Gujarat Board GSEB Class 10 English Textbook Solutions First Flight Poem 10 The Tale of Custard the Dragon Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers, Notes Pdf.
Gujarat Board Textbook Solutions Class 10 English First Flight Poem 10 The Tale of Custard the Dragon
GSEB Class 10 English The Tale of Custard the Dragon Text Book Questions and Answers
Thinking about the Poem
Question 1.
Who are the characters in this poem ? List them with their pet names.
Answer:
The characters in this poem are Belinda, a little black kitten, a little grey mouse, a little yellow dog, a little pet dragon and a pirate. The kitten being black is known as s Ink, the mouse being tiny as Blink, the dog being yellow as Mustard, and the dragon being cowardly, as Custard. Custard was a full-grown dragon and could easily defend himself.
Question 2.
Why did Custard cry for a nice, safe cage ? Why is the dragon called a ‘cowardly dragon’? (August 20)
Answer:
Custard cried for a nice, safe cage because it was a coward. It is called a ‘cowardly dragon’ because everybody else in the house was brave. Belinda was as brave as a barrel of bears. Ink and Blink sire described as so s brave that they could chase lions down the ? stairs and Mustard was as brave as a tiger in rage. Compared to them, Custard cried asking for a nice and safe cage, which is why it is called a coward.
Question 3.
‘Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful………..’ Why?
Answer:
Belinda tickled the dragon unmercifully because it was very scared and cried for a safe cage. They all laughed at it as it was a coward.
Question 4.
The poet has employed many poetic devices in the poem. For example, “Clashed his tail like irons in a dungeon”- the poetic device here is a simile. Can you, with your partner, list some more such poetic devices used in the poem ?
Answer:
In the entire poem, the poet has made extensive use of similes. Apart from simile, another poetic device that has been used is repetition. For example, the repetitive use of the word ‘little’ in the first stanza to emphasise how everything from the house to Belinda to her pets were all little. Also, in the seventh stanza, the poet has made use of incorrect s spelling as a poetic device to maintain the rhyme scheme of the poem.
He has chosen to write ‘winda’ instead of ‘window’ as ‘winda’ s rhymes with ‘Belinda’, whereas ‘window’ does not. He has also used alliteration in the poem. For example, in the tenth stanza, ‘Custard’ has ‘clashed’ his tail with a ‘clatter’ and a ‘clank’. Similarly, in stanza eleven, the pirate ‘gaped’ at the dragon and ‘gulped’ some ‘grog’.
Question 5.
Read stanza three again to know ? how the poet describes the appearance of Custard the dragon.
Answer:
Custard was a full-grown dragon and s could easily defend himself against any danger. He could do so as he had sharp teeth, spikes on his back, scales Beneath his belly and daggerlike toes. He could also breathe fire.
Question 6.
Can you find out the rhyme scheme of two or three stanzas of the poem ?
Answer:
The rhyme scheme of each stanza of S this poem is aabb.
Question 7.
Writers use words to give us a picture or image without actually saying what they mean. Can you trace some images used in the poem?
Answer:
Some such images used in the poem are ‘mouth like a fireplace’, ‘chimney for a nose’, ‘brave as a barrel full of bears’, ‘brave as a tiger in a rage’, ‘went at the pirate like a robin at a worm’, etc.
Question 8.
Do you find The Tale of Custard the Dragon’ to be a serious or a light-hearted poem ? Give reasons to support your answer,
OR
Comment on humour in the poem, ‘The lTale of Custard the Dragon’. (August 20)
Answer:
The Tale of Custard the Dragon is a light-hearted poem. It is almost a parody. The names of the pets of Belinda are all rhyming and funny. Belinda has been compared to a barrel full of bears. The kitten and mouse, both s little, could chase lions down the stairs. The little yellow dog was as brave as a tiger, while the dragon was a coward and they all teased him. However, when the pirate came to their little house, all of them were engulfed in fear and had hid themselves. Ironically, the ‘cowardly’ dragon came to their rescue and jumped snorting like an engine.
It clashed its tail and charged at the pirate like a robin at a worm and ate him up. Even as everybody became happy to see the bravery of the dragon, they again came back to glorifying themselves that they could have been twice or thrice braver than the dragon. Finally, at the end of the poem, the situation again came back to the other pets being brave and the dragon being the coward.
Question 9.
This poem, in ballad form, tells a story. Have you come across any such modern song or lyric that tells a story ? If you know one, tell it to the class. Collect such songs as a project.
