Animals Class 10 Questions and Answers
Textbook questions
Thinking about the Poem :
Question 1.
Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, I think I could turn and live with animals ….’ What is the poet turning from?
Answer:
The literal meaning of ‘turn’ is ‘to move in either circular motion or in a direction’. But here, in the first line, the poet meant to take a new direction in life, i.e. to move from human beings to animals.
Question 2.
Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t ?
Answer:
- Humans complain about for their conditions in life. If they are poor, they crave for money, if rich then for more money. If black, ask for fair skin, if handicapped then repent for that condition.
- They teach and discuss with others their sins and crimes. They lie awake in the dark and weep for them.
- They get tensed and make others also, for their sins and crimes. They get awake in the dark and weep for them.
- They feel proud of their possessions and the things they own. They show off them in order to get a word of praise.
Question 3.
Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago ? Discuss this in groups.
Answer:
No, humans do not kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. Humans are the most selfish beings. They pretend to be friendly only when they have any purpose otherwise they show no relation to anyone.
Question 4.
What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him ? Discuss.
Answer:
The ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago and which the animals above kept for him are the token of respect, love, care, happiness, acceptance and satisfaction.
Additional questions short answer type questions
Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words.
Question 1.
What is the relevance of ‘tokens’ in the poem ‘Animals’ ? Who brings them to the
Answer:
Animals show tokens of goodness. They are self-contained, peaceful, thankful and happy creatures. Animals are not unhappy and indeed, bring out tokens of man’s good nature lost long ago. Animals do not grumble about their lives.
Question 2.
Why does the poet want to turn and live’ with animals
Or
Why does the poet show a preference for living with the animals?
Answer:
The poet says that it is better to live with animals as they show tokens of goodness. They are peaceful, self-contained and happy. Animals show innate goodness which is lacked in human beings. Animals do not grumble about their lives, cry over their sins.
Question 3.
Write the central idea of the poem ‘Animals’.
Answer:
The central idea of the poem is the difference between human beings and animals. While they both were initially similar in their innate goodness, man had lost it over the years, while animals remain the same. They show these tokens of goodness – peaceful, self-contained and happy, and compel the poet to contemplate on man’s lost goodness.
Long answer type questions
Answer the following questions in about 100-150 words:
Question 1.
‘I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?’
“Human beings are called the most civilised species in the entire world. But sometimes they lack the values which are better exhibited by the animals.” Elucidate the statement with reference to the poem, ‘Animals’.
Answer:
Human beings are called the most civilised species in the entire world. But sometimes, they lack the common values which are better exhibited by the animals. The human beings lack the qualities of being respectable, happy, contented and peace-loving which is still reflected in animals.
Animals do not grumble about their lives, nor lie awake at night, nor cry over their sins nor discuss their duties towards God as humans do. Animals do not have a mania for “owning things”, nor do they kneel before others like humAnswer: Moreover, the tokens of goodness, love, respect and happiness have been dropped by human beings.
Question 2.
The poem, ‘Animals’ tells us that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature. Which values will help you revive your basic nature?
Answer:
In the race of human civilisation, humans have lost their own nature. The men have lost their innate goodness over the years. They have become selfish, jealous, restless, unhappy, cribbing and grumbling creatures. They grumble about their lives, lie awake at night, cry over their sins and discuss their duties towards God.
In a race to earn more luxuries and comfort, they have lost their sound sleep. They have become unhappy and most of the time they are unable to enjoy even small joys and happiness in life. On the contrary, animals are peaceful, self-contained, thankful and happy creatures. They are not unhappy and indeed bring out tokens of man’s good nature lost long ago. Men once possessed qualities like love, respect, contentment and happiness.
Question 3.
‘Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another…!
How is the poem, “Animals’, a contrast between humans and animals? (100-150 words)
Answer:
Humans can be described as selfish, jealous, restless, unhappy, cribbing, and grumbling creatures. In contrast, animals are peaceful, self-contained, thankful and happy creatures. They do not grumble about their lives, lie awake at night, cry over their sins or discuss their duties towards God as humans do.
Also, they don’t have a mania for “owning things”; nor do they kneel before others. Animals, on the whole, are not unhappy and indeed bring out tokens of man’s good nature lost long ago. Men once possessed qualities like love, respect, contentment and happiness.
Question 4.
‘They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
Them plainly in their possession’
“The more I know of humans the more I love my pet.” With reference to the poem, ‘Animals’, elaborate the statement.
Answer:
Whenever the poet thinks about animals, he has a feeling of being one among them. The lost human qualities of being respectable, happy, contented, and peace loving could be still found reflected in animals. They don’t whine about their condition; nor do they cry for their sins. They don’t make others sick by discussing their duties to God, they are not dissatisfied nor have the craze to own things.
They may not be respectable, but they definitely do not kneel before others or be unhappy as a whole. For the poet, they bring the tokens of human qualities like love, respect, contentment and happiness, which they themselves exhibit plainly.
He thinks that perhaps the animals possessed these qualities naturally. The poet also wonders how and when these tokens could have been negligently dropped by humans long ago. Whatever the case may be, while thinking about the overwhelming negativity of human beings, anyone may start loving his pet all the more.
