Hi Everyone!! This article will share Four Little Foxes Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by Lew Sarett. In my previous posts, I have also shared the questions and answers of Matilda Can Do Magic, Dusk and The Banyan Tree so, you can check these posts as well.
Four Little Foxes Questions & Answers
Word Galaxy
- Forbear – stop (oneself) from doing something
- Bitter blow – cold, harsh biting winds
- Boughs – large branches of trees
- Rampant – something that is bad and spreads in an uncontrolled manner
- Nuzzling – snuggling up to
Question 1: What has the speaker found? Where are they?
Answer: The speaker has found four new-born fox cubs moving here and there on the ground. They are in the windy valley.
Question 2: Who do you think is responsible for what happened to the mother?
i. the speaker
ii. a fox hunter or trapper/ a farmer protecting his livestock
Answer: I think a fox hunter or trapper/ a farmer protecting his livestock is responsible for what happened to the mother.
Question 3: the four little foxes saw their mother go – What have the ‘little foxes’ seen? Where has their mother gone?
Answer: The little foxes have seen their mother get caught in a trap where she lost her life.
A hunter killed their mother and took her along with him. I saying that the cubs ‘watched their mother go’ the speaker means that the cubs watched their mother die a slow and painful death.
Question 4: The speaker tells us that the foxes are ‘new-born’ and are thus, helpless. In what other ways does he describe how weak and vulnerable they are?
Answer: The speaker describes how weak and vulnerable the fox cubs are by using these words and phrases – ‘new-born’, ‘thin, blue foxes’, ‘whimpering with plain’ and shivering in the rain’.
Question 5: What does the speaker mean when he asks March to ‘walk softly’ and ‘step softly’?
Answer: In asking ‘walk softly’ and ‘step softly’, the speaker is appealing to March to be gentle and show mercy on the fox cubs by holding back is cold, frosty winds and dangerous hurricanes. The speaker asks March to do these things because the fox cubs are lying alone in the freezing cold without any food or shelter. If the weather continues to be stormy and frosty, the cubs will possibly die.
Question 6: Which line tells you that the fox cubs mistake the speaker for their mother? Why do they do so?
Answer: The line, ‘the thin blue foxes suckled at my arm’ tells us that the foxes mistook the speaker for their mother. They do so because previously, their mother was their one source of warmth and comfort and so when the speaker tried to shelter them and keep them warm, they mistook him for their mother.
Question 7: We know that spring is a season that is associated with pleasant weather and abundant sources of food. And yet, the speaker appeals even to spring to be gentle with the foxes. Why does he feel the need to do this?
Answer: The cruel killing of their mother has left the cubs in such a sorry, weakened state that even something as gentle and pleasant as Spring can be too hard for them to take. The poor little things cannot do anything for themselves because they are so small and thus have to depend on the mercy of others to survive. Therefore, the speaker feels that he must appeal even to Spring to be gentler than it already is to the cubs.
So, these were Four Little Foxes Questions & Answers.