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NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 4 A. Answer the following questions — Let us Think

Book page 45 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
Why did the merchant keep the parrot in a cage of gold?
Answer

The merchant kept the parrot in a cage of gold because he loved the bird very much and it was his most precious pet.

The story tells us in its very first line that he was “a rich merchant”. A rich man can afford gold. He used that gold for his parrot because he wanted everyone to see how much the bird was worth to him.

We know how strong his feeling was from his own words later: “You are very dear to me and I cannot bear to let you go away.” A cage of gold was his way of saying that.

Think about this, though: Gold is costly, but a cage is still a cage. The bars do not become soft because they are golden. The parrot “longed for the open skies and green trees”, and no amount of gold could give it that. The story is quietly telling us that love which locks someone up is not enough.
Q2.
What made the parrot a favourite pet of the merchant?
Answer

The parrot became the merchant’s favourite pet because it was bright, talkative and had a sharp mind, and because it entertained him with stories and songs.

The first paragraph of the story says it plainly: the merchant “kept a bright and talkative parrot”, and “the parrot had a sharp mind and often entertained the merchant with stories and songs.”

  • Bright here means clever and quick to learn.
  • Talkative means it liked to talk a lot. A merchant who lives alone would enjoy that.
  • Stories and songs — it was good company at the end of a working day.
Notice: The same sharp mind that made the parrot a lovely pet is the mind that later plans the escape. The merchant loved the very quality that set his bird free.
Q3.
What message did the parrot ask the merchant to convey to its friends?
Answer

The parrot asked the merchant to tell the parrots in the jungle that it sent them greetings from its cage.

These are the parrot’s own words: “Since you cannot let me fly, when you see my friends in the jungle tell them that I send them greetings from my cage.” The word convey means to pass a message on to somebody.

Why the parrot chose those exact words: Read them again — “greetings from my cage”. The parrot did not just send love. It told its friends where it was and what had happened to it. That is the whole question, hidden inside a polite little greeting. The merchant carried the question to the forest without ever knowing he was carrying it.
Q4.
What happened after the merchant gave the message to the parrots?
Answer

As soon as the merchant finished speaking, one parrot dropped like a stone from the tree and fell on the ground. The merchant was distressed by this and hurried away from the place.

The story says: “As the merchant finished speaking, one parrot dropped like a stone from the tree and fell on the ground.” Distressed means very upset and unhappy. He thought the bird had died of shock, and he could not bear to stay and look.

What was really happening: That parrot was not dead and it was not shocked. It was answering. It could not send words, because the merchant would have carried the words home and understood them. So it sent a picture instead — do this: fall down as if you are dead. Only another parrot would read the message correctly.
The phrase to remember: “dropped like a stone.” A stone falls fast, straight and heavily. Those three words make us see the fall exactly.
Q5.
How did the parrot escape from the cage?
Answer

The parrot escaped by pretending to be dead. When the merchant took the “dead” bird out of the cage and laid it on the windowsill, the parrot came to life, spread its wings and flew away.

Here is exactly how it happened, step by step:

  1. The merchant came home and described his journey. He told the parrot how he had passed on the message, and how one bird had fallen to the ground.
  2. The pet parrot understood the advice at once. “As soon as he finished talking, his own pet parrot fell from the perch to the floor of the cage.” The perch is the little bar inside the cage on which a bird sits.
  3. The merchant thought his pet had died of the same shock. He “reached into the cage and gently took the still warm body of the bird and placed it on the windowsill.”
  4. The moment he stepped back, “the bird stirred, stretched its beautiful green wings and flew off into the open sky.”

Its last words tell us where the idea came from: “My friend showed me how I could escape and now I can fly in the sky. Goodbye!”

Why the trick worked: The parrot could not open the cage. Its beak could not bend gold. So it did not fight the cage at all — it worked on the person holding the key. It knew the merchant was kind, and that a kind man would not leave a dead bird lying in a cage. So the merchant opened the door himself. That is thinking, not strength.
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