 The Tiger King, Explanation, Line by Line, Meaning of Difficult Words, English CBSE Class 12 NCERT Vistas Chapter 2
THE TIGER KING
(Explanation and Meaning of difficult words)
| Word | Meaning |
| Identified | Known |
| Often | Generally, Most of times |
| Shorten | To make short |
Pratibandapuram is an area in India. This story is about king of this area. He had so many designations. Owing to these designations his name had become very long. He was, in short, popularly known as the Tiger King.
| Word | Meaning |
| Come forward | To offer help, To volunteer |
| Pretend | To act falsely, To give excuse |
| Strategic | According to plan |
| Withdrawal | Return, To come back |
I want to tell you the reason why the Maharaja acquired the nick name of the Tiger King. I do not want to start the discussion and then stop before completing the story.
Meaning that author will tell complete story. He will not stop in between.
| Word | Meaning |
| Stuka | A plane used in II world war |
| Bomber | Plane used to drop bombs |
| Hasty | In hurry, Hurriedly |
| Retreat | To come back, Return |
Stuka planes were used in Second World War to drop bombs.
Author says that even the danger of these planes dropping bombs will not stop him from narrating the full story. He is so determined that these planes will have to quickly go back. He will surely complete his story.
| Word | Meaning |
| Right at the start | In the beginning itself |
| Imperative | Essential |
| Disclose | To tell a secret, To make known |
| Vital importance | Very important |
| Indomitable | Unbeatable, Determined |
| Face to face | In person, Personally |
In the beginning it is necessary to inform something very important about the Tiger King. He was very brave person. His determination was very strong. Everyone who reads about him, will like to meet him in person.
| Word | Meaning |
| Abode | House, Residence |
| Final Abode | Last home (meaning dead) , Heaven |
| Living Creatures | Man, animals, insects etc living on earth |
Now there is no opportunity to meet him. The tiger king is now dead. In Ramayan, Bharat had informed Rama about death of Dasaratha – their father. Here author is informing about death of Tiger King.
| Word | Meaning |
| Manner | Method, Process |
| Reveal | To disclose |
The process of death of the Tiger King is very interesting. This will be disclosed towards end of the story.
| Word | Meaning |
| Demise | Death |
| Foretold | Predicted |
Soon after birth of the Tiger King, astrologers had made a prediction. They predicted that one day the Tiger King will die. This was the greatest aspect about his death.
Author has made a satire here. It can also be considered a funny narration.
| Word | Meaning |
| Bit their lips | Stopped speaking |
The astrologers predicted that the child (Tiger King) will become a great warrior, a great leader and a great champion. And then they suddenly stopped speaking. They closed their lips and swallowed.
| Word | Meaning |
| Compelled | Forced |
| Came out | Told |
The astrologer was forced to complete the prediction. They told that they were going to tell a secret which should never be disclosed.
| Word | Meaning |
| Under this star | At this point of time |
But he is telling that secret because he is being forced to speak. Astrologer told that child born at that point of time (with certain position of stars in the sky) would one day surely die.
| Word | Meaning |
| Took place | Happened, Occurred |
| Astonishing | Surprising |
| Phrase | Group of words |
| Emerged | Appeared, |
| Prophets | Astrologers, Representative of God |
As soon as astrologers narrated their prediction a big miracle happened. The ten year old boy spoke – O wise astrologers! Everybody was surprised that a ten year old boy was speaking.
| Word | Meaning |
| Transfixed | Shocked, Astonished |
| Stupefaction | Confusion, Wonder |
| Looked wildly | Looked intently, Gazed |
| Blinked | Quickly shit and open eyes, |
Everyone was shocked, confused and greatly surprised. They gazed at each other. They blinked their eyes. The boy told that it was he who had spoken.
| Word | Meaning |
| Grounds | Reasons |
| Infant | Small child |
| Enunciated | Spoken, Uttered |
| Took off | Removed |
| Intently | Carefully |
Now there was no reason to have a doubt. The small boy who was born ten days ago had spoken these words. The chief astrologer removed his spectacles. He carefully looked at the baby.
| Word | Meaning |
| There would be some sense | It will be wise |
| Manner | Method, Mode |
| Royal | From family of kings |
| Uttered | Spoke |
| Squeaky | High pitched, Shrill |
They boy said that everybody who is born on this earth will have to die one day. We do not need any prediction to know this fact. It would be wise if you could tell mode of death. The boy from the royal family spoke these words. His voice was sharp and high pitched.
