A. Very Short Answer Questions 1 Mark
1. Word – Meaning from the given chapter
i. Stirring
Ans: Exciting
ii. Proclaimed
Ans: Announce officially or publicly
iii. Astonished
Ans: Surprise
iv. Plunge
Ans: Jump
2. Fill in the blanks
i. Ranji had been less than a month in Rajpur when he discovered the ______.
Ans: Pool in the forest
ii. It was on such a day _____ that Ranji found the pool in the forest.
Ans: A hot, tiring day
iii. He leapt into the water. His limbs were supple; _____ body glistened in patches of sunlit water.
Ans: Free of any fat, and his dark
iv. The warrior stood up, _____, stretched out his arms and threw himself into the water.
Ans: Stiff and straight
3. What did Ranji discover?
Ans: Ranji discovered a pool in the forest.
4. What season is mentioned in the story?
Ans: The hot summer is mentioned in the story.
5. How does the stream look during summer?
Ans: During summers, the stream looked dry that barely had any trickle.
B. Short Answer Questions 2 Marks
1. What does Ranji do when he discovers the pool?
Ans: Ranji entered the pool and dived into the water as soon as he spotted it.
2. Where did Ranji learn swimming?
Ans: Ranji learned to swim while living with his parents in a Rajputana desert town.
3. Who does Ranji meet at the pool?
Ans: Ranji meets a boy at the pool that looked older than him. With a large nose and thick red lips, he was a taller, thickset boy.
4. How does Ranji feel seeing the stranger?
Ans: Ranji was sitting by the pool when he noticed a stranger. He was all set to make friends with the stranger.
5. How does the stranger react to seeing Ranji?
Ans: The other boy or the stranger questioned Ranji about what he was doing there. His manners and tone were harsh and he did not like having anyone near the pool.
C. Short Answer Questions 3 Marks
1. What does the boy tell Ranji about the pool and who he is?
Ans: Ranji approached the boy for friendship as he asked if they wanted to swim together. But the boy was furious about having anyone there. He urges Ranji to leave because he did not invite him and that he is a warrior who does not engage in dialogue with villagers.
2. What did Ranji reply when the boy told him that he is a warrior?
Ans: Ranji got furious too as the boy misbehaved with him. They reached a deadlock. And Ranji told him that he is a fighter and he is not scared of the boy. He is waiting for the boy to hit him if he can.
3. How did the two fight, with words or with actions?
Ans: The two began arguing at first, but when neither of them stopped speaking, the youngster attempted to scare Ranji with his voice before slapping him. Ranji retaliated by pushing the boy and eventually they got into a fight.
4. How did the two stop hitting each other?
Ans: Both Ranji and the boy stopped hitting each other as the both of them got tired and saw that the other one is not giving up. Their bodies felt exhausted as they stood back from each other and made tremendous efforts to speak and tell each other that they will continue to fight tomorrow.
5. What does Ranji do after coming back from the pool?
Ans: Ranji went home with bruises and cuts on his face, legs and arms. He could not hide his face and that he got involved in an unnecessary fight. On seeing her son like this, his mother asked him to stay at home for the rest of the day.
D. Long Answer Questions 5 Marks
1. How do we know that Ranji did not listen to his mother? What does he see in the market?
Ans: We know Ranji disobeyed his mother because the same evening he snuck out of his house and went to the market, where he found solace in a bottle of lemonade and a banana leaf full of alibis. After they had fought in the afternoon, Ranji spotted the child who was his competitor.
2. Why did Ranji not want to fight?
Ans: Ranji did not want to fight the next day as the weather was too hot. He felt weak and lazy and did not want to fight at all. But as he was challenged by the boy and giving up or backing off would have made him look like a loser. He felt that he would be defeated so he thought of either he can defy his enemy to the last or outwit the boy; that is the only way he would be able to gain his self-respect.
3. Did Ranji go anyway to fight? What did he hope of going for the fight, what did he get?
Ans: Ranji could not back off from his words as that would make him a coward so he chose to go fight anyway. However, on his way, he was hoping that the warrior had forgotten the challenge. But his dreams were dashed when he spotted his opponent applying oil on his body and stripping down to the waist on the other side of the pool.
4. What conditions did both the boys put for each other before beginning the fight? Why was the warrior amazed?
Ans: Both the boys put conditions for each other that either of them would need to go to the other side of the pool as they were standing on opposite sides. The warrior challenged Ranji that he could not swim for such a long in the pool. But Ranji saw this as an opportunity as he could swim the length of the pool a dozen times without being tired and it was a chance to show the warrior his superiority. And as the boy dived and swum, the warrior remained astonished as he himself couldn’t dive.
5. How did the two boys resolve their fight?
Ans: The boys dissolved their fights when they learnt that they could learn something from each other. Ranji could dive and Suraj (the warrior) could not, so he asked Ranji if he would teach him how to dive. They sat by the rock and made conversations about each other. Suraj showed Ranji how powerful he was by showing off his muscles and also complimented Ranji that he is strong but bony as he does not eat, he should join Suraj for lunches and dinners. Ranji thought that he could learn from Suraj to be a wrestler.