Three Questions
LEARNING OUTCOME
The Learner:
responds to comprehension questions (Direct & Inferential)
related to story, orally and in writing (phrases/ short
sentences)
expresses verbally her/his opinion and asks questions about
the characters, storyline, etc.
thinks critically, compares and contrasts characters, events,
ideas, themes and relates them to life.
gets information about the author.
organizes sentences coherently using appropriate grammatical forms.
LISTENING PODCAST ON LEO TOLSTOY
GOING THROUGH PICTURE CARDS
PICTORIAL PRESENTATION OF THE STORY
Author
Leo Tolstoy
Name
9 September 1828, Yasnaya Polyana, Yasnaya
Born
Polyana, Russia
Died 20 November 1910, Lev Tolstoy, Russia
Short stories The Prisoner of the Caucasus
Movies Anna Karenina, War, and Peace
Listen the podcast and know something about this author.
https://anchor.fm/navita-rajput/episodes/Erudition---
Knowledge--Information-eu2oj4
Hermit: saint
He saw a hermit in the forest.
Council: a group or committee that
leads or govern
Student council is elected judiciously.
Greet : welcome
The President was greeted with catcalls.
Faint : to become unconscious
A student fainted in the morning assembly.
Apologise: to express regret for mistake
My friend apologized for his misbehavior.
"The Three Questions" is a short story by
Russian author Leo Tolstoy first published in
1885 as part of the collection What Men Live
By, and Other Tales. The story takes the form
of a parable, and it concerns a king who
wants to find the answers to what he
considers the three most important questions
in life. Below is the link of video to enjoy the
short summary of the story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1R8dXP
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SHORT SUMMARY
Short Questions (Learn all short and extra questions)
Q1: What were the king’s three questions?
Ans: The king wanted to know three things- the right time to begin
a thing, the right person he should consult and the most important
thing for him to do.
Q2: Why was he keen to get the answers?
Ans: He was keen to get the answers so that he would never fail
in life.
Q3: Whom did he call to the court to answer his questions?
Ans: The king called wise men to his court to answer his
questions.
Q4: Why did the king go to the woods?
Ans: The king went to the woods to meet a wise
hermit.
Q5: What did he do there?
Ans: He took the spade from the hermit and started
digging the ground.
Q6: Who came running towards the hut?
Ans: A wounded man came running towards the hut.
Q7: Who wounded him in the woods?
Ans: The king’s bodyguards wounded him in the
woods.
Question 8: Why did the king send two messengers throughout his kingdom?
Ans: The king sent his messengers to look for wise people.
Question 9: How did the king promise to reward the person who would
answer his questions correctly?
Ans: The king promised to reward the person with a huge sum of money.
Question 10: Whose advice did the king finally think of seeking?
Ans: The king finally thought of seeking the hermit’s advice who lived in a
distant jungle.
Question 11: Who did go along with the king to meet the hermit?
Ans: No one went along with the king.
Question 12: During which time of the day would the hermit would leave the
forest and go out?
Ans: The hermit never used to go out of the forest.
Question 13: Why did the bearded man press his stomach with his hand?
Ans: The bearded man pressed his stomach because he was wounded and
wanted to stop blood flowing out from his wound.
ANSWERS OF THE THREE QUESTIONS THAT THE KING GOT AT
THE END OF THE STORY.
Comprehension Check (To be done in notebooks)
Question 1:Why did the king want to know answers to three questions?
Ans.: The king wanted to know answers of his three questions because
he wanted to be a successful ruler.
Question 2: Messengers were sent throughout the kingdom:
to fetch wise men.
to find answers to the questions.
to look for the wise hermit.
to announce a reward for those who could answer the questions.
Ans.: To find answers to the questions.
Question 1: Why was the king advised to go to the magicians?
Ans: Some of the wise men thought that in order to decide right time for
doing something, one must look into the future and only magicians were
able to do that. So, they advised the king to go to the magicians.
Question 2: In answer to the second question, whose advice did the people
say would be important to the king?
Ans: In answer to the second question some people, suggested to seek
advice of counselors, the priest or the doctors or the soldiers.
Question 3: What suggestions were made in answer to the third question?