The chief astrologer was surprised. He placed his finger on his nose. He thought how a ten year old boy could speak so clearly.
| Word | Meaning |
| Incredible | Unbelieving, Astonishing |
| Bulletin | News |
The boy not only spoke but asked intelligent questions. The chief astrologer could not believe this. The boy did not speak like reading news. He was speaking facts.
The chief astrologer removed his finger from his nose. He looked at that little prince. He said that the boy was born in the hour of bull. The bull and the tiger are enemies of each other. So a tiger will kill him.
| Word | Meaning |
| Crown prince | Prince who would become king |
| Quake | To tremble |
Everybody thought that the prince would start trembling after hearing about tiger. But this did not happen.
| Word | Meaning |
| Pronounced | Announced |
| Heard it pronounced | Listened |
| Growl | Roared |
| Terrifying | Frightening |
As soon as the prince listened the word ‘tiger’ he roared. This frightened everybody. He told that tigers should be afraid of him.
| Word | Meaning |
| Account | Explanation, Narration |
| Rife | Widespread, Common |
| Hindsight | Afterthought, Understand after occurring |
This narration is a common rumour in Pratibandapuram. But after going through the full story, we may conclude that it was true to some extent.
II
| Word | Meaning |
| Marked | Occurred |
| Apart from | Except, Besides |
The crown prince became taller and stronger. No other surprising aspect or event happened during his childhood. The only surprising event of his childhood has been described above.
.
| Word | Meaning |
| Brought up | To take care and educate |
| Nanny | Governess, Ayah, Maid |
| Tutored | Taught |
The prince drank milk of English cows. His maids were English women. He was taught English by an Englishman. He saw only English movies. This was the trend for every crown prince of all other states of India.
This is a satire on upbringing of princes of India. It tells that they had become complete slave of Englishmen and England.
When he became 20 years old, he became the king. During his childhood and till that time, his state was governed by a group of people called ‘Court of Wards’.
‘Court of Wards’ was an arrangement to take care of state administration till the crown prince was a child.
Everyone in his kingdom remembered the prediction of the astrologer. Many people used to talk about it. After some time Maharaja (The Tiger King) came to know about the prediction.
| Word | Meaning |
| Innumerable | In large numbers |
There were many forests in the kingdom of Pratibandpuram. There were tigers in each forest. The Maharaja knew that to save one’s life, one could kill even a cow. (Cow is considered a sacred animal and its killing is not allowed). Hence it was perfectly OK to kill tiger to save one’s life.
| Word | Meaning |
| Thrilled | Very happy |
| Beyond measure | Cannot be measured |
| Sent for | Called |
| Beast | Animal |
The Maharaja went to hunt a tiger. When he killed his first tiger he was very happy. He called the chief astrologer and showed him the dead body of the animal. The Maharaja asked him what was his opinion now.
| Word | Meaning |
| Drawled | Said unclearly |
The astrologer said that Maharaja may kill ninety nine tiger. After saying this line, the astrologer stopped and said something very unclearly. The Maharaja asked him to speak without any fear. The astrologer said that he should be very careful while killing the hundredth tiger. He wanted to say that Maharaja would be killed by the hundredth tiger.
The Maharaja asked the astrologer what will happen if he killed the hundredth tiger also. The astrologer said that in that case he would tear and burn all his books of astrology. He means to say that he was very sure of his prediction.
| Word | Meaning |
| Tuft | Bunch of hair, Choti |
| Crop my hair | Cut my hair |
| Incoherent | Unclear, Unconnected |
The astrologer said that he would cut his ‘choti’. He will cut his hair very short. He will leave the profession of astrology and become an insurance agent. He said all these in a confused and unconnected manner.
III
| Word | Meaning |
| Celebration time | Happy days |
| Inhabiting | Living, Residing |
From that day the tigers living in Pratibandapuram were happy. Hunting of tiger was prohibited in the state. Only the Maharaja could do hunting of tigers.
| Word | Meaning |
| Proclamation | An order |
| Dared to | Had the courage |
| Fling | To throw |
| Confiscated | Seized, Taken away |
An order was issued that if anybody threw even a stone at a tiger, his property will be taken away from him.
| Word | Meaning |
| Vowed | Pledged, Promised |
| Well set | Comfortable |
| Ambition | Strong desire |
The king promised to himself that first he would kill hundred tigers. Only after that he would look at other aspects of administration. In the beginning the king was easily moving towards achieving his ambition.
| Word | Meaning |
| Missed the mark | Did not hit target |
| Leapt | Jumped at |
| Bare hands | Using only hands, Without weapon |
The king faced many dangers during tiger hunt. Sometimes the bullet did not hit the target (tiger). The tiger jumped upon the king. He had to fight the tiger without any weapon. Every time Maharaja killed the tiger.
