NCERT Solutions for Class 8th: Ch 6 This is Jody's Fawn Honeydew English
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Page No: 90
Comprehension Check
1. What had happened to Jody’s father?
Answer
Jody’s father had been bitten by a rattlesnake.
2. How did the doe save Penny’s life?
Answer
The doe’s liver and
heart were used to draw out the poison from Penny.
3. Why does Jody want to bring the fawn home?
Answer
The fawn has become
an orphan because its mother was killed by Jody. He wants to bring the fawn to
return the obligation because he was the one who made the fawn an orphan.
4. How does Jody know that the fawn is a male?
Answer
Jody’s father told him that in a male fawn the spots are all
in a line and in females they are randomly arranged. This knowledge helped him
recognize it being a male fawn.
Page No: 91
1. Jody didn’t want Mill-wheel with him for two reasons.
What were they?
Answer
Jody did not want Mill-wheel with him for two reasons. First
was that if fawn was dead then Jody didn’t want Mill-wheel to see the
disappointment on his face. Second reason if the fawn was alive then Jody did
not want to share his happiness with anybody else.
2. Why was Mill-wheel afraid to leave Jody alone?
Answer
Mill-wheel did not want to leave Jody alone as he was afraid
that Jody could lose his way or get bitten by a snake.
Page No: 94
1. How did Jody bring the fawn back home?
Answer
Jody did not want to scare the fawn away. That is why he
first stroked its neck slowly, and then put his arms around it. Then, he
picked it up and carried it through the thick bushes. He tried to shield
its face from the sharp vines. He stopped to rest on his way home. On
walking a little, he saw the fawn following him. After this, he would
either carry the fawn, or put it down so that it would follow him by
itself. When they reached home, it refused to climb the stairs. He then
picked it up and took it inside the house.
2. Jody was filled with emotion after he found the fawn. Can
you find at least three words or phrases which show how he felt?
Answer
Jody was filled with emotion after he found the fawn. When
he stroked its neck, the touch made him ‘delirious’. When he realised that
it was his fawn now, he was ‘lightheaded with his joy’. When he finally
brought the fawn into the house, Penny thought that “the boy’s eyes were
as bright as the fawn’s”.
3. How did the deer drink milk from the gourd?
Answer
The deer drank the milk from Jody’s hands. When Jody gave
milk to the fawn in a gourd, it butted it suddenly, smelling the milk and
not knowing what to do with the milk in the gourd. It was then that Jody
dipped his fingers in the milk and pushed them into the fawn’s soft wet
mouth so that it would drink the milk.
4. Why didn’t the fawn follow Jody up the steps as he had
thought it would?
Answer
The deer is a wild animal. It is used to a life in the
forest. When the fawn reached Jody's home, it did not follow Jody up the steps
because of the strangeness of the house and the steps and everything. This is
similar to its reaction to the milk in the gourd. It simply did not know what
to do.
Working with Text
1. Why did Penny Baxter allow Jody to go find the fawn and
raise it?
Answer
Penny allowed Jody to go find the fawn and raise it because
it seemed ungrateful to him to leave the fawn to starve. He agreed with Jody
that they had killed the doe for their purpose and the fawn was orphaned for no
fault of its own. They could not let the fawn starve. They felt a
responsibility towards it.
2. What did Doc Wilson mean when he said, “Nothing in the
world ever comes quite free”?
Answer
Penny had killed the doe to save his life. Therefore, in
regard for what the doe had done, its fawn needed to be taken care of and saved
from starvation. It would be ungrateful to leave it alone. This was what
Doc Wilson meant when he said that nothing in the world came for free.
3. How did Jody look after the fawn, after he accepted the
responsibility for doing this?
Answer
After Jody accepted the responsibility for looking after the
fawn, he cared for it like its own mother would. When he first found it he
reached out one hand and laid it on its soft neck. He then put both his arms
around its body. While taking it home, he shielded its face from the sharp
vines. He carried it in his arms most of the way even though he was tired. On
reaching home, he gave it the milk that was meant for him. When he saw that the
fawn did not drink the milk kept in the gourd, he fed it with his own
hands. Hence, one can say that Jody carried out his
responsibility quite well.
4. How does Jody’s mother react when she hears that he is
going to bring the fawn home? Why does
she react in this way?
Answer
When Jody's mother heard that he was going to bring the fawn
home, she was a little surprised and asked Jody what fawn he was talking about.
He then told her that it was the fawn whose mother they had killed to save
Penny. She gasped and was not to happy with the idea. She helplessly informed
him that they had nothing else to feed it and so he would have to sacrifice the
milk they gave him for the fawn. She reacted this way because she was not
present at the site where Penny had been bitten, where they had killed the doe.
She had not seen the fawn and therefore, was not as concerned as Penny and
Jody. Besides they did not have too many things to feed the fawn on in their
home and she may have been worried about how she would feed the fawn.
Page No: 95
Working with Language
Working with Language
1. Here are some questions in direct speech. Put them into
reported speech.
(i) Penny said, “Do you really want it son?”
(ii) Mill-wheel said, “Will he ride back with me?”
(iii) He said to Mill-wheel, “Do you think the fawn is still
there?”
(iv) He asked Mill-wheel, “Will you help me find him?”
(v) He said, “Was it up here that Pa got bitten by the
snake?”
Answer
(i) Penny asked his son if he really wanted it.
(ii) Mill-wheel asked if he would ride back with him.
(iii) He asked Mill-wheel if he thought the fawn was still there.
(iv) He asked Mill-wheel if he would help him find him.
(v) He asked if it was up there that Pa had got bitten by the snake.
(ii) Mill-wheel asked if he would ride back with him.
(iii) He asked Mill-wheel if he thought the fawn was still there.
(iv) He asked Mill-wheel if he would help him find him.
(v) He asked if it was up there that Pa had got bitten by the snake.
2. Say whether the verb in each sentence below is transitive or intransitive. Ask yourself a 'what' question about the verb. (For some verbs, the object is a person, so ask the question 'who' instead of 'what').
(i) Jody then went to the kitchen.
► Intransitive
(ii) The fawn wobbled after him
► Intransitive
(iii) You found him.
► Transitive
(iv) He picked it up.
► Transitive
(v) He dipped his fingers in the milk.
► Transitive
(vi) It bleated frantically and butted him.
► Intransitive, Transitive
(vii) The fawn sucked his fingers.
► Transitive
(viii) He lowered his fingers slowly into the milk.
► Transitive
(ix) It stamped its small hoofs impatiently.
► Transitive
(x) He held his fingers below the level of the milk.
► Transitive
(xi) The fawn followed him.
► Transitive
(xii) He walked all day.
► Intransitive
(xiii) He stroked its sides.
► Transitive
(xiv) The fawn lifted its nose.
► Transitive
(xv) Its legs hung limply.
► Intransitive
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