Class 8 Chapter 1 Solution
The Wind Cap
1. Very Short Question Answer
1. What did Jon want to be?
Ans: Jon wanted to be a sailor.
2. Who dissuaded Jon to be a sailor?
Ans: Jon’s mother dissuaded Jon to be a sailor.
4. Why did Jon know the smell of the soil?
Ans: Jon knew the smell of the soil because he was a peasant’s son.
5. Why did Jon abandon his desire to be a sailor?
Ans: Jon abandoned his desire to be a sailor becaüse he always obeyed his mother.
6. What did Jon run over on a clod of dirt?
Ans: Jon ran over a tiny green turtle on a clod of dirt.
7. . Where did Jon set the turtle and why?
Ans: Jon set the turtle on his head because he knew that it would be safe there.
8. What was Jon’s heart’s desire?
Ans: Jon’s heart’s desire was to go sailing.
9. How did the fairy man come to know what Jon desired?
Ans: As the fairy man could read a heart very easily, so it was very easy for him to know Jon’s desire.
10. Why did Jon become popular with the sailors?
Ans: Jon became popular because it was the wind that sailors called for and wind that Jon could supply.
11. What did the fairy man give Jon?
Ans: The fairy man gave Jon a different kind of cap, the that sailors most desire.
12. What did Jon beg the captain?
Ans: Jon begged the captain to let him go ashore just for one day when they had sighted land.
13. What did Jon promise to the captain of the ship?
Ans: Jon promised to the captain of the ship that he would return.
14. When did Jon fall fast asleep?
Ans: One quiet afternoon, Jon lay fast asleep.
15. What happened in Jon’s dream?
Ans: In Jon’s dream, the seasons turned rapidly.
16. Where did the ship stand on the day in which Jon was dreaming?
Ans: The ship stood offshore from his old farm on the day in which Jon was dreaming.
17. How did the squall become a storm?
Ans: When the sailors pulled and twisted the cap to rip off Jon’s head, the squall became a storm.
18. How did Jon divide his time between land and sea?
Ans: Jon spent half the year on a ship and half on the shore.
19. How/when did the storm stop?
Ans: As Jon went under the waves, the cap came off his head and thus the storm stopped.
20. Where did Jon keep the wind cap in his house?
Ans: In his house Jon kept the wind cap in the wardrobe.
21. Who came to be known as Captain Turtle?
Ans: Jon came to be known as Captain Turtle.
22. What did Jon do when the storm stopped?
Ans: When the storm stopped, Jon got to the land, picked up the cap and ran home to his mother and farm.
23. When did Jon begin to dream of the sea?
Ans: Jon began to dream of the sea in winter.
2. Short Question Answer
1. Why did not Jon’s mother want to let him go to sea?
Ans: According to Jon’s mother, Jon knew the turn of the seasons and the smell of the soil but he knew nothing of sailing. This is why Jon’s mother did not want to let him go to sea.
2. Why was Jon surprised after plucking the turtle from his head?
Ans: After plucking the turtle from his head, Jon was surprised because he found that it had turned into a tiny green fairy man.
3. Why did the fairy man offer Jon the wind cap?
Ans: As Jon put the tiny green turtle on his head like a hat to keep him safe, the fairy man offered Jon the wind cap.
4. Why did the cap call up a squall from the clear sky?
Ans: In Jon’s dream, the cap on his head twisted round and round. It called up a squall from the clear sky that hit the ship without a warning.
5. What did the captain do with Jon?
Ans: In anger, the captain grabbed Jon by the tail of his striped cap, twisted him thrice and flung him out to the sea.
6. What was the condition that was associated with the wind cap?
Ans: The condition that was associated with the wind cap was both bad and good. It was bad because Jon could neither take his cap off before his captain nor at bedtime and it was good because neither could he lose his cap nor could it be stolen from him.
7. What happened when the captain twisted Jon thrice by the tail of his cap and flung him out to the sea?
Ans: When the captain twisted Jon thrice by the tail of his cap and flung him out to the sea, the winds called up by the cap spun the ship three times around.
