Hello Friends
Today we will discuss the
second chapter of the Supplementary Reader “Vistas”
The Tiger King by Kalki Krishnamurthy
About the Author :
Kalki
Krishnamurthy (1899-1954) was a Tamil writer, journalist, poet, critic and
freedom fighter. He is best known by his pen name Kalki. His works comprise 120
short stories, 5 novels and 3 historical romances, editorial and political
writings, biographies & travelogues. Through his writings Kalki has the
magical power to transport the author to the times of the story.
Theme of “The Third
Level” By Jack Finney
The theme
of the chapter is to depict the whimsical mind and mad pursuits and hobbies of
the people those who are in power. The author takes us to the times of British
Rule in India when all the kings were under the thumb of the British Empire.
The story focuses on the whimsical vow of a king of Pratibandhpuram state to
prove false a prophecy made by the chief astrologer at the time of his birth
that his death would be caused by a tiger because he is born in the hour of the
bull, tiger and bull are enemies. The King suspended every other task till the
killing of the 100th tiger. He issued orders that nobody will throw
even a stone at a tiger. Only Maharaja can kill tigers in his state. He took
tiger hunting as a mission and thus completed 70 tiger hunts in 10 years. He
selected a native state with largest tiger population which has a princess in
the royal family to get married, so as to fulfill his ambition of hunting 100
tigers because his own state ran dry. He hunted all the tigers of his own state
and his father-in-law’s state as well.
Suddenly
he got news from a hillside village about the presence of a tiger. He exempted the
village from all taxes for 3 years. But when he could not find any tiger in the
forests of the hillside village he doubled the tax of the village in a rage
& fired so many employees from their job. The dewan arranged an old tiger
from the People’s Park of Madras and planted it in the forest near the King’s
presence. The tiger itself went to Maharaja and was shot by the King. Thus
Maharaja killed the 100th tiger, ordered to be brought in grand
procession to the capital and went away. But hunters checked and found the
tiger to be alive and shot it dead. So the tiger king killed 99 tigers, 100th
tiger was killed by the hunters.
After the
completion of his ambition the King celebrated the third birthday of his son.
He selected a cheaper wooden tiger as gift for him which was carved by an
unskilled carpenter. Next day a sliver pierced the Maharaja’s right hand when
he was playing with his son using that toy tiger. In 4 days infection flared in
his right hand and 3 doctors from Madras decided to operate. The doctors
operated upon him and declared that the operation was successful but the king
is dead. Thus the Nature took its revenge in form of the 100th
wooden tiger.
Important Characters :
1. The Tiger King
2. The Dewan
3. The Chief astrologer
Let's revise through a mindmap :
 |
| Download Chapter : The Tiger King |
|
Word |
Meaning |
|
Strategic withdrawal |
Marketing strategy in which a company withdraws from a particular market either to survive in the market or in view of its profitability. |
|
Stuka |
A type of german military aircraft much used in ww-ii |
|
Retreat |
Move back or withdraw. |
|
Hasty |
Hurriedly |
|
Imperative |
Urgent; essential |
|
Vital |
Essential |
|
Abode |
Residence |
|
Miracle |
Surprising and unexpected event |
|
Transfixed |
Unable to move being surprised and frightened |
|
Stupefaction |
Condition of being unable to think |
|
Wildly |
Uncontrolled |
|
Squeaky |
Making a very high sound or cry |
|
Incredible |
Impossible to believe |
|
Rather |
Quite; a slight degree |
|
Quake |
Show great fear |
|
Growl |
Rough sound usually in anger |
|
Hindsight |
Ability to understand an event after it had happened. |
|
Court of wards |
The court of wards was a legal body created by the east
india company and its purpose was to protect heirs and their estates when the
heir was deemed to be a minor and therefore incapable of acting
independently. |
|
Drawled |
Speak in a slow, lazy way |
|
Tuft |
Bunch of hair as a custom |
|
Incoherent |
Not logical or internally consistent. |
|
Proclamation |
Official announcement |
|
Fling |
Throw |
|
Confiscated |
Taken or seized with authority |
|
Vow |
Take oath |
|
Well set |
Firmly established; solidly fixed or arranged. |
|
Resolve |
Decision |
|
Carcass |
Dead body |
|
Relented |
Relaxed |
|
Prevent |
Stop from doing something |
|
Deliberations |
Discussion |
|
Extinct |
No longer in existence |
|
Harakiri |
Ritual suicide by disembowelment with a sword, formerly
practised in japan by samurai as an honourable alternative to disgrace or
execution. |
|
Brandishing |
Wave or flourish a weapon |
|
Shuddering |
Tremble with fear |
|
Adorned |
Make beautiful or attractive |
|
Fever pitch |
Extreme excitement |
|
Wary |
Cautious |
|
Gloom |
Depression |
|
Ascertained |
Find out for certain |
|
Wantonly |
In a deliberate and unprovoked way. |
|
Flout |
Openly disregard |
|
Obstinacy |
Refuse to change his mind |
|
Discontented |
Dissatisfied |
|
Catastrophic |
Extremely unfortunate |
|
Shoved |
Pushed |
|
Haul |
Pull or drag |
|
Supplication |
Action of asking or begging |
|
Crumpled |
Crushed to form creases and wrinkles. |
|
Elation |
Joy |
|
Procession |
The action of moving forward in an orderly way. |
|
Bafflement |
Confusion |
|
Carved |
Designed |
|
Slivers |
A small thin piece of wood |
|
Suppurating |
Undergo the formation of pus; fester. |
|
Sore |
Painful |
 |
| Download Mindmap PPT : The Tiger King |
Questions appeared in the Previous Years' CBSE Papers and sample answers :
Q. The manner of his (the Tiger King’s) death is a matter of
extraordinary interest. Comment. CBSE AI 2015-1 (3M)
vows to kill hundred tigers to ensure his longevity
as soon as he was born, astrologers
had foretold that one day the Tiger King would be killed by a tiger
Q. When was the Tiger King in danger of losing his throne ? CBSE
AI 2015-2 (3M)
– the Maharaja had annoyed a high-ranking British officer by refusing him permission to hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram
- not even allowed the officer photographed
with a dead tiger
Q. Why did the Tiger King decide to get married ? CBSE AI 2015-3
(3M), CBSE AI 2017-1 (3M)
Q. Which problem did the Maharaja face when he had killed seventy
tigers ? How did he solve it ? CBSE AI 2017-2 (3M)
