Class-5th English (Poem)

 

Poem :The Plaint of the Camel

Understanding the poem

A. Complete the sentence answers

1. poodles 2. sand 3. straight 4. rides 5. lumpy

B. Answer the questions.

1. Why does the camel talk about canaries and parrots?

Ans. Canaries have sugar and seed, and parrots have crackers. The camel talks about them to make a complaint about the kind of food he gets to eat and compares it to the food the birds get.

 2. What examples does the camel give to complain that he never gets a nice place to sleep when compared to other animals?

Ans. The camel talks about all the good and safe places where puppies, lambs, hens, kittens and pigs stay and complains that only camels do not have any nice place to take a rest.

3. How is a camel ‘handy’ when it comes to his resting place?

Ans. The camel says that he comes ‘handy’ because the people riding the camel do not have to think about giving a shelter to him to rest. It can easily sleep on the sand of the desert unlike some people who have to build homes for their pets such as hens, lambs, dogs and cats.

 4. What does the camel have to say about the kind of load he carries on his back?

Ans. The camel not only carries load but also carries people across the desert. However, the camel has a lot of grievance about the kinds of loads he has to carry.

 5. What is the camel’s final complaint?

Ans. The camel’s final complaint is about the way he looks. He complains that he has no shape at all; he is all lumpy and bumpy, and even has a hump on his back. He feels sad especially when he compares his own shape with the shapes of other animals.

C. Read these lines from the poem and answer the questions that follow.

‘It’s nobody’s habit to ride on a rabbit, Or try to bestraddle a fox. But as for a Camel, he’s Ridden by families— Any load does for me!

1. Why does the camel talk about a rabbit and a fox?

Ans. The camel talks about a rabbit and a fox to complain that no one rides on them whereas a camel has to ride heavy loads such as entire families.

 2. Why do you think people don’t ride on rabbits and foxes?

Ans. Both rabbits and foxes are small animals, and human beings cannot ride on them. Moreover, foxes are wild animals and difficult to tame for people to ride on.

 3. What is the camel’s complaint in the lines above?

Ans. The camel’s complaint is that he is not treated with respect. Whereas no one rides on most animals, people not only make the camel carry their loads but also they ride on them. No one thinks about how the camel would feel.

 4. Use ‘load’ in a sentence of your own.

Ans. The lorry is carrying a very heavy load over the wooden bridge.

D. Think and answer

1. Do you think the camel is unlucky as compared to other animals? Give reasons for your answer.

Ans. I do not think that the camel is unlucky. It is a beloved animal of the people who live in or near deserts. The camel also has many wonderful abilities that make him able to navigate across deserts in any condition. It is often called ‘the ship of the desert’.

 2. In what ways is a camel better off than the animals to which he compares himself?

Ans. A camel is a big animal and has some special abilities. He can store water in his body and can go without water for days on end. He has a special nose that can close to keep sand from entering the nostrils. He also has a tongue that can enable him to eat thorns. Besides, his feet are padded, and this helps him to walk over the sand without his feet sinking in it.

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