The Man Who Wished to be Perfect: WBCHSE Class 11 English

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Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guides for (Folk-Tales of Bengal) Lal Behari Dey’s The Man Who Wished to be Perfect: WBCHSE Class 11 English Literature textbook A Realm of English (B) Selection, which is part of the Semester III syllabus for students studying under WBBSE (West Bengal Board-Uccha Madhyamik). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.

Summary

A religious mendicant offered a childless king a special drug for the queen. It would allow her to have twin sons. The condition was that the king must give one of the sons to the mendicant. The king agreed, and two princes were born. When the princes turned sixteen, the mendicant returned to claim one of them. The king and queen were filled with great sadness. This feeling is described as being “plunged into a sea of grief,” meaning their sorrow was deep and overwhelming. The brothers argued, as each wanted to protect the other by going. In the end, the elder prince went with the mendicant.

Before he left, the elder prince planted a tree in the palace courtyard. He explained that this tree was a symbol of his life. If the tree was green and healthy, he was well. If it began to fade, he was in trouble. On his journey, a puppy and a young hawk chose to join him. The mendicant led him to a hut in the forest and warned him never to travel north. However, one day the prince chased a wounded deer to the north. There, he found a house with a beautiful woman who challenged him to a game of dice. The prince played three games and lost each one. He lost his hawk, his puppy, and finally his own freedom. The woman, who was actually a demon called a Rakshasi, trapped him in a hole, planning to eat him later.

At the palace, the younger prince noticed the leaves on the life tree were fading. He knew his brother was in great danger. He immediately rode to the forest. On his way, another puppy and hawk, who were siblings to the first pair, joined him. The younger prince found the Rakshasi and also played dice with her. He won all three games, freeing his brother and their animal friends. To save her own life, the Rakshasi revealed the mendicant’s evil plan. The mendicant intended to sacrifice the elder prince to the goddess Kali to become perfect.

The princes went to the temple of Kali. Inside, the skulls of six previous victims spoke to the elder prince. They told him how to defeat the mendicant. They said he should pretend he did not know how to bow before the goddess. When the mendicant demonstrated how to bow, the prince should use that moment to kill him. The prince followed their advice. He tricked the mendicant, and when the man bowed, the prince cut off his head. The goddess Kali then appeared and granted the prince the perfection the mendicant had wanted. The six other victims were restored to life, and the two princes returned home.

Questions and Answers

1. What was the condition the mendicant gave the king for the medicine? Why did the king agree to it?

Answer: The condition that the religious mendicant gave to the king, who had no issue, was very specific. The mendicant offered a drug for the queen, and by swallowing this drug, she would give birth to twin sons. However, this medicine came with a strict condition: of the two twin sons born, the king would be allowed to keep only one for himself, and he must give the other twin to the mendicant. This was the mendicant’s price for the miraculous drug.

The king thought this condition was somewhat hard, as it meant giving away his own child. However, he ultimately agreed to the terms. The reason for his agreement was his deep anxiety to have a son. He desperately wanted an heir to bear his name, inherit his vast wealth, and continue the royal line by inheriting his kingdom. This powerful desire for a successor outweighed the difficulty of the mendicant’s condition, leading him to accept the deal.

2. Why did the king and queen dismiss their fears about the mendicant? What was the mendicant actually doing?

Answer: The king and queen dismissed their fears about the mendicant because a significant amount of time had passed since they had made the agreement. The twin brothers grew from being one year old, to two years old, three years old, four years old, and then five years old, and still, the mendicant did not appear at the palace to claim his share. Because so many years had gone by and the mendicant was old when they first met him, the king and queen concluded that he must have died. Believing him to be dead, they dismissed all fears from their minds and felt secure with their two sons.

However, the king and queen were mistaken. The mendicant was not dead; he was very much alive. During all those years, he was carefully counting the time as it passed. He was patiently waiting for the princes to grow older before he would make his appearance and demand that the king fulfill his promise. He had not forgotten the agreement at all and was simply biding his time.

