Unit 1 - The Raven and the Fox- Textual Notes

Let us discuss

1. Fill in the blanks by choosing the correct option.

(a) Stanza 1

(i) Mr Raven is a ______. (bird/frog)

(ii) The name of the fox is ____. (Raven/Reynard)

(iii) Mr Raven had _____ in his beak. (a piece of food/ a bunch of leaves)

Answers: i- bird, ii- Raven, iii- a piece of food

(b) Stanza 2

(i) The Fox calls the Raven a ____ bird. (foolish/good-looking)

(ii) The Fox asks the Raven to _____. (dance/sing)

(iii) The Raven and the Fox live in the ____. (trees/woods)

Answers: i- good-looking, ii- sing, iii- woods

(c) Stanza 3

(i) The Raven ____ that he croaked. (remembered/forgot)

(ii) The Raven opened its beak to ____. (eat/sing)

(iii) The ____ fell down. (food/Raven)

Answers: i- forgot, ii- eat, iii- food

(d) Stanza 4

(i) The Fox ____ at the Raven. (laughed/looked)

(ii) It is not ____ to be too proud of oneself. (wise/unwise)

(iii) The Raven learnt a ____. (lesson/teaching)

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.

perched – (d) sat on a branch

morsel – (a) a small piece of food

seek – (e) to look for something

pride – (c) feeling that you are better than others

eyed – (b) looked with interest at something

limb – (g) branch of a tree

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.

Answers : i- laughed, ii- wise, iii- 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.

(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

(ii) Why would the birds of the woods call the Raven ‘King’?

The Fox said that if the Raven could sing, his feathers were so beautiful that all the other birds would want him to be their King. The Fox was trying to trick the Raven with sweet words

(iii) Why does the Fox address the Raven as ‘Sir’?

The Fox calls the Raven "Sir" to make him feel important and special. This is part of the trick to get the Raven to open his mouth. The Fox uses respectful words to fool him.

(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?

The Raven opened his beak to sing. The Fox had said the Raven would be king if he could sing. The Raven was proud and wanted to show off his voice, even though it was a croak.

(ii) Complete the following with one word from the given lines.

Ans. Fox : clever : : Raven : proud

3. Why does the Raven forget that his voice is just a croak?

The Raven forgets his voice is a croak because the Fox's flattery makes him feel very proud. He believes the Fox's kind words and thinks he has a beautiful singing voice.

4. How does Reynard make the Raven sing?

Reynard makes the Raven sing by saying very nice things to him. He tells the Raven he is handsome and would be king if he could sing. This makes the Raven want to show off.

5. Why does Reynard say that pride is not wise?

Reynard says pride is not wise because the Raven's pride made him lose his food. The Raven was too proud to see the Fox's trick and acted foolishly.

6. Give one reason why the teaching is quite a surprise.

The teaching is a surprise because the Fox, who tricked the Raven, is the one giving the lesson. It's unexpected for the trickster to teach about being tricked.

7. Imagine someone praises you too much. How would you react?

If someone praised me too much, I would be a little careful. I would try to understand why they are saying so many nice things and if they really mean them, or if they want something from me.

Let us learn

1. Write the rhyming words from the poem. One has been done for you.

Stanza 1

(a) limb – him

(b) seek – beak

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. Now, pick another example of alliteration from Stanza 2. (see book for full question)

Ans. woods would (The birds of these woods would call you King.”)

3. Choose the correct opposites from the box given below and complete the table. There are two extra words that you will not need. (see the book for full question)

1. perched - flew

2. forgot - remembered

3. foolish - wise

4. pride - humility

5. laughed - cried

6. ignore - notice

7. glow - dim

The two extra words are happy and silly.

Use any four words from the table given above to make sentences of your own.

Remembered: I remembered to bring my umbrella to school today.

Foolish: It was foolish to try and carry all the books at once.

Pride: The lion walked with pride, showing off his strong mane.

Laughed: My friends and I laughed at the funny clown at the circus.

Ignore: It's not polite to ignore someone when they are talking to you.

Glow: The fireflies began to glow as the sun went down.

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)

Let us listen (refer to page 18)

THE RAVEN AND THE FOX

Dear students, the crow felt really sad because the fox cheated him. In the quiet night, the crow thought and said to himself, “I was fooled by kind words, but I’ve learned something important. Even if I don’t have beautiful feathers, I’m smart.”

To share his wisdom, he decided to go on a journey. He wanted to tell all the other animals to be careful with words. He told them, “Do not let pride lose what you have.”

(a) The crow was unhappy that he lost his food.

(b) The crow thought that his lovely feathers made him smart.

Answers:

(a) True

(b) False

Let us write

Now, write the story you narrated in the form of a conversation.

One day, a Raven was sitting in a tree with a tasty piece of food in his beak. A clever Fox walked by and saw the Raven.

Fox: (Looking up at the Raven) Good day, Mr. Raven! You look very handsome today. Your feathers are so shiny and black!

Raven: (Doesn't say anything, just looks at the Fox)

Fox: I imagine your voice is as beautiful as you are. If you would sing for me, I'm sure all the birds would agree you should be their king!

Raven: (Flattered by the Fox's words, the Raven opens his beak to sing a song.)

Narrator: As the Raven opened his mouth, the food fell from his beak. The Fox quickly snatched it up.

Fox: (Laughing) Ha ha! Thank you, Mr. Raven! You have a lovely voice...and I have a lovely snack!

Raven: (Realizes he has been tricked, feels very foolish and sad.)

(The Fox ran off, leaving the Raven to think about what had happened.)

Raven: (To himself) I was tricked by those kind words. I was so foolish to believe him. But I have learned a valuable lesson.

(From that day on, the Raven was much more careful about flattery. He decided to share his newfound wisdom with the other animals.)

Raven: (To the other animals) My friends, I have learned that you should not let pride make you lose what is valuable. Be careful with flattery, and don't let sweet words trick you.