1st PUC English Chapter 8 Watchman of the Lake

Watchman of the Lake Comprehension I.

Question 1.
Why was the headman in a hurry to complete the road work?
Answer:
The king was passing the village the next day. Therefore the headman was in a hurry to complete the road work.

Question 2.
The village headman asked Mara to keep away from the road workers because….
Answer:
The road must be ready before the king arrives.

Question 3.
How did Mara manage to draw the attention of the king? Why?
Answer:
Mara jumped down from the tree, to draw the attention of the king to tell about his vision.

Question 4.
How does the king respond to Mara’s information about the tank?
Answer:
The king said that Mara had the grade of gods upon you. His words are wealthy. The king told him to accompany them to the capital.

Question 5.
What does Mara advise his son in saving the lake and the creatures?
Answer:
Worship should be performed on the evenings of every Tuesday and Friday. Scores of people come from even distant towns for it. You must not miss a single one henceforth.

Question 6.
Why did the visitor approach Mara?
Answer:
The visitor came all the way to ask a favour of Mara. The crops parch up and cattle are dying of drought. He asked him to release some water for the crops.

Question 8.
Mara rushed to the king because he wanted to save
(a) his own life
(b) the king
(c) the lake.
Answer:
(c) the lake.

Question 9.
Mara was trembling at the king’s palace because
(a) He was afraid of the king.
(b) He was drenched in the rain.
(c) He was worried about the lake.
Answer:
(c) He was worried about the lake.

Question 10.
On what condition did Mara make the Goddess wait for him?
Answer:
Mara pleaded that he would run to the capital and inform the king, and return. Till then he asked her to stay her hand. When she sees him there again, she might carry out the devastation.

Watchman of the Lake Comprehension II:

Question1.
What was the significance of Mara’s dream?
Answer:

The river Veda you see at the foot of the hill and from which you drink water, is my very own plaything. It carries in its bosom the nectar which revives god and nourishes mortals. But when the summer sun bakes your soil, I keep my pet sheltered in the cool glades of the mountain, and then you die of drought, When 1771 summer ends and you have water again, you take what you want and allow the precious stream to dissipate and perish in the foul marshes far off. I command you. Tell your king to build and tank and not to let Veda leave this village. Give her a home. These were the words of the goddess.

Question 2.
What instructions did Mara give his son about the lake and the creatures? What light do these instructions throw on Mara’s character?
Answer:

Mara instructed his son that when he was gone he would be the guard there; that is what he must do with killers; whether they came with arrow for the gulls which skimmed over the water, or with the rod for the fish. That place is sacred and belongs to the Goddess, and her command is that nothing that flies swims or walks in these parts should ever be killed.

From my hut I have often seen at the dead of night a tiger come down from the mountain, soaking its thirst at that distant corner. But even that has to go untouched. Such is the command of the Goddess and the king. This shows how pious he is! , To bring his generations a prayerful and obedient. He also used to be the great messenger of goddesses.

Question 3.
Bring out the significance of the sacred spot that Mara describes to the king.
Answer:

Mara explains that the sacred spot where Your Majesty now stands is a sacred spot. There once stood the great Hanuman on the day Lakshmana was wounded on the battlefield in Lanka and lay in a deadly faint. Guided by omens Hanuman came here, and then he went up the mountain in whose shadow your majesty is resting now.

There on its crest, he found Sanjeevini. He flew to Lanka with it, and at its breath, Yama’s messengers fled, and Lakshmana rose to his feet with a new life. Such was the power of Sanjeevini; and where it grew, there arose a stream, which came down the mountain and now flows past your Majesty’s fee. It is called Veda. Its water is the very lifeblood of Your Majesty’s humble subjects.

Question 4.
How did Mara react to the Goddess what she appeared before him for?
a. The first time?
Mara fell at her feet.
b. The second time?
Answer:

Mara pleaded with her not to destroy the tank. He pointed out to her the vastness of the lake, the water stretching the length of the hill and going in a bend out of sight the whole of it kept back by a bank, which would take a quarter of a day to cross. But all that “she would say to it was Why do you make much it?

He told her that all that water waited like a crouching tiger and would spring upon the hundred villages and towns and the king’s capital beyond if the bank was removed. She laughed at it and flourished her sward. He pleaded with her for hours to spare us and have pity on us, poor mortals.

Watchman of the Lake Comprehension III:

Question 1.
Was the headman justified in calling Mara a lunatic? Give reasons.
Answer:

Headman told to Mara that, the king was passing this way and he didn’t want him to know that our village had 1791 such fools as Mara. Because the Headman was not leaving Mara’s dream. So he called him a lunatic.

Question 2.
“Nature is both protective and destructive”. How does the play bring out this idea?
Answer:

God created a world that contains powerful natural and human forces, all of which are interconnected. In God’s original design, all elements and aspects of creation were intended to work together in a symphony of joy and beauty. The animals and natural elements were perfectly balanced to support and sustain one another.

Plants, trees, and vegetation provided sustenance for the animals, while the animals helped tend and guide the growth of plants. There were waters below and waters above, working together with the heat of the sun and the movement of the air to bring growth, light, and refreshment to all. These are the protective processes of nature.

Nature can be destructive because we find unusual natural calamities cause the death of millions of people. Floods, tsunamis, earthquake storms, hurricanes, torrents forest fires etc, are the natural destruction that kills many innocent lives of the people. We must protect ourselves against the destruction of nature.

Question 3.
How differently did Mara treat the fisherman and the visitor?
Answer:
Mara behaved the fisherman very rudely. Mara asked to go before he was pushed into the lake.
Mara politely spoke to the visitor. Even Mara invited him into his hut and offered some food.

Question 4.
Why do you think Mara asked the king to make his son, son’s son and so on, the watchman of the lake?
Answer:
Mara requested the king to make his son the watchman of the lake, and after him his son, and then his son’s son to the last generation for our family.

Question 5.
In what way do you think Mara’s sacrifice saved the lake? What ‘sacrifices’ need to be made to save the lakes today?
Answer:

Mara’s sacrifice saved thousands of people’s agriculture and the lives of the people saved.
Constituting laws for the pre occupations of the lake and its surrounding areas.

Revamping is required to increase the depth of the lakes.
Sewages and drainages should not be flown here.
We need a collective task to reduce.
Lake areas which have been skimmed would need to be re-skimmed constantly.
Rehabilitating the Lakes is most important.
Collect all the excess green algae by skimming it off the lake, then turn the algae into something “environmental” Bio-fuel? or Fertilizer?

Watchman of the Lake Summary