Ans: For the third question some people said science was the most
important business while there were others who believed it was fighting and
then there were those who believed religious worship should take the first
place.
Question 4: Did the wise men win the reward? If not, why not?
Ans:No, the wise men didn’t win the reward because their answers were so
different from each other and king was not satisfied with their answers.
Question 5: How did the king and the hermit help the wounded man?
Ans.: The king washed the wound and covered the wound of the man with
his handkerchief and kept on dressing it until the bleeding stopped
completely. The king also offered the wounded man water to drink. The
hermit helped the king to bring the wounded man inside his hut and
allowed the man to spend his night in the hut.
Question 6: (a) Who was the bearded man?
(b) Why did he ask for the king’s forgiveness?
Ans.: (a) The bearded man was an enemy of the king. He wanted to take
revenge of his brother’s death by killing the king and taking away all his
property.
(b) The bearded man asked for the king’s forgiveness because he wanted to
kill the king but the king has saved his life. He was grateful to the king now.
Question 7: The king forgave the bearded man. What did he do to show his
forgiveness?
Ans.: The king showed his forgiveness by promising the man that he will
send his doctor and servants to look after him and also promised to return
him all his property.
Question 8: What were the hermit’s answers to the three questions? Write
each answer separately. Which answers do you like the most and why?
Ans: Hermit’s answers to the three questions were:
1.The most important time, the hermit said, is our present because it is the
only moment when we have the power to act.
2. The most important person at a moment is we ourselves because the
future is unknown and we don’t know whether we will meet anyone in the
future or not. So, we should listen to ourselves.
3. The most important business is to be kind and good to others because
we have been sent in this world to serve this noble cause.
I liked the third answer the most because helping someone in need is like
serving God. It makes us a good person and brings a sense of satisfaction
and contentment.
Value Based Questions (Do in notebook)
Question 1: Do you think we should help people in need? Why so?
Ans.: We should always help people in need. We have been sent to this
world to do good to others. If we are good and kind towards other,
people will respect us for our kindness. Being kind and helpful keeps us
happy from within. We feel happiness when we bring smile on the face of
others. We earn their good wishes and blessings in return. It makes us a
good human being. To help others is the greatest motto of humanity and
we should adhere to it.
Question 2: The king helped the hermit in digging the beds. He even slept
on the floor of the hut and lived like a simple man in the hermit’s hut.
What lesson we learn from this?
Ans.: The king found the old hermit tired digging the beds so he offered
his help to the man. He was accustomed of comfort and lavishness in his
palace still at hermit’s home he slept on the floor. At our homes we get all
the luxuries but if one day there comes a situation where we have to live
without them we should be prepared for that.
In life we might become very rich and affluent one day still we should be
simple from heart and must not be ashamed of embracing it at any
moment
Extras (Learn)
Question 1: Describe the king in your own words.
Ans:The king wanted to be a good ruler. He was seeking answers for the
three questions which he thought would help him in his mission. The
king was kindhearted, when he found the old man tired of digging the
ground, he offered him his help. He kept on bandaging the bearded
man’s wound until blood stopped coming out from it. He was down to
earth, he dressed up like a common man and spent the night sleeping on
floor at the hermit’s hut.
Question 2: Describe the hermit in one or two sentences.
Ans:The hermit was a weak old man and used to live amidst the woods
which he would never leave. He was digging the ground in front of his
hut for sowing seeds when the king arrived and the tedious task had
made him tired.
Homework: (Do in notebook)
Question 3: Read the extract and answer the following questions:
“Here comes someone running”.
Ques. 1 Who has ‘someone’ been referred to in this sentence?
Ques. 2 Why and where did someone come running?
Ques. 3 Name the chapter and its author.
Ques. 4 Describe the bearded man in your own words. ( Word limit-25)
Question 4. Imagine and draw a picture of this story (Three Questions)
including all the characters on one page mentioning their names.
1. Many wise men answered the king’s questions ……………….
2. Someone suggested that there should be a council of wise men
……………….
3. Someone else suggested that the king should have a timetable
……………….
4. The king requested the hermit ……………….
5. The king washed and dressed the bearded man’s wound ……………….
THOUGHT
