its year are made of all sorts of
things and weather respectively.
7. What is a sphere made of?
Ans: Sphere i.e. earth is made of all types of things.
8. What is a year made of?
Ans: A year is made of all varieties of weather.
9. Which rhetoric is used in line no. 9?
Ans: The rhetoric used in line no. 9 is metonymy.
10. Which doubt doesn’t the squirrel have?
Ans: The squirrel doesn’t doubt that the mountain is very big in size.
11. What is not a disgrace to the squirrel? (2 marks)
Ans: To occupy his place in the earth in spite of being insignificant in size
in respect of the mountain, is not disgraceful to the squirrel.
12. What does the squirrel state about occupying his place?
Ans: The squirrel states that occupying his place in the earth is not
shameful to him.
13. What doesn’t the squirrel deny? (2 marks)
Ans: The squirrel doesn’t deny that the mountain makes a very pretty
squirrel track for him to pass (and the latter is very big in size).
14. “Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;” elucidate. (2 marks)

Ans: Every being irrespective of class and size has his unique talent and it
has been assigned to him carefully and thoughtfully by the Omniscient
i.e. God.

15. What are the qualities of the mountain? (2 marks)

Ans: The mountain is titanic in size, can execute mammoth tasks like
carrying forest on his back and making very pretty squirrel tracks.
16. What are the qualities of the squirrel? (2 marks)
Ans: The squirrel is a very small and spry animal and can accomplish
delicate tasks like cracking a nut.
17. What is the moral of the poem ‘Fable’? (2 marks)
Ans: Every being irrespective of class and size has his unique talent and it
has been assigned to him carefully by the Omniscient and hence one
should not be insulted.