3. Describe the qualities and skills of the young princes as they grew up.

Answer: As the young princes grew up, they developed into remarkable young men with many admirable qualities and skills. They were put under the guidance of tutors and proved to be excellent students, making rapid progress in their learning and academic studies. In addition to their intellectual development, they also excelled in physical arts. They became very skilled in the art of riding horses and in the art of shooting with a bow and arrow, which were important skills for princes. Beyond their abilities, the twin princes were also uncommonly handsome in their appearance. Their combination of intelligence, skill, and striking good looks made them widely admired by all the people throughout the kingdom. They were seen as ideal princes, and their presence brought joy to the court and the people.

4. How did the king and queen react to the mendicant’s return? Why were they plunged into a sea of grief?

Answer: When the mendicant finally returned to the palace gate after sixteen years, the king and queen had a reaction of pure shock and despair. The text says their hearts “dried up within them,” which is a way of saying they felt a sudden, deep sense of dread and hopelessness. They had long believed that the mendicant was no more in the land of the living, so their surprise was immense when they saw him standing at the gate in flesh and blood, demanding one of the young princes for himself as promised.

They were plunged into a “sea of grief,” a phrase that means they were completely overwhelmed by immense sorrow, as if they were drowning in it. This was because their long-held sense of security was shattered. The return of the mendicant meant that their worst fear had come true: they had to part with one of their beloved sons, a thought that caused them unbearable pain and sadness.

5. Why did the king feel compelled to fulfill his promise to the mendicant?

Answer: The king felt he had no other option but to fulfill his promise to the mendicant due to a powerful fear of the holy man’s supernatural abilities. The king and queen understood that there was nothing for it but to part with one of the princes. They believed that the mendicant possessed the power to issue a terrible curse. If they broke their word, they feared the mendicant might, by his curse, turn not only both of the princes into ashes, but also destroy everything they held dear. This potential destruction included the king and queen themselves, their entire palace, and the whole of the kingdom to boot. The thought of such complete and devastating ruin was so terrifying that it compelled the king to honor his original agreement, despite the immense personal pain it caused him.

6. Describe the argument between the two princes over who should go with the mendicant. What did each one say?

Answer: When it became clear that one prince had to be given away, a fearful struggle arose in the hearts of the king and queen. However, among the young princes themselves, there was no argument about who should stay. Instead, each of them bravely volunteered to be the one to leave, both saying, “I’ll go.”

The younger prince spoke first to his elder brother. He argued that the elder was older, even if only by a few minutes, and that he was the pride of their father. Based on this, the younger prince insisted that the elder should remain at home, and he would be the one to go with the mendicant. The elder prince then responded to his younger brother, arguing that he was the younger of the two and the joy of their mother. For this reason, the elder prince said, the younger should remain at home, and he, the elder, would go with the mendicant. Each prince tried to sacrifice himself for the other’s sake.

7. What did the elder prince plant before leaving the palace? What did he say it represented?

Answer: Before the elder prince left his father’s roof to go with the mendicant, he performed a significant act. He went into the courtyard of the palace and, with his own hands, he planted a tree. This was not just any tree; it was meant to be a living symbol connected directly to him.

He explained to his parents and his brother that this tree was his life. It would serve as an indicator of his well-being while he was away. He told them that as long as they saw the tree looking green and fresh, they would know that it was well with him. If they noticed that the tree began to fade in some parts, it would be a sign that he was in an ill case, or in some kind of trouble. Finally, he warned them that if they ever saw the whole tree fade completely, they would know that he was dead and gone.

8. How did the elder prince acquire a puppy and a young hawk as his companions?

Answer: The elder prince acquired his two animal companions shortly after beginning his journey with the mendicant. As they were wending their way towards the forest, they came across some dog’s whelps, or puppies, on the roadside. One of the whelps spoke to its dam, or mother, saying, “Mother, I wish to go with that handsome young man, who must be a prince.” The dam simply replied, “Go,” and the prince was happy to take the puppy as his companion.

A little further on their journey, they saw a hawk and its young ones upon a tree. One of the young hawks also spoke to its dam, saying, “Mother, I wish to go with that handsome young man, who must be the son of a king.” The mother hawk also said, “Go,” and the prince gladly took the young hawk as his second companion. In this way, the prince, the puppy, and the young hawk continued the journey together with the mendicant.

