Chapter-wise questions and answers for The Tale of Melon City in Class 11 English, with a clear summary, key points, and exam-ready model answers.
What you will find on this page: a clear chapter summary, revision notes, word meanings, important questions, MCQs, and exam-ready question answers for Class 11 English.
After reviewing the chapter explanation, answer the short-answer, long-answer, extract-based, and objective questions below.
1 marks · mcq
In the city of which I sing
There was a just and placid King.
The King proclaimed an arch should be
Constructed, that triumphally
Would span the major thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (b). The poet directly states there was 'a just and placid King', i.e. fair-minded and calm.
1 marks · mcq
In the city of which I sing
There was a just and placid King.
The King proclaimed an arch should be
Constructed, that triumphally
Would span the major thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (c). The arch was to 'span the major thoroughfare' triumphantly 'To edify spectators there'.
1 marks · mcq
In the city of which I sing
There was a just and placid King.
The King proclaimed an arch should be
Constructed, that triumphally
Would span the major thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (b). To 'edify' is to enlighten or morally uplift, which is what the monument was supposed to do to onlookers.
1 marks · mcq
In the city of which I sing
There was a just and placid King.
The King proclaimed an arch should be
Constructed, that triumphally
Would span the major thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (b). The first-person 'In the city of which I sing' adopts the voice of a traditional ballad singer narrating a tale.
1 marks · mcq
In the city of which I sing
There was a just and placid King.
The King proclaimed an arch should be
Constructed, that triumphally
Would span the major thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (c). The rhyming pairs sing/King and be/triumphantly, thoroughfare/there form rhyming couplets (AABB).
1 marks · mcq
In the city of which I sing
There was a just and placid King.
The King proclaimed an arch should be
Constructed, that triumphally
Would span the major thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (b). The continuation of sense from one line to the next without punctuation is enjambment, which keeps the narrative swift and conversational.
1 marks · mcq
The workmen went and built the thing.
They did so since he was the King.
The King rode down the thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (c). 'They did so since he was the King' — the sole motive was the royal command.
1 marks · mcq
The workmen went and built the thing.
They did so since he was the King.
The King rode down the thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (b). The flat, unelaborated statement of obedience creates a dry, deadpan effect that quietly mocks the blind compliance.
1 marks · mcq
The workmen went and built the thing.
They did so since he was the King.
The King rode down the thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (c). The echo stresses that the arch was built only because of the King's authority, not because it was needed or wanted.
1 marks · mcq
The workmen went and built the thing.
They did so since he was the King.
The King rode down the thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (d). A thoroughfare is a major road or street, which the arch was built to span.
1 marks · mcq
The workmen went and built the thing.
They did so since he was the King.
The King rode down the thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (b). The workmen built the arch without question 'since he was the King', showing unquestioning, almost blind obedience.
1 marks · mcq
The workmen went and built the thing.
They did so since he was the King.
The King rode down the thoroughfare
To edify spectators there.
Correct option: (c). The King rode out so that spectators could see and admire him — the very purpose proclaimed for the arch.
1 marks · mcq
Under the arch he lost his crown.
The arch was built too low. A frown
Appeared upon his placid face.
The King said, 'This is a disgrace.
The chief of builders will be hanged.'
The rope and gallows were arranged.
Correct option: (d). 'Under the arch he lost his crown' — the low arch knocked the crown off his head.
1 marks · mcq
Under the arch he lost his crown.
The arch was built too low. A frown
Appeared upon his placid face.
The King said, 'This is a disgrace.
The chief of builders will be hanged.'
The rope and gallows were arranged.
Correct option: (b). The extract plainly states 'The arch was built too low.'
1 marks · mcq
Under the arch he lost his crown.
The arch was built too low. A frown
Appeared upon his placid face.
The King said, 'This is a disgrace.
The chief of builders will be hanged.'
The rope and gallows were arranged.
Correct option: (c). Without any inquiry he sentences the chief of builders to death for a minor accident — a wildly excessive response.
1 marks · mcq
Under the arch he lost his crown.
The arch was built too low. A frown
Appeared upon his placid face.
The King said, 'This is a disgrace.
The chief of builders will be hanged.'
The rope and gallows were arranged.
Correct option: (c). The placidity advertised in the opening lines dissolves instantly, exposing the description as ironic.
1 marks · mcq
Under the arch he lost his crown.
The arch was built too low. A frown
Appeared upon his placid face.
The King said, 'This is a disgrace.
The chief of builders will be hanged.'
The rope and gallows were arranged.
Correct option: (d). Losing the crown symbolises the fall of the King, making the line an example of foreshadowing.
1 marks · mcq
Under the arch he lost his crown.
The arch was built too low. A frown
Appeared upon his placid face.
The King said, 'This is a disgrace.
The chief of builders will be hanged.'
The rope and gallows were arranged.
Correct option: (b). The King calls the mishap a 'disgrace', i.e. something bringing shame upon him.
1 marks · mcq
The chief of builders was led out.
He passed the King. He gave a shout,
'O King, it was the workmen's fault'
'Oh!' said the King, and called a halt
Correct option: (c). He shouted, 'O King, it was the workmen's fault', shifting the blame onto them.
1 marks · mcq
The chief of builders was led out.
He passed the King. He gave a shout,
'O King, it was the workmen's fault'
'Oh!' said the King, and called a halt
Correct option: (b). The King said 'Oh!' and 'called a halt' to the proceedings.
1 marks · mcq
The chief of builders was led out.
He passed the King. He gave a shout,
'O King, it was the workmen's fault'
'Oh!' said the King, and called a halt
Correct option: (c). He abandons his verdict the moment someone else is blamed, showing his judgement is easily swayed.
1 marks · mcq
The chief of builders was led out.