| Word | Meaning |
| High ranking | Senior |
| Fond of | Liked |
Once the king had the danger of losing his kingdom. A senior British officer came to Pratibandpuram. He liked tiger hunting. He liked to have his photograph with dead body of tiger killed by him.
| Word | Meaning |
| Resolve | Decision |
The British officer wanted to do tiger hunting in Pratibandpuram. But the king did not give him permission. He was determined about his decision. The decision of not allowing anybody else to hunt tigers.
| Word | Meaning |
| Boar | Wild pig |
The king told that he would give permission to hunt any other animal. The officer would be allowed to hunt a wild pig or a mouse. He could hunt even a mosquito. But he would not be allowed to hunt a tiger.
Hunting of a mouse and a mosquito is mentioned as a humour.
| Word | Meaning |
| Sent word | Sent message |
‘Durai’ means chief or the leader. Here durai means the high ranking British officer.
The secretary of the British officer sent a message to the king. This message was sent through the minister (dewan) of the king. He said that the officer did not want to kill the tiger. Maharaja could hunt the tiger.
| Word | Meaning |
| Carcass | Dead body |
(In the message it was written that) The officer wanted his photograph with dead body of the tiger. In the photograph officer wolud hold the gun and he would put his one leg on the dead body of tiger. But the king did not agree even to this.
| Word | Meaning |
| Relented | Agreed, Gave relaxation |
The king thought if he agreed this time, in future he would have to agree to all other British officers for tiger hunt.
The king did not fulfil desire of a British officer. So there was a danger that he may lose his kingdom. Meaning that British would remove the king from throne.
| Word | Meaning |
| Deliberations | Discussions |
| Dispatched | Sent |
| Forthwith | Immediately |
The king and his dewan had a discussion about this matter. After the discussion a telegram was immediately sent to a British firm in Calcutta. This firm was making jewellery. The telegram asked the firm to send samples of expensive diamond rings.
| Word | Meaning |
| Good lady | Wife |
| Within no time | Quickly, Immediately |
Duraisani means wife of durai.
About fifty rings were received from the firm. The king sent all the rings to wife of the officer. The king and his minister expected that she would select one or two rings. She will return the remaining rings. Immediately she sent a reply thanking the king for gifts. Meaning that she had kept all the rings.
| Word | Meaning |
| Retain | Save, Continue to hold |
After two days, the jewellery firm sent a bill for rupees three lakh. The king had to pay the amount. But the king was happy that he had not lost his kingdom.
IV
| Word | Meaning |
| Unforeseen | Unexpected |
| Hurdle | Difficulty |
| Mission | Assignment, Goal, Aim |
| Standstill | Stop, Halt |
He was very successful in his tiger hunts. In 10 years he had killed 70 tigers. After that an unexpected difficulty stopped his assignment of tiger hunts.
| Word | Meaning |
| Extinct | Ended, Not existing |
| Harakiri | Suicide |
Population of tiger in the forests of Pratibandpuram became zero. In a satire author makes guesses for the reason. Nobody knew if tigers adopted birth control methods. Or they committed suicide. Or they ran away from forests because they wanted to get killed by British. These are humorous reasons also.
| Word | Meaning |
| Sent for | Called |
| Brandish | To show, To raise or wave in air |
One day the king called his minister. He said told dewan that 30 more tigers were yet to be killed by him. While saying these words, he raised his gun towards dewan.
| Word | Meaning |
| Shuddering | Trembling |
Looking at the gun, the dewan started trembling. He told the king that he was not a tiger. King replied that only a fool will say that he was tiger. The dewan said that he was not a gun.
Actually the dewan is terrified.
The king said to dewan that he was neither a tiger nor a gun. The king told dewan that he had called him for another reason. The king had decided to get married.
| Word | Meaning |
| Babble | To talk silly things |
The dewan again started talking silly things. He said that he had two wives and could not marry the king. The king scolded dewan and asked him not to talk nonsense. King told dewan that he wanted a tiger.
The dewan requested king to think about it once again. He told king that his ancestors had married a sword. If the king liked, he could marry a gun. A Tiger King is sufficient for the kingdom. The kingdom does not want a Tiger Queen.
The king laughed loudly. He told dewan that he did not want to marry a tiger or a gun. He wanted to marry a girl from another kingdom. And the girls should be a human being.
| Word | Meaning |
| Statistics | Number, Data |
| Native | Local |
| Draw up | Write |
| Investigate | Find out |
The king advised dewan to make list of kingdoms of India. Then write number of tigers in each state. Then find out if he can marry a girl of royal family of the state that has large number of tigers.
