The Raven and the Fox Questions & Answers | Class 6 English | CBSE NCERT

(b) — The opening line says, "Mr Raven was perched upon a limb."

(b) — The Raven held a morsel in his beak which "the Fox would go far to seek", so the Fox watched it with desire.

(b) — A morsel is a small piece or bite of food, which the Raven held in his beak.

Reynard

It shows that the Fox wanted the food very much and was ready to go to any length to get it. His desire for the morsel is what sets the whole trick in motion.

No, it is not always wise. Displaying what we have can attract envious or cunning eyes, just as the Raven's food attracted the Fox. It is safer to be modest about our possessions.

(b) — The Fox says in admiring tones, "Sir Raven, you are a handsome bird."

(c) — The food is in the Raven's beak; the moment he opens it to sing, the morsel will fall and the Fox will grab it.

(c) — 'Sing' and 'King' rhyme, completing the couplet that began with 'word–bird'.

King

These polite and flattering words are part of the Fox's trick. By speaking with mock respect and admiration, he makes the Raven feel important so that he loses caution and opens his beak.

I would stay calm and think about why the person is praising me. If I suspected they wanted something from me, I would be careful and not let sweet words control my actions.

(b) — The flattering promise of being called King filled him with foolish pride, and he opened his beak to sing.

(b) — "He opened his beak, in his foolish pride– / And down fell the morsel the Fox had eyed."

(a) — 'Eyed' means watched with interest; the Fox had been eyeing the food from the start.

Just a croak.

He was so carried away by the Fox's praise that he could not think clearly. Flattery had blinded his good sense, so he did not realise the Fox was only tricking him to get the morsel.

His pride was based on empty praise, not on any real talent — he could only croak. Believing flattery and forgetting his own weakness made him act foolishly and lose what he had.

(b) — "Ha-ha!" laughed the Fox — his plan worked and the morsel fell to him.

(c) — He tells the Raven to "Ignore sweet words that make you glow", that is, do not be carried away by flattery.

(b) — The Fox says, "Pride, my friend, is rather unwise", meaning pride is foolish and leads to loss.

False

The Raven had expected to be praised as King, but instead he suddenly lost his food and got a lesson instead. Learning wisdom at the cost of his morsel was an unexpected surprise for him.

It means flattery — praise that makes us feel pleased and proud. Such words feel sweet, but if we trust them blindly, we may lose our possessions or our good judgement, just like the Raven.

Mr Raven was perched upon a limb, that is, a branch of a tree.

The Raven held a morsel — a small piece of food — in his great big beak.

Reynard was the Fox, the clever and cunning character of the poem who tricks the Raven.

The Fox looked up because the Raven held a morsel in his beak — food that the Fox would go far to seek and badly wanted.

The Fox praised him in admiring tones, calling him a handsome bird with fine feathers, and said that if he sang, the birds of the woods would call him King.

The Fox used these polite, respectful words as part of his flattery. He wanted to make the Raven feel grand and proud so that he would open his beak and sing.

In his pride, the Raven forgot that his voice was just a croak, not a sweet song.

The Fox's flattery filled him with foolish pride. Hoping to be called King, he opened his beak to sing.

Down fell the morsel that the Fox had been eyeing, and the Fox got the food he wanted.

The Fox taught him to ignore sweet words that make him glow, because pride is unwise and makes us lose what we have.

The poem is written in rhyming couplets (aabb) — for example, 'limb–him', 'beak–seek' and 'word–bird', 'sing–King'.

'Perched' means sat or rested on a branch, and 'limb' means a branch of a tree.

A morsel means a small piece or bite of food, like the one the Raven held in his beak.

"His great big beak" — the words 'big' and 'beak' begin with the same /b/ sound, which is alliteration.

He was so carried away by the Fox's praise that he lost his judgement. He did not realise the Fox was only flattering him to get his food.

It means we should not be carried away by flattery. Sweet words of praise can make us feel proud and glow with joy, but trusting them blindly leads to loss.

The Raven is simple, vain and easily fooled by praise, while the Fox is clever, cunning and uses sweet words to get what he wants.

Flattery is excessive, often untrue praise given to please someone. The poem warns that flattery is a trap — the Raven lost his food because he believed the Fox's praise.

