Princess September Summary Class 8 English Questions Answers NCERT
Princess September Summary Class 8 English Questions Answers NCERT
Princess September Summary
Princess September Summary : It was written by William Somerset Maugham. This is a story about a girl named September who had eight sisters and they were all named after months of the year. The King of Siam gave each daughter a gift on his birthday, so he and his wife had given a parrot to each of the girls. Each bird could say “God save the King”. Some could even say “Pretty Polly” in different languages from around the world.
One day, Princess September went to see her parrot, but it was dead. She started to cry because she loved her pet. The Maids of Honour tried to comfort her, but they couldn’t. They told the Queen what happened and the Queen said that no one should have supper until Princess September went to sleep. But they had to go to a party so they put Princess September in bed quickly and left before she could finish crying. As she was crying, a little bird came into her room for some reason. The bird’s voice was beautiful. It sang near the lake of the King’s garden with willow trees. The water of the lake was still. Goldfish were swimming in and out of branches that reflected in it. She forgot that she didn’t have supper when she listened to its song because it was so wonderful!
The little bird asked the princess if he could live in her place. He said he is not as pretty as other birds, but he can sing beautiful songs for her. The princess clapped her hands happily when the bird sang another song. The next morning, she was still there and she bathed him with water from a saucer and fed him rice with her own hand. She took the bird to the king, queen, and sisters. The king was happy when he heard the song of the little bird. He said that he was sick of hearing “God save the King.” and “Pretty Polly”. The words from his Councillors were always the same. The king liked listening to the song of a little bird too.
The other princesses were mad when they saw the little bird fly around the palace singing. They suggested that she get a new bird, but she said that she already had one who could sing beautiful songs for her. They told her to have him in a cage so he can’t fly away, but she trusted her bird and thought he wouldn’t betray her.
Once it so happened that the little bird went to visit his father-in-law but took longer than usual. When he came back, Princess September was worried. This is when she put him in the cage. But the next day when the princess asked him, he said he wanted to get out of the cage because cats were roaming where they were staying. The princess did not want to let him out though because she was worried about cats getting in and hurting him. Princess September asked him to sing, but he cannot. He said he wants to see trees and lakes and rice fields. And he doesn’t eat food.
September’s sisters told her that she should keep the bird in a cage. The bird then stopped singing and didn’t sing like he used to before. September asked why. The bird said that he couldn’t sing if he was in a cage too long; he’d die if kept there for a long time. September wanted to keep her little friend, so she set him free to make sure that didn’t happen. The bird flew away and promised to come back soon. The princess kept her window open so the bird could visit her. When he came, he would sing beautiful songs for her.
With the passage of time, Princess September grew up to be a very beautiful young lady. She had been outside in natural sunlight and in fresh air coming in through her window. Later on, she got married to the King of Cambodia. But her sisters were not pretty at all and they were married to the King’s Councillors–with a Siamese cat and some tea.
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NCERT Solutions of Princess September
Comprehension Check (Page 38)
Question 1: How many daughters did the royal couple have?
Answer: The royal couple of Siam had nine daughters.
Question 2: Why were they named after the months of the year?
Answer: The princesses were given names that matched the months of a calendar year. The Queen found it hard to remember all the names, so she decided to name them after months.
Question 3: The King had a peculiar habit. What was it? Why is it called peculiar?
Answer: The King had a different way of giving gifts to his children on their birthdays. Sometimes, he would give his children gifts instead of receiving them. One year, he gave all of the girls in the family green parrots in golden cages for their birthdays. It can be confusing to know when you are supposed to receive or give gifts, but that is how The King does it and that is what makes it unusual.
Question 4: (i) What was Princess September’s reaction to the loss of her parrot?
(ii) What was her mother’s reaction to it?
(iii) What do the reactions indicate about the nature and temperament of each?
Answer:
- Princess September locked her parrot in the golden cage that was given to her by her father. The bird soon died and she was sad. She cried a lot because she loved the bird very much. Even though they tried, the Maids of Honour could not make Princess September feel better about this terrible thing.
- Her mother said that Princess September’s crying was nonsense. She asked the maids to put the girl to sleep without any supper.
- We learn about Princess September. She is sensitive and kind-hearted. When her parrot died, she was sad. The Queen Mother didn’t seem to care about her daughter’s feelings or sadness when the parrot died, so she did nothing to comfort her daughter.
Question 5: What pulled the Princess out of her gloom?
Answer: The Princess was really sad and crying. She didn’t stop crying for a long time. Suddenly, a little bird came into the room and started singing songs. It made the Princess feel better and she stopped crying.
Question 6: How did the Maids of Honour come to know that the Princess and the bird had become intimate friends?
