CBSE Summary with NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom for revision and better performance in tests and exams. The ashes that made trees bloom is a chapter through which we learn the lesson of being patient and content with what we have and not to be greedy. Below you can find a brief explanation of the lesson and NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom.
Read more: NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Unit 10 The Story of Cricket
Table of Contents
Summary of Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom, There was once an old couple who had no children but had a dog named Muko who they loved very much. The old man was a farmer and Muko used to follow him to his fields. A heron used to follow them and pick up worms but the farmer did not hurt it and neither did Muko.
The pile of gold- The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
One day Muko put his paw against the farmer’s leg and led him to a spot a little far away and started scratching the ground. The farmer also started digging and they found a pile of gold. The couple became rich and threw feasts for their friends and helped the poor.
There was a wicked couple as well who brought Muko to their garden and gave him good food but he was too scared to even move. They dragged the dog outside and forced him to walk. He went to a pine tree and scratched the ground. The couple excitedly dug that spot only to find a dead kitten. They got angry and killed the dog and put him in that same hole.
The first dream-The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
When the master heard about this, he felt like he lost his own son. He went to the spot and mourned and called him many names hoping he’d be alive. He saw the dog in his dreams and the dog asked him to cut the pine tree and make mortar to make a wood mill.
The master did this and made a small bowl out of the wood. He also made a long-handled hammer of wood. When New Year’s Day came closer, he decided to make rice pastry so he put the boiled rice in the mortar. He used the hammer to pound-mass into a dough. When the pastry was ready for baking, it turned into gold coins and when the old woman took the handmill and began to grind, gold coins poured out like rain.
The envious neighbors saw this and asked if they could borrow the mill. The old couple obliged but when they began grinding, the pastry and sauce began to form worms instead of gold. They got angry and destroyed the mill to use it as firewood.
The second dream – The ashes that made trees bloom
Muko appeared again in the farmer’s dream and told him to sprinkle the ashes on withered trees as they were the ashes that made trees bloom. So he went to his neighbor’s home and asked for the ashes and they were rude to him and acted as if he was stealing from them. He took the ashes and sprinkled them on their bare cherry tree which blossomed. When the neighbors saw this, they stored the remaining ashes that made trees bloom for themselves.
The arrival of the daimio-The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
The lord, the daimio was passing by the town the next day so the old man climbed a tree and sprinkled the ashes that made trees bloom on it and it immediately blossomed. The daimio was pleased with this and ordered presents of silk robes, sponge-cake, fans and other rewards to be given him. On seeing this, the greedy man did the same thing except the wind blew the ashes that made trees bloom out of his hands and it made the daimio and his wife sneeze and choke. The daimio ordered for him to be beaten to death
Moral of the story NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom, The greedy man was left to die in the mud whereas the old happy couple lived to a green old age. The ashes that made trees bloom teach us this valuable lesson.
Questions and Answers-NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
Comprehension Check – NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
Find NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom below:
- Why did the neighbors kill the dog?
Answer: They expected him to find the treasure but he instead found a dead kitten
2. The old farmer and his wife loved the dog ___________
Answer: As if it were their own son
3. When the old couple became rich, they ____________
Answer: lived comfortably and were generous towards their poor neighbors
4. The greedy couple borrowed the mill and the mortar to make ____________
Answer: A pile of gold.
Working with the text – NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
Find NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom below:
- An old farmer is a kind person. What evidence of his kindness do you find in the first two paragraphs.
Answer: this is shown through the fact that he treated the dog like he was his own son and gave him food that he made on his own. He also fed the birds by tilling the ground and giving them worms.
2. What did the dog do to lead the farmer to the hidden gold?
Answer: He put his paw on the farmer’s leg and motioned towards a particular direction. When they reached there, he began scraping the ground and the farmer started digging there to help him.
3. How did the spirit of the dog help the farmer first? How did it help him next?
Answer: The first dream helped the farmer gain a pile of gold from the mill and the second dream helped him gain favor in the eyes of the daimio who rewarded him.