I should stay calm and think whether the praise is true or a trick to get something from me. I must not let pride make me act foolishly, like the Raven.

I like "Pride, my friend, is rather unwise", because it states the moral of the poem in a simple way — pride makes us blind and leads to loss.

The Fox sees the morsel in the Raven's beak and plans a clever trick. He speaks in admiring tones, calling the Raven a handsome bird and praising his feathers. He then says that if the Raven would only sing, the birds of the woods would call him King. Carried away by this flattery, the Raven forgets his voice is just a croak, opens his beak to sing, and drops the morsel, which the Fox immediately takes.

The Raven is a simple bird who becomes a victim of his own weakness. He is vain — he enjoys being called handsome and imagines being King of the woods. He is credulous, believing the Fox's sweet words without thinking. He is also foolish, because in his pride he forgets that his voice is just a croak. His blind faith in flattery costs him his food, though at the end he does learn a lesson.

Reynard the Fox is the classic cunning character of fables. He is watchful — he spots the morsel at once and "would go far to seek" it. He is clever and patient, using flattery instead of force. He is also a smooth talker, using polite words like 'Sir' and 'My word!' to sound sincere. Though he is tricky and unkind, he is intelligent enough to teach a true lesson: pride and blind trust in praise are unwise.

The Raven's pride had no real basis — his feathers may be fine, but his voice was only a croak. Yet the moment the Fox promised he would be called King, he swelled with pride and opened his beak. A pride that makes us forget our real weaknesses and act without thinking is rightly called foolish. It cost him the food he held.

This is the lesson the Fox teaches the Raven after winning his food. 'Sweet words that make you glow' means flattering praise that pleases us and makes us feel special. The Fox advises that such words should be ignored, because people often use them only to get something from us. If we let praise control us, we lose our good judgement, as the Raven lost his morsel.

The Raven had expected glory — he thought he was about to be hailed as King by the birds of the woods. Instead, the moment he opened his beak, he lost his food and heard the Fox laugh at him. The lesson came suddenly, at the very moment he felt proudest, so the Fox says, "I'm sure this teaching is quite a surprise."

The poem shows step by step how praise can trap us. The Fox's admiring words — handsome bird, fine feathers, King of the woods — slowly fill the Raven with pride. Blinded, the Raven forgets his croak and opens his beak. The food falls, and the trick is complete. The poem thus teaches us to weigh praise carefully: not all praise is true, and some of it is bait set by those who want what we have.

The poem uses rhyme in couplets (aabb), such as 'limb–him', 'beak–seek', 'word–bird', 'sing–King', 'joke–croak' and 'pride–eyed'. It also uses alliteration — repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words — for example, "his great big beak" ('big' and 'beak' with the /b/ sound). These devices give the poem its musical, memorable quality.

To a large extent, yes. The Raven was warned by his own knowledge — he knew his voice was only a croak — but he "forgot" this because of his pride. He trusted a stranger's sweet words without questioning them. However, one can also feel a little sorry for him, because the Fox deliberately set a trap. Either way, the Raven's own weakness for praise was the real cause of his loss.

The Fox was clever, but his cleverness was used to deceive. He flattered the Raven falsely, only because he wanted the morsel. Tricking someone to take away what is theirs is not right, even if it teaches a lesson. At the same time, the Fox's trick exposed the Raven's weakness for flattery. So while the Fox's method was wrong, the poem uses it to warn readers against pride and empty praise.

The Raven is the central figure of the poem and its unhappy victim. He is shown perched upon a limb with a morsel in his great big beak — a peaceful picture, but one that reveals the first weakness: he holds his food where everyone can see it. His second weakness is vanity. When the Fox calls him a handsome bird and praises "Such feathers!", the Raven glows with pleasure. His third and greatest weakness is foolish pride — the promise that the birds of the woods would call him King completely blinds him. The poet points out the fatal flaw: "The Raven, who did not see the joke, / Forgot that his voice was just a croak." He knows the truth about his voice, yet flattery makes him forget it. When he opens his beak, the morsel falls, and the Fox laughs. The Raven is thus a symbol of every person who loves praise too much. Yet the poem ends with a hope — the Raven does learn the lesson that pride is unwise, even though he learns it "quite a surprise" and at a cost.

