Frog and Nightingale

Exercise Question

Part 2

Answer the following questions briefly

Question 1: How did the creatures of Bingle bog react to the nightingale's singing?

Answer: When the creatures of Bingle bog heard the nightingale for the first time, they were enthralled. They clapped like never before and gave their applause.

Question 2: Which are the different ways in which the frog asserts his importance?

Answer: The frog tries various tricks to assert his importance. He first says that he is the owner of the sumac tree. Then he boasts about his baritone voice. He also says that he is a guru of music and is the only one who can properly train the nightingale to make her a super star.

Question 3: Why is the frog's joy both sweet and bitter?

Answer: The frog finally succeeds in killing the competition to reclaim his monopoly over the swamp. In this way, his joy can be termed sweet. But the way he exploited an innocent creature shows the bitterness hidden underneath.

Question 4: Why was the frog angry?

Answer: After the audiences turned in thin attendance, frog’s earnings dropped sharply. Hence, the frog was angry.

Question 5: How did the frog become the unrivalled king of the bog again?

Answer: The nightingale was exhausted because of all the labour and agony she was going through. Finally, the nightingale died out of exhaustion. Thus, the frog became the unrivalled king of the bog again.

Question 6: Bring out the irony in the frog's statement - 'Your song must be your own'.

Answer: The frog was a horrible singer yet he was boasting as if he was a maestro. On the other hand, the nightingale used to sing from her heart. Yet the frog tries to disapprove the singing of the nightingale. This shows the irony frog’s statement.

Question 7: Do you think the end is justified?

Answer: This is indeed a sad end. That is how the bad world functions. Many innocent people often fall prey to scheming and heartless people who are ever ready to exploit the raw talent; only to dump them at their own convenience. If we see from real life perspective then the end is justified; otherwise it cannot be justified.

Question 8: Do you think the nightingale is 'brainless'? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer: The nightingale cannot be termed as brainless because a brainless person cannot be a true artist. The nightingale is innocent and is not familiar with the bad world.

Question 9: Inspite of having a melodious voice and being a crowd puller, the nightingale turns out to be a loser and dies. How far is she responsible for her own downfall?

Answer: The nightingale is also responsible for her downfall to a certain extent. She should not have easily believed on the frog. She should not have been carried away by all the applause which she got when she sang for the first time. Moreover, her poor sense of judgment led her to fall into the frog’s trap.

Question 10: Do you agree with the Frog's inference of the Nightingale's character? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer: I do not agree with some of the comments made by the frog at the end. But some of the comments are true. To begin with; the nightingale was not brainless. But she indeed was stupid enough to be prone to influences. This is evident in the fact that the frog was easily able to influence her.