NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 5

The doctor lived in a room which was full of rats. He could hear the rats all day long. There was a regular inflow and outflow of rats to and from the beam. He heard the sound thrice and the sound stopped all of a sudden as rats saw a snake.

The doctor took two “important” and “earth-shaking” decisions while he looked at himself in the mirror. Firstly, he decided to shave daily and grow a thin moustache. Secondly, he decided to keep an attractive smile on his face.

(i) When the doctor first smiles, he has an inflated opinion about himself, admiring his looks and profession. (ii) In the second instance, the doctor smiles thinking about his foolishness and helplessness. His thoughts change after his encounter with the snake. He accepted his stupidity and moved on from being a proud doctor.

A Frightening Incident: One day in winter, my parents had gone to attend a birthday party in the nearby city. I was alone in my home with my younger brother. He was sleeping. It was a chilly night. Suddenly he gave a shriek. I was very frightened. I neared him to give him solace. He told that he was frightened in dream. When he got some relief, I heard a ringing of the bell. The light had gone when the bell rang. The atmosphere was all misty. We were too freeze with fear to move any further. Somehow, we approached the door with torch light. It was mom and dad at the door. Thank God, we heaved a sigh of relief.

“The Northland” could refer to a very cold country in the Earth’s north -pole region, such as Greenland, the northern regions of Russia, Canada, Norway etc.

Saint Peter asked for a baked cake from the old lady to satisfy his hunger. The lady did not refuse and tried to bake a small cake for the saint.

The woodpecker gets her food by boring holes into trees.

No, had the old lady known Saint Peter prior she would not have been so ungenerous. Instead, she would have tried to please him with her cakes for the fulfilment of her greedy desires.

No, it is not a true story; it is a legend. The point in the story where the old lady is changed into a woodpecker is the most important. This is because the punishment she got teaches us the value of generosity and charity.

A ‘legend’ is a famous story from the past which is believed to be true by many but one cannot certainly prove whether it is actually true. It usually contains a message or a moral learning and is narrated to children. The poet himself mentions that he doesn’t believe this story to be true. This poem is called a ‘legend’ because it preaches generosity towards fellow beings.

Once Saint Peter stopped by an old lady’s cottage because he was feeling very hungry and weak after a day’s fasting. The lady was baking cakes on the hearth. Since he was exhausted because of fasting, he asked her for a baked cake from her store of cakes. The lady was very selfish and tried to bake small cakes but each time they seemed too big for her to give it away to the saint. Finally, she baked one that was as thin as a wafer. Unwilling to give away with the small one too, she put it on a shelf and did not give any cake to the Saint. Seeing her behaviour Saint Peter became very angry and said that she was too selfish to live as a human being and have food, shelter and a fire to keep her warm. He punished her by changing her into a woodpecker that would have to build a nest on her own to live in, bore for food in the hard dry trunks of trees. Her clothes were burned and she was left with her scarlet cap on her head as she flew out through the chimney.