POEM – A LEGEND OF NORTHLAND

SUMMARY
A Legend of the Northland is folklore told to the children to instil this moral lesson. The
poem talks about a little woman who was punished by saint Peter for refusing to give
him any one of the cakes that she had baked. The behaviour of the woman provokes Saint
Peter who curses her and changes her into a woodpecker.
WORD MEANINGS
1. Sledges: a vehicle on runners for conveying loads or passengers over snow or ice,
often pulled by draught animals.
2. To harness means to tie the reindeers with a rope to a sledge so that it can be used
for transportation.
3. Swift: something which runs very fast
4. Curious: strange
5. Saint Peter: an apostle of Christ, a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ
6. Preaching: to give a religious talk
7. hearth: fire place where you do cooking
8. faint: to be weak, famished
9. kneaded – to make dough from flour.
10. scrap: small amount
11. provoke: cause to get angry
12. dwell: to live
13. scanty: very little
14. boring: make a hole in something with a tool or by digging.
15. scarlet: brilliant red colour
16. country: belonging to the countryside i.e. rural areas
TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS
Quiestion 1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?
Answer: It is a country in the north where days are short and nights are long.
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 piece of cake. The lady behaved miserly and
kept decreasing the size of the cake. At last she did not give him anything to eat
Question 3. How did he punish her?
Answer: He cursed her and made her a woodpecker.
Question 4. How does the woodpecker get her food?
Answer: The woodpecker bores the hard and dry wood to get its food.
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: No, she would not have done this. On the contrary, she would have given him a
large piece of cake to make him happy with the greed to get a handsome return.
Question 6. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important?
Answer: No, it is an imaginative story. It is a legend. The third stanza of the poem is very
important.
Question 7. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?
Answer: A legend is a story from ancient times about people and events. The title of the
poem tells that it is a legend. The poet himself says that ‘I don’t believe it is true’.
Question 8. Write the story of ‘A Legend of the Northland’ in about ten sentences.
Answer: The poem is a story of an old woman. She is asked by Saint Peter for alms who
has become weak because of fasting and travelling. But her greed forces her not to give
him anything. He becomes angry and makes her a woodpecker who bores hard, dry wood
to get food. Her clothes are burnt to ashes and she is left with a cap on her head. She
continues boring into hard wood for her little food.
Question 9. Let’s look at words at the end of the second and fourth lines, viz., ‘snows’ and
‘clothes’, ‘true’ and ‘you’, ‘below’ and ‘know’. We find that ‘snows’ rhymes with ‘clothes’,
‘true’ rhymes with ‘you’ and ‘below’ rhymes with ‘know’.
Find more such rhyming words.
Answer: Earth-hearth, done-one, lay-away, another-over, flat-that, faint-saint, form- worm,
food-wood, same-flame.
EXTRA QUESTIONS
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Question 1. Why was Saint Peter tired and hungry?
Answer: Saint Peter was a holy man. He used to preach people. For his preaching he often
made long journey. During the course of his journey, sometimes, he did not take food and
water. Besides, he had to observe fasts also. Fasts and journey were the essential part of
his life. Hence, he was tired and hungry.
Question 2. What happened to the cake every time when the old lady tried to bake it?
Answer: The old lady was a greedy woman. She had no desire to share her things with
others. Once Saint Peter was tired and hungry. He arrived at her cottage to get something.
The old lady tried again and again to bake a too small cake for Saint Peter. But the size of
cake always appeared to her bigger and the lady was even unable to give this cake to the
saint.
Question 3. What happened to the old lady when Saint Peter cursed her?
Answer: Saint Peter became angry at her greed because she did not give a piece of cake to
Saint Peter to satiate his hunger. When he cursed the lady, she turned into a bird. She flew
through the chimney. Finally, she became a woodpecker. She wore a red cap and her body
was black. Besides, she was bound to live in the forest with scanty food.
Question 4. Describe the landscape of the Northland as described in the poem.
