(i) What was Princess September’s reaction to the loss of her parrot?
(ii) What was her mother’s reaction to it?
(iii) What do the reactions indicate about the nature and temperament of each?
Answers
Answer:
(i) Princess September took the loss of her parrot to heart. She wept continuously.
She was put to sleep without supper.
(ii) Her Mother said that Princess September’s weeping was simply nonsense. She asked the maids to put the child to sleep without supper.
(iii) The princess was very simple-hearted and sensitive. She was stricken with grief when her parrot died. But the Queen mother was not moved at all. She had nothing to console the child.
Answer:
(i) The princess became very sad after the loss of her parrot. She was so sad
that she cried inconsolably and did not eat anything.
(ii) Her mother was angry at her behaviour. She told the maid that Princess
September should be left in that state because she thought that hunger and isolation will put her mental state in proper shape.
(iii) The reaction of the princess tells that she is an emotional girl. She became so emotionally attached to the parrot that she couldn’t think of anything else after the parrot’s death. On the other hand the queen is practical but somewhat rude. She doesn’t seem to know how to console a child.