The Banyan tree - Worksheets

 CBSE Worksheet 01

The Banyan tree

  1. Why did the speaker find the old banyan tree exclusively his own?
  2. What did the myna do finally? Write your answer in the context of The Banyan tree.
  3. What happened to the crow in the end? Write your answer in the context of The Banyan tree.
  4. What trick did the mongoose apply to overpower and kill the cobra? Write your answer in the context of The Banyan tree.
  5. Describe the garden where the author used to spend his afternoon. (The Banyan tree)
  6. How did the mongoose kill the snake in the story The Banyan tree?
  7. How did the squirrel become friendly with the author? Answer in the context of The Banyan tree.
  8. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (1x5=5)
    Though the house and grounds belonged to my grandparents, the magnificent old banyan tree was mine — chiefly because Grandfather, at sixty-five, could no longer climb it.
    Its spreading branches, which hung to the ground and took root again, forming a number of twisting passages, gave me endless pleasure. Among them were squirrels and snails and butterflies. The tree was older than the house, older than Grandfather, as old as Dehradun itself. I could hide myself in its branches, behind thick green leaves, and spy on the world below.
    1. Name the story and its writer.
    2. How did the old banyan tree become the author's sole property?
    3. Name some of the creatures that amused the author.
    4. What did the author do there?
    5. Find a word from the above passage that means opposite to ordinary.

CBSE Worksheet 01
The Banyan tree

Solution

  1. The old banyan tree became the narrator's own property because his grandfather was too old to climb it.

  2. Myna finally dropped cautiously to the ground, hopped about, peered into the bushes from a safe distance and then with a shrill cry of congratulations, flew away.

  3. In the end, the crow flung nearly twenty feet across the garden, as the cobra's snout hit the crow's body. It fluttered about for a while, then lay still.

  4. He first bit the snake twice on the back. When the cobra was tired, the mongoose caught it by the snout. He finally dragged the dead snake into the bushes.

  5. The garden has a magnificent old banyan tree. The tree was older than the house. It was as old as Dehra Dun. Its branches were spread everywhere. The author used to hide in its branches and spy on the world below. It was home to squirrels, snails and butterflies. During the spring season, the tree was full of small red figs and birds such as bulbul, parrots, myna and crows would flock into its branches. The tree was the noisiest place in the garden.

  6. The mongooses are superb and aggressive fighters. Both the cobra and the mongoose were champions yet the mongoose behaved in a clever and tricky way.  The cobra tried to mesmerise the mongoose, but he was acquainted with the power of his opponent's glassy eyes.
    The mongoose very bravely and cleverly fixed his gaze at a point just below the cobra's hood and started the attack. He was clever enough to defend himself well, biting the snake again and again The cobra coiled itself around the mongoose but was not successful. But in the end, the cobra was tired so it could not struggle any more and die and the mongoose dragged it away in the bushes.

  7. The young squirrel became friendly when it found that the author did not harm it with a catapult or an air gun. The author did not want to harm it. The author brought him pieces of cake and biscuit.

    1. The story is The 'Banyan Tree' and its writer is Ruskin Bond.
    2. The author's grandfather was too old to climb the banyan tree. So it became the sole property of the author because he could climb the tree and hid himself behind the branches of the tree.
    3. Squirrels, snails, and butterflies moved about below. The sight of these playful creatures amused the author.
    4. The author used to hide himself in the tree's branches, behind the thick green leaves and spy on the world below.
    5. The word is magnificent.