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
In the class 6 unit 1 chapter 2 “The Raven and The Fox” from the Poorvi book, Jean de La Fontaine presents two characters the raven and the fox and their interaction. The cunning and clever fox, Reynard flatters the proud raven and calls it ‘handsome’ and ‘king’. The raven falls prey and forgets that it has secured a morsel of food in its beak. It opens its beak to sing a song whereas all it can do is just croak. As the raven opens the beak, the morsel falls on the ground and the clever fox is happy to fool the proud raven.
Question: What are the keywords of the class 6 English poem The Raven and the Fox?
Ans. The keywords are-
- Morsel – the morsel of food that the raven held in its beak was attractive to the fox and it wanted to get it.
- Handsome bird, king – the fox flatters the raven by calling it a handsome bird and a king, when it would sing. These words made the raven proud of itself and it forgot the reality.
- Pride is unwise – once the raven is swallowed in pride, it forgets the morsel of food in its beak. It opens the beak to sing and loses the food. Thus, the fox laughs at the raven that it became unwise in its pride.
The Raven and the Fox Quick overview
| Detail | Information |
| Story Title | The Raven and the Fox |
| Author | Jeane de La Fontaine |
| Book | Poorvi (CBSE Class 6 English) |
| Chapter | Unit 1 chapter 2 |
| Narrator | Writer |
| Setting | A tree |
| Theme | Pride can lead to loss, be aware of flattery |
- The Raven and the Fox Summary
- The Raven and the Fox Theme based Questions
- The Raven and the Fox Explanation
- The Raven and the Fox Summary in Hindi
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Question: Give the summary of class 6 English poem The raven and the fox from the Poorvi book.
Ans. 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.
The Raven and the Fox Theme-based Questions
Question: How does pride harm the raven in the class 6 poem The Raven and the Fox?
Ans. The raven becomes blind in pride and forgets that it is holding a morsel of food in its beak. Thus, it loses the food when it opens its beak to sing.
Question: What lesson does the fox, Reynard give to the raven once it loses the morsel of food?
Ans. The fox tells the raven that being proud is not a wise thing because it makes one foolish just like the raven. Pride made it so happy that it forgot the food in its beak and lost it.
Question: What did the clever fox do to get the food from the raven?
Ans. The cunning and clever fox flattered the raven by calling it a handsome bird and king of birds. This made the raven happy and so it forgot the food grasped in its beak and thus, lost it.
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.
Questions based on the stanza above-
Question: What did Reynard see when it looked at the raven?
Ans. Reynard saw a morsel of food in the raven’s beak.
Question: Where was Mr Raven seated?
Ans. It was seated on the branch of a tree.
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.
Questions based on the stanza above-
Question: What tone did the fox use? Why?
Ans. The fox spoke in an admiring tone. He did this so that he could flatter the raven.
Question: What does the fox say to flatter the raven?
Ans. The fox addresses the raven as ‘sir’. He calls it a handsome bird and says that it has great feathers. He adds that if it will sing, the other birds will call him a king.
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.
Questions based on the stanza above-
Question: What did the raven forget? Why?
Ans. It forgot that it could not sing. All it did was croak. This happened because it became proud due to the fox’s false praise.
Question: What happened when the raven opened its beak?
Ans. The morsel of food fell off its beak when it opened it to sing.
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.
Questions based on the stanza above-
Question: What lesson does the fox impart to the raven?
Ans. It says that one must ignore sweet words which make one happy and proud because it is unwise to be proud.
The Raven and the Fox FAQs
Question: Who is the narrator of the class 6 poem The Raven and the Fox?
Ans. The poem The Raven and the Fox is narrated by the poet Jeane de la Fontaine.
Question: What is the theme of the class 6 story The Raven and the Fox?
Ans. The central message of the poem is that pride can lead to one’s loss and one must be aware of flattery.
Question: Who is Reynard in the class 6 poem The Raven and the Fox?
Ans. Reynard is the cunning and clever fox who is desperate to get the morsel of food from the raven’s beak.
Question: What is the poem The Raven and the Fox about?
Ans. The poem is about a raven perched on a tree branch and a fox standing on the ground below. The poet shows how the proud raven falls prey to false praise and forgets the truth. It gets so happy when the fox calls it handsome and king that it opens its beak to sing. At that moment, the morsel of food falls from its beak and it loses it.
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।
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.
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