English Question and Answer (unit)

I think the most important idea in this story is the value of the freedom. The little bird could not even sing when he was put in a cage. Thus freedom is the fundamental need of all living creatures.

Of course, the sisters are unkind and cruel. They advised their sister, Princess September, to put the little bird in a cage. They also did so out of jealousy because the bird sang so well. The eight Princesses did not mind if the bird died in the cage.

The eight sisters kept their windows shut off. So, they did not get the required fresh air and grew extremely ugly as well as disagreeable. Consequently, they were married off to the King’s Councillors in an ordinary manner.

The bird refused to be taken out in the cage. He did not want to be a prisonner in the cage. He wanted full freedom. The bird felt that the rice-fields, the lake and the willow trees look quite different when you see them from the cage.

The little bird had gone to his father-in-law. In the meantime the Princess’s eight sisters insisted her that the bird should be kept in the golden cage. When the bird came back he said that “I very nearly didn’t come back tonight at all.” So, under these remarks, the bird should not have made this remark. It made the Princess to think that she should no more take any risk. So, she confined the bird to the cage. This remark turned to be unfortunate for the little bird.

The sisters wanted that Princess September should put her new bird in the cage and not let him fly with full freedom.

The King was fed up of hearing the same song “God save the king” because it reminded him “too much” of his Councillors. The parrots could sing this song in seven different Asian languages. The king thought that the Councillors say the same thing in seven different ways and it never means anything in any way they say it. Thus the king does not seem to have a very high opinion about his Councillors.

The new bird sang different songs of the king’s lake and goldfish etc. But the old parrots repeated the same song “God save the king” and “Pretty Polly again and again. However, the parrots could sing it in seven Asian languages.

The Maids of Honour advised the Princess to get a new parrot and put it in a cage. But Princess September did not pay any heed to their advice. She liked the new bird, who sang sweet songs for her. She felt very sad when the little bird had gone out to his father-in-law’s house. But she welcomed him when he came back. She even freed him from the cage as she loved him. This was enough for the Maids of Honour to know that the Princess and the bird had become intimate friends.

The Princess September was greatly shocked at her parrot’s death. She cried, wept and swooned. When she came to senses she found a little bird flying about in her room. The bird was singing beautifully. On hearing the song, her sadness disappeared. Thus it was the little singing bird that pulled her out of her gloom.

The king had a strange habit of giving gifts to the people who would come to congratulate him on his birthday. This habit is called peculiar because usually people receive gifts on their birthdays instead of giving these.

The queen had expressed her inability to remember the names of her nine daughters. She thought that she would be confused to do so. That is why the king decided to name them after the months of the year starting from January. This way they could also judge as to who is the elder one and who is the younger one.

The royal couple had nine daughters.