Answer:
This is another humorous, light-hearted poem by Ogden Nash that tells a story.
Adventures of Isabel
Isabel met an enormous bear, Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care; The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous, The bear’s big mouth was cruel and cavernous. The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you, How do, Isabel, now I’ll eat you! Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry. Isabel didn’t scream or scurry. She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up, Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up. Once in a night as black as pitch Isabel met a wicked old witch.
The witch’s face was cross and wrinkled, The witch’s gums with teeth were sprinkled. Ho, ho, Isabel! The old witch crowed, I’ll turn you into an ugly toad! Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry, Isabel didn’t scream or scurry, She showed no rage and she showed no rancour, But she turned the witch into milk and drank her. Isabel met a hideous giant, Isabel continued self-reliant. The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid, He had one eye in the middle of his forehead. Good morning, Isabel, the giant said, I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry, Isabel didn’t scream or scurry. She nibbled the zwieback that she always fed off, and when it was gone, she cut the giant’s head off. Isabel met a troublesome doctor, he punched and he poked till he really shocked her. The doctor’s talk was of coughs and chills And the doctor’s satchel bulged with pills. The doctor said unto Isabel, Swallow this, it will make you well. Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry, Isabel didn’t scream or scurry. She took those pills from the pill concocter, and Isabel calmly cured the doctor.
Here is another ballad with a sombre undertone. It is writer by Sir William Watson.
The Ballad of Semmerwater
Deep asleep, deep asleep,
Deep asleep it lies,
The still lake of Semmerwater
Under the still skies.
And many a fathom, many a fathom,
Many a fathom below,
Ih a king’s tower and a queen’s bower
The fishes come and go.
Once there stood by Semmerwater
A mickle town and tall;
King’s tower and queen’s bower
And the wakeman on the wall.
Came a beggar halt and sore :
“I faint for lack of bread!”
King’s tower and queen’s bower
Cast him forth unfed.
He knock’d at the door of the eUer’s cot,
The eller’s cot in the dale.
They gave him of their oatcake,
They gave him of their ale.
He has cursed aloud that city proud,
He has cursed it in its pride;
He has cursed it into Semmerwater
Down the brant hillside;
He has cursed it into Semmerwater
There to bide.
King’s tower and queen’s bower,
And a mickle town and tall;
By glimmer of scale and gleam of fin,
Folk have seen them all.
King’s tower and queen’s bower,
And weed and reed in the gloom;
And a lost city in Semmerweater,
Deep asleep till Doom.
GSEB Class 10 English The Tale of Custard the Dragon Additional Important Questions and Answers
Read the following stanzas carefully and answer the questions given below them:
Question 1.
Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful,
Ink, Blink and Mustard, they rudely called him Percival,
They all sat laughing in the little red wagon
At the realio, trulio, cowardly dragon.
Belinda giggled till she shook the house,
And Blink said Weeck!, which is
giggling for a mouse,
Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age,
When Custard cried for a nice safe cage.
Questions:
(1) Why did Belinda and the others made fun of Custard?
(2) What made Ink, Blink and Mustard compare Custard with the brave knight called Percival ?
(3) ‘Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age’ What does this line say?
Answer:
(1) Belinda and the others made fun of Custard because he was very much afraid all the time.
(2) Percival was a brave knight in the service of King Arthur. While Custard was coward, so ironically Ink, Blink and Mustard compared Custard with the brave knight called Percival.
( 3 ) ‘Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age’. In this line once more making fun of Custard, Ink and Mustard asked him how old he was that he was scared of every little thing. „
Question 2.
Pistol in his left hand, pistol in his right,
And he held in his teeth a cutlass bright,
His beard was black, one leg was wood;
It was clear that the pirate meant no good.
Belinda paled, and she cried, Help! Help !
But Mustard fled with a terrified yelp,
Ink trickled down to the bottom of the household,
And little mouse Blink strategically mouseholed.
Questions:
(1) Describe the appearance of the pirate.
(2) What did Belinda, Mustard, Ink and Blink do on the arrival of the pirate ?
(3) Pick out the noun which is used as a verb in the stanza.
Answer:
(1) The pirate had pistols in his left and right hands. He had held a knife in his teeth. He looked very dangerous with his black beard and one wooden leg.
(2) When Belinda, Mustard, Ink and Blink saw the pirate, they were terribly frightened. Belinda turned pale out of fear and started shouting for help. Mustard ran away terrified uttering a short cry, Ink moved away to the bottom of the household and Blink ran away into a mousehole.
