Gopal and the Hisa Fish Summary In English
Soul of the Chapter
The Season of Hilsa Fish and a Challenge to Gopal
It was the season for Hilsa fish and it was Hilsa that everyone was talking about. In the market fishmongers were selling only Hilsa fish luring customers to buy it. Even in the royal court, courtiers were talking about Hillsa.
This made the king lose his temper. He believed that no one could stop the people from talking about Hilsa fish not even Gopal who was the wisest man in his court. The king challenged Gopal to buy a huge Hilsa fish and bring it to the palace without anyone asking him about it. Gopal accepted the challenge.
Handing for the Challenge
After a few days, Gopal shaved beard from half of his face and smeared ash on himself. He wore rags and looked disgraceful. His wife was shocked and asked him not to leave home like this, but Gopal kept on telling her that he was going to buy a huge Hilsa fish. She thought Gopal had gone mad. At the market Gopal bought a huge Hilsa fish and started walking towards the palace. No one noticed the fish, but everyone was looking at Gopal walking strangely with his shabby clothes. People called him mystic and mad.
Gopal Won the Challenge
He went to meet the king but was stopped by the guards. He started dancing and singing loudly in front of the royal palace. The king ordered his guards to produce the man before him. Everyone in the court was shocked seeing Gopal dressed up like a mad. The king questioned Gopal about the reason for his weird attire. Gopal reminded the king about the challenge and told him that from the market to the royal palace, no one had asked him a single word about the Hilsa fish. The king burst into laughter and accepted that Gopal had done the impossible once more.
Question 1:
Why did the king want no more talk about the hilsa-fish?
Answer:
The king did not want any more talk about the hilsa-fish because it was the season for hilsa-fish and no one could stop talking about it for even five minutes. He was getting annoyed with all the talk about hilsa-fish.
Question 2:
What did the king ask Gopal to do to prove that he was clever?
Answer:
In order to prove that he was clever, Gopal was asked to buy a huge hilsa-fish and bring it to the palace without anyone asking anything about the fish.
Question 3:
What three things did Gopal do before he went to buy his hilsa-fish?
Answer:
Before he went to buy hilsa-fish, Gopal half-shaved his face, smeared himself with ash, and wore disgraceful rags.
Question 4:
How did Gopal get inside the palace to see the king after he had bought the fish?
Answer:
After he had bought the fish, Gopal reached the palace and told the guards that he wanted to see the king. When the guards did not let him in, he began to dance and sing loudly. When the king heard this, and also the comments of the people watching the man sing and dance, he asked for the man to be brought before him.
Question 5:
Explain why no one seemed to be interested in talking about the hilsa-fish which Gopal had bought.
Answer:
No one seemed to be interested in talking about the hilsa-fish which Gopal had brought because of Gopal’s ridiculous appearance. Some people found him comical, others thought he was a mad man, still others thought he was a mystic. They were so engrossed in discussing his appearance that the hilsa-fish went unnoticed.
Question 6:
Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against each of the following sentences.
(i) The king lost his temper easily.___________
(ii) Gopal was a mad man. ____________
(iii) Gopal was a clever man. _____________
(iv) Gopal was too poor to afford decent clothes. ____________
(v) The king got angry when he was shown to be wrong. _______________
Answer:
(i) True
(ii) False
He was just acting as a mad man so that people’s attention would be diverted from the hilsa-fish he was carrying.
(iii) True
(iv) False
He wore rags so that people would notice them, and not talk about the hilsa-fish.
(v) False
The king laughed and congratulated Gopal for achieving the impossible yet again.
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