9. What were the mendicant’s instructions to the prince about living in the forest? What was the one prohibition?

Answer: Upon arriving deep in the forest, far from any houses, the mendicant led the prince to a hut thatched with leaves, which was the mendicant’s cell. He then gave the prince a set of instructions for his new life. The mendicant told the prince that his chief work would be to cull flowers from the forest for his devotions. He was free to eat whatever fruit or root he liked and could get his drink from the nearby brook.

However, there was one very important prohibition. The mendicant strictly forbade the prince from going to the north. He was allowed to go on every side except the north. The mendicant warned him very clearly, saying, “If you go towards the north evil will betide you,” meaning that something terrible would happen to him if he were to disobey this one command.

10. How did the prince spend his days in the forest? What did the mendicant do all day?

Answer: The prince’s days in the forest followed a regular routine. His work for the mendicant was brief. At dawn, he would go into the forest to cull, or gather, flowers and give them to the mendicant for his devotions. After this task was done, the prince had the entire day to himself. He did not dislike the place or his work and made the best of his time. He would spend his days walking about in the vast forest, always accompanied by his two loyal companions, the puppy and the young hawk. He also practiced his archery skills by shooting arrows at the deer, of which there was a great number in the forest.

The mendicant, on the other hand, was absent for most of the day. After receiving the flowers from the prince in the morning, he would go away somewhere and would not return to the hut until sundown.

11. How did the elder prince come to disobey the mendicant’s orders? What did he find in the north?

Answer: The elder prince came to disobey the mendicant’s orders not out of defiance, but by accident while he was hunting. One day, as he was making the best of his time, he used his bow and arrow to pierce a stag. The wounded stag, instead of falling, ran away towards the north. In the heat of the chase, the prince, not thinking of the mendicant’s behest or command, followed the stag directly into the forbidden northern territory. The stag led him to a fine-looking house that stood close by and entered it.

When the prince entered the house, he did not find the stag he had been chasing. Instead of the deer, he saw a young woman of matchless beauty. She was sitting near the door with a dice-table set up before her. The prince was so taken by her heaven-born beauty that he was rooted to the spot, unable to move.

12. Describe the first game of dice between the elder prince and the lady. What was the wager and the outcome?

Answer: The first game of dice between the elder prince and the beautiful lady began when she invited him to play. As it was a game of risk, they agreed on a specific wager before starting. The condition was that if the prince lost the game, he would have to give his young hawk to the lady. On the other hand, if the lady lost the game, she would be required to give the prince a young hawk that was just like the one he owned. This set the stakes for their initial contest.

The outcome of this first game was not in the prince’s favor. The lady won the game. As per their agreement, she then took the prince’s young hawk from him. She kept the bird in a hole in the ground and covered the hole with a plank, securing her prize and leaving the prince without one of his loyal companions.

13. What were the wagers for the second and third games of dice? What was the final result for the prince?

Answer: After losing his hawk, the prince offered to play a second time. The wager for this game was that if the lady won, she would take the prince’s puppy. If she lost, she would have to give the prince a puppy just like his. The lady won again and stowed the puppy away in another hole. For the third game, the stakes were much higher. The wager was that if the prince lost, he would have to give himself up to the lady, to be done to by her anything she pleased. If he won, she would have to give him a young man exactly like himself.

The final result for the prince was a complete disaster. The lady won the third game as well. Having lost this final wager, the prince was at her mercy. She caught hold of him and put him in a hole covered over with a plank, just as she had done with his hawk and puppy.

14. Who was the beautiful lady in reality? Why did she not eat the prince immediately?

Answer: The beautiful lady who tempted the prince with a game of dice was not a human woman at all. In reality, she was a Rakshasi, which is a type of demoness from folklore that is known to live upon human flesh. Her beautiful appearance was just a disguise to lure unsuspecting victims. The sight of the tender body of the young prince made her mouth water, as she fully intended to devour him. Her true nature was monstrous and deadly, hidden behind a facade of matchless beauty.

The Rakshasi did not eat the prince immediately after capturing him for a simple reason: she had already had her food for that day. Since she was not hungry at that moment, she decided to save him for later. She reserved the prince for the meal of the following day, keeping him trapped in the hole until she was ready to eat him.

