The Tiger King Introduction

The story is a satire on the rich and powerful kings of the olden times. In order to prove the
prophecies of the fortune teller wrong, the king of Pratibandapuram mindlessly kills ninety nine
tigers but the hundredth one, the cause of the king’s death escapes his bullet. Ultimately, the king
is killed by an inanimate tiger made of wood. Hence, the prophecy turns to be true, despite the
king’s efforts to prove it wrong.
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.

Answer these questions

1. 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?
A.The king was full of pride. He thought he could achieve anything, even overpower death. He tried to prove the
predictions of the royal astrologer as false. He had predicted death for the king by a tiger. As the king killed one,
he cautioned him against the hundredth tiger that he came across.
Ironically, the king killed the hundredth tiger also and overpowered death but as it was destined to be, the tiger
escaped the bullet miraculously. He had killed ferocious tigers of flesh and blood but his satirical death came by
a wooden toy tiger which he had got as a birthday gift for his son. A tiny piece of wood from the toy wounded the
tiger king’s hand and finally killed him. This was an unexpected end of the mighty maharaja ‘the tiger king’.

2. What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the willfulness of human
beings?
A. The author is indicating that the king being mighty, killed so many innocent animals merely to prove the
astrologer wrong or to overcome his fear without realizing the severity of his actions. He did not accept destiny
which has its own ways as death struck upon him by a lifeless, wooden tiger.

3. How would you describe the behavior 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?
A. The king’s minions feared him and tried to please him. They wanted to keep him happy and so, spoke what
was pleasing to the king’s ears.
The astrologer was initially reluctant to predict the king’s future. It was when the king asked him ‘to speak without
fear’ that he spoke.
The minister did not advise the king not to kill so many innocent animals; rather he searched for a kingdom with
a high population of tigers for the king to kill.
The royal hunters did not inform the king about the hundredth tiger being alive as they feared losing their job.
The shopkeeper sold the toy tiger to the king at a high price because he feared punishment.
In today’s political order also, we can see that the people who are in subordination try to please their seniors in
order to retain their positions.
Extra questions

Q1

What is the main theme of the story ‘The Tiger King’?

The story is based on the consequences of arrogance and vanity that comes with power in human beings.
The king was so sure of his capabilities that he went on to eliminate the reason for his death by killing tigers
instead of focusing on handling his state affairs.
Q2
What is ironic about the ending of ‘The Tiger King’?
The irony of the ending of ‘The Tiger King’ is that even though the king assumed that he was able to kill a
hundred tigers, his death was caused by a sliver from a wooden tiger that pierced his hand.
Q3
How did the tiger king die?
The king’s hand developed an infection due to a sliver from a wooden tiger toy that spread to other body
parts and rendered his condition fatal.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question.1.What gave the astrologers the greatest surprise of their

life while they were studying
the horoscope of the ten-day old prince?
Answer. When the astrologers were reading the horoscope of the little prince,
they were taken by surprise when the ten-day old infant asked about the
manner of his death. When the chief astrologer told him that a tiger would be
the cause of his death, the baby retorted with arrogance, “Let the tigers
beware!”

Question.2.How did the Maharaja please a high ranking officer?

Answer. A high ranking British officer visited the state of Pratibandapuram and
sought permission for tiger hunting from the Maharaja. The Maharaja declined
his request, but as he did not want to upset the officer, he sent fifty diamond
rings to the officer’s wife which cost the king three , lakh rupees.

Question.3.Why did the Maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state?

Answer. As the prince was crowned the king, the astrologer’s prediction
regarding his (the king’s) death by a tiger reached his ears. This prompted the
Maharaja to kill a tiger but the astrologer informed him that he had to
successfully kill hundred tigers to escape the prophecy. Thus, in order to reach
that mark, the Maharaja banned tiger hunting in the state except for himself.

