Read the following passage and answer the questions given below:
There was once a king who was not content with what he had . He thought himself to be very ill. The court doctor was called, but could do nothing. Other doctors examined the king, and some said this, and some said that, and they gave him all kinds of medicines, But still the king said he felt o better.
At last one doctor came and said: ” There is only one cure for Your majesty; and that is to sleep one night in the shirt of a perfectly happy man.”
At once messengers were sent all over the kingdom to find a perfectly happy man. But they could not ding one, Everyone had something to complain of, and all had sorrows or worries, pain or bad health. The messengers were in despair. At last they came upon a poor beggar, sitting by the roadside and singing and laughing in his joy. They asked him if he was perfectly happy.
” Happy?’ laughed the merry beggar. ” I am happy as the day is long.”
” Then you are the very man we want”, they said. “The king needs your shirt, Will you lend it for a night? You will be paid well for it.”
“My shirt?’ shouted the beggar. He laughed aloud.
” Why are you laughing?’ the messengers asked.
“Why, I haven’t got a shirt!” replied the beggar. And he laughed louder.
Questions : 8 x 1 = 8 marks
- Do you think the king was really ill ?( 1mark )
- What was actually the matter with him? ( 1mark )
- What did the last doctor advise the king?
- Why couldn’t the messengers find a perfectly happy man?
- Why did the beggar laugh loud when he was asked to give his shirt?
- What do you think made the beggar perfectly happy?
- Find words in the story which mean : (a) satisfied ( 1mark ) (b) loss of hope( 1mark )
ANSWERS :
- No, the king was not really ill.
- The king was not content with what he had.
- The last doctor advised the king to sleep one night in the shirt of a perfectly happy man.
- The messengers couldn’t find a perfectly happy man because everyone had something to complain of, and all had sorrows or worries, pain or bad health.
- The beggar laughed loudly because he had no shirt.
- The beggar was poor and he had nothing to loose or worry about.
- (a) content (b) despair
Now retrieving an image set.