NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 4 B. Think and discuss — Let us Think

Book page 45 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

If you were the merchant, how would you respond to the parrot’s request for freedom?

Answer

This question asks for your answer, so there is no single right one. But a good answer must do three things: say clearly what you would do, give a reason, and be honest about what is hard about it.

What to notice before you answer: The merchant is not cruel. He feeds the bird well and gives it a golden cage. His problem is that he thinks about what he would miss, not about what the parrot needs. Ask yourself which of the two matters more.

Sample answer: If I were the merchant, I would open the cage and let the parrot fly. It would be hard, because the parrot was my friend and the house would feel very quiet without its songs. But the bird asked for only one thing in its whole life, and it asked politely. A parrot is made for the sky — it has wings, and wings are of no use inside a cage of gold. Keeping it would mean I love myself more than I love the bird. So I would carry the cage into the garden, open the little door, and say goodbye properly. I would also keep a bird feeder on my windowsill with fruits and seeds, so that my friend could come back to visit me whenever it wished.

Another honest answer you may give: “I would find it very hard and I might say no at first, like the merchant did. But after seeing the bird sit quietly for days, I would change my mind and set it free.” This is also a good answer, because it says what you truly feel and then shows you thinking again.

Q2.

Can you think of a real-life situation where intelligence is more useful than strength?

Answer

Yes — there are many. Whenever a problem cannot be pushed, pulled or lifted out of the way, intelligence is the only tool that works.

What a good answer needs: one clear situation, told in two or three sentences, showing what strength could not do and what thinking did.

Sample answer: Last summer a ball fell into a deep, narrow pipe near our school gate. Two big boys tried to reach in with their arms and could not, because the pipe was too narrow and too deep. My friend Ritu thought for a minute and then poured a bucket of water into the pipe. The ball floated up on the water and we picked it out. No amount of pulling would have brought the ball up, but one simple idea did it in a minute. That day I understood that a good idea can be stronger than strong arms.

More examples you may use:

A thirsty crow drops pebbles into a pot so that the water rises. It cannot tip a heavy pot over, but it can raise the water.
A doctor cannot pull a fever out of a body. She thinks about the symptoms and gives the right medicine.
Tenali Rama and Birbal solve the king’s problems with clever answers, never with a sword.
A farmer cannot carry water uphill all day, so he digs a channel and lets it flow down by itself.
Our maths teacher shows us a short way to multiply by 99 — add a zero and take one away. Thinking saves us a page of working.

The idea behind all of these: Strength can only push against a problem. Intelligence looks for the weak spot in the problem — and once you find it, very little force is needed. The parrot did exactly that: it did not push against the golden bars, it worked on the merchant’s kind heart.

Q3.

Which parrot from the chapter was actually ‘wise’ according to you? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer

There are two parrots in this story, and a good answer can choose either one — as long as you give reasons. Here is the case for each.

The parrot	What it did	Why we could call it wise
The forest parrot (the friend in the jungle)	Heard the message and at once dropped like a stone from the tree.	It worked out the whole plan in a moment, and found a way to send it back through a man who must not understand it.
The pet parrot (in the golden cage)	Asked politely, was refused, sent a hidden question, waited many days, then acted.	It thought of asking a question in the first place, it understood the answer at once, and it had the patience to wait for the right moment.

Sample answer (choosing the pet parrot): I think the pet parrot in the cage was the truly wise one. When it was refused its freedom, it did not cry, sulk or beat its wings against the bars. It thought of a way to send a question out into the world, hidden inside a polite greeting. Then it waited for many days without giving up hope. When the answer came, it understood at once and acted the very same minute. Being clever for one moment is not so hard; being clever, patient and calm for weeks is much harder. That is why I call the pet parrot wise.

Sample answer (choosing the forest parrot): “I think the forest parrot was the wise one. It heard the message only once, and in that one moment it worked out a whole plan. It also knew that it must not speak, because the merchant would carry any words back home. So it answered with an action instead. To think that fast, and to say it without a word, is real wisdom.”

The best answer of all: Say that the two parrots were wise together. One knew how to ask; the other knew how to answer. Neither could have escaped alone. The story is about a friendship that works across a great distance, through a man who does not even know he is the postman.

Was this helpful?