Question.4. Why did the Maharaja decide to get married?

or
What is the reason lor the Tiger King’s sudden decision to marry?
Answer. In order to defeat the astrologer’s prophecy, the Maharaja had to kill
a hundred tigers. He had already killed seventy tigers and the tiger population
in his state neared extinction. For this reason, he wished to marry a girl in the
royal family of a state with a rich tiger population, where he would kill the rest
of the tigers.

Question.5. Why did the Maharaja double the land tax?

Answer. The Maharaja had successfully killed ninety-nine tigers but struggled
hard to find the hundredth tiger. Once, there came a news of a tiger being
spotted at a hillside village but it turned out to be untrue. This infuriated the
Maharaja, who ordered the dewan to double the land tax in order to punish the
villagers for the false news.

Question.6. How did the Tiger King become the victim of the
hundredth tiger?
or
How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his fate?
Answer. The Tiger King met his end through the wooden tiger, which he had
bought as a gift for his son on his third birthday. While he was playing with his
son, a splinter of the poorly made toy tiger pricked the king’s hand. The
infection turned into a sore, which spread all over his arm. In spite of the best
surgeons, the king’s life could not be saved.
The irony is in the fact that in spite of killing nearly all the tigers in the area, he
had to face his death by a toy tiger.

Question.7. What, sort of hunts did the Maharaja offer to organise for
the high-ranking British officer? What trait of the officer does it
reveal?
Answer. Tiger hunting was banned in Pratibandapuram. When the British
official came with a tiger hunt request, the Maharaja told him that he may
conduct a boar hunt, a mouse hunt, even a mosquito hunt, but not a tiger hunt.
In reply to this, the British officer said that he only wanted to be photographed
holding a gun and standing ewer the dead body; the tiger could be killed by the
Maharaja. This shows the shallowness of character of the officer.

Question.8. Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth

tiger?
Answer. When the Maharaja was barely ten days old, the chief astrologer had
predicted that a tiger would be the cause of his death. When the Maharaja was
twenty, he killed one tiger. When he asked his astrologer, the astrologer said
that he would kill ninety-nine tigers, but he should be fearful of the hundredth
tiger. That was the reason why the Maharaja was so anxious to kill the
hundredth tiger.

Question.9. What warning did the astrologer give the Tiger King when
he killed the first tiger?
Did the prediction of the astrologer come to be true? (Foreign 2011)
Answer. When the Maharaja boasted about killing the first tiger, the astrologer
said that he may kill ’ ninety-nine tigers, but must be “very careful with the
hundredth tiger.” Yes, the astrologer was absolutely true in this prediction,
because finally the Maharaja was killed by the hundredth tiger.

Question.10.How did the Dewan manage to arrange the hundredth

tiger for the Maharaja?
Answer. The Dewan had brought a tiger from the People’s Park in Madras and
kept it hidden in his house. When the Maharaja threatened him with dire
consequences, he understood that the only way to save himself was to ‘plant’ a
tiger for the kill. So, he and his aged wife dragged the tiger to the forest where
the king was hunting. The king took aim and the beast soon collapsed.
Question.11.Why was the Maharaja sunk in gloom even after having
killed seventy tigers?
Answer. During ten years, the Maharaja had managed to kill seventy tigers. As
a result, the tiger population became extinct in his kingdom. This made the
Maharaja anxious because he thought he would not be able to achieve his
target of killing a hundred tigers and so his life would be in dangSr.

Question.12.What led the Maharaja to start out on a tiger hunt?

Answer. The Maharaja knew the old saying that killing even a cow in self-
defence was no sin. So, in order to save his own life and prove the astrological
prediction wrong, he started shooting all his enemies, i.e. the tigers he found in
the forests of his state and nearby regions.

Question.13.When did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his

kingdom?
Answer. Once, a high-ranking British officer visited Pratibandapuram. He was
very fond of hunting tigers and being photographed with them. However, the
Maharaja refused to give him permission to hunt tigers because he feared that
other British officers too would turn up with the same request. It was because
of his refusal that the Maharaja stood in danger of losing his kingdom.