Q. What considerations influenced the Tiger King to get married ?
CBSE 2018 (3M)
Q. How did the Tiger King’s marriage bring him closer to his target
? CBSE AI 2019 1-4-3 (3M)
Q. Why did the Maharaja decide to get married ? CBSE AI 2019 1-5-2
(3M)
The tiger
population at Pratibandapuram became extinct and he had killed 70 tigers /
wanted to marry a girl in the royal family of the state with a large tiger
population / had to fulfill his vow of killing 100 tigers
Q. When did the Maharaja decide to double the land tax for a
village ? CBSE AI 2017-3 (3M)
Q. Why did the Maharaja decide to double the land tax in a
hillside village ? CBSE AI 2019 1-5-1 (3M)
-Tiger King
was left with one more tiger to complete his target of hundred
- A tiger
reported near the hillside village
- Desperate
to kill but not able to find, the king got furious
- doubled
the land tax
Q. What made
the chief astrologer place his finger on his nose ? CBSE AI 2019 1-1-1 (3M)
Q. What
great miracle did the ten-day-old Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur perform ? How did it
affect the people who listened to him ? CBSE AI 2019 1-1-2 (3M)
- ten day
infant enunciated clearly
- raised
intelligent questions
- asked
about the manner of his death
- astrologer
was transfixed in stupefaction
(any two)
Q. How did
the Tiger King ‘manage to kill’ the hundredth tiger ? CBSE AI 2019 1-1-3 (3M)
Q. How was
the hundredth tiger made available to the king ? CBSE AI 2019 1-5-3 (3M)
- hundredth
tiger arranged by the Dewan
- king shot
at the tiger but missed the aim
- believed
he had killed the hundredth tiger
- hunters
realised that the tiger was not dead
- killed it
(any two)
Q. Who
actually killed the hundredth tiger in ‘The Tiger King’ ? Why ? CBSE AI 2019
1-4-1 (3M)
·
One of the hunters killed the tiger
·
King’s bulled missed the tiger.
(any
one)
·
Hunters could not dare to inform the king
·
Fear of losing jobs
·
Killed the tiger themselves
(any
one)
Q. The Tiger
King wanted to protect himself from a tiger attack. Describe the difficulties
created by him for his officials and subjects. CBSE AI 2019 1-3-1 (6M)
- Tiger
king- eccentric, whimsical, illogical
- minions
lived in fear of the king’s wrath/ afraid of losing their jobs/ obeyed out of
fear, not sincerity
-
intimidated the state astrologer and his dewan
- made dewan
look for a suitable bride from a kingdom having maximum tiger population
- fired many
officers and threatened dewan to resign from his post when the 100th tiger
could not be found
- Shopkeeper
didn’t quote the actual price of wooden tiger/ afraid of being punished under
the rules of emergency
(any other
relevant point) (any three value points)
Q. Describe
the efforts made by the Tiger King to achieve his target of killing a hundred
tigers. CBSE AI 2019 1-2-1 (6M)
- hunting of
tigers was banned except for the Maharaja
- had to pay
50 gold rings to the British officer
- after
extinction of all tigers in his kingdom–married in a royal family which boasted
of a larger tiger population
- A tiger
was brought from the people’s park in Madras for him to hunt.
Q. Why did
no one in Pratibandapuram experience any sorrow and anguish at the death of the
Tiger King ? CBSE AI 2019 1-4-2 (6M)
· A typical king reveling in his power and authority / very arrogant
· Conceited and blinded by power
· Concerned only to fulfill his own whims and wishes / selfish and self-centred
· No concern for the welfare of his state or its people
· King behaves like a dictator to fulfill his wish to kill 100 tigers / no love for animals
· Goes to extremes to achieve what he wants
· When happy, announces exemption from taxes; but when angry, doubles taxes, announces severe punishments
· His death brings belief to everyone
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