4. Why did the daimio reward the farmer, but punish his neighbor for the same act?
Answer: This is because the farmer made a cherry tree blossom by blowing ash on it whereas the neighbor blew ash that made the daimio and his wife sneeze and chokes which ruined the pomp of the procession.
Working with language – NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
Find NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom below:
Read the following conversation.
Ravi: What are you doing?
Mridu: I’m reading a book.
Ravi: Who wrote it?
Mridu: Ruskin Bond.
Ravi: Where did you find it?
Mridu: In the library.
Notice that ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘where’, are question words. Questions that require information begin with question words. Some other question words are ‘when’, ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘which’, and ‘how’.
Remember that
- What asks about acting, things etc.
- Who asks about people.
- Which asks about people or things.
- Where asks about place.
- When asks about time.
- Why asks about reason or purpose.
- How asks about means, manner or degree.
- Whose asks about possessions.
Read the following paragraph and frame questions on the italicized phrases.
Anil is in school. I am in school too. Anil is sitting in the left row. He is reading a book. Anil’s friend is sitting in the second row. He is sharpening his pencil. The teacher is writing on the blackboard. Children are writing in their copybooks. Some children are looking out of the window.
Answer:
- Where is Anil?
- Which row he is sitting in?
- What is he doing?
- Where is Anil’s friend sitting?
- What is his friend doing?
- Who is writing on the blackboard?
- What are some children doing?
2. Write appropriate question words in the blank spaces in the following dialogue.
Neha: ………… did you get this book?
Sheela: Yesterday morning.
Neha: ………… is your sister crying?
Sheela: Because she has lost her doll.
Neha: …………… room is this, yours or hers?
Sheela: It’s ours
Neha: ……………. do you go to school?
Sheela: We walk to school. It is nearby.
Answer: When, Why, Whose, How
3.
Fill in the blanks with the words given in the box – NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 4 The Ashes That Made Trees Bloom
My friend lost his chemistry book. Now he doesn’t know …………… to do and ………….. to look for it.
Answer: what; where
There are so many toys in the shops. Neena can’t decide ……………….. one to buy.
Answer: which
You don’t know the way to my school. Ask the policeman ………………. to get there.
Answer: how
You should decide soon …………….. to start building your house.
when
Do you know …………….. to ride a bicycle? I don’t remember ……………… and …………….. I learned it.
Answer: how; when; where
“You should know ………….. to talk and to ………………. keep your mouth shut,” the teacher advised Anil.
Answer: when; where
Working with language
4.
Add im- or in- to each of the following words and use them in place of the italicized words in the sentences given below.
- The project appears very difficult at first sight but it can be completed if we work very hard. – Impossible
- He lacks competence. That’s why he can’t keep any job for more than a year. – Incompetent
- “Don’t lose patience. Your letter will come one day,” the postman told me. – Impatient
- That’s not a proper remark to make under the circumstances. – Improper
- He appears to be without sensitivity. In fact, he is very emotional. – Insensitive
5. Read the following sentences.
It was a cold morning and stars still glowed in the sky.
An old man was walking along the road.
The words in italicized are articles. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are indefinite articles and ‘the’ is the definite article. ‘A’ is used before a singular countable noun. ‘An’ is used before a word that begins with a vowel.
Use a, an, or the in the blanks.
There was once ………… play which became very successful. ………… famous actor was acting in it. In ………. play his role was that of ……….. aristocrat who had been imprisoned in …………. castle for twenty years. In……… last act of ……….. play someone would come on ……… stage with a………… letter which he would hand over ……….. to the prisoner. Even though …………. aristocrat was not expected to read ………. letter at each performance, he always insisted that ………… letter be written out from beginning to end.