He passed the King. He gave a shout,
'O King, it was the workmen's fault'
'Oh!' said the King, and called a halt
Correct option: (b). Each accused person saves himself by naming another, starting the circular passing of blame.
1 marks · mcq
The chief of builders was led out.
He passed the King. He gave a shout,
'O King, it was the workmen's fault'
'Oh!' said the King, and called a halt
Correct option: (c). The flat interjection comically captures how easily the 'just' King is deflected from his purpose.
1 marks · mcq
The chief of builders was led out.
He passed the King. He gave a shout,
'O King, it was the workmen's fault'
'Oh!' said the King, and called a halt
Correct option: (a). 'Called a halt' means ordered the execution to be stopped.
1 marks · mcq
To the proceedings. Being just
(And placider now) he said, 'I must
Have all the workmen hanged instead.'
The workmen looked surprised, and said,
'O King, you do not realise
The bricks were made of the wrong size.'
'Summon the masons!' said the King.
The masons stood there quivering.
'It was the architect...', they said,
The architect was summoned.
Correct option: (d). They told the King, 'The bricks were made of the wrong size.'
1 marks · mcq
To the proceedings. Being just
(And placider now) he said, 'I must
Have all the workmen hanged instead.'
The workmen looked surprised, and said,
'O King, you do not realise
The bricks were made of the wrong size.'
'Summon the masons!' said the King.
The masons stood there quivering.
'It was the architect...', they said,
The architect was summoned.
Correct option: (a). 'Summon the masons!' said the King, and the masons then stood before him.
1 marks · mcq
To the proceedings. Being just
(And placider now) he said, 'I must
Have all the workmen hanged instead.'
The workmen looked surprised, and said,
'O King, you do not realise
The bricks were made of the wrong size.'
'Summon the masons!' said the King.
The masons stood there quivering.
'It was the architect...', they said,
The architect was summoned.
Correct option: (b). The King is said to be 'placider' precisely when ordering a larger group — all the workmen — to be hanged.
1 marks · mcq
To the proceedings. Being just
(And placider now) he said, 'I must
Have all the workmen hanged instead.'
The workmen looked surprised, and said,
'O King, you do not realise
The bricks were made of the wrong size.'
'Summon the masons!' said the King.
The masons stood there quivering.
'It was the architect...', they said,
The architect was summoned.
Correct option: (b). 'Quivering' means trembling — the masons were terrified as they faced the angry King.
1 marks · mcq
To the proceedings. Being just
(And placider now) he said, 'I must
Have all the workmen hanged instead.'
The workmen looked surprised, and said,
'O King, you do not realise
The bricks were made of the wrong size.'
'Summon the masons!' said the King.
The masons stood there quivering.
'It was the architect...', they said,
The architect was summoned.
Correct option: (c). The masons said, 'It was the architect...', and the architect was then summoned.
1 marks · mcq
To the proceedings. Being just
(And placider now) he said, 'I must
Have all the workmen hanged instead.'
The workmen looked surprised, and said,
'O King, you do not realise
The bricks were made of the wrong size.'
'Summon the masons!' said the King.
The masons stood there quivering.
'It was the architect...', they said,
The architect was summoned.
Correct option: (b). Asides like '(And placider now)' let the poet step in with dry, satirical commentary on the King's behaviour.
1 marks · mcq
'Well, architect,' said His Majesty.
'I do ordain that you shall be
Hanged.' Said the architect, 'O King,
You have forgotten one small thing.
You made certain amendments to
The plans when I showed them to you.'
Correct option: (d). The architect reminded the King that he had made 'certain amendments' to the plans when they were shown to him.
1 marks · mcq
'Well, architect,' said His Majesty.
'I do ordain that you shall be
Hanged.' Said the architect, 'O King,
You have forgotten one small thing.
You made certain amendments to
The plans when I showed them to you.'
Correct option: (a). By naming the King as the amender of the plans, the architect turns the accused into the accused judge.
1 marks · mcq
'Well, architect,' said His Majesty.
'I do ordain that you shall be
Hanged.' Said the architect, 'O King,
You have forgotten one small thing.
You made certain amendments to
The plans when I showed them to you.'
Correct option: (b). Words like 'ordain' and the style 'His Majesty' give the death sentence a pompous, official tone.
1 marks · mcq
'Well, architect,' said His Majesty.
'I do ordain that you shall be
Hanged.' Said the architect, 'O King,
You have forgotten one small thing.
You made certain amendments to
The plans when I showed them to you.'
Correct option: (b). Grand legal pronouncements are deployed over a knocked-off crown, creating mock-serious comedy.
1 marks · mcq
'Well, architect,' said His Majesty.
'I do ordain that you shall be
Hanged.' Said the architect, 'O King,
You have forgotten one small thing.
You made certain amendments to
The plans when I showed them to you.'
Correct option: (b). What is brushed off as minor is the very point that transfers the blame to the throne.
1 marks · mcq
'Well, architect,' said His Majesty.
'I do ordain that you shall be
Hanged.' Said the architect, 'O King,
You have forgotten one small thing.
You made certain amendments to
The plans when I showed them to you.'
Correct option: (b). 'Ordain' here means to order by royal or official decree.
1 marks · mcq
The King heard this. The King saw red.
In fact he nearly lost his head;
But being a just and placid King
He said, 'This is a tricky thing.
I need some counsel. Bring to me
The wisest man in this country.'
Correct option: (c). 'Saw red' is an idiom for being seized by fury — here, rage at being implicated himself.
1 marks · mcq
The King heard this. The King saw red.
In fact he nearly lost his head;
But being a just and placid King
He said, 'This is a tricky thing.
I need some counsel. Bring to me
The wisest man in this country.'
Correct option: (b). Since the amended plans point to the King's own guilt, he cannot pass judgement without condemning himself.
1 marks · mcq
The King heard this. The King saw red.
