Chapter 1 The Ant and The Cricket Poem
Question and Answers
Class 8 – English – Honeydew
| Class | Class 8 |
| Subject | English |
| Book Name | Honeydew |
| Chapter Name | The Ant and The Cricket Poem |
| Category | Class 8 English NCERT Solutions |
Working with the Poem
Question 1. The cricket says, “Oh! what will become of me?” When does he say it, and why?
Answer The cricket speaks these words on the arrival of winter. He says so because he finds that there is no food for him in his house. The cupboards were empty and he could not find even a single crumb to eat. He felt that he would starve and die since nothing could be found to eat.
Question 2. (i) Find in the poem the lines that mean the same as “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” (Shakespeare).
Answer (i) The line is: “We ants never borrow; we ants never lend.”
(ii) What is your opinion of the ant’s principles?
(ii) From the ant’s principle we have learnt that we should save enough for the future so that we might not need to borrow or lend from anyone in tough times. We should work hard at right time and make the best utilisation of time and resources. Although Ant’s principle was right but I totally don’t agree with it. The ant called itself to be a friend of cricket but instead of helping cricket in difficult times, ant started teaching him about saving and all.
Question 3. The ant tells the cricket to “dance the winter away”. Do you think the word ‘dance’ is appropriate here? If so, why?
Answer Yes, the word ‘dance’ is appropriate here. It is so because the cricket had spoken of his love for singing. Singing and dancing go together. The cricket sang through the warm sunny summers and didn’t store food for winters. The ant said this word in a sarcastic way on cricket’s careless behaviour. In summers, instead of storing food, cricket just danced and sang.
Question 4) (i) Which lines in the poem express the poet’s comment? Read them aloud.
Answer (i) The lines are: “Folks call this a fable; I’ll warrant it true. Some crickets have four legs, and some have two.”
(ii) Write the comment in your own words.
(ii) The poet tells his readers that it is a fable but he believes that it is a true since he likes the lesson that story taught. There are people in this world who spend all their earnings and do not save anything for the future. In the moments of crisis or in their old age they come to grief. They find they have no money to depend upon. Such people, says the poet, are like the cricket of the story. In this story, the cricket is the one who has a very carefree nature and believes in making merry and dancing when the sun is shining bright during the summer season. He was so engrossed with dancing and singing that he didn’t save anything for the cold season. On the other hand, the ant used to work hard every day during the summer and saved enough grains for the future so that she has enough food stock to survive the freezing cold winter season.
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