Summary: The Most Beautiful Thing
This is a story about a queen who was bored with her life in the palace. Nothing
made her happy. Her adviser tried everything to amuse her. He called for court
acrobats and musicians, ordered for portraits to be made—but she was still
bored. The queen then decided to have a contest for the most beautiful thing.
She announced that the prize will be her crown. People from everywhere in the
kingdom rushed to the palace. They brought poems, paintings and animals, but
the queen was not interested in any of those. One day, a bearded man arrived at
the palace and told the queen that she must go in search of beauty and that she
will never find it in the palace. The queen found this idea interesting and set off
to find the most beautiful thing. Starting with her palace against the sun set, she
came across many beautiful things in her long journey. The birds, a newborn
calf, the stars, everything looked beautiful to her. One day, when she was
sailing on a boat in a lake, she feels very peaceful. It was then that she realised
that one can get happiness and peace only from nature and nature is the most
beautiful thing. As a mark of appreciation, she left a piece of her crown near all
the beautiful places and things she saw. There was hardly anything left of her
crown, but yet, she was happy because she had found the most beautiful thing in
the world.
UNIT 3: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING
Embedded Questions
Ɣ A contest is a competition.
Ɣ Free response
Ɣ for two days
Ɣ Free response
Ɣ She might have seen her palace before but might have never paid any attention to its beauty. With
the setting sun, the palace looked more beautiful.
Ɣ Yes, the queen seems much happy now.
Comprehension
A. 1. court musicians 2. different; beauty 3. gold; gems 4. two days 5. peaceful
B. 1. To make the queen happy, the adviser gets the court musicians to play music. He calls for the court
acrobats. He orders portraits. But his plans don’t work. The queen is still very bored.
2. The queen plans to hold a contest for the most beautiful thing in the world. The prize is her
crown.
3. At the contest, people show her their poetry, their paintings, even their animals. After several days,
the queen is disappointed.
4. The man with the beard tells this to the queen. This man tells the queen that he has been waiting
to meet the queen for two days. He tells that she has to go in search of the most beautiful thing.
He disappears after he says it. The queen is interested in what this man tells her, but the adviser
asks her not to listen to him. This man seems to be a wise man.
5. The queen sees many beautiful things in her journey. The first thing she sees is her own castle. She
then sees birds flying back to their nests, a newly born calf, twinkling stars and much more. She
sees beauty in everything.
6. On her way back to the palace, the queen leaves pieces of her crown by an old tree, a green valley
and a snow-capped mountain. She drops a piece in a stream. She ties a piece onto the mane of a
pony.
C. Suggested answers (Accept any logical answer)
1. The queen is bored because she always lives inside the palace. She never goes out and enjoys
nature. Everything around her is made by hand. She has never seen natural beauty so far.
2. The bearded man is clever and wise. He gives the correct advice to the queen. He tells that she can
find beauty only if she goes out. He tells her to go out and enjoy the beauty of nature.
3. These words are spoken by the queen’s adviser. Yes, the story would be different if she had
listened to him. If she had listened to him, she would continue to live in her palace. She would
always be bored. She would never see nature’s beauty. She would never find peace and happiness
in anything she has. Even if she has all the riches, wealth and comfort, she will always be bored
and sad.
D. Suggested answers (Accept any logical answer)
Tarun will be happier and healthier. He will be healthy because he will get exercise and fresh air. He
will be happy because he will never be bored.
Sahil will soon be bored with TV and computer games. So he will be sad. He will also be unhealthy
because he will not have any exercise or fresh air.