Dewan obeyed orders of the king. He found a girl from royal family of a state that had large population of tigers.
| Word | Meaning |
| Skin | Hide |
| Adorned | Decorated |
The king married that girl. The king used to often go to meet his father in law. During every visit he killed five or six tigers. In this method he killed 99 tigers. Skins of all 99 tigers were decorated on walls of the reception hall of his palace.
V
| Word | Meaning |
| Fever pitch | Very strong, Very high |
| Tally | Count |
When the king had killed 99 tigers, he became very anxious. Now he was only one tiger away from reaching 100. His anxiety was very high. During the day he thought only about hundredth tiger. During the night he dreamt of only hundredth tiger.
Now all the forests in kingdom of his father in law were also without any tiger. It was impossible to find or see a tiger.
| Word | Meaning |
| Give up | To leave |
But only one more tiger was required. If the king killed hundredth tiger, he would be without any danger of losing his life. Then he could leave tiger hunting.
| Word | Meaning |
| Beware of | To be careful, Cautious |
The king had to be very careful with the hundredth tiger. He remembered the prediction of chief astrologer. He had said that the king should be very cautious of the hundredth tiger.
| Word | Meaning |
| Savage | Dangerous, Ferocious |
| Wary of | To be careful, Cautious |
After all, the tiger is a dangerous animal. One needs to be careful. But it had become difficult to find the hundredth tiger. It appeared that it was easier to find milk of tiger. But finding tiger was difficult.
This is again a satire and humour.
| Word | Meaning |
| Gloom | Sadness |
| Dispelled | Removed |
The king had become very sad. But a happy news came which removed the sadness. In his kingdom sheep were disappearing from a village. This village was situated near a hill.
| Word | Meaning |
| Ascertained | Confirmed, Established |
First villagers confirmed that Khader Mian Saheb and Virasami Naicker were not eating these sheep. Both these persons were famous for their capacity to eat one full sheep. Now it was concluded that a tiger was taking away sheep.
| Word | Meaning |
| Exemption | Freedom, Relief |
| Set out | Started, began |
| At once | Immediately |
The villagers went to Maharaja and informed him about presence of a tiger near their village. The king was very happy. He announced that villagers need not pay tax for three years. He immediately started for hunt.
| Word | Meaning |
| Wantonly | Intentionally |
| Flout | Disobey |
It was difficult to find that tiger. It seemed that the tiger was intentionally hiding to disobey the desire of king.
| Word | Meaning |
| Furry | Anger |
| Obstinacy | Determination, Stubbornness |
| Mounted | Increased |
| Alarmingly | Dangerously |
The king was also determined to find the tiger. He did not want to leave the forest before killing the tiger. Many days passed. Now the king got angry. He became more determined. Because of his anger, many people lost their jobs.
| Word | Meaning |
| Rage | Anger |
| At its height | Very high |
| Forthwith | Immediately |
One day the king was very angry. He called his dewan. He ordered to immediately double the tax on the villagers.
| Word | Meaning |
| Discontented | Dissatisfied, Unhappy |
The dewan told king that villagers will become dissatisfied. They will become member of Indian National Congress. The king said if that happens, dewan will need to resign from his post.
| Word | Meaning |
| Convinced | Understood, Realised |
| Catastrophic | Terrible, Disastrous, Tragic |
The dewan went to his home. He understood tiger for the king needs to be found very soon. Otherwise it would have dangerous results. Actually dewan was very afraid.
At his home dewan was hiding a tiger. This tiger was brought from People’s Park of Madras. (Madras is now called Chennai). When dewan saw this tiger he felt as if his life had come back to him.
| Word | Meaning |
| Dragged | Pulled |
| Shoved | Pushed |
At midnight, all people in the town were sleeping. The dewan and his old wife pulled the tiger up to their car. Then they pushed the tiger on the back seat of the car. Dewan himself drove the car to the forest where king had camped for hunting.
Dewan is sacrificing his own tiger to save his job. He does not have any affection towards the king.
| Word | Meaning |
| Launched | Started |
| Satyagraha | Non-cooperation, Strike |
| Thoroughly | Completely |
| Exhausted | Tired |
| Haul | Pull out |
In the forest, dewan tried to push the tiger out of the car. But the tiger was not ready to come out. Dewan kept on trying to pull out the tiger. Dewan was completely tired. Somehow he pushed the tiger out of the car.
| Word | Meaning |
| Following day | Next day |
| Wandered | Moved, Walked |
| Humble | Polite |
| Supplication | Request, |
| Command | Order |
Next day, same old tiger moved towards the king so that he could see it. It stood in front of the king as if to make a polite request. Sir, what are your orders for me.
