Ques on 4.
Why did the authori es in Monaco fail to carry out the death sentence?
Answer:
The authori es in Monaco failed to carry out the death sentence because there was neither a
guillo ne for cu ng heads off nor an execu oner. Though they tried to borrow a machine and an
expert from their neighbouring countries France and Italy, they realized that it would cost the
kingdom a huge sum of money and the king would be forced to collect nearly two francs more per
head on the taxes. Even if they were to get the machine, none of the soldiers in the army was ready
to cut off the criminal’s head because they had not been taught how to behead a criminal. Therefore,
the authori es gave up the idea of carrying out the death sentence.
Describe the kingdom of Monaco with reference to ‘Too Dear!’.
Answer:
The ny li le kingdom called Monaco lies near the borders of France and Italy. There are only about
seven thousand inhabitants in it The kingdom is so small that if all the land in the kingdom were
divided among its inhabitants, there would not be even an acre of land for each inhabitant. But this
toy kingdom has a real kinglet and like any other real king, the kinglet lives in a palace with cour ers,
ministers, a bishop, generals, and a small army of only sixty men in all. The king lives by collec ng
taxes from the people, on tobacco, wine, and spirits and a poll tax. Besides, the king also received a
large sum of money from a gaming housekeeper.
On what condi on did the criminal agree to go away from the prison? How was his demand fulfilled?
Answer:
The criminal agreed to go away on condi on that he be paid 600 francs as pension for a year
regularly un l his death. His demand was fulfilled because the prisoner refused to run away from the
prison. If he had remained there the king would have been forced to keep a guard over him to watch
and also feed him un l his death. The criminal le the prison and the king’s dominions as well, as
soon as he received one-third of his annuity in advance. He emigrated to another country just across
the fron er and se led there comfortably.
What made the king of Monaco alter his decisions in dealing with the criminal?
Answer:
The king of Monaco kept changing his mind in dealing with the criminal because, every me he took
a decision, he faced a problem to execute it. First, the king accepted the judge’s verdict and ordered
the execu on of the criminal, but he cancelled it and changed the sentence to ‘imprisonment for life’
because there was neither a guillo ne machine nor an execu oner in his country. Moreover, if he
had decided to borrow one from the King of Italy, he would have been forced to levy 2 francs per
person as addi onal tax which he did not like.
Secondly, a er keeping the criminal in prison for one year, he realized that he had to spend 600
francs on the maintenance of the criminal un l his death, which would have proved to be again a
financial burden to his people. Therefore, as advised by his council of ministers, he dismissed the
guard hoping that the prisoner would run away. But the prisoner refused to run away because he
had nowhere to go and he had stopped the habit of working. Once again the king faced a new
problem. Then, as suggested by his council of ministers, the king ordered payment of 600 francs a
year as pension and got rid of the criminal.
Why was the criminal reluctant to go out of the prison?
Answer:
The prisoner was reluctant to go out of the prison because his character had been ruined by the
death sentence given to him and he had nowhere to go. Secondly, by being imprisoned and given
food in his cell every day, he had given up working to earn his living. So he had become lazy.
Therefore he felt helpless and so refused to go.