In fact he nearly lost his head;
But being a just and placid King
He said, 'This is a tricky thing.
I need some counsel. Bring to me
The wisest man in this country.'
Correct option: (b). The figurative phrase about losing one's temper becomes grimly literal later in the poem — a case of dark foreshadowing.
1 marks · mcq
The King heard this. The King saw red.
In fact he nearly lost his head;
But being a just and placid King
He said, 'This is a tricky thing.
I need some counsel. Bring to me
The wisest man in this country.'
Correct option: (c). He says, 'I need some counsel. Bring to me / The wisest man in this country.'
1 marks · mcq
The King heard this. The King saw red.
In fact he nearly lost his head;
But being a just and placid King
He said, 'This is a tricky thing.
I need some counsel. Bring to me
The wisest man in this country.'
Correct option: (b). Called 'just and placid' even while he 'saw red' and nearly lost his temper, the epithet now works ironically.
1 marks · mcq
The King heard this. The King saw red.
In fact he nearly lost his head;
But being a just and placid King
He said, 'This is a tricky thing.
I need some counsel. Bring to me
The wisest man in this country.'
Correct option: (b). The King seeks counsel — advice — from the wisest man, showing he cannot decide himself.
1 marks · mcq
The wisest man was found and brought,
Nay, carried, to the Royal Court.
Correct option: (c). The couplet corrects itself — 'Nay, carried' — because he could not come on his own.
1 marks · mcq
The wisest man was found and brought,
Nay, carried, to the Royal Court.
Correct option: (a). He had to be carried like an object, implying extreme age and decrepitude.
1 marks · mcq
The wisest man was found and brought,
Nay, carried, to the Royal Court.
Correct option: (b). The solemn hunt for wisdom ends in an old man too weak to stand — a deflating, comic contrast.
1 marks · mcq
The wisest man was found and brought,
Nay, carried, to the Royal Court.
Correct option: (b). A man who must be carried bodily is hardly in a state to give sound counsel, foreshadowing absurd advice.
1 marks · mcq
The wisest man was found and brought,
Nay, carried, to the Royal Court.
Correct option: (c). 'Nay' is an emphatic old-fashioned 'no', used to correct 'brought' to the stronger 'carried'.
1 marks · mcq
The wisest man was found and brought,
Nay, carried, to the Royal Court.
Correct option: (b). The poet's dry aside about the sage being 'carried' gives the couplet a wry, humorous tone.
1 marks · mcq
He could not walk and could not see,
So old (and therefore wise) was he —
But in a quavering voice he said,
'The culprit must be punished.
Truly, the arch it was that banged
The crown off, and it must be hanged'.
Correct option: (d). He declares, 'the arch it was that banged / The crown off, and it must be hanged'.
1 marks · mcq
He could not walk and could not see,
So old (and therefore wise) was he —
But in a quavering voice he said,
'The culprit must be punished.
Truly, the arch it was that banged
The crown off, and it must be hanged'.
Correct option: (b). 'He could not walk and could not see' — he was extremely old and infirm.
1 marks · mcq
He could not walk and could not see,
So old (and therefore wise) was he —
But in a quavering voice he said,
'The culprit must be punished.
Truly, the arch it was that banged
The crown off, and it must be hanged'.
Correct option: (b). The mocking aside attacks the mechanical equation of great age with great wisdom.
1 marks · mcq
He could not walk and could not see,
So old (and therefore wise) was he —
But in a quavering voice he said,
'The culprit must be punished.
Truly, the arch it was that banged
The crown off, and it must be hanged'.
Correct option: (b). Punishing a lifeless structure treats an object as a moral agent, exposing the senselessness of the 'justice'.
1 marks · mcq
He could not walk and could not see,
So old (and therefore wise) was he —
But in a quavering voice he said,
'The culprit must be punished.
Truly, the arch it was that banged
The crown off, and it must be hanged'.
Correct option: (c). He spoke 'in a quavering voice' — shaky and trembling with age.
1 marks · mcq
He could not walk and could not see,
So old (and therefore wise) was he —
But in a quavering voice he said,
'The culprit must be punished.
Truly, the arch it was that banged
The crown off, and it must be hanged'.
Correct option: (b). The verdict is accepted because of the speaker's reputation, not because it makes any sense.
1 marks · mcq
To the scaffold the arch was led
When suddenly a Councillor said —
'How can we hang so shamefully
What touched your head, Your Majesty?'
Correct option: (c). Just as the arch was led to the scaffold, 'suddenly a Councillor said' — and objected.
1 marks · mcq
To the scaffold the arch was led
When suddenly a Councillor said —
'How can we hang so shamefully
What touched your head, Your Majesty?'
Correct option: (b). He asked how they could hang 'What touched your head, Your Majesty?'
1 marks · mcq
To the scaffold the arch was led
When suddenly a Councillor said —
'How can we hang so shamefully
What touched your head, Your Majesty?'
Correct option: (c). The argument rests not on justice but on reverence for whatever touched the royal head — pure sycophancy.
1 marks · mcq
To the scaffold the arch was led
When suddenly a Councillor said —
'How can we hang so shamefully
What touched your head, Your Majesty?'
Correct option: (b). Here the scaffold is the structure on which the arch was to be 'hanged', i.e. the gallows platform.
1 marks · mcq
To the scaffold the arch was led
When suddenly a Councillor said —
'How can we hang so shamefully
What touched your head, Your Majesty?'
Correct option: (b). Personifying an inanimate arch as a prisoner walks the reader into the absurd world of the poem.
1 marks · mcq
To the scaffold the arch was led
When suddenly a Councillor said —
'How can we hang so shamefully
What touched your head, Your Majesty?'
Correct option: (b). Accepting the flattering objection instantly, the King again shows he has no judgement of his own.