15. How did the younger prince learn that his brother was in danger? What did he do before setting out?

Answer: The younger prince learned that his brother was in great danger by observing the life-indicating tree that the elder prince had planted in the palace courtyard. The younger brother used to look at this tree every day. Hitherto, he had always found the leaves to be of a living green colour, signaling that his brother was well. However, one day he suddenly found that some of the leaves were fading. This was the sign his brother had warned them about. He immediately gave the alarm to the king and queen, and they all concluded from the fading leaves that the life of the elder prince must be in great danger.

Before setting out to help his brother, the younger prince took a thoughtful precaution. He planted a tree in the courtyard of the palace that was similar to the one his brother had planted. This new tree was to serve as the index of his own life, so his family would know his condition while he was away.

16. How did the younger prince acquire his own animal companions? Why did they wish to join him?

Answer: The younger prince acquired his own animal companions in a manner very similar to his brother. As he galloped towards the forest on the swiftest steed from the king’s stables, he saw a dog with a puppy. He then took up that cub as a companion. Further on his journey, he saw a young hawk perched on a tree on the roadside, and he readily took it up as well.

The animals wished to join him because the two princes were exactly like each other in appearance. The puppy thought that the younger prince was the same rider who had taken away his fellow-cub earlier. It said, “As you have taken away my brother, take me also with you.” Similarly, the young hawk believed the prince was the same person who had taken its sibling and said, “You have taken away my brother; take me also, I beseech you.” Because of this case of mistaken identity, both animals willingly joined the younger prince on his quest.

17. What did the mendicant tell the younger prince had happened to his brother?

Answer: When the younger prince arrived at the mendicant’s hut, the mendicant returned at sunset and, seeing him, pretended to be glad. The mendicant then explained what he claimed had happened to the elder brother. He told the younger prince that he had specifically instructed his brother never to go towards the north, warning him that evil would betide him in that case. The mendicant then stated that it seemed the elder prince had disobeyed his orders. He said the prince had gone to the north and, as a result, had fallen into the toils of a Rakshasi who lives there. To make the situation sound hopeless, the mendicant added that there was no hope of rescuing him and that he had perhaps already been devoured by the demoness.

18. How did the younger prince’s encounter with the Rakshasi differ from his brother’s?

Answer: The younger prince’s encounter with the Rakshasi was a complete reversal of his brother’s experience. While the elder prince was naive and fell into her trap, the younger prince arrived with the knowledge from the mendicant that the woman was a Rakshasi. When she asked him to play a game of dice, he complied, but he played on the same conditions with a different outcome. Whereas the elder prince had lost all three games, losing his hawk, his puppy, and finally himself, the younger prince won all three games consecutively. His success in the games of dice allowed him to turn the tables on the Rakshasi completely, leading to the rescue of his brother and their companions rather than his own capture. His victory demonstrated superior luck or skill in the very same challenge that had defeated his brother.

19. How did the younger prince win back the hawk, the puppy, and his brother?

Answer: The younger prince won back his brother’s companions and his brother himself by being victorious in three consecutive games of dice against the Rakshasi. He played on the same conditions his brother had. After winning the first game, the lady was forced to produce the young hawk from the hole and give it to the prince. The joy of the two hawks on meeting each other was great. He then played a second time and won again, which compelled the lady to bring the young puppy out from its hole. Finally, they played a third time, and the prince won this game as well. The lady demurred, or hesitated, to produce a young man exactly like the prince, pretending it was impossible. But on the prince insisting upon the fulfilment of the condition, she had no choice but to produce his brother.

20. What secret did the Rakshasi reveal to the princes? Why did she tell them this secret?

Answer: The secret the Rakshasi revealed was about the mendicant’s true, sinister intentions for the elder prince. She told the two brothers that the mendicant was a worshipper of the goddess Kali and that he was planning to sacrifice the elder prince. She explained that the mendicant was seeking to achieve a state of perfection and that this required a total of seven human sacrifices. The elder prince was intended to be the seventh and final victim, whose death would complete the mendicant’s dark ritual.

The Rakshasi told them this secret purely out of self-preservation. After the younger prince had defeated her and freed his brother, she was at their mercy. Fearing for her life, she said to the princes, “Don’t kill me, and I will tell you a secret which will save the life of the elder prince.” She offered this vital information in a desperate bargain to persuade them to spare her.