Introduction :
The poem ‘Animals’ is taken from Walt Whitman’s collection of poems – from “Song of Myself in Leaves of Grass’. Whitman was an American poet who wrote a revolutionary kind of poetry in free verse.
This poem tells us that the poet feels more at home with animals than humans, whom he finds complicated and false.
“एनिमलस’ कविता वाल्ट विटमैन के कविता संग्रह ‘सोंग ऑफ माइसैल्फ इन लीव्स ऑफ ग्रास’ से ली गई है। विटमैन एक अमेरिकन कवि था जिसने स्वछन्द-छन्द में एक प्रकार की क्रान्तिकारी कविताएँ लिखी।
यह कविता हमें बताती है कि वह (कवि) जानवरों के साथ, इंसानों की बजाय जो कि उसे कठिन (जटिल) और झूठे लगते हैं ज्यादा अपनापन महसूस करता है।
Complete text with hindi translation and extract based short answer type questions :
Stanza – I
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d, I stand and look at them long and long
Vocabulary :
- Placid (प्लैसिड) – quiet, silent (शान्त, सौम्य)
- Self-contained (सैल्फ-कन्टेन्ड) – reserved (आत्मसंतुष्ट)
अनुवाद- मुझे लगता है कि मैं जानवरों के साथ जी सकता हूँ और रह सकता हूँ, वे कितने शान्त और आत्मसंतुष्ट हैं। मैं खड़ा रह सकता हूँ और उन्हें लगातार लम्बे समय तक देख सकता हूँ।
Question i.
Why does the poet think of living with . animals?
Answer:
The poet thinks of living with animals because he feels they are much more better than the humans.
Question ii.
Explain “I stand and look at them long and long”
Answer:
The poet is impressed with the nature of the animals. He appreciates their calmness and selfcontended nature. Therefore he stands and looks at them for a long time, longing (yearning) to be with them.
Stanza – II
They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things. Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth. So they show their relations to me and I accept them, They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession
Vocabulary :
- sweat (स्वैट) – perspire (पसीना)
- Whine (वाइन) – complain peevishly (चीखना, चिल्लाना)
- awake (अवेक) – alert (जागना)
- Sins (सिन्स) – offences (पाप)
- Demented (डिमेन्टिड) – to drive mad/insane (पागल बनाना)
- Mania (मेनिया) – craze (सनक)
- Kneel (नील) – to bend on knees (घुटनों पर झुकना)
- Evince (इविन्स) – to show something (प्रदर्शित करना)
- Possession (पोजैशन) – ownership (स्वामित्व)
अनुवाद-वे अपनी हालत पर चीखते-चिल्लाते या पसीना नहीं बहाते हैं। वे रातों को नहीं जागते और न ही अपने पापों पर रोते हैं। वे ईश्वर के प्रति अपने कर्तव्यों की चर्चा करके मुझे परेशान भी नहीं करते। कोई एक भी असन्तुष्ट नहीं है, अपनी अनुग्रहित वस्तुओं की सनक से कोई भी पागल नहीं बनता है। कोई एक भी दूसरे के सामने घुटने नहीं टिकाता है, और न ही अपनी किस्म के सामने जो पिछले हजारों सालों से जीती आ रही है। इस समूची धरती पर कोई एक भी इज्जतदार या नाखुश नहीं है। इसलिए वे अपने रिश्ते मुझे दिखाते हैं और मैं उन्हें अपनाता हूँ। वे मेरे लिए अपनत्व का संकेत लेकर आते हैं। वे अपने स्वामित्व को सीधे स्वभाव में प्रदर्शित करते हैं।
Question i.
How are animals different from humans?
Answer:
Animals do not complain or crib unlike the humans. Animals do not preach about their duty to God. And very importantly, they are not materialistic like the humans.
Question ii.
What does the poet mean by ‘demented with the mania of owning things’?
Answer:
The poet makes a dig at the materialistic nature of the humans. So he says that the animals are not crazy about owning things.
Question iii.
Who is the description about in these lines? What idea do you gather from it?
Answer:
The description is about animals. The poet compares them with the humans. Along the way, he points out the shortcomings of humans as opposed to the animals.
Question iv.
What qualities of animals are highlighted in the passage?
Answer:
Animals are not dissatisfied or crazy about owning things. They don’t bend or bow to others to get things done. They are not unhappy about anything in life.
Stanza – III
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?
Vocabulary:
- negligently (निग्लीजेन्टली) – carelessly (असावधानी से)
अनुवाद – मुझे हैरानी होती है कि वे यह संकेत कहाँ से लाते हैं। क्या मैं उस रास्ते से बहुत बार गुजरा था और मैंने बेख्याली में उन्हें गिरा दिया ?
Question i.
Comment on the expression “They bring me token of myself”
Answer:
The poet is referring to the nature of animals. They seem to exemplify how humans should actually be. “Token of myself” refers to the basic qualities that humans nurture in themselves. Those are the tokens that humans have lost, while animals seem to bring them back to the humans.
Question ii.
How do animals carry about those qualities that humans have lost?
Answer:
Animals, like humans of the yesteryears, have been possessing some good qualities. While the humans have lost them over the centuries, animals still have them. Since they are not possessed with greed, they have not lost the qualities. They thus seem to reveal such qualities openly even now.