Grammar
A. 1. She 2. He 3. It 4. We 5. They
B. 2. S 3. O 4. S 5. O
C. 1. him 2. her 3. them 4. them 5. you
D. 1. I 2. them 3. We 4. She 5. her 6. He 7. him 8. it 9. us
10. They 11. you
Vocabulary
2. f 3. g 4. a 5. c 6. b 7. d
Listening
Listening Text
1. Anu goes to a shop. She asks the shop-keeper for a pack of crayons.
2. The shop-keeper searches for a pack of crayons. But he is not able to find one on the shelves.
3. The shop-keeper offers Anu a pack of colour pencils instead.
4. But Anu does not want it.
5. She thanks the shop-keeper and leaves.
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Speaking
Suggested answers (Accept any logical answer)
1. We should not quarrel. 2. We should work as a team together. 3. We should always share.
4. We should help others. 5. We should not trouble / make fun of others
6. We should not cheat.
Punctuation
A. 1. I went to the market to buy apples, oranges, mangoes and pineapples.
2. Sneha, Rohit, Leena and Paroma went to watch a film on Saturday.
3. Saif ate a paratha, an apple and a salad for breakfast.
4. We saw a giraffe, two elephants, a tortoise and a lion at the zoo.
5. My brother chopped the vegetables, cooked rice, and boiled the milk today.
B. 1. The day before yesterday, I wrote a poem.
2. Every summer, Gopi takes a train to visit his grandmother.
3. Last month, my cousin brought me a pair of goldfish.
4. After some time, we closed our books and went to play.
5. Tomorrow, we will make a kite.
Writing
Suggested answers (Accept any logical answer)
I was so excited about the journey. I wore my best dress and my crown for my journey. As I left home,
I looked at my home from the carriage. I never knew it was so beautiful. I travelled for many weeks.
I saw beauty everywhere. I saw beauty in the birds flying back to their nests, in a newly born calf,
in the twinkling stars. Then, one day I was sailing in a lake. I realised that I felt peaceful for the first
time in many years. I then broke my crown and tossed it in the lake. I was ready to go back home. As
I travelled back home, I left a piece of my crown in all the beautiful places I had seen. My crown got
smaller. Nothing was left. But I didn’t feel sad. I was happy. I had found the most beautiful thing in
the world.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING
A. Answer in brief.
1. What did the bearded man tell the queen?
Ans: The bearded man told the queen that she should go in search of the most beautiful thing as
it could not be brought to her.
2. What did the queen’s adviser tell her after listening to the bearded man and what did the
queen do?
Ans: The queen’s adviser told her not to bother about what the man had said, but the queen
decided to go on a trip and so asked for all the people to be sent home.
3. What did the queen realise when she was sailing in the lake one day and what did she decide
to do?
Ans: One day, when the queen was sailing in a lake, she realised that she felt peaceful for the first
time in many years and then she decided to return home.
B. Answer in detail.
1. ‘The scene looked like something out of a storybook.’ Describe the scene. What did the queen
wondered?
Ans: As the queen’s carriage rounded a hill, she looked back at the palace. The setting sun
sparkled between the white towers. This scene looked like something out of a storybook. She
wondered why she had never seen her home this way before.
2. What did the queen do after she felt happy and peaceful?
Ans: While sailing in a lake one day, the queen felt happy and peaceful for the first time in many
years. She broke a piece of her crown and tossed it into the lake and watched it sink slowly. While
returning home, she left pieces of the crown in different places as she realised that the world was
the most beautiful thing.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. “I am tired of all this,” she said, pointing to the room. “ I need a different sort of beauty.”
a. Who spoke these words and to whom were they spoken?
b. What was she tired of?
c. Name some of the things done to make her happy.
Ans: a. The queen who was bored spoke these words to her adviser.
b. She was tired of all the usual things that were shown to her so that she would not feel
bored.
c. Music was played for her, acrobats performed, portraits were ordered and many more
things were shown to please her.
2. “You can end your search now, Your Highness.”
a. Who said this and to whom?
b. What search was he talking about?
c. What did he advise the queen to do?
Ans: a. A bearded man said this to the queen.
b. He was talking about the queen’s search for the most beautiful thing in the world.
c. He advised the queen to go out herself to find the most beautiful thing.
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