1 marks · mcq
'True,' mused the King. By now the crowd,
Restless, was muttering aloud.
The King perceived their mood and trembled
And said to all who were assembled —
'Let us postpone consideration
Of finer points like guilt. The nation
Wants a hanging. Hanged must be
Someone, and that immediately.'
Correct option: (c). The crowd was 'Restless' and 'muttering aloud', and the frightened King 'perceived their mood'.
1 marks · mcq
'True,' mused the King. By now the crowd,
Restless, was muttering aloud.
The King perceived their mood and trembled
And said to all who were assembled —
'Let us postpone consideration
Of finer points like guilt. The nation
Wants a hanging. Hanged must be
Someone, and that immediately.'
Correct option: (a). Calling guilt a 'finer point' reduces the very basis of justice to a dispensable formality.
1 marks · mcq
'True,' mused the King. By now the crowd,
Restless, was muttering aloud.
The King perceived their mood and trembled
And said to all who were assembled —
'Let us postpone consideration
Of finer points like guilt. The nation
Wants a hanging. Hanged must be
Someone, and that immediately.'
Correct option: (b). His trembling reveals weakness and dependence on public mood rather than principle.
1 marks · mcq
'True,' mused the King. By now the crowd,
Restless, was muttering aloud.
The King perceived their mood and trembled
And said to all who were assembled —
'Let us postpone consideration
Of finer points like guilt. The nation
Wants a hanging. Hanged must be
Someone, and that immediately.'
Correct option: (b). Stressing 'Someone' and 'immediately', the inversion underlines that anyone will do — justice has become pure spectacle.
1 marks · mcq
'True,' mused the King. By now the crowd,
Restless, was muttering aloud.
The King perceived their mood and trembled
And said to all who were assembled —
'Let us postpone consideration
Of finer points like guilt. The nation
Wants a hanging. Hanged must be
Someone, and that immediately.'
Correct option: (b). Urgency, fear and the wish to pacify the crowd mark his hasty proclamation.
1 marks · mcq
'True,' mused the King. By now the crowd,
Restless, was muttering aloud.
The King perceived their mood and trembled
And said to all who were assembled —
'Let us postpone consideration
Of finer points like guilt. The nation
Wants a hanging. Hanged must be
Someone, and that immediately.'
Correct option: (b). The King noticed and became aware of the crowd's restless mood.
1 marks · mcq
The noose was set up somewhat high.
Each man was measured by and by.
But only one man was so tall
He fitted. One man. That was all.
He was the King. His Majesty
Was therefore hanged by Royal Decree.
Correct option: (c). The noose was set up somewhat high, and 'only one man was so tall / He fitted' — the King.
1 marks · mcq
The noose was set up somewhat high.
Each man was measured by and by.
But only one man was so tall
He fitted. One man. That was all.
He was the King. His Majesty
Was therefore hanged by Royal Decree.
Correct option: (b). 'By and by' here conveys the gradual, sequential measuring of every man.
1 marks · mcq
The noose was set up somewhat high.
Each man was measured by and by.
But only one man was so tall
He fitted. One man. That was all.
He was the King. His Majesty
Was therefore hanged by Royal Decree.
Correct option: (a). The King who demanded a hanging dies on it himself, by mere accident of height.
1 marks · mcq
The noose was set up somewhat high.
Each man was measured by and by.
But only one man was so tall
He fitted. One man. That was all.
He was the King. His Majesty
Was therefore hanged by Royal Decree.
Correct option: (b). The clipped, matter-of-fact statement flattens a momentous absurdity, heightening the satire.
1 marks · mcq
The noose was set up somewhat high.
Each man was measured by and by.
But only one man was so tall
He fitted. One man. That was all.
He was the King. His Majesty
Was therefore hanged by Royal Decree.
Correct option: (b). The pomp of 'Royal Decree' suggests due process, yet the King dies only because he fits the noose.
1 marks · mcq
The noose was set up somewhat high.
Each man was measured by and by.
But only one man was so tall
He fitted. One man. That was all.
He was the King. His Majesty
Was therefore hanged by Royal Decree.
Correct option: (b). The jaunty rhyming couplets keep the tone light even as the King is hanged.
1 marks · mcq
'Thank Goodness we found someone,' said
The Ministers, 'for if instead
We had not, the unruly town
Might well have turned against the Crown.'
'Long live the King!' the Ministers said.
'Long live the King! The King is dead.'
Correct option: (b). They say that without a hanging 'the unruly town / Might well have turned against the Crown.'
1 marks · mcq
'Thank Goodness we found someone,' said
The Ministers, 'for if instead
We had not, the unruly town
Might well have turned against the Crown.'
'Long live the King!' the Ministers said.
'Long live the King! The King is dead.'
Correct option: (c). The two contradictory cries in one breath expose hollow courtly ritual.
1 marks · mcq
'Thank Goodness we found someone,' said
The Ministers, 'for if instead
We had not, the unruly town
Might well have turned against the Crown.'
'Long live the King!' the Ministers said.
'Long live the King! The King is dead.'
Correct option: (b). Their relief is about appeasing the mob and preserving the Crown, not mourning the King.
1 marks · mcq
'Thank Goodness we found someone,' said
The Ministers, 'for if instead
We had not, the unruly town
Might well have turned against the Crown.'
'Long live the King!' the Ministers said.
'Long live the King! The King is dead.'
Correct option: (b). An unruly town is a restless, ungovernable one that might rise against the Crown.
1 marks · mcq
'Thank Goodness we found someone,' said
The Ministers, 'for if instead
We had not, the unruly town
Might well have turned against the Crown.'
'Long live the King!' the Ministers said.
'Long live the King! The King is dead.'
Correct option: (b). The contradictory chants and self-serving relief render the King's death comic and satirical rather than tragic.