(3) The noun ‘mousehole’ is used as a verb, i.e., ‘mouseholed’.
Question 3.
The pirate gaped at Belinda’s dragon,
And gulped some grog from his pocket flagon,
He fired two bullets but they didn’t hit,
And Custard gobbled him, every bit.
Belinda embraced him, Mustard licked him,
No one mourned for his pirate victim
Ink and Blink in glee did gyrate
Around the dragon that ate the pirate.
Questions:
(1) Who is Belinda’s dragon ?
(2) What did the pirate do ? What happened to him finally?
(3) What were the reactions of Belinda and others to Custard?
Answer:
(1) Custard is Belinda’s dragon.
(2) The pirate drank some alcohol from his flagon and fired two bullets at Custard but they had no effect on Custard. Finally Custard ate him up.
(3) As Custard ate up the pirate and got Belinda and others out of fear, they were extremely happy. Belinda embraced Custard, Mustard licked him and Ink and Blink danced joyfully.
Choose the correct figures of speech used in the following lines:
Question 1.
‘With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse’.
A. Metaphor
B. Repetition
C. Apostrophe
D. Synecdoche
Answer:
B. Repetition
Question 2.
‘And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon’.
A. Internal Rhyme
B. Oxymoron
C. Repetition
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Question 3.
‘And the little yellow dog was sharp as Mustard’.
A. Personification
B. Synecdoche
C. Simile
D. Apostrophe
Answer:
C. Simile
Question 4.
‘Mouth like a fireplace, chimney for a nose’.
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Synecdoche
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Question 5.
‘Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears’.
A. Alliteration
B. Simile
C. Personification
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Question 6.
‘Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful’.
A. Repetition
B. Alliteration
C. Simile
D. Metaphor
Answer:
A. Repetition
Question 7.
‘Meowch ! cried Ink, and ooh ! cried Belinda’.
A. Simile
B. Metonymy
C. Onomatopoeia
D. Alliteration
Answer:
C. Onomatopoeia
Question 8.
‘Pistol in his left hand, pistol in his right’.
A. Oxymoron
B. Repetition
C. Metaphor
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Question 9.
‘Ink, Blink and Mustard, they rudely called him Percival’.
A. Personification
B. Metaphor
C. Internal Rhyme
D. Synecdoche
Answer:
A. Personification
Question 10.
‘And Blink said Weeck! Which is giggling for a mouse’.
A. Personification
B. Synecdoche
C. Onomatopoeia
D. Apostrophe
Answer:
C. Onomatopoeia
Question 11.
‘But Mustard fled with a terrified yelp’.
A. Metaphor
B. Ttransferred Epithet
C. Apostrophe
D. Synecdoche
Answer:
B. Ttransferred Epithet
Question 12.
‘But up jumped Custard, snorting like an engine’.
A. Anastrophe
B. Simile
C. Personification
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Question 13.
‘He went at the pirate like a robin at a worm’.
A. Alliteration
B. Simile
C. Personification
D. Synecdoche
Answer:
B. Simile
Question 14.
‘And up spoke Ink and up spoke Blink’.
A. Anastrophe
B. Alliteration
C. Simile
D. Metaphor
Answer:
A. Anastrophe
Question 15.
‘Mustard is as brave as a tiger in a rage’.
A. Repetition
B. Alliteration
C. Simile
D. Metaphor
Answer:
C. Simile
Question 16.
‘And Mustard growled, and they all looked around’. (March 20)
A. Antithesis
B. Litotes
C. Onomatopoeia
D. Hyperbole
Answer:
C. Onomatopoeia
Answer the following questions in three to four sentences each:
Question 1.
Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears, Identify two poetic devices used in the above line.
Answer:
(a) As brave as a barrel – Simile.
(b) Brave, a barrel full of bears – Alliteration.
Question 2.
Why did Belinda cry for help? Who came to her help ?
Answer:
(1) Belinda cried for help because she was afraid of the pirate who had : tale : kin : dill.
(2 ) The Custard came to her help.
Question 3.
How did Belinda’s pets other than Custard face the pirate ?
Answer:
All the animals other than the dragon used to boast about their bravery and made the fun of the dragon. But when the pirate entered the house, all got scared and ran away and disappeared except Custard, the dragon.
Question 4.
How did each of Belinda’s pets react at the sight of the pirate ?
Answer:
Each of Belinda’s pets ran away and hid. They were scared at the sight of the pirate.
Question 5.
Give a brief description of the pirate in the poem The Tale of Custard-The Dragon’.
