Important Question and Answers
Q. Where did the child go with his parents? What did he want there?
Ans. The child went to a fair with his parents. He wanted garlands, balloons and sweets over there. He also wanted to see the snake and take a ride on the swing.
Q. What attracted the child towards the balloons? Why didn’t his parents give him the balloons?
Ans. The child was attracted by the rainbow glory of their silken colours. His parents didn’t give him the balloons as he was too old to play with such toys.
Q. Parents were in a hurry to reach the fair but the child was delaying them. How?
Ans. The boy got distracted by toys which he wanted to buy, butterflies and dragon flies which he wanted to catch and flowers that he wanted to gather. And, out of pure innocence, he delayed his parents to reach the fair.
Q. Why did the little boy lag behind?
Ans. While going to the fair, the little boy was fascinated on seeing toys, balloons, garland of gulmohur, then a swing, a snake-charmer, etc. He got attracted towards those different things. So, he lagged behind his parents.
Q. Why didn’t the boy wait for an answer after he had pleaded for sweets?
Ans. The boy didn’t wait for an answer after he had pleaded for sweets because he knew that his parents would say that he was greedy and would refuse to buy the sweets.
Q. What happened when the lost child reached the temple door?
Ans. When the child reached the temple door, men jostled each other. The poor child struggled to thrust his way out but was knocked. He might have been trampled if he had not shouted at his highest pitch.
Q. How did the mother distract the child’s mind from the toy-seller?
Ans. The mother distracted the child’s mind from the toy-seller by pointing towards a flowering mustard field. He saw colourful dragon flies and started running after them.
Q. What plea did the child finally make to his parents? Was his plea heard?
Ans. In the end, the child pleaded to his parents to go on the round about. When he could not get any reply, he turned and found that his parents were not there. He had been separated from his parents. Thus, he was lost in the fair.
Q. What happened when the ‘lost child’ entered the grove? How did he enjoy there?
Ans. When the ‘lost child’ entered the grove, a shower of young flowers fell upon him. He began to gather the raining petals. He heard the cooing of doves and ran towards his parents. He had a fun-filled splendid time in the grove.
Q. What was the first reaction of the child when he realised that he had lost his parents?
Ans. The child panicked when he realised that he had lost his parents. He was puzzled, angry and desperate. He cried and shouted for his parents. He ran here and there to look for his parents.
Q. How did the child react when there was no sign of his parents?
Ans. The child was very innocent. He gets confused and panic-stricken on not seeing his parents. He felt lonely without his parents amidst so much of crowd. The man who tried to console the child also did not achieve any success as the boy only needed his parents and no monetary benefit.
Q. How was the child separated from his parents?
Ans. The boy was attracted to toys, balloons and sweets in the fair. He got fascinated with the flute music being played by the snake charmer. While watching the roundabout swing, he got separated from his parents.
Q. Who rescued the lost child? What did he offer to buy him?
Ans. The man in the shrine rescued the lost child. He lifted him up in his arms and tried to soothe him. He took him to the nearest roundabout swing and offered to buy him flowers, balloons and sweets.
Q. Why did the lost child refuse to take his favourite things in the fair after loosing his parents?
Ans. The child refused to take his favourite things in the fair after he lost his parents, as he missed them and wanted to meet them only. Now, he had lost interest in all his favourite things.
Q. What is the irony of the story ‘The lost child’ ?
Ans. The irony of the story ‘The lost child’ is that the child was sad and irritated at his parent’s refusal to whatever he wanted to buy at the village fair. But it is the parents whom he sought frantically when he was lost, despite the man offering him everything that he had wanted to buy earlier.
Q. If you were the child lost in the spring festival, what would you have done?
Ans. If I were the child lost in the spring festival, I would have reacted in the same way as the child did. For a child, losing the sight of his or her parents for even a minute is bothersome. Though the child was irritated and sad at his parents saying no for whatever he wanted to buy, this was just momentary. His wishes were not bigger than his parents. Toys, sweets or roundabout would have meant nothing to me if I were also seperated from my parents in an incredibly crowded place. I would have also gone frantically searching for my parents not caring about stampede or anything else. It was just natural for the child to continue his search even after getting knocked by the to and fro of the brutal movement of the surging crowd. He would have been trampled if he had not shrieked at the highest pitch of his voice. But nothing stopped him from looking for his parents. I would have been as panic-stricken and befuddled as the child was. After all, parents are everything for a child.
Q. Is it right to say that children are different from adults in the context of the story ‘The Lost Child’? Analyse it.
Ans. Yes, it is right to say that children are different from adults in the context of the story ‘The Lost Child’. The child represents children and the parents represent adults. As the story opens, we find the child is fascinated by the toys and nature’s beauty. The little worms, insects, flowers and birds lure the child. He lagged behind as he stopped to enjoy the nature. The parents passed by the same enchanting beauty but were oblivious to it. This implies that the world was unfolding for the child. For him, everything was novel. But nothing was left to unfold for his parents. Therefore, they had no interest in what fascinated the child. Worldly matters were the only thing that mattered to the parents.