1 marks · mcq
'Thank Goodness we found someone,' said
The Ministers, 'for if instead
We had not, the unruly town
Might well have turned against the Crown.'
'Long live the King!' the Ministers said.
'Long live the King! The King is dead.'
Correct option: (b). Placing the contradictory statements together sharpens the satire on hollow courtiers.
1 marks · mcq
They pondered the dilemma; then,
Being practical-minded men,
Sent out the heralds to proclaim
(In His [former] Majesty's name):
'The next to pass the City Gate
Will choose the ruler of our state,
As is our custom. This will be
Enforced with due ceremony.'
Correct option: (d). The heralds proclaimed that 'The next to pass the City Gate / Will choose the ruler of our state.'
1 marks · mcq
They pondered the dilemma; then,
Being practical-minded men,
Sent out the heralds to proclaim
(In His [former] Majesty's name):
'The next to pass the City Gate
Will choose the ruler of our state,
As is our custom. This will be
Enforced with due ceremony.'
Correct option: (b). It was sent out '(In His [former] Majesty's name)'.
1 marks · mcq
They pondered the dilemma; then,
Being practical-minded men,
Sent out the heralds to proclaim
(In His [former] Majesty's name):
'The next to pass the City Gate
Will choose the ruler of our state,
As is our custom. This will be
Enforced with due ceremony.'
Correct option: (b). Choosing a ruler by the accident of who passes a gate is anything but practical.
1 marks · mcq
They pondered the dilemma; then,
Being practical-minded men,
Sent out the heralds to proclaim
(In His [former] Majesty's name):
'The next to pass the City Gate
Will choose the ruler of our state,
As is our custom. This will be
Enforced with due ceremony.'
Correct option: (b). The language of tradition and ritual lends false solemnity to a ridiculous rule.
1 marks · mcq
They pondered the dilemma; then,
Being practical-minded men,
Sent out the heralds to proclaim
(In His [former] Majesty's name):
'The next to pass the City Gate
Will choose the ruler of our state,
As is our custom. This will be
Enforced with due ceremony.'
Correct option: (a). Heralds were officers sent out to proclaim official announcements to the people.
1 marks · mcq
They pondered the dilemma; then,
Being practical-minded men,
Sent out the heralds to proclaim
(In His [former] Majesty's name):
'The next to pass the City Gate
Will choose the ruler of our state,
As is our custom. This will be
Enforced with due ceremony.'
Correct option: (b). Using the executed King's name lends their arbitrary decision a legitimacy they lack themselves.
1 marks · mcq
A man passed by the City Gate.
An idiot. The guards cried, 'Wait!
Who is to be the King? Decide!'
'A melon,' the idiot replied.
This was his standard answer to
All questions. (He liked melons.) 'You
Are now our King,' the Ministers said,
Crowning a melon. Then they led
(Carried) the Melon to the throne
And reverently set it down.
Correct option: (c). 'A man passed by the City Gate. / An idiot.'
1 marks · mcq
A man passed by the City Gate.
An idiot. The guards cried, 'Wait!
Who is to be the King? Decide!'
'A melon,' the idiot replied.
This was his standard answer to
All questions. (He liked melons.) 'You
Are now our King,' the Ministers said,
Crowning a melon. Then they led
(Carried) the Melon to the throne
And reverently set it down.
Correct option: (a). The idiot replied, 'A melon', which the Ministers accepted.
1 marks · mcq
A man passed by the City Gate.
An idiot. The guards cried, 'Wait!
Who is to be the King? Decide!'
'A melon,' the idiot replied.
This was his standard answer to
All questions. (He liked melons.) 'You
Are now our King,' the Ministers said,
Crowning a melon. Then they led
(Carried) the Melon to the throne
And reverently set it down.
Correct option: (b). 'This was his standard answer to / All questions. (He liked melons.)'
1 marks · mcq
A man passed by the City Gate.
An idiot. The guards cried, 'Wait!
Who is to be the King? Decide!'
'A melon,' the idiot replied.
This was his standard answer to
All questions. (He liked melons.) 'You
Are now our King,' the Ministers said,
Crowning a melon. Then they led
(Carried) the Melon to the throne
And reverently set it down.
Correct option: (b). The flat explanation of a nation-shaping decision by a fruit preference is perfectly deadpan.
1 marks · mcq
A man passed by the City Gate.
An idiot. The guards cried, 'Wait!
Who is to be the King? Decide!'
'A melon,' the idiot replied.
This was his standard answer to
All questions. (He liked melons.) 'You
Are now our King,' the Ministers said,
Crowning a melon. Then they led
(Carried) the Melon to the throne
And reverently set it down.
Correct option: (b). Courtiers bow before a fruit with full royal ceremony, mocking reverence for authority as such.
1 marks · mcq
A man passed by the City Gate.
An idiot. The guards cried, 'Wait!
Who is to be the King? Decide!'
'A melon,' the idiot replied.
This was his standard answer to
All questions. (He liked melons.) 'You
Are now our King,' the Ministers said,
Crowning a melon. Then they led
(Carried) the Melon to the throne
And reverently set it down.
Correct option: (b). The repeated aside wryly links the two 'rulers', both borne bodily to power, deepening the satire.
1 marks · mcq
This happened years and years ago.
When now you ask the people, 'So —
Your King appears to be a melon.
How did this happen?', they say, 'Well, on
Account of customary choice.
If His Majesty rejoice
In being a melon, that's OK
With us, for who are we to say
What he should be as long as he
Leaves us in Peace and Liberty?'
The principles of laissez faire
Seem to be well-established there.
Correct option: (d). They ask only 'as long as he / Leaves us in Peace and Liberty?'
1 marks · mcq
This happened years and years ago.
When now you ask the people, 'So —
Your King appears to be a melon.
