Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below:
There was once a brave knight. He was
captured by the king for his act of teachery to the kingdom and thrown into a
prison to die. A nightingale would come, sit on the window of the prison and
cheered the knight with her sweet melody. Out of gratitude the knight would feed
her with some from his scanty food. This made her a pet. He used to talk to her
as if she were a human being. One day he said, “Ah sweet bird! If only you
could help me to escape!”
The nightingale at once flew away and did not
return for three days. This made the knight anxious of her life. But on the
night of th third-day the nightingale flew back to the dark prison carrying in
her beak a piece of stone. The knight took the stone and by accident touched
the fetters with it. Great was his astonishment and delight when the fetters
fell off. He then went to the prison door, and the door opened when he touched
that with his magic stone. The knight thus managed to escape to his native
country, the nightingale followed him. There the knight showed his gratitude to
his saviour by building her a golden cage, with an open door, in the garden of
his castle.
Questions:
(a) Why was the knight prisoned?
(b) How did the nightingale cheer him up?
(c) What did the knight do in return?
(d) What did he say to the nightingale?
(e) What did the nightingale do for the knight?
(f) How did the knight escape from the prison?
(g) How did the knight show his gratitude to
the nightingale.
(h) Give the opposites of: — Scanty, native.
(i) Pick out a word which means ‘chains’.
(j) Pick out a word which means
‘gratefulness.’