Question.14.What happened to the tiger provided by the Dewan

Saheb?
Answer. The tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb was very old and stood in
complete submission. The Maharaja look aim and fired, but-actually the bullet
missed the tiger and the tiger only fainted from the sharp sound of the bullet.
As nobody wanted the Maharaja to know about it, one oflhe hunters himself
shot the tiger later on.

Question.15.Describe the efforts made by the Tiger King to achieve his

target of killing a hundred tigers.
Answer. The Tiger King made numerous efforts to fulfil his target of killing a
hundred tigers. He stayed in the forest for many days. He fired many of his
officers for not getting him tigers. He had to spend a ransom of three lakh
rupees to impress the British official and discourage him from killing the tigers.
He even went to the extent of marrying to kill the population of tigers in the
neighbouring state to meet his target. In a way, he did all he could to achieve
his goal , of killing a hundred tigers.

Question.16.Did the Tiger King shoot the hundredth tiger? Give

reasons for your answer.
Answer. The Tiger King actually did not shoot the hundredth tiger. The tiger
being a weak one, fainted from the shock of a bullet whizzing past him and the
ignorant king celebrated his achievement. Later, when the hunters took a
closer look at the tiger, it woke up as if from a deep slumber.

Question.17.How did the Tiger King celebrate his victory over the
killing of the hundredth tiger?
Answer. When the Maharaja thought that he had killed the hundredth tiger, his
joy knew no bounds. The elated king returned to his capital and ordered his
staff to bring the dead tiger in a grand
procession. The tiger was buried and a tomb was erected over it.

Question.18.What was the Dewan’s tiger like? How did he take it into
the forest?
Answer. The Dewan’s tiger was old and had been brought from the People’s
Park in Madras. It was kept hidden in the Dewan’s house. At midnight, the
Dewan with his wife dragged the tiger to his car and thrust it onto the seat.
With great difficulty, the tiger was pushed out of the car and planted in the
forest to be shot by the Maharaja.

Question.19.Why did the Dewan decide to give up his own tiger to be

killed by the Maharaja?
Answer. The Maharaja refused to leave the forest unless he killed the
hundredth tiger that had been sighted by the villagers. The Maharaja was
funous and sacked many officers. He ordered the Dewan to double the land tax
of the village and when the Dewan tried to stop him, the Maharaja asked him to
resign. So, to save his job, the Dewan decided to arrange for a tiger to be killed
by the Maharaja.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question.20. How did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his
kingdom? How was he able to
avoid the danger?
Answer. Once a high ranking British officer visited Pratibandapuram. As he
was fond of hunting tigers, he expressed his wish of tiger hunting to the king
but the king refused permission. Then the British officer (^quested that he only
wanted to be photographed holding gun and standing over the dead body of
the tiger; the Maharaja could kill the tiger. However, the Maharaja denied him
this permission also, fearing that it would lead to further similar requests from
other officers.
As the Maharaja did not want to upset the British officer and risk losing his
kingdom, he sent a fifty diamond rings to the wife of the officer. The lady kept
all the rings and sent him a note of thanks. In this way, the king managed to
save his kingdom.

Question.21.The astrologer’s prediction about the death of the Tiger

King came to be true. Do you agree with this statement?
Answer. I agree with the statement that the astrologer’s prediction about the
death of the Tiger King came to be true.
The astrologer had predicted that Tiger King would be killed by a tiger and he
should be wary of the hundredth tiger.
This statement of the astrologer forced the king to go on a killing spree. The
hundredth tiger was not killed by the king himself but by the hunters, who
found out that the old tiger had not died by the bullet of the king but only
fainted by the bullet whizzing past him. .
The hundredth tiger was a wooden toy tiger which the king had presented to
his three-year old son. It killed the king merely by a sliver of wood protruding
form it that pierced his right hand. The wound developed pus and it soon
spread all over the arm. The best surgeons failed to save the king and thus, the
astrologer’s prediction about the death of the Tiger King proved to be correct.