How did this happen?', they say, 'Well, on
Account of customary choice.
If His Majesty rejoice
In being a melon, that's OK
With us, for who are we to say
What he should be as long as he
Leaves us in Peace and Liberty?'
The principles of laissez faire
Seem to be well-established there.
Correct option: (b). Laissez faire is the doctrine of non-interference, perfected by a King who does nothing.
1 marks · mcq
This happened years and years ago.
When now you ask the people, 'So —
Your King appears to be a melon.
How did this happen?', they say, 'Well, on
Account of customary choice.
If His Majesty rejoice
In being a melon, that's OK
With us, for who are we to say
What he should be as long as he
Leaves us in Peace and Liberty?'
The principles of laissez faire
Seem to be well-established there.
Correct option: (b). The offhand modern idiom shrugs at royalty, underscoring the citizens' indifference.
1 marks · mcq
This happened years and years ago.
When now you ask the people, 'So —
Your King appears to be a melon.
How did this happen?', they say, 'Well, on
Account of customary choice.
If His Majesty rejoice
In being a melon, that's OK
With us, for who are we to say
What he should be as long as he
Leaves us in Peace and Liberty?'
The principles of laissez faire
Seem to be well-established there.
Correct option: (b). The narrator opens with 'This happened years and years ago.'
1 marks · mcq
This happened years and years ago.
When now you ask the people, 'So —
Your King appears to be a melon.
How did this happen?', they say, 'Well, on
Account of customary choice.
If His Majesty rejoice
In being a melon, that's OK
With us, for who are we to say
What he should be as long as he
Leaves us in Peace and Liberty?'
The principles of laissez faire
Seem to be well-established there.
Correct option: (b). They do not care who or what rules as long as it does not interfere — an apathy the poet gently mocks.
1 marks · mcq
This happened years and years ago.
When now you ask the people, 'So —
Your King appears to be a melon.
How did this happen?', they say, 'Well, on
Account of customary choice.
If His Majesty rejoice
In being a melon, that's OK
With us, for who are we to say
What he should be as long as he
Leaves us in Peace and Liberty?'
The principles of laissez faire
Seem to be well-established there.
Correct option: (b). The choice of the melon-King is defended as having arisen from custom, i.e. the City-Gate rule.
2 marks · short
The King is introduced as 'just and placid', but he proves to be hasty, easily influenced and weak. He orders executions on impulse, changes his verdict whenever someone pleads, and finally bows to the mob's demand for a hanging.
2 marks · short
The King proclaimed that an arch should be built to span the major thoroughfare triumphantly. Its purpose was to 'edify spectators' — to impress and morally uplift the onlookers and glorify his own reign.
2 marks · short
'Edify' means to instruct, enlighten or improve morally. The King wanted the grand arch over the main road to impress passers-by and elevate their minds, showing the King's love for display and self-glorification.
2 marks · short
The arch had been built too low, and as the King rode under it, his crown was knocked off. The humiliated King frowned, called it a disgrace, and ordered that the chief of builders be hanged.
2 marks · short
As he was being led to the gallows, the chief of builders shouted that the fault lay with the workmen. The King immediately halted the proceedings and decided to have the workmen hanged instead.
2 marks · short
The workmen said that the King did not realise that the bricks had been made of the wrong size. They thus shifted the blame to the masons, whom the King then summoned.
2 marks · short
The terrified masons, who stood 'quivering' before the King, said that it was the architect's fault. On hearing this, the King summoned the architect and ordained that he be hanged.
2 marks · short
When sentenced to death, the architect politely reminded the King that His Majesty himself had made certain amendments to the plans when they were shown to him. The blame thus travelled right up to the throne, and the King, seeing red, had to seek counsel.
2 marks · short
The wisest man was so old that he could neither walk nor see, so he was not merely brought but carried to the Royal Court. He delivered his advice in a quavering (trembling) voice.
2 marks · short
The wisest man declared that the culprit must be punished and that it was truly the arch which had banged the crown off. He advised, therefore, that the arch itself must be hanged.
2 marks · short
As the arch was being led to the scaffold, a Councillor objected that it would be shameful to hang something that had touched the King's head. The King accepted this flattering argument and the arch was freed.
2 marks · short
By then the crowd had grown restless and was muttering aloud. The frightened King perceived their mood, postponed all 'finer points like guilt', and announced that the nation wanted a hanging — someone must be hanged at once.
2 marks · short
The noose had been set up somewhat high, and each man was measured against it. Only the King was tall enough to fit it, so His Majesty was hanged by Royal Decree — an accident of height, not a verdict of guilt.
2 marks · short
The Ministers felt relieved, saying 'Thank Goodness we found someone', since otherwise the unruly town might have turned against the Crown. They proclaimed 'Long live the King!' in the same breath as 'The King is dead.'
2 marks · short
Being practical-minded men, they sent heralds to proclaim that the next person to pass the City Gate would choose the ruler of the state. The decision was to be enforced with due ceremony, in the former King's name.
2 marks · short
The first man to pass the City Gate was an idiot, and when the guards asked him to decide who would be King, he replied 'A melon' — his standard answer to all questions, since he liked melons. The Ministers dutifully crowned the melon and set it reverently on the throne.
2 marks · short
The people say the melon was chosen on account of customary choice, and they have no right to question what he should be as long as he leaves them in Peace and Liberty. His total non-interference suits them perfectly.
2 marks · short
'Placid' means calm and unexcited, used repeatedly and ironically for the hot-tempered King. 'Saw red' is an idiom meaning to be overcome with rage — the King's reaction when the architect implicated him in the faulty plans.
2 marks · short
The tone is humorous, ironic and mock-serious. Grave words like 'disgrace', 'ordain', 'culprit' and 'Royal Decree' are applied to absurd situations — hanging an arch, crowning a melon — producing gentle but pointed satire.
