1. Write a few adjectives that describe the King, and his council of ministers in the box provided below:
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2. "But how can we live, if denied
The dust from your feet sanctified?"
Or
"The King couldn't breathe,
For the dust from the street
Was driven right into his rooms"
a) Explain the chain of events that led up to the king being unable to breathe.
= One day King Hobu thought that why his feet become cover with dust when he keeps his feet on the street. He ordered his Minister and courtiers to solve this problem as early as possible. Unless he will punish the Minister with death sentence. The Minister and his family got into big trouble. They forgot eating and sleeping. The Minister wanted to beguile the King by saying that they can not live without the holy dust of the feet of the King. But the King did not listen to him and stayed rigid on his demand.
The King accused the Minister of drawing good salary but not doing their duty properly. He also threatened the scientists of his court. Then the Minister called all the wise men and mechanics from near and far of his country. All of them sat on a meeting and consumed nineteen barrels of snuff. At the end of the meeting they suggested to make the earth dust-free. But some denied as they can not grow crops without dust. After some more discussion, they bought millions of brooms and began sweeping the dust. Then the country became full of dust. Even dust filled the room of the King and he could not breathe.
b) Why was so much of dust being raised?
= The Minister with all wise men and mechanics had decided to buy millions of brooms and they started sweeping the dust of the kingdom. This raised so much of dust.
c) Did this method provide a solution to the King's problem? Why?
= This method did not provide a solution to the King's problem. Rather his kingdom covered with dust. The dust even filled the room of the king and he could not breathe.
To settle down the dust two million water men came and they drained water from all the water bodies of the kingdom and poured water on land. The aquatic animals died of the lack of water and the land animal started to swim because of extra water on land. People got fever, cough and cold and sneezing. And the step to make the kingdom dust-free failed. Rather it created new problems.
3. "The King couldn't breathe,
For the dust from the street
Was driven right into his rooms".
a) Name the speaker.
= The speaker is the poet of the poem Rabindranath Tagore.
b) Can you guess the speaker's mindset?
= The speaker is very humorous and tells the whole story in a witty way. This not only presents the failure of King Hobu's governance but also represents the fake system of the contemporary and present society.
c) What do these lines tell you about the King's style of governance?
= The King is idle in both his mind and action. He is completely depended upon his Minister and countries. He gets into more trouble as he lacks the activeness of his own mind. He does not have a stable mind. He used to take whimsical decisions.
4. What were the different methods used by the wise men of the land to find a cure for the King's problem? What more serious problems did these solutions eventually create?
= First of all the wise men of the land decided to buy millions of brooms and sweep the kingdom. The kingdom was filled with dust. Dust raised high up the sky. Even dust filled the room of the king and he couldn't breathe. Then the wise men called two million water men to settle dust down. They emptied all the water bodies of the country and over drowned the land.
The animals of water died because of the lack of water and the land animals got fever, cough, cold and sneezing. Then the wise men decided to cover the earth with mats. One man suggested to keep the king in a tight closed room so that dust can't enter the room and touch the King. But the King can not govern his kingdom being in a shut room.
Ultimately they decided to wrap the earth with leather. They started to get a skilled leatherman and sufficient amount of hides. But they failed.
5. Spend a little time and think about Minister Gobu and the leathermen's chief. Do you think they are similar people? Justify your answer.
= Minister Gobu and the leathermen's chief are poles apart in their thinking and activities. The Minister lost his mental stability after getting the King's order. On the other hand, the leathermen's chief was a cool headed man.
He got an idea in a short while to solve the King's problem. And he succeeded to make the King happy after covering his feet with leather instead of covering the whole earth. At the end, the Minister was not accepting his fault but he demanded that it was merely his ides and the leathermen's chief stole the same.