Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Mind Reader Questions & Answers.
The Mind Reader is a Santhali tale from Bengal about a king who assigned a difficult task to his trusted minister. In one of my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Uncle Podger Hangs a Picture and Haroo the Croc so, make sure to check these posts as well.
The Mind Reader Questions & Answers
Question 1: Where did the king rule?
Answer: The king ruled over the Santhal tribals in a river-rich stretch of Bengal.
Question 2: What was the reward offered by the king?
Answer: The king offered a huge reward of grain and goats to anyone who could read his mind.
Question 3: Why did the king get irritated?
Answer: When the king asked his court-pundits if they are able to read his mind, they started to look at their manuscripts just to dodge the king’s questions. This irritated the king. Not many people came forward to hazard a guess which irritated the king even more.
Question 4: What kind of job was given to dewan by the king?
Answer: The king wanted dewan to scan every square inch of his kingdom to find a man who can predict what is on his mind. For this job, he gave dewan time period of one month.
Question 5: Why was the dewan dejected? Who did he share his problem with?
Answer: The dewan was dejected because the king had set him the task of finding a mind reader within a month. This was a near-impossible task. He searched the entire kingdom without finding anyone with this talent. Finally, he shared his problem with his daughter.
The Mind Reader Questions & Answers
Question 6: Who did the daughter bring as a solution to his problem?
Answer: The daughter brought shepherd as a solution to his problem.
Question 7: Describe the exchange between the king and the shepherd.
Answer: The exchange between the king and the shepherd was through signs. The king held up a single finger and the shepherd held up two. This made the king laugh. Next, the king held up three fingers the shepherd shook his head from side to side. He tried to flee from the court but was brought back by the sentries.
Question 8: What did the king say while clapping his hands?
Answer: While clapping his hands in glee, the king said that shepherd is the wisest man that he has ever encountered.
Question 9: What did the king give to the shepherd?
Answer: The king gave the shepherd an expensive ring, a hundred bags of grains and a herd of goats.
Question 10: What did the king give to the minister/dewan as a reward?
Answer: The king gave him an expensive shawl embroidered all over with gold thread as a reward.
Question 11: How did the king explain the exchange? What was the shepherd’s interpretation?
Answer: The king explained that his one finger meant that he was the most powerful in the world. But the shepherd showed two fingers meaning that God ruled over everyone, including powerful kings like him. The king’s three fingers meant to ask if there was another third party to God and him and shepherd shook his head in denial.
The dewan then approached the shepherd to ask him for his side of the story. The shepherd told the dewan that the king wanted one of the three sheep that he had. The shepherd was unhappy but was willing to give two sheep. However, the king showed three fingers, which meant that he wanted all three, which the shepherd did not agree to and tried to run away.
The Mind Reader Questions & Answers
Question 12: Read the line and answer the questions:
‘Can you guess what I’m thinking?’
(a) Who said this to whom?
Answer: The king asked one of his courtiers.
(b) Why did the speaker say this?
Answer: The speaker (king) asked the question to tease and test his courtier.
(c) What does this statement tells us about the speaker?
Answer: This statement shows that the king had a high opinion about himself.
Question 13: Read the line and answer the questions:
‘I can think of no one else who can carry this act.’
(a) Who said this to whom?
Answer: The king says this to his dewan.
(b) What was the job given to the listener?
Answer: The dewan was asked to find a person who could predict what was on king’s mind.
(c) What does this statement tell us about the listener?
Answer: This shows that the dewan was dependable and could do tasks which others could not.
Question 14: Read the line and answer the questions:
‘You are wiser than I’d ever respected.’
(a) Who said this to whom?
Answer: The king said this to dewan.
(b) Why did the king say so?
Answer: The king said this because the dewan had found a man who the king thought could read his mind.
So, these were The Mind Reader Questions & Answers.