21. What did the Rakshasi tell the princes about the mendicant and the temple of Kali?

Answer: The Rakshasi gave the princes very specific and disturbing information about the mendicant. She told them that he was a worshipper of the goddess Kali and had a temple dedicated to her not far from their location. She explained that he belonged to a particular sect of Hindus who seek to gain perfection from intercourse with the spirits of departed men. To achieve this, he had already sacrificed six human victims at the altar of Kali. As proof, she said their skulls could be seen in niches inside her temple. The Rakshasi revealed that the mendicant would only become perfect after the seventh victim was sacrificed, and that the elder prince was the one who had been chosen to be this seventh and final victim.

22. What happened when the elder prince entered the temple? What did the skulls tell him?

Answer: Following the Rakshasi’s directions, the princes went to the temple of Kali. When the elder prince went inside, a chilling event occurred. The six skulls that were placed in the niches inside the temple all laughed a ghastly laugh. The prince was horror-struck at both the sight of the skulls and the terrible sound of their laughter. He gathered his courage and inquired about the cause of their laughter, asking them why they were laughing in such a dreadful manner.

In response, the skulls told him that they were glad. They explained that their happiness was because they were about to get another person added to their number. One of the skulls, acting as a spokesman for the rest, told the young prince that in a few days, the mendicant’s devotions would be completed. At that time, the prince would be brought into the temple, his head would be cut off, and he would then have to keep company with them as another skull in a niche.

23. What advice did the skulls give the prince to save himself? How would following this advice help the skulls?

Answer: The skulls offered the prince a clever plan to save his own life and, in doing so, help them as well. They advised him that when the mendicant brings him into the temple to be sacrificed and tells him to prostrate himself before Mother Kali, the prince must refuse. He should tell the mendicant that as a prince, he has never bowed down to anyone and therefore does not know what bowing down is or how to perform the act. He should then ask the mendicant to show him how it is done by doing it himself. The skulls instructed that when the mendicant bows down, the prince must seize the opportunity, take up his sword, and separate the mendicant’s head from his body.

Following this advice would directly help the skulls because, as they explained, if the prince killed the mendicant in this way, the mendicant’s vows would be unfulfilled. As a result of this failure, they would all be restored to life.

24. How did the elder prince trick the mendicant at the temple of Kali?

Answer: The elder prince tricked the mendicant by cleverly using the mendicant’s own instructions against him, just as the skulls had advised. When the day of the sacrifice arrived, the mendicant told the prince to go with him to the temple of Kali. Inside, the mendicant stood in the presence of the goddess and commanded the prince, “Bow down to the goddess.” The prince, following the plan, replied, “I have not, as a prince, bowed to any one; I do not know how to perform the act of prostration.” He then politely requested, “Please show me the way first, and I’ll gladly do it.” This appeal to the mendicant’s role as a teacher and the prince’s feigned ignorance successfully tricked the mendicant into a vulnerable position.

25. Describe the final moments of the mendicant. What happened immediately after his death?

Answer: The final moments of the mendicant were a direct result of the prince’s clever trick. Believing the prince’s story, the mendicant then prostrated himself before the goddess to demonstrate the proper way to bow. While he was in this lowered, defenseless position, the prince acted swiftly. He took his sword and, at one stroke, he separated the mendicant’s head from his body, ending the man’s life and his evil plan.

Immediately after the mendicant was killed, two miraculous events occurred. First, the skulls that were in the niches of the temple laughed aloud, a sound of triumph this time. Second, the goddess Kali herself became propitious to the prince, which means she became favorable and well-disposed towards him. As a sign of her favor, she gave him the very virtue of perfection that the mendicant had sought to obtain through his wicked sacrifices.

26. What was the final outcome for the skulls in the temple? What happened to the two princes?

Answer: The final outcome for the skulls in the temple was a complete restoration of their lives. As they had predicted, with the mendicant’s death, his vows were left unfulfilled. Because of this, the skulls were again united to their respective bodies, and they all became living men once more. Their long ordeal as disembodied heads in the temple niches came to an end, and they were freed from the mendicant’s curse.

The two princes, having successfully overcome the Rakshasi and the evil mendicant, were safe and triumphant. The elder prince had not only saved himself but had also been granted the gift of perfection by the goddess Kali. With their mission accomplished and all dangers behind them, the two heroic princes returned together to their own country and to their family.