Answer: The next morning, when the Maids of Honor brought in Princess’s breakfast, they saw that she was in a good mood. They saw a bird eating rice from her hand and bathing in her saucer. After that, the little bird sang a beautiful song and the Princess thoroughly enjoyed it. Seeing this, they were convinced that she had become friends with the bird.
Question 7: The new bird was full of new songs but the old parrots always repeated themselves. What did they say?
Answer: The little bird sang different songs. The old parrots only knew two phrases. They would say the same thing over and over again when people asked them to.
Question 8: What is the King’s opinion about his Councillors? Why did he form that opinion?
Answer: The King saw the parrots say two phrases repeatedly – ‘God save the King’ and ‘Pretty Polly’ in seven different languages. This made him think about his Councillors who also repeated these same things, but they said them differently. The king thought this was very bad because it meant that they were all saying the same thing, but not giving completely different information.
Question 9: (i) The eight Princesses made an offer to Princess September. What was it?
(ii) Why, in your view, did they do it?
Answer:
- The eight princesses were jealous of Princess September’s singing bird. They wanted a green and yellow parrot, but didn’t have any money. So they all gave up some of their pocket-money to buy it for her.
- Princess September was the best at singing and she got a lot of praise. Princesses felt jealous and wanted to get a bird like hers. So they offered to contribute money to buy one.
Question 10: What did the sisters advise the Princess to do about her bird?
Answer: One day, Princess September got a singing bird. The sisters were jealous. They said that the bird would fly away if it got out of its cage.
Comprehension Check (Page 43)
Question 1: In the following sentence elaborate the parts given in bold. Under the circumstances it was a very unfortunate remark for the bird to make.
Answer: Under the circumstances – After her sisters talked to her about the little bird, Princess September was really worried. She is afraid that the bird might forget about them and start liking someone else and they would be sad.
A very unfortunate remark – A little bird returned. He said that he would not have come back that night at all if his father-in-law was giving a party and everyone wanted him to stay. The bird came back because he thought that the princess might be worried if he didn’t return on time.
Question 2: (i) What did Princess September do to ensure the safety of her pet?
(ii) How did the bird react to it?
Answer:
- Princess September put the little bird in a cage to keep her pet safe
- The bird was not happy when it was in a cage because it felt like he lost his freedom and could not sing or eat.
Question 3: Why did the bird refuse to be taken out in her cage?
Answer: The bird said that he loves nature and if he was trapped in a cage, he would not be able to enjoy the rice-fields, the lake, and the willow trees. When you are in a cage, they don’t look like they should.
Question 4: (i) What persuaded Princess September to give the bird his freedom again?
(ii) How did the bird react to it?
Answer:
- Princess September felt very sad when her little pet stopped singing and eating. This made the Princess let him go outside to enjoy his freedom where he would not be in a cage.
- The bird was happy when the Princess freed him. He stretched his wings and flew away to far lands. But he promised that he would come back and sing songs for her whenever she wanted.
Question 5: Princess September kept her window open day and night.
(i) How did it help the bird?
(ii) How did it help the Princess herself?
Answer:
- Princess September left her window open and a little bird came in and could fly out when he wanted.
- The Princess wanted fresh wind and natural light in her room. That is why she kept the window open day and night. She was able to see all the beautiful things that nature had to offer, like sunshine or rainbows.
Question 6: The eight sisters kept their windows shut. How did it affect them?
Answer: The eight sisters, who didn’t open their windows and grow tall and tall, were married to the King’s Councillors. They received a pound of tea and a Siamese cat each.
Exercise (Page 44)
Discuss the following questions in small groups. Write their answers later.
Question 1: Are the sisters unkind and cruel? Find evidence in the text to support your idea.
Answer: The eight sisters of the princess were unkind and cruel. They were jealous when they saw that Princess September’s little pet could sing so beautifully, which their parrots couldn’t. Therefore, they even offered their pocket-money to their young sister to buy her a green and yellow parrot. They advised her to keep the little bird in a cage so that he could never leave her. Princess September adhered to their advice and kept her little pet in a golden cage.
They convinced her to keep the bird in a cage. They said she needs to be tough with the bird and it will get used to staying inside. And if he dies, it is ok because he won’t come back and sing for her anymore anyway.
Question 2: Which, to you, is the most important idea in this story, and why?
- Importance of music
- Value of freedom
- Veauty of nature
Answer:
(ii) Value of freedom – Freedom is the most important idea in this story. It is a right for all living things, and nobody should be denied of it. In the story when the little bird was denied of freedom, it began losing its charm and creativity. It stopped eating and singing too. That means that life is best when you are free, not when you are in captivity. In a closed environment, any living thing will lose their charm and creativity.
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