The tale of melon city class 11-[CBSE]-English lesson 8 detailed summary and word-meanings

The tale of melon city class 11 book, (snapshots) lesson-8

The tale of melon city by

(Vikram seth )

Introduction to the poem

it is a humorous poem which shows how stupid the king, the ministers and the people of a certain kingdom were, it was , in fact a kingdom of tools, the king got an arch constructed across the major roads of his kingdom, when he went riding through it has crown was knocked down, the king at once ordered the chief of the builders to be hanged, but the chief put blame on the workmen , the king ordered the workmen to be hanged, but the workmen put the blame on the masons, and the masons put the blame on the architect, but the architect, said that the king himself had made some changes in the original plan of the, arch, now the king got confused , he called the wisest man of the kingdom and asked for his suggestion, that old man said

that it was the arch that had banged off, the crown thus the real culprit was the arch and it ought to be hanged but then a councillor said that it would be a shame to hang the arch that had touched the king’s head the king saw that the people, had become restless, they had all gathered there to see that , hanging , so the king said that someone had to be hanged, the noose, was set up but it was somewhat , high, each man was measured by and by, but only the king was tall enough to fit the noose, therefore, it was the king that was hanged, at last, the ministers now declared that anyone who passed the city gate next, would choose the ruler of the asked, state It, happened to be an idiot, when he was asked who was to be people did not bother much about who or what their king was, they only wanted that they should be left to do whatever they, desired,

Detailed summary of the poem

A king ruled over, a city, he was a just king and was always, cool he ordered that a triumphal arch should be built across the major thoroughfare of his kingdom, the workmen, built the arch as desired by the king, but when the king rode through that arch, his crown hit against, it and was knocked down, at once a frown, appeared on the calm face of the king, he felt disgraced he ordered the chief of the builders to be hanged, the rope and the gallows were arranged for the hanging, but when the chief of the builders was being, led there he cried, out as he passed by the king” O king it was the workmen’s fault”

the king at once stopped the proceedings, and said, i must have all the workmen hanged instead ” on hearing this, the workmen were much surprised they said that it was not their fault, because the bricks had been made of the wrong size, so the masons were summoned, they stood trembling before, the king they said it was the architect’s fault, not theirs, when the architect was summoned, he said that the king himself had made certain, changes in the plan.

Now the king stood confused, he said that it was a tricky affair and he needed some counsel, so he ordered that the wisest man in his kingdom should be brought to him, they found a man who was so old that he could neither walk nor, see they thought he was the wisest and carried him to the king, the old man spoken in a trembling voice, he said that it was the arch that had banged the crown off, so it was the real culprit and deserved to be hanged, but when a councillor said that it would be shameful to hang a thing that had touched the king’s head, the king agreed with what the councillor had said, but the crowd had become restless by then, they had started grumbling because they had

gathered there to see the hanging, on seeing the mood of the crowd, the king trembled in fear, he said that the finer points related to guilt could be postponed but someone had to be hanged, immediately, so the noose was set up, It was a little high, each man was measured on after the other, there was only one ma that was tall enough to fit the noose, and that was the king himself, therefore , the king was hanged by his own orders,

the ministers were thankful that someone at last had been found to be hanged, or else the unruly crowd would have turned against the king, they shouted, long live the king the king is dead’ they didn’t understand what they said but were not worried much about, it being practical minded, they at once sent our messengers to proclaim in the same of the king that the next to pass the city gate would choose the ruler of the state, and the one choose by him would be enforced as the king with due ceremony,

word-meanings;

1. placid–शांत
2. proclaimed–घोषित
3. thoroughfare–रास्ता
4. edify–सिखाना
5. gallows–फांसी
6. disgrace–अपमान
7. proceedings–कार्यवाही-
8. summon–बुलाना
9. culprit–अपराधी
10. quavering–काँपना

Questions and answers:

Question:1 what did the king order to be built? what happened when it was built?

Answer: the king ordered that an arch should be built to span a major thoroughfare the workmen built it but it was too low, when the king rode under it his, crown struck against it and fell down,

Question;2 what did the chief builder say when the king ordered him to be hanged?

Answer: the chief builder said that it was not his fault that the arch had been made low, he said it was the fault of the workmen ,

Question:3 how was it that the king was hanged?

Answer: the king ordered that someone must be hanged to satisfy the crowd, A noose was set up but only the king was tall enough to reach, it so it was the king who was hanged by his own orders,

Question:4 how was a melon crowned as the king of the country?

Answer: the ministers decided that the first man to pass the city gate would choose the ruler of the state, this man happened to be an idiot, when he was asked , he said, A” melon thus” a melon was crowned as the king of the country,

Question:5 how , according to you, can peace and liberty be maintained in a state?

Answer: it is the duty of the rules to maintain peace and liberty in the state, there should be rule of the law, everybody should be equal before the law the rulers should be wise and just, there should be no exploitation of one class by the other,

Question:6 narrate the tale of melon city” in your own words,

Answer: A king got an arch constructed across the major road of the city, when he went riding through it, his crown hit against the arch and fell down, the king at once ordered the chief of the builders to be hanged , but the chief put the blame on the workmen, the king ordered the workmen to be hanged, but the workmen said that it was the fault of the masons, the masons put the blame on the architect, but the architect said that the king himself had made some changes in the plan of the arch, now the king was confused , he sent for the wisest man of the kingdom to ask for his advice, this man was too old to walk or see, he said that the real culprit was the arch and it must be hanged but a councillor said that it would be shameful to hang something that had touched the king’s head by now the crowd had become restless because they had gathered there, to see the hanging, so the king ordered that someone must , be hanged at once, a noose was set up but it was a little to high, each man was measured but only the king was tall enough to fit the noose, so the king was hanged by his own orders,

Question:7 what impression do you gather of a state where the king was just and placed”?

Answer: it was a kingdom of fools,no one in the state had sense, the king wanted to hang someone because his crown had hit against the arch and fallen down, the king wanted to consult a wise man, the ministers brought a man to the king he said that the real culprit was the arch and must be hanged, the king allows himself to be hanged because no other man is tall enough to fit the noose, the king is dead but the ministers make declarations in the name of the king an idiot says that a melon should be the ruler of the state, the ministers crown a melon and set it down on the throne, thus we see that it was truly a kingdom of all fools,