Answer: a; a; the; an; a; the; the; the; a; the; the; the; the
Would you like (a/an/the) apple or ‘ (a/an/the) banana? – An; a
I’d like (a/an/the) apple, please. – an
Take (a/an/the) red one in (a/an/the) fruit bowl. You may take (a/an/the) orange also, if you like. – the; the; an
Which one? (A/An/The) one beside (a/an/the) banana. – the; the
Speaking and writing
- Put each of the following in the correct order. Then use them appropriately to fill in the blanks in the paragraph that follows. Use correct punctuation marks.
- English and Hindi/both/in/he writes
- and only / a few short stories/many books in English/in Hindi
- Is/my Hindi / than my English/much better
Ravi Kant is a writer and ………….. Of course, he is much happier writing in English than in Hindi. He has written …………….. . I find his books a little hard to understand ………………….
Answer:
- he writes both in English and Hindi
- many books in English and only a few short stories in Hindi
- My Hindi is much better than my English
Very short answer questions
- What did the kind farmer do with the money he made from the gold?
Answer: he threw a feast for his friends and helped the poor.
2. How did the daimios reward the kind farmer?
Answer: He gave the farmer robes and cake and fans.
3. What did the leader of the van do with the kind old man?
Answer: he allowed him to sit on the tree as he was very old.
4. Why did the wicked couple drop their tools?
Answer: due to the foul smell of the dead kitten
5. How did the wicked couple behave with the dogs passing by their house?
Answer: they used to kick and scold the dogs
6. What preparations did the kind old couple make for the New Year?
Answer: they made rice pastries and bean sauce
7. How was the wicked farmer punished for his greed?
Answer: he was killed brutally
Short answer questions
- How did the kind old couple treat their dog
Answer: The old couple treated the dog like their own child. The old farmer had created a cushion made of blue crepe for the dog. During the meals, they used to feed the dog plenty of rice and tidbits of fish from their own chopstick.
2. Describe the change the cherry tree underwent after the kind old poured a pinch of ash over it.
Answer: It was winter season and the cherry tree in the old couple’s garden didn’t have leaves. The old man sprinkled a pinch of the ashes that made trees bloom and blossoms sprouted out of it. Pink flowers came on it and their fragrance filled the air.
3. How did the dog repay to his masters?
Answer: The dog made his masters rich by giving them gold coins. His masters became prosperous with it and bought a piece of land.
He then asked them to collect the ashes that made trees bloom. This magic was seen by the daimio and rewarded the old couple for this magic.
4. What happened when the wicked old farmer sprinkled ash over the cherry tree?
Answer: When the wicked farmer sprinkled the ash over the cherry tree it didn’t bring in a change on it. The fine particles from the ash entered the eyes of daimio and his wife. They began to cough and sneeze. All the lavishness of the procession was spoiled.
Long Answer Type Questions
1. Explain three ways in which the dog helped his master.
Answer: The dog when he was alive guided his master to a heap of gold. After his death, he asked his master to prepare a mortar and a mill from the woods of the pine tree.
While making the rice pastries and bean sauce during the New Year using the mortar and the mill, the kind old couple again found the dough to be turned into gold coins and gold dripping out from every drop of the sauce.
The dog then asked the master to collect the ashes of the mortar and mill and sprinkle over the withered trees. The withered trees sprouted into blossom immediately with the magic
2. The wicked farmer wanted to be rich like his neighbor. What happened whenever he tried to do so?
Answer: First time when the neighbour tried to be rich, all he got was a foul-smelling dead kitten.
In their second attempt, the old couple got a heap of worms from the dough of rice pastry and the bean sauce. In the third attempt, the old man failed to create magic with the ashes that made trees bloom. He spoiled daimyo’s procession and was killed by his men as a punishment.
Value Based Questions
1. Why do you think we should be kind towards animals?
Answer: Animals are also living beings like us. They can’t speak like us but still can feel the love and emotions. Some animals like dogs and horses are very faithful to human beings. We should be kind towards them.
