CBSE Class 9 English Beehive The Little Girl Worksheet Set A

INTRODUCTION
This is a story about a little girl. She feared her father greatly. She thought that he was hard-hearted and strict. She always avoided him. He often rebuked her. Once he beat her severely for tearing his important papers. But one night, her mother was in the hospital. The little girl was afraid of the dark. But her father consoled her. She slept beside her father. Then she realised that her father was very good. The story is based on the theme of a young child’s point of view about her father. Children take time to understand the actions of their elders. Till then, they tend to develop a negative opinion and sometimes even distrust. However, as kids grow older, their attitude towards their elders undergoes change. The theme of this story is based on this process of change that makes little children notice the soft and caring heart of their overtly strict elders. Parents need to punish their children when it is necessary to do so and children who have been punished exceedingly too much or too less undergo poor development. Kezia’s father belongs to the wrong kind of parents. His act of upbringing his little child was un t and the instance of his hitting Kezia for ruining his very important speech-sheets was unjusti ably wrong. On one side the sheets were important for him but the fact that Kezia ruined them for making him a birthday gift stands strongly against the father.

Justifcation of the Title
Kezia’s father was a busy man and she was afraid of him. Her father would always give her instructions but never made any effort to know what she expected from him. She wanted his love and company. He only wanted her to be obedient, disciplined, organised and a perfect person. As a little girl, she couldn’t build up self-con dence to feel free to talk. The entire story moves around her expectations. So, the title is apt and appropriate.

MESSAGE
The story conveys a beautiful message that there is a very strong bond between parents and children. This bond has the strength to survive every type of challenge. However, in order to prepare their little children for the hardships of adult life, parents resort to strict punishment and it is diffcult for children to understand the true motive behind the stern actions of their parents. As a result, they develop negativity. Therefore, the story gives message to both the children and parents. Children should trust their parents and the parents should understand that physical punishment can leave emotional scars.

DETAILED SUMMARY
Kezia was a little girl. She feared her father. She thought that her father was like a giant. He had big hands and a big neck. His mouth was also very big. She always avoided him. She thought that he was very cruel. Kezia’s father worked in an office. He went to an office in the morning. Before going, he went to the little girl’s room. He gave her a casual kiss. The father went to the office in a carriage. She felt very happy when her father goes to his office.In the evening, the little girl’s father came back. He spoke loudly in the house. Kezia feared her father’s loud voice.Her mother would ask her to go and take off his shoes. When she entered his room, he looked at her sternly. Kezia thought that her father was a hard-hearted person. One day Kezia made a pin-cushion. She wanted to present it to her father on his birthday. She needed paper to stuff the pin-cushions. She found some sheets of paper in her father’s room. She tore the sheets to stuff the pin- cushion. Her father had written an important speech on them. He was very angry with her. He took a stick and beat her severely. He told her not to touch anything that did not belong to her. Kezia wept bitterly. She wondered why God had made fathers. Now she trembled even at the sight of her father. One day, Kezia saw her neighbour, Mr Macdonald. He was playing with his children. They all looked very happy. But Kezia’s father never played with her. Now she thought that there were different kind of fathers in the world. Her own father was very cruel. After a few days, Kezia’s mother became ill. Her grandmother took her to the hospital. Kezia was alone in the house with the nurse. She had to sleep alone in her bedroom. At night, she had a horrible dream. She saw that there was a botcher with a knife. She was terrified. She gave a loud cry. Her father came into her room. He lifted her and took her to his own bed. She lay beside her father. He was tired and fell asleep before her. She was lost in thoughts. She thought that he had to work hard every day. He came in the evening. Then he was too tired to play with her. She thought that it was her fault to tear those important papers. She realised that her father was not bad. He had a big and loving heart.

LEARN AND WRITE THE QUESTION ANSWERS IN YOUR COPY.

Question.Why was Kezia afraid of her father?
Answer : Kezia was afraid of her father because he was strict. He stared at her and even gave her physical punishment.
Instead of the love and affection that Kezia sought from her father, he gave her scoldings which instilled a fear in her mind. Her father’s giant structure also terrified little Kezia.

Question. Who were the people in Kezia’s family?
Answer : In all there were four members in Kezia’s family – her strict father, her stern mother, a loving grandmother and Kezia herself.

Question. What was Kezia’s father’s routine
(i) before going to his office?
(ii) after coming back from his office?
(iii) on Sundays?
Answer : i) Before going to office, Kezia’s father would visit Kezia in her room, give her a kiss and then leave for work in his carriage.
ii) After coming back from office in the evening, Kezia’s father would order that tea be brought for him in the drawing room. He would order for his slippers and the newspapers in a loud voice.
iii) On Sunday afternoons, he would stretch out on the sofa, his handkerchief on his face, his feet on one of the best cushions, and would sleep soundly and snore.

Question.In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?
Answer : Kezia’s grandmother wanted Kezia to have a strong bond of love and affection with her parents. In order to develop that, she encouraged Kezia to go downstairs every Sunday afternoon to spend time with her parents and to get to know them better.

Write the answers in 80-100 words.

