The Raven and the Fox Summary and Explanation
CBSE Class 6 English Unit 1 – Fables and Folk Tales Chapter 2 The Raven and the Fox Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings from Poorvi Book
The Raven and the Fox Summary– Are you looking for the summary, theme and lesson explanation for CBSE Class 6 English Unit 1 – Fables and Folk Tales Chapter 2 The Raven and the Fox from English Poorvi Book. Get Lesson summary, theme, explanation along with difficult word meanings
- The Raven and the Fox Introduction
- The Raven and the Fox Summary
- The Raven and the Fox Summary in Hindi
- The Raven and the Fox Theme
- The Raven and the Fox Explanation
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CBSE Class 6 English Unit 1 – Fables and Folk Tales Chapter 2 The Raven and the Fox
By Jean de La Fontaine
The Raven and the Fox Introduction
The poem is about a cunning fox and a raven. The fox is clever and takes away the raven’s food using its wits. By doing so, the fox teaches the raven to not be too prideful.
The Raven and the Fox Summary
Once a raven was sitting on a tree branch. He had some food clasped in its beak, which it was excited to eat. Reynard, the fox saw him with the food and wanted to get it. He too was hungry and wanted the raven’s food. So, he tricked the raven to drop the food by asking him to sing.
The raven became so proud of himself when the fox kept on complimenting him. It falsely praised him and called him a handsome bird and addressed it as ‘king’. The bird opened his beak to sing but instead of singing, he just croaked. He then realized that he had forgotten that he could not sing as he had been holding his food in its beak. As it opened its beak to sing, the food dropped on the floor and the fox laughed at the foolish raven. He advised the raven to be more wise and less proud of itself.
Summary of the Lesson The Raven and the Fox in Hindi
एक बार एक कौआ पेड़ की शाखा पर बैठा था। उसने अपनी चोंच में कुछ खाना दबाया हुआ था, जिसे खाने के लिए वह उत्साहित था। लोमड़ी ने उसे भोजन के साथ देख लिया। वह भी भूखा था और कौवे का भोजन चाहता था। इसलिए, उसने कौवे को गाने के लिए कहकर भोजन गिराने के लिए धोखा दिया। जब लोमड़ी लगातार उसकी तारीफ करती रही तो कौवे को खुद पर बहुत घमंड हो गया। उसने उसकी झूठी तारीफ की और उसे एक सुंदर पक्षी कहा और उसे ‘राजा’ कहकर संबोधित किया। पक्षी ने गाने के लिए अपनी चोंच खोली लेकिन गाने के बजाय, वह सिर्फ टर्राया। तब उसे एहसास हुआ कि वह भूल गया था कि वह गा नहीं सकता क्योंकि वह अपने भोजन को अपनी चोंच में पकड़े हुए था। जैसे ही उसने गाने के लिए अपनी चोंच खोली, भोजन फर्श पर गिर गया और लोमड़ी मूर्ख कौवे पर हँसी। उसने कौवे को सलाह दी कि वह अधिक बुद्धिमान बने तथा अपने आप पर कम गर्व करे।
Themes of the Lesson -The Raven and the Fox
Pride is harmful
The poem centres around a very important moral lesson: Stay humble and do not become too proud. The raven, a proud creature, loses something important because he became too focused on being the king of all birds. He forgot that he had other duties to fulfill. The fox, a cunning creature, takes advantage of the raven’s prideful nature.
Be aware of flattery
The false praise done by the fox tempted the raven and we learn the lesson that we must beware of such flatterers.
The Raven and the Fox Poem Explanation
Poem:
Mr Raven was perched upon a limb,
And Reynard the Fox looked up at him;
For the Raven held in his great big beak,
A morsel the Fox would go far to seek.
Word meanings:
perched: to sit
Limb: branch of a tree
morsel: small amount of food
Explanation of the stanza: A raven who is addressed as Mr. Raven, is sitting on a tree branch with food in his mouth. Then comes a fox named Reynard. The fox is hungry and looks at the food in the raven’s big beak. He wants to have the food because he had been hungry and has been looking for food for a long time.
Poem:
Said the Fox, in admiring tones: “My word!
Sir Raven, you are a handsome bird.
Such feathers! If you would only sing,
The birds of these woods would call you King.”
Explanation of the stanza: So the fox admires the raven’s appearance and his feathers. He says to the raven that it is handsome with the nice feathers. He lies that if the raven would sing, the raven would be called King by all the other birds.
Poem:
The Raven, who did not see the joke,
Forgot that his voice was just a croak.
He opened his beak, in his foolish pride–
And down fell the morsel the Fox had eyed.
Word meanings:
Foolish: unwise
croak: harsh sound of the raven
Explanation of the stanza: Mr. Raven, who felt so proud of himself because of Reynard’s praise, opens his beak to sing. He became so foolish with his pride to do such a silly act. Mr. Raven forgot that he could not sing because he was a raven. So he foolishly opened his beak. The morsel fell from his beak, onto the floor. The fox was able to get the food now.
Poem:
“Ha-ha!” laughed the Fox. “And now you know,
Ignore sweet words that make you glow.
Pride, my friend, is rather unwise;
I’m sure this teaching is quite a surprise.”
Explanation of the stanza: The fox was able to get the food. Reynard the fox laughed at Mr. Raven. He said that that day he had taught the raven a lesson – to ignore compliments and not let them cloud the mind and thinking. He told the raven to not do things out of pride.
Conclusion
The poem gives us a message that pride can make us lose wisdom and behave foolishly. Students can take the help of the summary and notes of the poem – The Raven and the Fox. This will help you to get a quick recap of the poem.