It is good to offer our leftover food to the street dogs because they guard our homes. Chapattis should be offered to homeless cows. In winter we should keep bowls of water for the birds. Injured animals like pigeons, cats, and dogs should be taken to veterinary doctors by us.
2. One should not be greedy. Why do you think so?
Answer: We should feel contended about what we have. We should strive hard to earn things but not be greedy. Our greed makes us do many things that are not good or ethical.
We should make just demands that can be fulfilled easily and must make our earnings in honest means. Our greed can turn us into corrupt and dishonest human beings and must restrain ourselves from becoming that. Our needs should be limited and our wishes should be in control.
Extract Based Questions
Extract 1
Directions (Q.Nos. 1-6) Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
Then they dragged him out of doors, taking a spade and hoe with them. No sooner had the dog got near a pine tree growing in the garden than he began to paw and scratch the ground as if a mighty treasure lay beneath.
- In the above lines who have been referred as ‘they’?
Answer: The wicked old couple has been referred as ‘they’ in the above lines.
2. Whom did they drag out of doors?
Answer: They dragged the good old couple’s dog from the doors.
3. Why they did so?
Answer: They did so to find way to the treasure.
4. What lay beneath the ground?
(a) Gold coins
(b) A vast treasure
(c) A dead kitten
(d) None of these
Answer
(c) A dead kitten
5. Why did they carry spade and hoe with them?
(a) To kill the dog
(b) To dig the Earth
(c) To plow the field
(d) To chase the birds
answer:
(b) To dig the Earth
6. What follows immediately after this?
(a) They begin to dig the ground
(b) They killed the dog
(c) They found a cast treasure
(d) They ran away with fear
Answer:
(b) They killed the dog
Extract 2
Directions (Q.Nos. 1-6) Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
“Goody me!’ cried the old hag, as she saw each dripping of sauce turning into yellow gold, until in a few minutes the tub under the mill was full of shining mass of gold. So the old couple was rich again.
- Who has been referred to as ‘old hag’ in the above lines?
Answer:
The wicked old man’s wife has been referred to as ‘old hag’ in the above lines
2. From where was she watching the above incident?
Answer:
She was peeping from the window to watch the incident.
3. ……each dripping of sauce which sauce has been referred to here?
Answer:
Bean sauce has been referred to in the above lines.
4. At what time during the year the above incidence is taking place?
(a) Summer
(b) Winter
(c) New Year
(d) Both ‘b’ and ‘c’
Answer:
(d) Both ‘b’ and ‘c’
5. Find a word from the given lines that means ‘witch’
(a) Drip
(b) Hag
(c) Wicked
(d) None of these
Answer:
(b) Hag
6. What is the process that is taking place in the above lines?
(a) Baking of pastry
(b) Preparing of dough
(c) Boiling of rice
(d) Making of bean sauce
Answer:
(d) Making of bean sauce
Extract 3
Directions (Q.Nos. 1-6) Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
He sprinkled a pinch of ashes that made trees bloom on it, and lo! It sprouted blossoms until it became a cloud of pink blooms that perfumed the air. The news of this filled the village and everyone ran out to see the wonder. The covetous couple also heard the story and gathering up the ashes that made trees bloom.
- Who has been referred to as ‘he’ in the above lines?
Answer:
The kind old farmer has been referred to in these lines as ‘he’.
2. ‘It’ sprouted blossoms. What has been referred as ‘it’ in the given lines?
Answer:
The cherry tree has been referred as ‘it’ in the given lines.
3. In the given lines what has been burnt down to form the ashes that made trees bloom?
(a) The dog
(b) The pine tree
(c) The cherry tree
(d) The mortar and the mill
Answer:
(d) The mortar and the mill
5. Find synonym of ‘jealous’ from the given lines.
(a) Pinch (b) Sprinkled
(c) Blooms (d) Envious
Answer:
(d) Envious
6. Find a word from the given lines that means ‘flower’.
(a) Blossom (b) Bloom
(c) Sprouted (d) Sprinkled
Answer:
(b) Bloom