Answer: The Northland is far away in the north. In this land of snow and ice, the days are
very short. The nights are too long. When it snows, they harness swift reindeer to the
sledges. Children are packed with so many layers of clothes to protect from the cold. In
their funny and furry clothes they look like cubs of bears.
Question 5. Why does the poet tell a story which he does not believe to be true?
Answer: The poet wants to tell a ‘curious’ story. It is the story of St. Peter and a greedy little
woman. The poet himself doesn’t believe in the truth of the story. But still he is compelled
to tell this story simply for one reason. The story gives a moral lesson. Greed is an evil trait
in man. It is punished in the end. The greedy little woman who didn’t want to give a small
piece of cake to hungry St. Peter was cursed to be a woodpecker. She had to live with little
food. We should show human qualities in our behaviour.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Question 1. A holy man should not curse the lady. Justify this statement in the context of
the poem ‘A Legend of the Northland’.
Answer: A holy man is known for his wisdom. He teaches moral lessons to the people
whether they are liberal or greedy. All are equal in his eyes. In the present story, Saint Peter
is a holy man. He is also famous for his preaching. He has preached and travelled a lot. So,
he is hungry. He asks the lady for some food but she does not share her food with him.
Finally, the saint becomes angry and curses her. In fact, he should have shown some
mercy and the example of his wisdom. Therefore, it is appropriate to say that a holy man
should not curse the lady.
Question 2. How can you say that the old lady was greedy?
Answer: The old lady was running a bakery. Saint Peter was a wise saint. He had travelled
and preached a lot so he was tired and hungry. He had arrived at her door for some food.
Still the lady made him wait for the cake for a long time. Every time she tried to bake too
small cake but unfortunately the cake often seemed to her of a bigger size. The old lady did
not want to share the cake of this size with the saint. At last, the saint grew angry and
cursed her. So, it can be said that her greed had no limit.
Question 3. Why was St. Peter forced to curse the greedy little woman? Do you justify the
action of St. Peter?
Answer: St. Peter was a holy man. He was a Christian saint. He spent his time moving
around places and preaching the people there. Saints generally bless the people. They
don’t curse them. However, these holy men resort to cursing when people defy good sense
and become evil. The little woman in the story was extremely selfish and greedy. After
much travelling and preaching, St. Peter had become tired. He had become weak and
hungry after the fast. He came to the cottage of the little woman for food. Seeing her baking
cakes, St. Peter asked her to give one from her store of cakes. The greedy woman made a
very little piece of cake for him. Even that small piece looked too large to be given away to
the saint. Hence, she went on making it smaller and smaller. The hungry St. Peter cursed
the selfish and greedy woman. She was cursed to be a woodpecker boring and struggling
for her scanty food. St. Peter was justified in cursing her. She had deprived a tired and
hungry saint even from a small piece of cake. She was rightly punished for her greed.
VALUE BASED QUESTIONS
Question 1. What moral lesson do you get from this poem?
Answer: This poem teaches us that true happiness lies in sharing things with the persons
who are in need. If we are greedy, we cannot have happiness in our life. On the other hand
our charitable nature makes us think about pains and sorrows suffered by the other people.
The charitable people have many friends and they are always connected with one another
with a strong bond of sentiments. But the greedy people have hardly any friends and they
often live alone in the world.
Question 2. What quality do you find in saints?
Answer: Saints are wise people. They have gained heavenly power. Riches make no sense
for them, for which people often hanker. They need only food to survive in this world. They
travel far off land and give people moral lessons.
Question 3. How is true satisfaction spoiled by greed?
Answer: True satisfaction lies in sharing things with others. Peace and satisfaction are the
two sides of a coin. If there is satisfaction in our life, peace is bound to come in our life.
However greed spoils both. If we are greedy, we cannot get satisfaction as well as peace in
our life. In the poem, the old lady was greedy and she failed to give cake to the saint. If she
had satisfaction, she would certainly have shown honour and regard to the saint. So, in the
case of this little lady it can be said that her greed had spoiled her peace and satisfaction.
Actually, saints try to create such societies in which all the people shall be treated with
equality and greed will have no room in them. With the help of teachings, they desire to
bring down heaven on the earth.