NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 1 The Raven and the Fox — Let us think and reflect
Book page 15 & 16 Updated on2026-09-05
Q1.
Look at the pictures and number them in the order that they happen in the poem.
Answer
Four pictures are printed on page 15, two in each row. Write the numbers in the small boxes like this:
Picture
What it shows
Number
Bottom row, left
The raven on the ground in a park, picking up a round piece of food
1
Bottom row, right
The fox, seen from behind, looking up at the raven who now sits on a branch with the food in his beak
2
Top row, left
The fox facing the tree with his mouth open — he is praising the raven
3
Top row, right
The fox running away with the food in his mouth; the raven's beak is empty
4
How to work it out: Follow the food. First it is in the raven's beak on the ground, then in his beak up on the branch, then the fox is talking and the food is still there, and last of all the food is in the fox's mouth. The morsel tells you the order without a single word.
Q2.
‘Such feathers’ refer to ______ feathers. A. shiny and beautiful B. black and dull C. grey and long D. short and unattractive
Answer
Answer: A. shiny and beautiful
The Fox is flattering the Raven. He has just called him “a handsome bird”, and the exclamation “Such feathers!” is meant as high praise. Praise only works if the words mean something good — so the feathers must be shiny and beautiful.
Options B and D are insults, and option C does not fit a raven at all — a raven's feathers are glossy black, not grey.
Q3.
Why would the birds of the woods call the Raven ‘King’?
Answer
According to the Fox, the birds would make the Raven their King because he would then have everything a king of birds should have — the finest feathers and the finest voice. He already looks handsome; if he could also sing beautifully, no other bird in the woods could match him.
This is of course not true. It is only the Fox's flattery, invented for one purpose — to make the Raven open his beak. As the poem says, the Raven “did not see the joke”.
Q4.
Why does the Fox address the Raven as ‘Sir’?
Answer
‘Sir’ is a title of respect, used for someone important. The Fox uses it deliberately, as part of his flattery, to make the Raven feel grand and superior — a bird so noble that even a fox must address him politely.
A flattered bird stops thinking. Once the Raven is enjoying being called ‘Sir’, a ‘handsome bird’ and a future ‘King’, he is ready to do anything the Fox asks — including the one thing he should never do, which is to open his beak.
The lesson hidden in one word: Be careful when a stranger suddenly becomes very polite and very complimentary. As the Fox himself says at the end, “Ignore sweet words that make you glow.”
Q5.
Why did the Raven open his beak?
Answer
He opened his beak to sing. The Fox's praise had filled him with pride, and he wanted to prove that his voice was as fine as his feathers.
In his excitement he forgot two things — that his voice “was just a croak”, and that his beak was holding the morsel. The moment it opened, “down fell the morsel the Fox had eyed.”
Q6.
Complete the following with one word from the given lines. Fox : clever : : Raven : ______________
Answer
Fox : clever : : Raven : foolish
The word comes straight from the lines quoted: “He opened his beak, in his foolish pride.”
How an analogy works: The first pair tells you the relationship — the Fox's chief quality is that he is clever. So the blank needs the Raven's chief quality, and the poem names it for you.
Q7.
Why does the Raven forget that his voice is just a croak?
Answer
Because the Fox's flattery goes straight to his head. Being called handsome, having his feathers admired and being promised the crown of the woods makes him so pleased with himself that he stops thinking clearly.
The poem puts this in two lines — “The Raven, who did not see the joke, / Forgot that his voice was just a croak.” Pride blinded him: he began to believe the Fox's picture of himself instead of the plain truth he had known all his life.
The bigger point: Flattery is dangerous exactly because it feels so pleasant. It makes us forget our real limits — and a person who forgets his limits is easy to trick.
Q8.
How does Reynard make the Raven sing?
Answer
Reynard never asks for the food. He uses flattery, step by step:
He speaks “in admiring tones” and exclaims, “My word!”
He gives the Raven a respectful title — “Sir Raven”.
He praises his looks — “you are a handsome bird”.
He praises his feathers — “Such feathers!”
Then he lays the trap: “If you would only sing, / The birds of these woods would call you King.”
The Raven, swollen with pride, opens his beak to sing — and loses his morsel. The Fox wins the food without moving from where he stands.
Q9.
Why does Reynard say that pride is not wise?
Answer
Because he has just proved it. Pride is what made the Raven lose his food. A proud bird who believes he is handsome, kingly and a fine singer will swallow any compliment — and while he is busy showing off, he loses what he actually had.
Reynard puts it in one line: “Pride, my friend, is rather unwise.” His advice in the line before is just as important — “Ignore sweet words that make you glow.” A person full of pride cannot tell honest praise from a trick, and that is what makes pride unwise.
Q10.
Give one reason why the teaching is quite a surprise.
Answer
The teaching is a surprise because it comes from the cheat himself. The Fox has just tricked the Raven out of his food, and now, instead of running away quietly, he turns into a teacher and gives him a lesson on pride. The thief lectures his victim!
It is also a surprise because the Raven expected something completely different. He opened his beak expecting applause and a crown; what he got was an empty beak and a moral. The Fox even points this out with a laugh — “I'm sure this teaching is quite a surprise.”
Note the tone: The Fox's last line is sarcastic — he is teasing the Raven while pretending to be helpful. That is the fox's style throughout the poem.
Q11.
Imagine someone praises you too much. How would you react?
Answer
This asks for your own reaction, so answer honestly — but a good answer should show that you have learnt something from the poem. Three things a strong answer contains: say thank you politely, check whether the praise is true, and ask why the person is praising you just now.
Sample answer: I would thank the person politely, but I would not let the praise go to my head. If someone said I was the best singer in the whole school, I would smile and say, “Thank you, but I am still learning.” Then I would quietly ask myself two questions — is this really true, and does this person want something from me? If a classmate praised my handwriting just before asking me to do his project, I would know at once that it was flattery, not praise. Like the Raven, I could lose something by keeping my mouth open too long.