1.Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much.How did this happen?
Answer : Kezia was at home as she was down with fever. Her grandmother suggested that she make a surprise gift for her father as his birthday was approaching. Kezia and her grandmother planned that Kezia would make a pin cushion for him and her grandmother gave her a piece of yellow – coloured silk fabric for it. Kezia stitched the cushion from three sides and was looking for pieces of torn cloth or paper to stuff into the cushion. As her grandmother was out in the garden, the innocent child reached her parents’ room. She found a heap of paper lying on the bed table, tore the sheets of paper into tiny bits and stuffed it into the cushion. Kezia was glad that finally, the surprise gift was ready but, in fact she had committed a serious mistake of destroying her father’s speech that he had prepared for the Port Authority. Kezia’s father was angry with her and wanted to teach her an important lesson, not to touch anything that did not belong to her. So, he hit Kezia’s palms with a ruler to teach her a lesson.

2. Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?
Answer : Mr Macdonald, Kezia’s next door neighbour had five children. Kezia often saw them playing in the garden.One day, she peeped through a gap in the fence and saw them having fun. Baby Mao was sitting on Mr Macdonald’s shoulders, his two daughter stuck to his coat’s pockets and they ran all around the flower beds, laughing and having fun. His sons opened the hose on him and he tried to catch them. This fun scene made her conclude that there were different kinds of fathers. Mr Macdonald was different from her father. He was not strict, played with his children and they laughed all the while. On the other hand, Kezia’s father was always angry at her. He remained busy with work and later, was too tired that he slept most of the time. He stared at her, scolded her for stammering and being silly.His strict nature made Kezia wonder that what for had God made fathers.

3.How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?
Answer : One day, Kezia’s mother was taken ill and went to the hospital. Grandmother too accompanied her. Kezia was left alone with the cook, Alice to look after her. At night, Alice put Kezia to bed but Kezia was reluctant to sleep without her grandmother as she would go to her in case she got scared by a nightmare. Alice put Kezia to sleep all alone and ordered her not to scream and disturb her father who was asleep in the next room. But she was again bother by the nightmare of a butcher with a knife, a rope and a dreadful smile. Kezia screamed and called her grandmother. Upon hearing her screams, her father woke up. He was holding a candle and lifted Kezia in his arms. He took her to his room and comforted her. He lay Kezia in his bed and told her to rub her feet against his legs to make them warm. Kezia felt his affection and snuggled towards him. At that moment, Kezia realized that her father worked really hard was a tired poor man who needed sympathy and concern. There was no one to look after him. Although he was big and not as soft as grandmother, Kezia realized that he loved her, and she had affection for him.

EXTRACTS FOR COMPREHENSION
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow in one or two lines each:
(I) To the little girl, he was a gure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss.

Question. Who does ‘he’ refer to in this extract?
Answer : He refers to the father of the little girl, Kezia.

Question. What were the feelings of the little girl towards him?
Answer : The little girl was afraid of him and tried to avoid him.

Question. What did ‘he’ do before going to work every morning?
Answer : Before going to work every morning, he came to the room of the little girl and casually kissed her.

Question. What does this gesture show about him?
Answer : This gesture shows that he loved her girl but was not very expressive in his a ection.

(II) She never stuttered with other people – had quite given it up – but only with Father, because then she was trying so hard to say the words properly.
Question. Who is ‘she’ in this extract?
Answer : She’ is Kezia, the little girl who was afraid of her father.

Question. What had she ‘quite given up’?
Answer : She had quite given up the occasional stuttering in front of other people.

Question. How did ‘she’ speak in the presence of her father?
Answer : In the presence of her father, Kezia stuttered while speaking and displayed lack of con dence.

Question. Why did ‘she’ speak so di erently before her father?
Answer : Being afraid of her father, Kezia hesitated to speak to him. Whenever she had to, she would stutter and sound different because her natural speech would be obstructed.

(III) He was so big – his hands and his neck, especially his mouth when he yawned. Thinking about him alone was like thinking about a giant.

Question. Who is ‘he’ in the above extract?
Answer : In this extract, ‘he’ refers to the father of Kezia, who was a veil, strict disciplinarian.

Question. why does the speaker nd him so big?
Answer : The speaker is his little daughter Kezia who was very scared of him. Hence she nds him so big – with big hands, neck and mouth.

Question. why does the speaker think of him as a giant?
Answer : The speaker, Kezia, thought of him as a giant because to a small girl like her, his big body structure was as frightening as that of a giant of children’s stories.

Question. When did his mouth especially appear big?
Answer : His mouth especially appeared big when he opened it wide while yawning.

(IV) “Mother, go up to her room and fetch down the damned thing – see that the child’s put to bed this instant.”

Question. Who speaks these lines and to whom?
Answer : Kezia’s father speaks these lines to his mother.

Question. What is the mood of the speaker in these lines?
Answer : The speaker, Kezia’s father, is in a very angry mood while speaking these lines because Kezia had torn his important speech to pieces.

Question. What does the speaker refer to as the ‘damned thing’?
Answer : The ‘damned thing’ referred to by the speaker, Kezia’s father, is the pin-cushion Kezia had made for him.

Question. Who is the ‘child’ here? Why does the speaker wish the child to be put to bed immediately?
Answer : The ‘child’ here is Kezia. Her father, the speaker, wishes her to be put to bed immediately because he is furious at the damage caused by her. He does not want to lose his anger further due to her presence in front of him.

HOME ASSIGNMENT

READ THE EXTRACT AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS YOURSELF.
(V) “Here’s a clean hanky, darling. Blow your nose. Go to sleep, pet; you’ll forget all about it in the morning. I tried to explain to Father but he was too upset to listen tonight.”
(a) Who speaks these lines to whom and when?
(b) Why does the speaker offer a clean hanky?
(c) What did the speaker want the listener to forget? Why?
(d) What did the speaker try to explain to Father?