Supplementary -2

The Tiger King

Summary

The Tiger King is the story of king Jung Jung Bahadur of Pratibandapuram, a brave warrior whose
death had been predicted when he was born. The chief astrologer had predicted as the royal child
was born in the hour of the bull, the tiger being its enemy, death would come to the child by a tiger.
The brave prince asked all tigers to beware of him. He came to be known as ‘tiger king’.
The prince became king at the age of twenty and considering killing a cow in self defense to be
lawful, went on a tiger killing spree. He was warned of danger from the hundredth tiger that he
encountered. As all the tigers in his kingdom had been killed by him but still he had to kill more, he
married into a state having a high population of tigers.
When his killings reached ninety nine, he desperately sought the next hunt. Fearing the king’s
harshness, the minister planted an old tiger in the forest for him to kill. The king fired at it but the
tiger escaped the bullet miraculously. The royal hunters feared the king and so did not inform him;
rather they killed the beast themselves.
The king was satisfied that he had evaded death and now celebrated his son’s third birthday. He got
a wooden toy tiger as a gift for the prince. Although it was poorly done, the shopkeeper, fearing
punishment under the rules of emergency charged a high price. As both the king and his son were
playing with the tiger, one of the thin pieces of wood that were erupting out of the wooden tiger like
feathers pierced the king’s right hand.
The wound became infectious, spread through his arm and as he was being operated upon, he died.
So, ironically, the hundredth tiger killed the king and eventually took its revenge.

Question the following questions

READ AND FIND OUT

Q1. Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?
Ans. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was called the Tiger King. At the time of his
birth the astrologers declared that the prince would have to die one day. The ten-day-old
prince asked the astrologers to reveal the manner of his death. The wise men were
baffled at this miracle. The chief astrologer said that his death would come from a tiger.
The young prince growled and uttered terrifying words: ‘Let tigers beware!’ He decided
to kill one hundred tigers. He, thus, got the name ‘Tiger King’.
Q2. What did the royal infant grow up to be?
Ans. Crown prince Jung Jung Bahadur grew taller and stronger day-by-day. He was
brought up by an English nanny and tutored in English by an Englishman. He got the
control of his state when he came of age at twenty. He decided to kill tigers. For him it
was an act of self-defence, as the astrologers had predicted his death by a tiger.

Q3. What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?
Ans. Within ten years the Maharaja was able to kill seventy tigers. Then the tiger
population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. One day the Maharaja
sent for the dewan and asked him if he was aware of the fact that thirty tigers still
remained to be shot down by his gun. The dewan shuddered with fear. The Maharaja
told him that he had decided to get married. He asked the dewan to draw up statistics of
tiger populations in different native states. Then he was to investigate if there was a girl
he could marry in the royal family of a state with a large tiger population. This plan was
put into practice. The dewan found the right girl from a state which possessed a large
number of tigers. The Maharaja killed five or six tigers each time he visited his
father-in-law. Thus, he was able to find the required number of tigers to kill. He shot
ninety-nine tigers.

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Vistas

English The Tiger King
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED
READ AND FIND OUT
Q1. Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?
Ans. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was called the Tiger King. At the time of his
birth the astrologers declared that the prince would have to die one day. The ten-day-old
prince asked the astrologers to reveal the manner of his death. The wise men were
baffled at this miracle. The chief astrologer said that his death would come from a tiger.
The young prince growled and uttered terrifying words: ‘Let tigers beware!’ He decided
to kill one hundred tigers. He, thus, got the name ‘Tiger King’.

Q2. What did the royal infant grow up to be?

Ans. Crown prince Jung Jung Bahadur grew taller and stronger day-by-day. He was
brought up by an English nanny and tutored in English by an Englishman. He got the
control of his state when he came of age at twenty. He decided to kill tigers. For him it
was an act of self-defence, as the astrologers had predicted his death by a tiger
Q3. What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?
Ans. Within ten years the Maharaja was able to kill seventy tigers. Then the tiger
population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. One day the Maharaja
sent for the dewan and asked him if he was aware of the fact that thirty tigers still
remained to be shot down by his gun. The dewan shuddered with fear. The Maharaja
told him that he had decided to get married. He asked the dewan to draw up statistics of
tiger populations in different native states. Then he was to investigate if there was a girl
he could marry in the royal family of a state with a large tiger population. This plan was
put into practice. The dewan found the right girl from a state which possessed a large
number of tigers. The Maharaja killed five or six tigers each time he visited his
father-in-law. Thus, he was able to find the required number of tigers to kill. He shot
ninety-nine tigers.

Q4. How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was
supposed to decide his fate?
Ans. Maharaja’s anxiety reached the highest level of excitement when only one tiger
remained to be killed. He thought of the hundredth tiger during the day and dreamt of it
at night. But tiger farms ran dry even in his father-in-law’s kingdom. It became
impossible to locate tigers anywhere. If he could kill just that one single beast, the
Maharaja would have no fear left. As the late chief astrologer had said that Maharaja
should beware of the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja was sunk in gloom. Then came a
happy news. In his own state sheep began to disappear frequently from a hillside
village. Surely, a tiger was at work. The villagers ran to inform the Maharaja. The
Maharaja announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village. He set out
on the hunt at once. But the tiger was not easily found. The Maharaja continued
camping in the forest and waiting for the tiger.

