NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 5 – A Legend of the Northland
Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 5 – A Legend of the Northland is a narrative poem that tells the story of a selfish old lady who refuses to share even a small cake with Saint Peter. As punishment, she is transformed into a woodpecker. The poem teaches the value of generosity and kindness, while also introducing students to the literary form of a legend — a traditional story with moral significance. The poem is rich in imagery, symbolism, and rhyme scheme, making it an important text for both literature appreciation and language skills.
This chapter is an integral part of the CBSE Class 9 English Beehive syllabus. Questions from this chapter appear regularly in school exams and cover comprehension, literary devices, rhyme scheme, and creative writing. Students are expected to understand the moral of the poem, identify rhyming words, and write a short summary of the story. This chapter also strengthens vocabulary and reading comprehension skills essential for board-level English preparation.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 5 – A Legend of the Northland
A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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A Legend of the Northland
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Question 1. Which country or countries do you think "the Northland" refers to?
Answer:
"The Northland" is a forested, subtropical region on New Zealand's North Island. The term could also refer to any cold country in the North Polar region, such as Greenland, the northern regions of Russia, Canada, Norway, and other Arctic or sub-Arctic territories known for their cold climate and snow-covered landscapes.
Question 2. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady's reaction?
Answer:
Saint Peter asked the old lady for a single cake from her store of cakes to satisfy his hunger, as he was faint with fasting. However, the lady was extremely selfish. Each time she tried to bake a smaller cake for the saint, she found it too large to give away. She kept putting the cakes on the shelf and refused to part with any of them, showing no generosity or compassion.
Question 3. How did he punish her?
Answer:
Saint Peter punished the old lady by transforming her into a woodpecker. He cursed her saying that she was far too selfish to live as a human being and enjoy food, shelter, and warmth. She was turned into a woodpecker that had to build its nesting hole and gather its scanty food by boring into hard, dry wood throughout the day.
Question 4. How does the woodpecker get her food?
Answer:
A woodpecker gets its food — which includes insects, insect larvae, eggs, and tree sap — by boring holes into trees. It has a strong, chisel-like bill specially designed for drilling through wood. In the poem, this is presented as the punishment for the lady's greed: she must now work hard all day just to find a little food, unlike before when she had plenty but refused to share.
Question 5. Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?
Answer:
The old lady would certainly not have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was. On the contrary, she would have treated him with her finest cakes and shown great hospitality. However, this generosity would likely have been motivated by selfishness — she would have wanted to please the saint in order to gain his favour and have her own desires fulfilled through his power, rather than out of genuine kindness.
Question 6. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important?
Answer:
This is not a true story. It is a legend — a traditional tale passed down through generations.
The most important part of the poem is the scene where the old lady keeps baking smaller and smaller cakes but still cannot bring herself to give any to the hungry saint. This part most clearly depicts the mentality of selfish people: it pains them to part even with the smallest thing to help the poor and needy. This is the moral core of the poem.
Question 7. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?
Answer:
A legend is a very old story from ancient times that people tell about a famous event or person. Legends are popularly regarded as historical, but their authenticity cannot be verified.
This poem is called a legend because it is based on a traditional story narrated to the children of the Northland. It contains supernatural elements — such as Saint Peter cursing the lady and transforming her into a woodpecker — which cannot be scientifically verified. Its primary purpose is to teach a moral lesson: the importance of generosity towards fellow beings.
Question 8. Write the story of 'A Legend of the Northland' in about ten sentences.
Answer:
Once, Saint Peter was travelling and stopped by an old lady's cottage. The lady was baking cakes on the hearth. The hungry saint, faint from fasting, asked her for a single cake. The selfish lady thought each cake she baked was too large to give away. She kept making smaller and smaller cakes, but even they seemed too precious to part with. She put all the cakes on the shelf. This angered Saint Peter deeply. He cursed the greedy woman, saying she was too selfish to deserve a human life with food, warmth, and shelter. She was instantly transformed into a woodpecker. All her clothes disappeared except her scarlet cap, and she flew up the chimney and out into the world. Since then, she has lived in the trees, boring all day into hard wood just to find a little food. Every schoolchild in the Northland knows her story as a lesson in generosity.
Question 9. Find rhyming words from the poem.
Answer:
The rhyming words from the poem are:
'Snows' and 'clothes' — 'True' and 'you' — 'Below' and 'know' — 'Few' and 'through' — 'Earth' and 'hearth' — 'Done' and 'one' — 'Lay' and 'away' — 'Flat' and 'that' — 'Myself' and 'shelf' — 'Faint' and 'saint' — 'Form' and 'warm' — 'Food' and 'wood' — 'Word' and 'bird' — 'Same' and 'flame'
Question 10. Go to the local library or talk to older persons in your locality and find legends in your own language. Tell the class these legends.
Answer:
There is a famous legend about King Mahabali and the festival of Onam in Kerala. Mahabali was an Asura king who ruled Kerala with great justice and generosity. Though a demon king, his reign brought prosperity and happiness to all. The Devas, jealous of his popularity, appealed to Lord Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu disguised himself as Vamana, a dwarf Brahmin, and asked Mahabali for three paces of land. The generous king agreed. With his first step Vamana covered the entire earth, and with the second, the entire heavens. For the third step, the king humbly offered his own head. Vamana placed his foot on the king's head and pushed him to the underworld. Moved by the king's devotion, Lord Vishnu granted him the boon to visit his kingdom once a year. It is believed that on the day of Onam, King Mahabali visits his people — and the festival is celebrated in his honour every year.
FAQs – Chapter 5 A Legend of the Northland
Q1. What is the moral of the poem A Legend of the Northland? The poem teaches the importance of generosity and the consequences of selfishness. The old lady's refusal to share even a small cake with a hungry traveller results in her transformation into a woodpecker — a creature that must work hard all day just to find a little food. The moral is that greed and selfishness deprive us of our humanity.
Q2. Why was the old lady turned into a woodpecker? The old lady was turned into a woodpecker by Saint Peter as punishment for her extreme selfishness. She refused to give away even the tiniest cake to a hungry person, and so the saint cursed her to live as a bird that must bore into hard wood all day just to find scarce food.
Q3. What literary form is used in this poem? The poem is written in the form of a ballad — a narrative poem that tells a story, often with a moral. It uses a simple rhyme scheme (typically the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme) and a straightforward storytelling style.
Q4. What does the woodpecker symbolise in this poem? The woodpecker symbolises the punishment of selfishness. The bird's constant, laborious boring into dry wood to find meagre food represents the hardship that greed brings upon oneself. The scarlet cap the bird retains is a remnant of the lady's human identity, linking the bird permanently to the moral of the story.
Q5. Why is Onam mentioned in Question 10? Question 10 asks students to share a legend from their own culture. The legend of King Mahabali is used as an example because it is a well-known Indian legend that explains the origin of the Onam festival in Kerala. Like the poem, it involves supernatural elements and carries a clear moral message about humility and devotion.