2 marks · short
'Laissez faire' refers to a policy of letting people act without governmental interference. The melon-King governs by doing absolutely nothing, so the poet wryly notes that the principle of non-interference is perfectly established in that state.
3 marks · short
The blame begins with the King's order to hang the chief of builders for the low arch. The chief blames the workmen; the workmen blame the wrong size of the bricks and so the masons; the masons blame the architect. The architect then points out that the King himself had amended the plans, and the circle closes at the throne. Every accused person saves his own neck by deflecting guilt onto another, exposing total moral cowardice.
3 marks · short
The King is repeatedly called 'just and placid', yet his justice is a series of arbitrary death sentences passed without inquiry. His placidity coexists with a frown, with 'seeing red', and with trembling before the crowd. Each new accusation makes him change his verdict instantly, showing he has no principles at all. The repeated epithet thus becomes the poem's central ironic joke.
3 marks · short
In the state depicted, verdicts follow accusations, not evidence: a man is condemned the moment he is named and reprieved the moment he names another. The 'wisest man' recommends hanging an inanimate arch, and a Councillor's flattery saves it. Finally the King openly 'postpones consideration of finer points like guilt' — justice is reduced to satisfying the crowd. Vikram Seth thus mocks courts where ritual and power replace reason.
3 marks · short
The crowd gathers at the execution and grows restless, muttering aloud because the hanging is delayed. The King 'perceived their mood and trembled' and immediately promises to hang someone, anyone, immediately. The mob does not care about guilt; it wants a spectacle. Seth uses the crowd to show how rulers, instead of leading, simply obey public bloodlust — a satire on mob psychology and weak leadership.
3 marks · short
The King is vain, wanting a triumphal arch to edify spectators; impulsive, ordering hangings at the slightest provocation; and weak, changing his mind whenever anyone pleads. He is also incapable of decision, repeatedly seeking counsel from others. His fear of the crowd leads him to sacrifice justice for popularity. Ironically, he ends as the victim of his own gallows and decree.
3 marks · short
The Ministers are 'practical-minded men' — which in the poem means self-serving survivors. After the King's death they feel relief, not grief, because the Crown has been saved from the unruly town. They shout 'Long live the King!' while the King lies dead, and then manipulate custom to install a successor. Their crowning of a melon and reverent conduct towards it expose courtiers who value position over principle.
3 marks · short
The wisest man in the country is so old that he can neither walk nor see, and has to be carried to the court. The poet ironically says he is wise 'therefore' — because he is old. His counsel is that the arch, an inanimate object, should be hanged for banging off the crown. The episode mocks the blind social assumption that grey hairs guarantee sound judgement.
3 marks · short
The King who demands punishment for others becomes the only person punished, and for no reason at all — he is simply the one man tall enough to fit the high noose. He is executed 'by Royal Decree', by the very authority he embodies. The judge is judged; the executioner is executed. This perfect reversal completes the poem's ironic justice, where a pointless accident fulfils the crowd's appetite for a hanging.
3 marks · short
The citizens declare that they have no right to say what the King should be as long as he leaves them in Peace and Liberty. A melon does nothing, taxes nothing, decrees nothing — which is more than the former King managed. The melon symbolises any ruler (or government) whose chief virtue is non-interference; the poet suggests a harmless nothing is better than an actively foolish ruler.
3 marks · short
The poem ends years later, with citizens defending their melon-King as the product of 'customary choice' who guarantees them peace and liberty. The closing lines — 'The principles of laissez faire / Seem to be well-established there' — deliver the message with a wink: the best-governed state may be the one least governed. Yet the citizens' unexamined contentment is itself part of the satire.
3 marks · short
Seth's humour arises from deadpan treatment of absurdity: an arch 'led' to the scaffold like a prisoner; a Councillor's objection to hanging something that touched the royal head; the guards crying 'Wait!' to an idiot; and the 'reverent' installation of a melon on the throne. The mock-solemn diction — 'ordain', 'culprit', 'Royal Decree' — applied to these farces deepens the comic effect. The humour is gentle but the target is sharp.
3 marks · short
The poem is written as a ballad-like narrative in rhyming couplets (aabb), told in a conversational, sing-song manner by a first-person narrator ('the city of which I sing'). Short, brisk lines carry the story forward at a clip, with comic asides such as 'Nay, carried' and '(He liked melons.)'. The light, story-telling style suits an 'ancient tale' and lets the satire arrive wrapped in a joke.
3 marks · short
The arch is built to glorify the King and 'edify spectators', but it knocks off his crown instead — vanity rebounds on the vain. It stands for grand public projects that serve rulers' egos rather than people's needs. The arch also drives the plot: it is the 'offender' whose 'crime' sets off the fatal chain of blame, retrials and the King's death.
3 marks · short
Every character in authority protects himself first: the chief of builders, workmen and masons each shift blame to save their lives; the Councillor flatters the King to appear loyal; and the Ministers, after the hanging, worry only that the unruly town might turn against the Crown. Even the King postpones 'finer points like guilt' to appease the mob and save his popularity. Seth suggests that self-preservation, not duty, animates the state.
3 marks · short
The poem suggests that leaders who are impulsive, sycophantic and crowd-pleasing bring ruin upon themselves and their states. A ruler's only real duty, the citizens imply, is to leave people in peace and liberty. At the same time, citizens who accept a melon as King without question — merely because 'custom' says so — show that apathetic subjects get the rulers they deserve.