Q5. What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was
indisputably disproved?
Ans. In order to save his skin, the dewan got an old tiger brought from the People’s
Park in Madras. It was kept hidden in his house. One midnight with the help of his aged
wife, he dragged the tiger to the car and shoved it into the seat. He himself drove the
car straight to the forest where the Maharaja was hunting. The dewan hauled the beast
out of the car and pushed it down to the ground. Next day, the same old tiger wandered
into the Maharaja’s presence. The Maharaja was overjoyed. He took careful aim at the
beast. The tiger fell down in a crumpled heap. The Maharaja was extremely happy that
he had killed the hundredth tiger.
The hunters found that the old tiger was not dead. It had only fainted on hearing the
sound of the bullet. They did not want the Maharaja to know this fact and lose their jobs.
iSo one of them shot at it and killed it. The dead tiger was taken in procession through
the town and buried there. A tomb was erected over it.
The prophecy was not disproved as the king met his death with the infection caused by
the sliver of a wooden tiger. The astrologer was already dead. He could not be punished
or rewarded.

READING WITH INSIGHT

Q1. The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. How does the author
employ the literary device of dramatic irony in the story?
Ans. On surface level, ‘The Tiger King’ seems to be a simple story about a royal prince,
his growth and exploits as a king. The prophecies at his birth about the manner of his
death make the story interesting by introducing the element of surprise and suspense.
On a deeper level, the story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. It is usually
seen that those in power have too much pride in themselves and what they do. Two
such specimens in the story are the Tiger King and the British officer. The author
employs dramatic irony and humour to show their faults and weaknesses. The words of
these characters carry an extra meaning. They do not know what is going to happen.
The Tiger King resolves to hunt a hundred tigers to disprove the prediction of the
astrologer. In his stubbornness, he falls prey to a wooden tiger. The high-ranking British
officer is equally vain. He is more interested in photograph with carcass than hunting
itself. The Tiger King offers to organise any other hunt except tiger-hunt. It may be a
boar-hunt, mouse- hunt or a mosquito-hunt. He has to lose three lakh of rupees for his
refusal. The ego of the British officer is satisfied when his wife is pleased to get diamond
rings sent by the Maharaja.

Q2. What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the
willfulness of human beings?
Ans. For centuries innocent animals have been subjected to the wilfulness of human
beings. Man has been killing animals for sport, meat or organs of body. The author does
not make any direct comment about it in the story. Man advances strange logic to
defend even his unlawful and cruel acts. The Maharaja quotes an old saying, “You may
kill even a cow in self-defence”. Hence, he finds no objection to kill tigers in
self-defence. It reveals not only the callousness of human beings towards wildlife but
their disregard for maintaining ecological balance. The extinction of tiger species in
Pratibandapuram state and the state ruled by the Maharaja’s father-in-law amply
illustrates the result of man’s cruelty towards wild animals. An old tiger has to be
brought from the People’s Park in Madras to satisfy the king’s whim to kill one hundred
tigers.

Q3. How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja’s minions towards
him? Do you find them truly sincere towards him or are they driven by fear when
they obey him? Do we find a similarity in today’s political order?
Ans. A minion is an unimportant person in an organisation who has to obey orders. The
Maharaja has many minions or servants. Most of them fear the Maharaja and obey his
orders faithfully. They dare not disobey him or contradict him. The Maharaja’s
displeasure means loss of job or even loss of life. Only a few of them are truly sincere
towards him. One such person is the chief astrologer. He is willing to bum his books of
astrology, cut off his tuft and crop his hair short if his prediction proves untrue. The
others try to keep the Maharaja in good humour. Even the dewan is no exception. Many
officers lose their jobs when the Maharaja’s fury and obstinacy mount higher. The king’s
bullet misses the hundredth tiger. It faints from the shock and falls as a crumpled heap.
The hunters realise the truth, but they decide not to reveal it to the king. They fear that
they might lose their jobs.
In today’s political order, subordinates serve their superior bosses as deaf and dumb
creatures who see only what their masters want them to see. Their self-interests and
fear of elimination make them faithful servants.

Q4. Gan you relate instances of game-hunting among the rich and the powerful in
the present times that illustrate the callousness of human beings towards
wildlife?
Ans. In our times, big game-hunting has been banned by law as so many species of
wildlife have been declared endangered species. Sanctuaries, national parks and
games reserves have been established to preserve wildlife from extinction and maintain
ecological balance in nature. Even then sporadic cases of game-hunting are reported in
newspapers now and then. It is generally noticed that the erstwhile rulers—kings or
nawabs or the rich and powerful persons or famous film stars indulge in game-hunting.
The cases against late M.A.K. Pataudi and Salman Khan are still pending in courts.
Poachers and smugglers too destroy wildlife for skin, meat or for various organs of body
and escape scot-free.

Q5. We need a new system for the age of ecology—a system which is embedded
in the care of all people and also in the care of the Earth and all life upon it.
Discuss.
Ans. Modem age is the age of ecology. A new consciousness has arisen among human
beings. Animals and birds are as much part of nature as human beings. The destruction
or haphazard killing of one species may not only lead to its extinction, but it will
adversely affect the ecological balance. Those animals which serve as food for the wild
animals will increase in large number, if the beasts of prey are wiped out. Each species,
howsoever fierce, deadly, ferocious or poisonous has its own role in the scheme of
things. We must devise a new system. It must focus on the care of all living beings on
the Earth as well as the Earth itself and all life—vegetative or animal living on it. Steps
have to be taken to preserve ecological balance in nature and prevent environmental
pollution. Unpolluted air, water and food can make all living beings healthy and enable
them to enjoy longer fives.