Reynard the Fox is the clever mind of the poem. From the very first stanza he is shown as watchful and determined: he "looked up at him" because the Raven held "a morsel the Fox would go far to seek". He does not try to snatch the food by force; he knows that would fail. Instead, he uses his greatest weapon — words. He speaks "in admiring tones", uses polished courtesy like "My word!" and "Sir Raven", praises the Raven's feathers, and offers him a glittering dream: "The birds of these woods would call you King." Every sentence is designed to make the Raven open his beak. His patience is rewarded when the morsel falls, and he laughs, "Ha-ha!" The Fox is cunning, smooth-tongued and unkind, but he is also honest in his victory — he openly teaches the Raven to "Ignore sweet words that make you glow" and admits that "Pride, my friend, is rather unwise." He is the classic trickster of fables: cleverness with a sting, a teacher whose lesson is true even though his method is selfish.

The theme of the poem is the danger of flattery and the foolishness of pride. The poem shows how a clever flatterer can make a victim forget even what he knows about himself. The Fox's praise — "Sir Raven, you are a handsome bird" and "The birds of these woods would call you King" — is not true admiration but bait. The Raven, who "did not see the joke", forgets that his voice is "just a croak" and opens his beak in "foolish pride". The message is stated directly by the Fox in the final stanza: "Ignore sweet words that make you glow. / Pride, my friend, is rather unwise." In other words, we should not let sweet praise carry us away, because those who flatter us often want something from us, and our own pride can make us lose what we have. The poem also carries a gentle warning to readers to know their real strengths and weaknesses.

The poem teaches us several values. First, humility: the Raven's fall comes from "foolish pride" — if he had remained humble about his croaking voice, he would have kept his food. Second, careful judgement: we should test praise before believing it; the Raven accepted the Fox's "admiring tones" without thinking, and paid for it. Third, self-knowledge: the Raven knew his voice was just a croak, but flattery made him forget it; knowing our true abilities protects us from traps. Fourth, awareness of others' motives: the Fox wanted the morsel "he would go far to seek", and every sweet word he spoke served that goal. Finally, the poem shows the value of learning from mistakes — the Raven does learn the lesson, even though it costs him his food. These values — humility, self-knowledge and careful listening — remain useful throughout life.

The poem's warning about flattery applies to many everyday situations. When a classmate praises me too much just before asking to copy my homework, that is exactly the Fox's "admiring tones". When an advertisement tells me I am special so that I buy a product, that is the Fox promising the Raven he will be King. On the internet, strangers use sweet words to win trust — children are taught not to talk to strangers or accept things from them for the very same reason. The rule from the poem is simple: "Ignore sweet words that make you glow." I should enjoy genuine praise, but always ask myself what the praiser really wants, and never let pride push me into showing off. Like the Raven, if I remember my real strengths and weaknesses, I will not open my beak and lose my morsel.

Yesterday was the most embarrassing day of my life. I was perched on my favourite branch, holding a delicious morsel in my beak, when I noticed Reynard the Fox looking up at me. He spoke so sweetly — "My word! Sir Raven, you are a handsome bird. Such feathers!" — and then he said something wonderful: if I would only sing, the birds of these woods would call me King. I felt myself glowing with pride. I forgot everything — even the plain fact that my voice is just a croak. I opened my beak to sing... and down fell my morsel, straight to the Fox, who had been eyeing it all along! "Ha-ha!" he laughed, and told me, "Ignore sweet words that make you glow. Pride, my friend, is rather unwise." I felt foolish, but he was right. Today I have learnt two lessons: never trust praise that comes too sweetly, and never let pride make me forget what I really am. No morsel is worth losing to flattery — and no flattery is worth a morsel.

If the Raven had kept his beak firmly closed, the story would have ended quite differently. The Fox would have praised his feathers again, called him "Sir Raven", and promised him the crown of the woods — but all in vain. Perhaps he would have grown impatient and tried a new trick, like insulting the Raven instead, hoping to make him cry out in anger. A truly wise Raven would have realised that a bird who wants your food will either flatter you or provoke you — and would simply keep his beak shut, or better, eat the morsel at once. The Fox, left with nothing but his "Ha-ha" turning into a groan, would have had to slink away hungry, muttering that pride is unwise — but this time about his own foolish pride in his cleverness. The lesson of the poem would then shift to the Fox: even the cleverest trick fails against a calm and careful mind.