MP Board Class 9th English Solutions Chapter 5 A Legend of the Northland

The poem is a legend about an old lady who angered Saint Peter because of her greed. The story goes’ on like this. One day, Saint Peter was preaching around the world and reached the door of a cottage where this woman lived. She was making cakes and baking them on a hearth. St. Peter was fainting with hunger. He asked the lady to give him a piece of cake. The cake that she was baking then appeared to be too big, so she did not give him that and instead, she baked another smaller one. That also appeared to be big so she did not give him that also. The second time she baked yet another smaller cake but found it too big to give away. In the third attempt, she took an extremely little scrap of dough and rolled it flat. She had it as thin as a wafer but was unable to part with that also. This angered St. Petena lot. He said that she was not fit to live in human form and enjoy food and warmth. He cursed her and transformed her into a woodpecker bird who had to bore in hard, dry wood to get its scanty food. She can be seen in the trees all day boring and boring for food.

कविता एक बूढ़ी महिला के बारे में एक किंवदंती है जो अपने लालच के कारण संत पीटर से नाराज थी। इस तरह कहानी आगे बढ़ती है। एक दिन, संत पीटर दुनिया भर में प्रचार कर रहे थे और एक झोपड़ी के दरवाजे पर पहुँचे जहाँ यह महिला रहती थी । वह केक बना रही थी और चूल्हे पर उन्हें सेंक रही थी। सेंट पीटर भूख से बेहाल थे। उसने महिला को केक का एक टुकड़ा देने के लिए कहा। जिस केक को वह बेक कर रही थी, वह बहुत बड़ा दिखाई दिया, इसलिए उसने उसे नहीं दिया और इसके बजाय, उसने एक और छोटा केक पकाया, लेकिन उसे छोड़ देना बहुत बड़ा था। तीसरे प्रयास में, उसने आटा का एक छोटा सा स्क्रैप लिया और उसे फ्लैट कर दिया। वह इसे एक वेफर के रूप में पतली थीलेकिन वह भी इसके साथ भाग लेने में असमर्थ थी। इससे सेंट पीटर को बहुत गुस्सा आया। उन्होंने कहा कि वह मानव रूप में रहने और भोजन और गर्मी का आनंद लेने के लिए फिट नहीं थी। उसने उसे शाप दिया और उसे एक कठफोड़वा पक्षी के रूप में बदल दिया, जिसे अपना भोजन पाने के लिए कड़ी मेहनत, सूखी लकड़ी में बोर होना पड़ता था। वह पूरे दिन पेड़ो में भोजन के लिए उबाऊ और उबाऊ देखा जा सकता है।

Questions

I. 1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to ?

2. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for ? What was the lady’s

reaction ?

3. How did he punish her ?

4. How does the woodpecker get her food?

5. Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?

6. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important ?

7. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend ?

8. Write the story of ‘A Legend of the Northland’ in about ten sentences.

Answers

1. It is a country in the extreme north. Days are short and nights are very long there.

2. St. Peter asked the old lady for a single cake. She made a very little cake. But it looked bigger. So she reduced its size again and again and annoyed the Saint.

3. He punished her by changing her into a woodpecker.

4. The woodpecker goes on boring into the dry hard wood. Only then it gets little food.

5. It is very difficult to say with certainty. Perhaps she would have given him very very thin cake if she had known St. Peter.

6. The story is not true. It is a legend. Even the poet says, ‘I don’t believe ’tis true’. Stanza three is the most important. It describes what it is.

7. A legend is an old story handed down from the past. It is generally of doubtful nature. The title of the poem is a ‘legend’. It is an old story of the Northland. The poet himself says, “I don’t believe ’tis true’.

8. Story of ‘A Legend of the Northland’. The poem is a legend of an old woman. She had angered St. Peter because of her greed. In the Northland lived an old lady. Once St. Peter came to the door of her cottage. He had become weak with fasting and travelling. The old lady was baking cakes on the hearth. St. Peter asked her for a single cake. The greedy lady made a very little cake. But even that looked too big to be given away. She went on reducing the size of the cake. At last, she baked a thin cake. It looked like a wafer. But still she thought it too big to be given away. She gave nothing to St. Peter. She put all the cakes on the shelf. St. Peter was provoked. He found her too selfish to be a woman. She didn’t deserve food, shelter and fire to keep her warm. So out of anger he changed her to a woodpecker. She went up through the chimney and flew away. She was often seen in the wood living in the trees. She continued boring into hard wood for her little food. It was the result of St. Peter’s curse.

Questions

II. 1. Let’s look at words at the end of the second and fourth lines, viz., ‘snows’ and ‘clothes, ‘true’ and ‘you, ‘below’ and ‘know’. We find that ‘snows’ rhymes with ‘clothes, ‘true’ rhymes with ‘you’ and ‘below’ rhymes with ‘know’. Find more such rhyming words.

2. Go to the local library or talk to older persons in your locality and find legends in your own language. Tell the class these legends.

Answers

1. Rhyming words are: (i) ‘earth’ and ‘hearth’; ‘done’ and ‘one’; ‘lay’ and ‘away’ ; ‘flat’ and ‘that’; ‘faint’ and ‘saint’; ‘food’ and ‘wood’; ‘same’ and ‘flame’.

2. Students may read many books about such legends. If they talk to the older persons they may know more about these legends.

Our culture is full of such legends. Their grandmothers or grandfathers may tell them of the legends. There are the legends of Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna, Meerabai. In fact, our literature is full of these. Students may enjoy reading them in various books.