5 marks · broad
Vikram Seth's poem satirises every layer of the state it describes. The King, advertised as 'just and placid', is in reality impulsive and weak: he orders the chief of builders hanged without any inquiry, reverses every verdict when the accused shifts the blame, and finally abandons even the pretence of justice by 'postponing consideration of finer points like guilt'. His courtiers fare no better — a Councillor saves the arch through flattery, and the Ministers, relieved rather than grieving after the hanging, proclaim 'Long live the King!' over a dead monarch. The wisest man, carried to the court because he can neither walk nor see, is venerated only for his age, and his advice — to hang the arch — is pure nonsense. The crowd, restless for a spectacle, forces an innocent man's death. Finally, the ruled accept a melon as King purely because 'customary choice' says so. The poem thus holds up a mirror to society: hypocritical rulers, opportunistic officials and apathetic citizens together produce a state where a fruit can reign.
5 marks · broad
A just and placid King ordered a triumphal arch built over the main thoroughfare to edify spectators. Riding under it, he lost his crown because the arch was too low, and in fury he ordered the chief of builders hanged. The chief blamed the workmen; the workmen blamed the wrong-sized bricks and the masons; the masons blamed the architect; and the architect pointed out that the King himself had amended the plans. Trapped, the King sought the counsel of the wisest man — a man so old he had to be carried — who advised hanging the arch itself. A Councillor's flattery spared the arch, but by now the restless crowd demanded a hanging. The noose, set up somewhat high, fitted only one man — the King — who was therefore hanged by Royal Decree. The practical-minded Ministers then proclaimed that the next person to pass the City Gate would choose the ruler. That passer-by was an idiot whose standard answer to every question was 'A melon'; since he liked melons, a melon was crowned, carried to the throne, and reverently installed as King.
5 marks · broad
The poem's humour flows from its ironies. The 'just and placid' King is neither: he frowns, 'saw red' at the architect's truthful defence, and trembles before his own crowd. The arch built to 'edify spectators' instead humiliates its builder-patron by knocking off his crown. The line 'he nearly lost his head' is used figuratively for anger, yet the King literally loses his head later — a grim piece of foreshadowing. The wisest man in the land, so old he cannot walk or see, prescribes hanging an inanimate arch, and a Councillor blocks it because the arch had 'touched' the royal head. The King, who wanted someone hanged to please the crowd, turns out to be the only man tall enough for the noose — the judge executed by his own Royal Decree. The Ministers shout 'Long live the King! The King is dead.' And in the crowning irony, the state's best ruler proves to be a melon, reverently enthroned. Each absurdity is narrated in solemn, deadpan language, which multiplies the comic effect.
5 marks · broad
Although written in jest, the poem offers serious lessons. First, justice cannot be arbitrary: verdicts passed in anger, without inquiry or evidence, destroy the innocent — the chain of blame in the poem shows how easily a system without due process becomes a farce. Second, a leader must have a mind of his own; the King's readiness to reverse every sentence at the next plea, and his surrender to the crowd's bloodlust, mark the failure of leadership by public opinion. Third, flattery and self-interest corrupt those around power: the Councillor's sycophancy and the Ministers' self-preservation show how courtiers serve themselves, never the truth. Fourth, blind obedience is dangerous — the workmen build without question, the guards obey without thought, and citizens accept a melon merely because custom says so. Finally, the citizens' contentment under the melon carries a wry lesson for rulers: a government's first duty is to leave people in peace and liberty; a ruler who medles foolishly is worse than one who does nothing at all.
5 marks · broad
The poem shows a society that obeys first and thinks never. The workmen build the arch not because it is needed but 'since he was the King'; the guards, the Ministers and the crowd all follow orders and custom mechanically. This thoughtless compliance is what makes the absurd possible: when an idiot names a melon, the state solemnly crowns the fruit, because procedure, not sense, governs events. The mob mentality is equally damning. The crowd gathered for the execution grows restless and mutters; it does not ask who is guilty or whether guilt matters — it simply 'wants a hanging'. The King, perceiving their mood, trembles and promises to hang 'someone... immediately', and only the tallness of his own body saves an innocent man by making the King the victim. Seth thereby shows how mobs manufacture victims, and how leaders who fear the mob become its instruments. The silent, unquestioning citizens at the end, happy with their melon as long as they are left in peace, complete the picture of a society that has abdicated judgement altogether.
5 marks · broad
The idea forms the moral centre of the poem's ending. When questioned about their melon-King, the citizens reply that since His Majesty leaves them in Peace and Liberty, they have no right to complain about what he should be, and the poet concludes that 'the principles of laissez faire / Seem to be well-established there.' The contrast is deliberate: the previous King, full of energy and self-importance, built a triumphal arch, staged trials, threatened lives and finally hanged himself into history, achieving nothing but chaos. The melon, by doing absolutely nothing — no decrees, no executions, no grand projects — gives the people exactly what government owes them: peace and freedom. The satire cuts both ways, however. The citizens' contentment reflects an ideal of minimal government, but their total apathy — never questioning who or what rules them — shows the cost of judging rulers only by their quietness. Seth thus presents the maxim as both a witty truth about non-interference and a warning about an unexamined political life.
5 marks · broad
The poem is a narrative ballad written in short rhyming couplets, told by a first-person narrator who announces at the start, 'In the city of which I sing' — the stance of a minstrel recounting an 'ancient tale'. The bouncy, nursery-rhyme rhythm and quick couplets keep the tone light, so that even executions are narrated with a wink, and the reader is entertained before being instructed. The language mixes formal, legalistic words — 'proclaimed', 'ordain', 'culprit', 'Royal Decree', 'due ceremony' — with colloquial asides like 'Nay, carried', '(He liked melons.)' and 'that's OK'. This deliberate collision between pompous official language and ridiculous events is the engine of the satire: grand diction dignifies absurdity, and the mismatch exposes how hollow such dignity is. Comic devices — irony ('just and placid'), foreshadowing ('nearly lost his head'), and deadpan understatement ('One man. That was all.') — are woven through the swift plot. The verse form thus proves that a light style can carry a serious critique of power, justice and custom.
