Class 8 Chapter 13 Solution
The Man who planted Trees
1. Very Short Question Answer
1. How was the wind blowing?
Ans: The wind was whistling continuously.
2. How was the author impressed by the shepherd? Or
What impression did the shepherd give to the author?
Ans: The shepherd gave the impression to the author that nothing could disturb him.
3. What was the name of the shepherd?
Ans: The name of the shepherd was Elzeard Bouffier.
4. How old was the shepherd?
Ans: The shepherd was fifty-five years old.
5. What had the shepherd been doing for three years now?
Ans: The shepherd had been planting trees in this solitary way for three years now.
6. How many years later did the narrator revisit the country?
Ans: The narrator revisited the country after ten years.
2. Short Question Answer
1. Who translated the story “The Man Who Planted Trees” into English?
Ans: Peter Doyle translated the story “The Man Who Planted Trees” into English. (Peter Doyle “The Man Who Planted Trees”
2. How was the nature of the place the author had gone to?
Ans: About forty years ago the author went on a long hike, through hills absolutely unknown to tourists. The Alps penetrate into Provence in that very old region. It consisted of barren and monotonous land. Nothing grew there except wild lavender.
3. When and how did the author find himself completely desolated?
Ans: When the author crossed that country at its widest part and after walking for three days, he found himself completely desolated.
4. Why do you think the village was abandoned?
Ans: The area around the village was completely desolate. Nothing grew there except wild lavender and there was no water either. Due to lack of food and water, the village was abandoned.
5. Why did the author have to pass the night in the shepherd’s house?
Or
Why did the author decide to stay in the shepherd’s cottage?
Ans: The author decided to stay in the shepherd’s cottage for the night because the closest village was still more than a day and a half farther on.
6. Why was the shepherd examining the acorns with great attention?
Ans: The shepherd was examining the acorns with great attention because he wanted to separate the good ones from the bad.
7. Give two examples of the shepherd’s hospitality towards the narrator.
Ans: The shepherd shared his soup with the narrator and allowed him to spend the night at his cottage.
These are the two examples of the shepherd’s hospitality towards the narrator.
8. State the profession of the people who inhabited the four or five villages.
Ans: The villagers who inhabited four or five remote villages were woodcutters by profession and they also made charcoal.
9. “I was intrigued.” – Why was the narator ‘intrigued’?
Ans: The shepherd brought the narrator a feeling of peace. It seemed that nothing could disturb the man. The narrator therefore was impressed and intrigued by him and wanted to know more about him.
10. How did the shepherd plant the acorns?
Ans: The shepherd began to pound his iron rod into the ground. This made a hole in which he placed an acorn and covered over the hole again. In this way the shepherd planted the acorns.
11. What did the shepherd do before going out the next day?
Ans: Before going out the next day, the shepherd soaked in a bucket of water the acorns that he had so carefully chosen and counted.
12. What desire did the narrator have in his mind? What led him to that desire?
Ans: The narrator had a great desire to breathe a little pure air as he was engaged for five years in war. So he set out again along the trail through that deserted country.
13. How did the narrator feel in the midst of oaks?
Ans: In the midst of oaks the narrator felt that all these trees sprung from the hands and from the soul of this one man without technical aids.
14. Describe the scene which was ‘impressive’.
Ans: The scene was ‘impressive’. It was in three sections, eleven kilometers long overall and at its widest point, three kilometers wide.
15. Why did the author think that man could be as effective as God?
Ans: The author thought thus because Elzeard Boffier had created an eleven kilometers long and three kilometers wide forest of oak trees all by himself without technical aids. It seemed a divine act to the author,
16. How did Elzeard Bouffier plant the acorns?
Ans: Elzeard Boffier pounded the ground with his iron rod and made several holes. Then he placed acorns in those holes and coverd them again,
17. “I found that the war had not disturbed him at all.” Why did you think that the war had not been able to disturb Elzeard Bouffier?
Ans: The war had not been able to disturb Elzeard Bouffier because he who was a peaceful man, carried on his mission to revive his dying country by planting trees.
18. What was the narrator’s reaction on seeing the massive oak trees?
Ans: The massive oak trees were impressive. They were taller than the narrator as well as the shepherd, Elzeard Bouffier. When the narrator saw the trees, he was actually speechless and passed the whole day walking through the forest in silence with Elzeard Bouffier.
3. Fill In The Blanks
(i) The dog (bark) since last night.
(ii) The man (read) the newspaper for two hours.
(iii) The students (prepare) months. themselves for the quiz competition for several
(iv) Mother (cook) dinner for all of us throughout the evening.
ANSWERS:
(i) has been barking
(ii) has been reading
(iii) have been preparing
(iv) has been cooking
4. True And False
1.(a) F He invited me to come along with him.
(b) T Of these one hundred thousand, twenty thousand had come up.
(c) F The Oaks of 1910 were now ten years old and were taller than me and than him.
(d) F When I considered that this had all sprung from the hands and from the soul of this one man without technical aids.
2.(i) T The next year the war came, in which I was engaged for five years.
(ii) T I set out again along the trail through that deserted country.
(iii) T When I considered that this had all sprung from the hands and from the soul of this one man without technical aids.
(iv) T He began to examine them one after another with a great deal of attention, separating the good ones from the bad.
(v) F When he had before him one hundred perfect acorns he stopped.
(vi) F Before going out the next day, he soaked in a bucket of water the acorns that he had so carefully chosen and counted.
(vii) F This made a hole in which he placed an acorn, and covered over the hole again.
(viii) T He told me that for three years now he had been planting trees in this solitary way.
(ix) F About forty years ago I went on a long hike, through hills absolutely unknown to tourists.
(x) F He had lost his only son and then his wife.