.
| Word | Meaning |
| Boundless | Unlimited |
| Crumpled | Folded at many places |
| Heap | Stack |
The sight of tiger was an unlimited joy for the king. He aimed his gun at the animal and fired a bullet. The tiger fell down in the form of a folded stack.
| Word | Meaning |
| Vow | Pledge, Promise |
| Elation | Great happiness |
| Hastened | Went in a hurry |
The king was extremely happy. He shouted that he had killed the hundredth tiger. His pledge was completed. He ordered that body of the tiger should be brought to his palace in a big procession. He hurriedly went to his palace in his car.
| Word | Meaning |
| Rolling its eyes | Moving its eyes |
| Bafflement | Confusion |
The hunters (helpers accompanying the king) went near the tiger after Maharaja had gone. They looked at the tiger. The tiger also looked at them. The tiger looked a bit confused. It was rolling its eyes.
| Word | Meaning |
| Fainted | Became unconscious |
| Whizzing | Making sound of a whistle |
| Whizzing past | Moved quickly |
The men understood that the tiger had not died. The bullet had missed its aim. The tiger had become unconscious due to sound of bullet. The hunters thought what they should do now.
The hunters decided that they will not tell the king about it. They were afraid that they might lose their job. So one of them fired a bullet at the tiger. This time the hunter did not miss the target. The bullet hit the tiger. The tiger died.
So the hundredth tiger was not killed by the king. And the king did not know this.
| Word | Meaning |
| Commanded | Ordered |
| Tomb | Structure made on place of burial |
According to orders of the king, the tiger was taken to the town in a procession. After that it was buried. And a tomb was made over the place of its burial.
| Word | Meaning |
| Given his entire mind | Given his full attention |
| No time to spare | Did not have time |
After some days, it was third birthday of son of the king. Earlier the king was fully occupied with tiger hunting. He could not give any time to his son – the crown prince.
| Word | Meaning |
| Turned his attention to | Took care of , Devoted time |
But now the king wanted to take care of his son. He wanted to give a special gift to his son on his birthday.
| Word | Meaning |
| Spotted | Found, Saw |
He wanted to buy a gift for his son. He went to various shops of the town. He searched many shops. But did not find a suitable gift. In one shop he saw a wooden tiger. He decided to gift this toy to his son.
In olden times, one rupee had sixteen parts. Each part was called an ‘anna’. So a quarter rupee was equal to four annas. Two annas and a quarter means six annas.
Cost of the wooden tiger was six annas. But the shopkeeper did not have the courage to tell such a low price for the toy. He feared that he might be punished by the king for selling such a cheap toy.
This is a satire on rich people. They want to buy costly items only.
| Word | Meaning |
| Rare | Special, Of limited type |
The shopkeeper told the king that it was a special toy. It is an example of a beautifully made toy. It is difficult to find such a good toy. The toy is a very good piece of art. He told that its price was three hundred rupees.
The king told that it will be a gift to the crown prince from shopkeeper. He took the toy with him. Meaning that the king did not pay anything to the shopkeeper.
This is again satire on how kings behaved with common people in their kingdom.
| Word | Meaning |
| Carved | Made |
| Unskilled | Untrained, Inexperienced |
| Sliver | Thin piece, Splinter |
| Quill | Thorn, Sharp pointed piece, Bristle |
On the birthday of crown prince, the father and son played with that very small toy. That toy was made by unskilled carpenter. Surface of the toy was rough. It had small sharp pieces on its surface. These were like thorns or bristles.
| Word | Meaning |
| Pierced | Punctured, Made a hole |
One sliver went into the right hand of the king. He removed it with his left hand. He continued to play with his son.
| Word | Meaning |
| Flared | Increased |
| Suppurating | Puss formed |
| Sore | Wound |
The infection in right of the king increased. In four days puss started coming out the wound. The infection spread to his full arm.
| Word | Meaning |
| Consultation | Discussion |
To treat his wound, three famous surgeons were called from Madras. They discussed among themselves and decided to operate the wound. The operation was done.
After operation three surgeons came out of operation theatre. They announced that the operation was successful but Maharaja was dead.
This is a satire on surgeons. How can an operation be called successful if the patient is dead.
In this way, the hundredth tiger took it revenge from the Tiger King. The prediction of astrologers came correct.
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