“THE RAVEN AND THE FOX” is a lesson from the Textbook“POORVI“ approved by NCERT for the Students of Class 6. Here all the Textual Questions are answered by English teachers.
Let us do these activities before we read.
1. We know that frogs croak. Did you know that ravens also croak?
Answer: Yes, I know this fact about Ravens, as crows also croak.
2. Which animal is shown to be cunning in stories? Circle the correct answer.
(a) tiger (b) fox (c) bear
Answer: (b) fox.
Let us discuss
1. Fill in the blanks by choosing the correct option.
(a) Stanza 1
(i) Mr Raven is a ___________ . (bird/frog)
Answer: Mr Raven is a bird.
(ii) The name of the fox is ____________. (Raven/Reynard)
Answer: The name of the fox is Reynard.
(iii) Mr Raven had ____________ in his beak. (a piece of food/ a bunch of leaves)
Answer: Mr Raven had a piece of food in his beak.
(b) Stanza 2
(i) The fox calls the Raven a ____________ bird. (foolish/good-looking)
Answer: The fox calls the Raven a good-looking bird.
(ii) The fox asks the Raven to ___________. (dance/sing)
Answer: The fox asks the Raven to sing.
(iii) The Raven and the Fox live in the __________. (trees/woods)
Answer: The Raven and the Fox live in the woods.
(c) Stanza 3
(i) The Raven ____________ that he croaked. (remembered/forgot)
Answer: The Raven forgot that he croaked.
(ii) The Raven opened its beak to __________.
(eat/sing)
Answer: The Raven opened its beak to sing.
(iii) The __________ fell down. (food/Raven)
Answer: The food fell down.
(d) Stanza 4
(i) The Fox __________ at the Raven. (laughed looked)
Answer: The Fox laughed at the Raven.
(ii) It is not ___________ to be too proud of oneself. (wise/unwise)
Answer: It is not wise to be too proud of oneself.
(iii) The Raven learnt a __________ . (lesson/teaching)
Answer: The Raven learnt a lesson.
2. Read the poem again and match the words in Column A with their meanings in Column B. Check your answers with your teacher and your classmates.
| Column A | Column B |
| 1. perched | (a) a small piece of food |
| 2. morsel | (b) looked with interest at something |
| 3. seek | (c) feeling that you are better than others |
| 4. pride | (d) sat on a branch |
| 5. eyed | (e) to look for something |
| 6. limb | (f) a smaller area of forest with similar kind of trees |
| 7. woods | (g) branch of a tree |
Answer:
| Column A | Column B |
| 1. perched | (d) sat on a branch |
| 2. morsel | (a) a small piece of food |
| 3. seek | (e) to look for something |
| 4. pride | (c) feeling that you are better than others |
| 5. eyed | (b) looked with interest at something |
| 6. limb | (g) branch of a tree |
| 7. woods | (f) a smaller area of forest with similar kind of trees |
Let us think and reflect
1. Look at the pictures and number them in the order that they happen in the poem.
Answer:
2. Read the following lines and answer the questions that follow.
(a) Sir Raven, you are a handsome bird. Such feathers! If you would only sing, The birds of these woods would call you King.
(i) ‘Such feathers’ refer to ____________ feathers.
a. shiny and beautiful
b. black and dull
c. grey and long
d. short and unattractive
Answer: ‘Such feathers’ refer to shiny and beautiful feathers.
(ii) Why would the birds of the woods call the Raven ‘King’?
Answer: The birds would call the Raven as ‘King’ if he sang.
(iii) Why does the Fox address the Raven as ‘Sir’?
Answer: The fox addressed the Raven as ‘Sir’ out of flattery only.
(b) The Raven, who did not see the joke, Forgot that his voice was just a croak. He opened his beak, in his foolish pride-
(i) Why did the Raven open his beak?
Answer: Raven opened his beak to sing as the Fox flattered him.
(ii) Complete the following with one word from the given lines.
Fox: clever :: Raven: ______________
Answer: Fox: clever :: Raven: foolish.
3. Why does the Raven forget that his voice is just a croak?
Answer: The Raven forgets that his voice is just a croak because he is flattered by the Fox’s words and becomes proud.
4. How does Reynard make the Raven sing?
Answer: Reynard makes the Raven sing by flattering him and telling him that he is handsome and would be the King of the birds if he could sing.
5. Why does Reynard say that pride is not wise?
Answer: Reynard says that pride is not wise because it led the Raven to foolishly open his beak and lose his food.
6. Give one reason why the teaching is quite a surprise.
Answer: The teaching is quite a surprise because the Raven did not expect to be tricked by the Fox’s compliments and lose his food.
