In the Kingdom of Fools NCERT Solutions, Summary & Word Meanings Class 9 PDF
Subject: English (Moments) | Chapter: 4 | Author: A.K. Ramanujan (Kannada Folktale)
📥 Download Notes PDF 📢 Join Telegram📖 Chapter Summary: In the Kingdom of Fools
"In the Kingdom of Fools" is a famous Kannada folktale that highlights the dangers of being ruled by foolish people. In this kingdom, the king and his minister were complete idiots. To be different from other kings, they ordered that night should be considered day and day should be considered night. Everyone had to sleep during the day and work only after dark. Furthermore, everything in the market cost exactly the same—a single dudu (local currency), whether it was a measure of rice or a bunch of bananas.
One day, a wise Guru and his disciple arrived in the city. The Guru quickly realized that this was a kingdom of fools and decided it was unsafe to stay. He warned his disciple, but the disciple, being a foodie, was tempted by the extremely cheap food and decided to stay behind. The Guru left, warning him that fools are unpredictable.
Months passed, and the disciple grew as fat as a street-side sacred bull. Meanwhile, a thief broke into a rich merchant's house by making a hole in the wall. While the thief was escaping with the loot, the weak wall collapsed and killed him. The thief's brother demanded justice from the foolish king. What followed was a hilarious and absurd chain of blame: the merchant blamed the bricklayer, the bricklayer blamed a dancing girl, the dancing girl blamed a goldsmith, and the goldsmith blamed the merchant's dead father. Since the father was dead, the foolish king ordered the merchant to be executed in his place.
A new stake was built for the execution, but the merchant was too thin to fit it. The king casually ordered his men to find a fat man who would fit the stake. They found the fat disciple. Realizing his Guru was right, the terrified disciple prayed for help. The Guru arrived magically through his visions and devised a clever plan. He and the disciple started fighting over who should be executed first. The Guru tricked the foolish king by telling him that whoever died first on this "stake of the god of justice" would be reborn as the king in the next life, and the second would be the minister.
Greedy for power in their next lives, the foolish king and his minister secretly took the place of the Guru and disciple and were executed at night. The people of the kingdom then begged the Guru and disciple to become their new king and minister. They agreed, on the condition that they could change all the old, foolish laws.
📚 Part 1: NCERT Solutions (Textbook Questions)
Q1: What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?
Ans: The two strange things they found were:
1. The people slept during the day and did all their work (farming, businesses) only at night. Even the cattle were taught to sleep by day.
2. Everything in the market cost the exact same amount—a single dudu—whether one bought a huge measure of rice or a bunch of bananas.
Q2: Why does the disciple decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?
Ans: The disciple decides to stay because everything was incredibly cheap, and all he wanted was good, cheap food.
No, it was not a good idea. The Guru rightly warned him that living among fools is dangerous because their unpredictable and illogical behavior could pose a threat to his life at any time.
Q3: Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.
Ans:
1. The Merchant: Blamed because the thief died when the wall of his house collapsed.
2. The Bricklayer: Blamed by the merchant for building a weak wall.
3. The Dancing Girl: Blamed by the bricklayer for distracting him with her jingling anklets while he was building the wall.
4. The Goldsmith: Blamed by the dancing girl for delaying her jewelry, which made her walk up and down the street.
5. The Merchant (again): Blamed by the goldsmith because he was busy completing a large order for the merchant's wealthy father, which caused the delay.
Q4: Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?
Ans: According to the foolish king, the real culprit was the merchant's dead father. However, since the father was dead, the king decided the merchant must be punished in his place. The merchant escapes punishment because he was too thin to fit the newly made execution stake properly.
Q5: What are the Guru’s words of wisdom? When does the disciple remember them?
Ans: The Guru’s words of wisdom were: "They are all fools. This won't last very long, and you can't tell what they'll do to you next."
The disciple remembered these words when he was arrested by the king's men simply because he was fat enough to fit the execution stake. He realized that his life was in danger because of the illogical rules of the fools.
Q6: How does the guru manage to save his disciple’s life?
Ans: The Guru managed to save his disciple by using his wisdom to trick the foolish king. He arrived and started a fake fight with the disciple over who should be executed first. When the king asked for the reason, the Guru told him that the stake was the "stake of the god of justice," and whoever died on it first would be reborn as the king of that country. The second would be reborn as the minister. The greedy and foolish king and minister executed themselves secretly at night to secure their positions in the next life, thus saving the disciple.
⚡ Part 2: Extra Practice Questions
Q7: Why did the thief’s brother complain to the king?
Ans: The thief's brother complained to the king that while his brother was pursuing his "ancient trade" (looting), the merchant's wall fell on him and killed him. He foolishly demanded compensation and justice from the merchant for not building a strong wall.
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Q: What was the local currency of the Kingdom of Fools called?
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🔤 Important Word Meanings
- 1. Dudu (n): A local Kannada term for an ancient coin or unit of money.
- 2. Stake (n): A strong wooden post with a point at one end, used in the past for execution (Sooli).
- 3. Scrape (n): A difficult or embarrassing situation (Musibat).
- 4. Ascetic (adj/n): Characterized by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons (Sanyasi).
- 5. Bailiff (n): An official in a court of law who keeps order, looks after prisoners, etc. (Court ka aadesh palan karne wala).
- 6. Executed (v): Put to death as a legal punishment (Faansi/Saza-e-maut dena).