CBSE Class 8 English Ant And The Cricket Worksheet

Summary of the poem
The ant and the Cricket
The poem ‘The Ant and The Cricket’ is a fable. A fable is a traditional story that teaches us a moral lessons. Usually the characters in fables are animals. This poem also teaches us a very important moral lessons of being industrious like an ant. It also teaches us we should not be like the cricket.
This poem is about a cricket (an insect), who found himself in trouble as the winter season arrived. He found he had nothing to eat; nor had he cared to make a shelter for himself.
He decided to go to an ant for help. He wished to borrow some grain from her and to spend a day or two in her hole during the rainy days. His intention was to pay her back later on.
However, the ant did not help the cricket. She told him without mincing words that it was rule of ants that they neither borrowed nor lent. She asked the cricket in astonishment if he had not saved anything for the winter. To which the cricket replied in negative. She asked him the reason. He replied he was so busy enjoying his life, he did not bother to save or put by anything. The ant taunted him to go and dance during the winter also.
In conclusion it can be said that we must be responsible for our future. We must not just spend our good times idly; we must also secure our future against the bad times also.
Hard words of the poem:-
1. Accustomed to sing- Used to singing; in the habit of singing
2. Famine- Scarcity of food; having nothing to eat
3. Lay nothing by- Say nothing
4. Quoth- said
5. Crumb- A very small amount
6. Starvation- Deprived of food
7. Trembling- Shivering
8. Hastly- Acting with speed or urgency
9. Folk- People
10. Warrant (here) Justification

Read and write the extract from the poem and it's question answers:
Not a crumb to be found ,
On the snow covered ground,
Not a flower could he see,
Not a leaf on a tree

Question: a) Give the rhyming words in the above lines.
b)Who couldn't find a crumb on the snow covered ground?
c)What did he do then?
d)What reply did he get?
Answer : a) The rhyming words in the above lines are: Found-Ground See- Tree
b) The cricket couldn't find a crumb on the snow-covered ground.
c) He went to the ant for help.
d) He got the reply from the ant that he should go and dance the winter away because he didn't do any work and sang all summer.

2. My heart was so light
That I saw day and night,
In a very happy way,
You sang, Sir you say?

Question: a) When and why did the cricket sing?.
b)What is the meaning of ' my heat was so light'?
c)Who is the speaker of the last line?
d)Which season is being referred to in the above lines?
Answer : a) The cricket sang during summer months because he was happy.
b) 'My heart was so light' meant that the cricket was cheerful and carefree.
c) The narrator of the story is the speaker of the last line.
d) Summer season is being referred in the above lines.

Write and learn the following question answers :

Question. The cricket says, “Oh! What will become of me?” When does he say it, and why?
Answer : The cricket said the given line when it found that its cupboard was empty and winter had arrived. It could not find a single crumb to eat on the snow covered ground and there were no flowers or leaves on the tree. It wondered what would become of it because it was getting cold and since there was nothing to eat, it would starve and die.

Question. The ant tells the cricket to “dance the winter away”. Do you think the word ‘dance’ is appropriate here? If so, why?
Answer : The ant told the cricket to “dance the winter away” because when it asked the cricket what it did in the summers and why it had not stored any food for summers, the cricket answered that it sang through the warm and sunny months of summers. Therefore, in reply to this, the ant asked the cricket to “dance” the winter away just like it “sang” all through the summers and did not bother to store food for winters

Question. Why did the cricket began to complain?
Answer : .The cricket began to complain when he found out at home that the cupboards were empty with no food and the winter was to come.

Question. What did the cricket do in summer months ?
Answer : The cricket sang in the summer months.

Question. Describe the condition of the cricket. ?
Answer : The condition of the cricket was that he didn't have a crumb, flower or a leaf to eat on the snow-covered ground .

Question. Whom did the cricket ask for help?
Answer : The cricket asked a ant for help.

Question. What did the cricket tell her?
Answer :  The cricket asked the ant whether he would provide him shelter from rain and a mouth full of grain. He also said that he would only borrow and would repay her tomorrow .

Question. What does wicket mean?
Answer :  Wicket means a small gate.

Question. What does the word 'fable' mean?
Answer : Fable means a short story which has animals as characters and which conveys a moral to its readers.

ANT AND THE CRICKET

1. Read the following stanza and answer the questions that follows : 

Not a crumb to be found

On the snow-covered ground;

Not a flower could he see,

Not a leaf on a tree.

“Oh! what will become says the cricket, of me?

(a) Name the Poem and the Poet.

(b) Which season is being talked about in the above stanza?

(c) Who speaks the lines “Oh! What will become of me?” Why?

(d) What difficulty or crisis is talked about in the above lines?

(e) Which word in the stanza means “a piece of bread?”

(f) Find out the pair of Rhyming words in the above stanza.