Jodie's Fawn
NCERT Solution
Question 1: What had happened to Jody's father?
Answer: Jody's father was bitten by a rattlesnake.
Question 2: How did the doe save Penny's life?
Answer: Penny's son Jody killed a doe and used its heart and liver to counter the snake's poison. It seems like an age old home remedy to cure snake bite.
Question 3: Why does Jody want to bring the fawn home?
Answer: The fawn has become an orphan because its mother was killed by Jody. He wants to bring the fawn to return the obligation because he was the one who made the fawn an orphan.
Question 4: How does Jody know that the fawn is a male?
Answer: Jody’s father shared with him that in a male fawn the spots are all in a line and in females they are randomly arranged. This knowledge helped him recognize it as a male fawn.
Question 5: Jody didn't want Mill-wheel with him for two reasons. What were they?
Answer: Jody was not sure if the fawn was dead or alive. If it was dead then Jody didn’t want Mill-wheel to see the disappointment on his face. If the fawn was alive then Jody did not want to share his happiness with anybody else.
Question 6: Why was Mill-wheel afraid to leave Jody alone?
Answer: Mill-wheel was afraid of Jody losing his way in the jungle. That is why he did not want to leave Jody alone.
Question 7: How did Jody bring the fawn back home?
Answer: Although it was a baby but still it was too big for a child of Jodie's age. Jody carried fawn for some distance and as the fawn developed confidence on Jody, he allowed the fawn to walk along with him. There were repeated episodes of Jody carrying the fawn and the fawn following Jody.
Question 8: Jody was filled with emotion after he found the fawn. Can you find at least three words or phrases which show how he felt?
Answer: The sentence, "Jodie couldn't trust himself to move" says about the pleasant disbelief Jody felt after finding the pawn. The touch of fawn made him delirious. Feeling delirious is like felling the height of delight. While holding the fawn Jody was feeling like holding a fragile gift. The statement that it felt like made of bone china indicates towards this.
Question 9: How did the deer drink milk from the gourd?
Answer: The fawn was not used to have milk from a pot. It suckled on Jodie's fingers to drink milk instead.
Question 10: Why didn't the fawn follow Jody up the steps as he had thought it would?
Answer: A step can be a surprising thing for a jungle fawn. It may have been frightening for the fawn. That is why the fawn refused to climb the steps.
Question 11: Why did Penny Baxter allow Jody to go find the fawn and raise it?
Answer: Penny Baxter was impressed with the way Jody kept his nerves and saved his father's life. Moreover, he was also impressed by Jodie's desire to give sustenance to the orphaned fawn.
Question 12: What did Doc Wilson mean when he said, "Nothing in the world ever comes quite free"?
Answer: It is fact that the life is full of give and take. Doc Wilson is of the opinion that to repay the fawn for its mother’s sacrifice it was mandatory to nurture it.
Question 13: How did Jody look after the fawn, after he accepted the responsibility for doing this?
Answer: Jody rescued the fawn from the jungle. After bringing it to home he helped it to have milk. This shows the level of commitment Jody was having towards taking good care of the fawn.
Question 14: How does Jody's mother react when she hears that he is going to bring the fawn home? Why does she react in this way?
Answer: Jody's mother is worried about feeding the fawn within her limited means. She agrees later after Jody was ready to part with his share of milk for the fawn.