NCERT Solutions Class 8, English, Honeydew, Poem, Chapter- 1, The Ant and the Cricket.
Working with the poem
1. The cricket says, “Oh! what will become of me?” When does he say it, and why?
Solution:
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).
Solution:
The lines in the poem that means the same as “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” are ‘But we ants never borrow; we ants never lend.’
(ii) What is your opinion of the ant’s principles?
Solution:
Ant's principles are completely right. Those who do not think ahead can never succeed in life. And if they are helped again and again they will never learn a lesson.
Ant's are having the ability to foresee and that is why they save for the future. They do not borrow from anybody and even do not lend to anyone.
3. The ant tells the cricket to “dance the winter away”. Do you think the word ‘dance’ is appropriate here? If so, why?
Solution:
The word ‘dance’ here means ‘merry making and wasting time.’ It is appropriate here. The irresponsible cricket does not deserve any sympathy.
4. (i) Which lines in the poem express the poet's comment? Read them aloud.
Solution:
The lines in the poem that express the poet's comment are “Folks call this a fable. I'll warrant it true.”
(ii) Write the comment in your own words.
Solution:
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 a nice 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.