The Last Bargain - Worksheets

CBSE WorkSheet 01
The Last Bargain
  1. What is the speaker’s last bargain? Why does he call it the best?
  2. The man in the poem wanted to be hired. Yet he refused the offers of a powerful king and the wealthy old man. Why? Answer in the context of The Last Bargain
  3. What message does Tagore’s poem convey? What does he try to highlight?
  4. What is a bargain? What attempts does the man make to strike a bargain?
  5. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
    The sun glistened on the sand, and the sea waves broke waywardly.
    A child sat playing with shells.
    He raised his head and seemed to know me and said,
    I hire you with nothing.
    From hence forward that bargain struck in child’s play made me a free man.
    1. What was the child playing with?
    2. Who made the person a free man?
    3. Who is the poet of the poem?
  6. Read the extract given below and answer the following questions. (1x5 = 5)
    In the heat of the mid-day,
    the houses stood with shut doors.
    I wandered along the crooked lane.
    An old man came out with his bag of gold
    He pondered and said,
    ‘I will hire you with my money’
    He weighed his coins one
    by one, but I turned away.
    1. What was the weather on that day?
    2. What was the offer that the old man made?
    3. Does the speaker accept the offer?
    4. Who is the speaker of these lines?
      1. The king
      2. The poet
      3. The child
      4. The man
    5. Where did the speaker meet the old man?
      1. At the seashore
      2. At the stone-paved road
      3. In the garden
      4. Near the crooked lane
CBSE WorkSheet 01
The Last Bargain
Solution
  1. The speaker’s final bargain is with a child playing with shells on the sea beach. The child has nothing to pay in return. Still the man strikes the deal. Playing with the child will make him a free man, not a slave or servant.
  2. The man wanted to be hired. The king offered him his power for his services. The man was not interested in being powerful. So he rejected the king’s offer.
    The old man offered the mangold for his services. The man was not interested in gold either. So he turned away from him also.
    In fact, the man was interested in goodwill, cheer, and freedom. Neither the king nor the rich man had offered it. So it was natural for him to reject those offers.
  3. The poem has a profound message. Freedom is more desirable than power, gold or beauty. An employee becomes a slave or servant. He offers his services on payment. So he is duty bound to work for his employer. Playing with child ensures the man’s freedom.
  4. A bargain is an agreement in which parties promise to do something for each other. The man wants to be hired. The king tries to hire him which his power. But for the man power counts for nothing. Then comes a rich old man with his gold coins. The third person who wants to hire the man is a pretty girl. But the man does not need power, gold and sweet love. He finally strikes a bargain with a little child for no price. His satisfaction is that he will remain a free man.
    1. The child was playing with shells.
    2. The child made the person a free man.
    3. Rabindranath Tagore is the poet of the poem.
    1. It was mid -day and it was quite warm.
    2. The old man said, “I will hire you with my money.”
    3. No, the speaker does not accept the offer. He was not lured by the money offered by the old man.
    4. The man is the speaker.
    5. The man met the old man at the crooked lane.