NCERT Solutions for The Ant and the Cricket(Poem) Class 8 Honeydew English
Book Solutions1
The cricket says, "Oh! What will become of me?"
When does he say it, and why?
Answer
The cricket said the given line when it found that its
cupboard was empty and winter had arrived. It could not find a single crumb to
eat on the snow covered ground and there were no flowers or leaves on the tree.
It wondered what would become of it because it was getting cold and since there
was nothing to eat, it would starve and die.
2
(i) Find in the poem the lines that mean the same as
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be" (Shakespeare).
(ii) What is your opinion of the ant’s principles?
Answer
(i) The lines in the poem that mean the same as “Neither a
borrower nor a lender be” are 'But we ants never borrow; we ants never lend.'
(ii) I agree with what the ant says first that one should save
something for the future so that he does not need to borrow or lend. Maybe he
knows the cricket very well that he was a lazybones and does not work. But I
don’t agree with the ant’s principle what he told later. If he says he is a
friend of cricket then he should also help the cricket at the time of distress.
On the other hand I believe that a friend in need is a friend indeed.
3
The ant tells the cricket to "dance the winter
away". Do you think the word 'dance' is appropriate here? If so, why?
Answer
The ant told the cricket to“ dance the winter away” because when
it asked the cricket what it did in the summers and why it had not stored any
food for summers, the cricket answered that it sang through the warm and sunny months
of summers. Therefore, in reply to this ,the ant asked the cricket to “dance” the
winter away just like it “sang” all through the summers and did not bother to
store food for winters. The word 'dance' is appropriate to use here for a
careless, irresponsible person like the cricket who is least bothered of the
rainy day and keeps enjoying his life.
4
(i) Which lines in the poem express the poet's comment?
Read them aloud.
(ii) Write the comment in your own words.
Answer
(i) The lines in the poem that express the poet's comment are
“Folks call this a fable .I'll warrant it true.”
(ii) This comment by the poet means that this poem is indeed
a fable as it had a moral behind it. The cricket did not have anything to eat
during the winters because it did not bother to store some food during summers.
It was negligent and sang all through the summers. The ant, on the other hand, had
built an ice home for itself and had stored food so that it would not starve
during winters. It worked hard during summers to achieve this. Thus, the moral
of the poem is to be prepared for the adverse times and always work hard
instead of being negligent. Or else face the consequence like the cricket.