8. Why did the sailors try to rip off the cap from Jon’s head?
Ans: In anger and fear, the sailors tried to rip off the cap from Jon’s head because the wind had been whirling about the ship tearing the sails and snapping the spars.
9. Do you think Jon was rightly called Captain Turtle? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans: I think Jon was rightly called Captain Turtle because he was as much at home on the water as he was on the land.
10. Why did Jon want to return the wind cap to the fairy man?
Ans: Jon wanted to be a sailor. His wish was fulfilled. Besides it, he had to face a lot of troubles because of this cap. That is why Jon wanted to return the wind cap to the fairy man and wanted to sail as an ordinary man.
11. Why did Jon run out of the field, tucking the cap in his shirt?
Ans: Tucking the cap in his shirt, Jon ran out to the field to place wind cap under a stone where he knew the fairy man would find it.
12. How was Jon able to set off on his maiden sea-voyage?
Ans: Putting the cap on his head, Jon ran off to the sea. On seeing a ship anchored near the shore, he requested the captain to take him along. In this way Jon was able to set off his maiden sea-voyage.
13. Why did not the captain want to part with his prized sailor?
Ans: By twisting the cap Jon could summon the east wind and the west wind and similarly the north as well as the south wind. This is why the captain did not want to part with his prized sailor.
3. Long Question Answer
1. Do you think living on a ship is more enjoyable than living on land ?
Ans: With sky-high rents and rising mortgage interest rates nation-wide, I think living on a ship on the sea is more enjoyable than living on land. Besides it, if and when I want to move, I simply untie my lines and move my home to a new location. And considering my home can move with the wind, the coastal areas of the whole world are possible future ‘homes’. I can have all the creature comforts I need such as laundry facilities, hot showers, Wi-Fi internet, ovens, television etc.
2. How do you think our lives would change if we have magic power to control the weather ?
Ans: If we have magical power to control the weather, we can be able to ensure adequate fall of rain because water is essential for life and in most countries the supply of it depends upon showers. Without rain vegetation withers, animal and men languish and die. We could be able to cover up the scorching heat of the sun with clouds. We could be able to blow cold breeze when it is too hot. But we would have to lose the charm of the unknown. Our lives would be changed radically if we had this magical power. We can control drought and flood.
3. Jon returned the wind cap to the fairy man although it had fulfilled his wishes. Would you have done the same had you been in Jon’s place? Discuss in groups.
Ans: Yes, I would also have returned the wind cap to the fairy man because there was a warning that no human hands would ever be able to take that cap off from his head. As a result an accident occurred. So he did not put that cap again and he returned it to the fairy man. As the cap created a lot of problems, I, too, did not want such a cap to fulfill my wish. I would have wanted to fulfill my desires without anybody’s help.
4. Imagine you are out on the open sea in a boat with waves rising all around you. Would you feel scared or excited? Write a paragraph in about eighty words describing your experience of the sea voyage.
Ans: It was Durga Puja vacation. I along with my father decided to go on a journey by boat. There were two boatmen. We started our return journey but the journey was a little bit difficult because the boat was going against the current. Soon we saw that the sun was about to set. The sun’s rays made everything red. But soon we were horrified to hear the cry, ‘storm’. The water rose high and it dashed against the boat. The waves were rising all around us. The sky was darkening. The clouds were rumbling. Occasionally there were flashes of lightning as if it would be raining. We could see nothing except the turbulent and churning waves of the sea. It seemed that life had slipped from our hands. I was really scared. We started praying to God. Soon the boatmen cried, ‘shore! shore! We thanked God and thanked the boatmen. The memory of that journey is till fresh in my mind.
4. Fill In The Blanks
(i) The rain when I left home. (pour) the bridge for the
(ii) The engineers the bridge for the past few months. (build)
(iii) The performers since evening (sing).
(iv) At that time, Mr. Ro one month. (write) poems for
Ans: (i) had been pouring, (ii) have been building, (iii) have been singing, (iv) had been writing