Answer:
The pirate entered from the window. He had pistols in his left and right hand. He held a bright cutlass in his teeth. His beard was black and one leg was wood.
Question 6.
Belinda was a sweet little girl who lived in her sweet little white house. Who else lived with her in that house ?
OR
Who all lived in a white house with Belinda ?
Answer:
Belinda lived in a white house with Ink – a black kitten, Blink – a grey mouse, Mustard – a yellow dog, Custard – a dragon and a red wagon.
Question 7.
Why did everyone make fun of the dragon ?
Answer:
Everyone in the house made fun of the dragon because he always cried for a safe cage whereas others used to boast about their bravery.
Answer the following questions in five to six sentences each:
Question 1.
Why do you think Custard, the dragon, was called a coward ? How was Custard able to save all his house-mates from the pirate ? What values should Belinda have possessed so that Custard too could have been among her favourites ?
Answer:
The dragon appeared to be a coward as he always cried for a nice safe cage so he was called a cowardly dragon. Later, when the pirate entered the house with pistols in his left and right hand, everyone was scared and ran away and disappeared, except Custard who faced him boldly and attacked him, hit him hard with his forceful tail and gobbled every bit of him. Belinda should have been nice to him. She should have made him feel comfortable and safe in the house instead of laughing and making fun of him with other pets. Belinda should have been protective towards him.
Question 2.
Describe the fight between the dragon and the pirate.
Answer:
The dragon had big sharp teeth, and spikes on top of him and scales underneath but
everyone laughed at him as he always cried for a nice, safe cage whereas everyone boasted about their bravery. But when the pirate entered, all were scared and ran away and disappeared except Custard who faced him boldly, attacked him, hit him hard with his forceful tail and gobbled every bit of him. All of them later felt obliged to Custard for saving their lives.
The Tale of Custard the Dragon Summary in English
The Tale of Custard the Dragon Introduction:
Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 -May 19, 1971) was an American poet well-known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared the country’s best-known producer of humorous poetry.
The Tale of Custard the Dragon Summary:
Belinda lives with her pets in a white house. These pets are a black kitten, a grey mouse, a yellow dog and a dragon. They all use a red wagon when they want to go out somewhere. The kitten being black is known as Ink, the mouse being tiny as Blink, the dog being yellow as MtTstard, and the dragon being cowardly as Custard. Custard was a full-grown . dragon and could easily defend himself against any danger, for he had sharp teeth, spikes on his back, scales beneath his belly and daggerlike toes.
He could also breathe fire. Belinda, Ink, Blink and Mustard were all brave, even though they were much smaller in size than Custard, but Custard was so cowardly that he preferred to be caged if that would keep him safe. Belinda tickled him and Ink, Blink and Mustard ironically compared him with the brave knight called Percival, who had been in the service of King Arthur to show him how unlike Percival he really was. Belinda and the others all made fun of Custard for being so afraid all the time. Whenever Custard wanted to be put in a cache, Belinda and Blink giggled to their heart’s content, and Ink and Mustard asked him how old he was that he was scared of every little thing. Belinda and her pets all heard an unpleasant sound.
Mustard, sensing trouble, started growling. Ink and Belinda cried out in horror, and finally they saw that a pirate was climbing into their house through a window. The pirate had guns in both hands and a knife between his teeth. He also had a beard and a wooden leg. All in all, his appearance was quite sinister. Belinda started to cry for help, Mustard ran away, Ink hid in the basement or attic, and Blink went into his mousehole. Custard surprised everyone with his actions.
He jumped up and started snorting in indignation and anger. In fact, it sounded like an engine revving. Then Custard beat his tail against the floor, and that sounded like the metal chains in a dungeon being banged against one another. Finally, he charged towards the pirate in the same way that- a bird charges at a worm that it will eat. The Pirate knew that he had no chance of winning against the dragon, so he just stared at Custard and took a drink of alcohol from his flagon, preparing to be eaten alive. He feebly fired two shots at Custard from his pistol, but his aim was off. And finally, Custard ate him up in one bite.
Belinda gave Custard a hug and Mustard licked him. So both man and dog expressed approval in their own way. Nobody spared a thought for the pirate who had been eaten. Instead, Ink and Blink started dancing in a happy mood, everything has gone back to normal again. Belinda is living once again in peace with her pets in her white house. Belinda, Ink, Blink and Mustard are still brave despite knowing that the pirate could have easily killed them all. On the other hand, Custard is still a coward and still longs for a nice, safe cage.