7. Imagine someone praises you too much. How would you react?
Answer: If someone praises me too much, I would be cautious and evaluate whether their praise is genuine or if they have an ulterior motive.
Let us learn
1. Write the rhyming words from the poem. One has been done for you.
Answer:
Stanza 1
(a) limb-him
(b) Beak – seek
Stanza 2
(a) word-bird
(b) Sing – king
Stanza 3
(a) joke– croak
(b) Pride – eyed
Stanza 4
(a) know– glow
(b) Unwise – surprise
2. Study the underlined words in the poem.
(a) For the Raven held in his great big beak. The words ‘big’ and ‘beak’ begin with the same /b/ sound.
(b) The song of sweet birds.
Alliteration is a repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. When two or more words together, begin with the same sound, it is called alliteration.
Now, pick another example of alliteration from Stanza 2.
Answer: Woods would
3. Choose the correct opposites from the box given below and complete the table. There are two extra words that you will not need.
| wise | happy | humility | flew | remembered |
| notice | dim | cried | silly |
| Words | Opposites |
| 1. perched | |
| 2. forgot | |
| 3. foolish | |
| 4. pride | |
| 5. laughed | |
| 6. ignore | |
| 7. glow |
Answer:
| Words | Opposites |
| 1. perched | flew |
| 2. forgot | remembered |
| 3. foolish | wise |
| 4. pride | humility |
| 5. laughed | cried |
| 6. ignore | notice |
| 7. glow | dim |
Use any four words from the table given above to make sentences of your own.
Answer:
- Perched: The crow perched on a branch.
- Forgot: I forgot to do my homework.
- Foolish: He felt foolish wearing such a silly hat
- Pride: He takes pride in his work.
Let us listen
You will listen to what the crow did after he lost his food. As you listen, mark the given statements as True or False. (refer to page 37 for transcript)
(a) The crow was unhappy that he lost his food. [ ]
Answer: The crow was unhappy that he lost his food.[ True ]
(b) The crow thought that his lovely feathers made him smart. [ ]
Answer: The crow thought that his lovely feathers made him smart.[ False ]
(c) The crow wanted to tell his friends not to be proud. [ ]
Answer: The crow wanted to tell his friends not to be proud.[ True ]
Let us speak
Narrate the poem in the form of a story. Give a different ending to the story. You may begin like this:
This is a story about a clever fox named Reynard and Mr Raven. One day…
Answer:
This is a story about a clever fox named Reynard and Mr. Raven. One day, Mr. Raven was perched upon a limb of a tree, holding a tasty morsel in his great big beak. Reynard the Fox, always on the lookout for an easy meal, looked up at Mr. Raven and decided to use his wits to get the morsel.
“Sir Raven, you are a handsome bird,” said Reynard in admiring tones. “Such feathers! If you would only sing, the birds of these woods would call you King.”
Flattered by the fox’s words and eager to show off, Mr. Raven forgot that his voice was just a croak. He opened his beak in his foolish pride and down fell the morsel that Reynard had been eyeing. The fox quickly snapped it up and laughed. “Ha-ha! And now you know, ignore sweet words that make you glow. Pride, my friend, is rather unwise; I’m sure this teaching is quite a surprise.”
However, this time, the story takes a different turn. Instead of sulking in embarrassment, Mr. Raven realized his mistake and decided to act differently. He flew down to Reynard and said, “You may have tricked me once, Reynard, but it won’t happen again. How about we share the food instead?”
Reynard, surprised by Mr. Raven’s unexpected reaction, thought for a moment and then agreed. “Very well, Mr. Raven. Let’s share the food.”
From that day on, Mr. Raven and Reynard became unlikely friends. They learned to share and look out for each other, understanding that cleverness and kindness can go hand in hand. Mr. Raven also became wiser and never let pride cloud his judgment again.
Let us write
Now, write the story you narrated in the form of a conversation. (Remember to write only the actions for the Raven as he has food in his mouth and does not speak.) You may begin like this.
Reynard: Good morning, Mr Raven! You seem to be awake so early! (Mr Raven just nods his head)
Reynard: Oh, Mr Raven, you look…
Answer:
Reynard: Good morning, Mr Raven! You seem to be awake so early!
(Mr Raven just nods his head)
Reynard: Oh, Mr Raven, you look so handsome today with your shiny feathers! If only you could sing, you would be the King of all birds.
(Mr Raven, flattered, opens his beak to sing)
(The food falls down, and Reynard grabs it)
Reynard: Ha-ha! You see, Mr Raven, pride is not wise. You should not have been so proud and opened your beak.
(Mr Raven looks ashamed and flies away)