The Last Bargain MCQs & Extract Based Questions: The poem has four stanzas and the poet is Rabindranath Tagore. The MCQs and extract-based questions given here would help in understanding the poem ‘The Last Bargain’.
I. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
“Come and hire me,” I cried, while in the morning
I was walking on the stone-paved road.
Sword in hand the King came in his chariot.
He held my hand and said, “I will hire you with my power,”
But his power counted for naught, and he went away in his chariot.
1. Who was walking on the stone-paved road in the morning?
- A) The King
- B) The narrator
- C) A group of people
- D) The hired person
Ans: B) The narrator
2. Who came in a chariot holding a sword?
- A) A knight
- B) The narrator
- C) The King
- D) A hired person
Ans: C) The King
3. What did the King say to the narrator?
- A) “I will hire you with my power.”
- B) “You are not fit for the job.”
- C) “I will not pay you enough.”
- D) “I do not need your services.”
Ans: A) “I will hire you with my power.”
4. Did the King’s power count for anything?
- A) Yes
- B) No
Ans: B) No
5. How did the King leave?
- A) On foot
- B) On a horse
- C) On a chariot
- D) On a boat
Ans: C) On a chariot.
6. What did the speaker cry out while walking on the stone-paved road in the morning?
Ans. The speaker cried out, “Come and hire me.”
7. Who came in his chariot while the speaker was walking on the road?
Ans. The King came in his chariot while the speaker was walking on the road.
8. What did the King say when he held the speaker’s hand?
Ans. The King said, “I will hire you with my power.”
9. Did the King’s power count for anything?
Ans. No, the King’s power counted for naught.
II. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
In the heat of the mid-day the houses stood with shut doors.
I wandered along the crooked lane.
An old man came out with his bag of gold.
He pondered and said, “I will hire you with my money.”
He weighed his coins one by one, but I turned away.
1. What time of day was it when the protagonist wandered along the crooked lane?
- A. Early morning
- B. Mid-day
- C. Evening
- D. Night
Ans: B. Mid-day
2. How did the houses appear during the mid-day heat?
- A. Open
- B. Shut
- C. Decorated
- D. Dilapidated
Ans: B. Shut
3. Who came out of the house with a bag of gold?
- A. A young man
- B. A woman
- C. An old man
- D. A child
Ans: C. An old man
4. What did the old man offer to do with his money?
- A. Buy a house
- B. Hire the protagonist
- C. Start a business
- D. Travel the world
Ans: B. Hire the protagonist
5. How did the protagonist respond to the old man’s offer?
- A. Accepted the offer
- B. Rejected the offer
- C. Asked for more money
- D. Ignored the offer
Ans: B. Rejected the offer
6. What was the atmosphere like during mid-day?
Ans. In the mid-day heat, the houses had their doors shut.
7. Where did the speaker wander?
Ans. The speaker wandered along a crooked lane.
8. Who came out of their house?
Ans. An old man came out of his house.
9. What did the old man have with him?
Ans. The old man had a bag of gold with him.
10. What did the old man say to the speaker?
Ans. The old man pondered and said, “I will hire you with my money.”
11. What did the old man do with his coins?
Ans. The old man weighed his coins one by one.
12. Did the speaker accept the old man’s job offer?
Ans. No, the speaker turned away from the old man and his bag of gold.
III. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
It was evening. The garden hedge was all aflower.
The fair maid came out and said, “I will hire you with a smile.”
Her smile paled and melted into tears, and she went back alone into the dark.
1. What was the condition of the garden hedge in the evening?
Ans: The garden hedge was all aflower in the evening.
2. Who came out in the evening?
Ans: A fair maid came out in the evening.
3. What did the fair maid offer to the person she met?
Ans: The fair maid said, “I will hire you with a smile.”
4. What happened to the fair maid’s smile?
Ans: The fair maid’s smile paled and melted into tears.
5. What did the fair maid do after her smile turned into tears?
Ans: She went back alone into the dark after her smile turned into tears.
6. What was the condition of the garden hedge in the evening?
a) All aflower
b) All barren
c) All withered
d) None of the above
7. What did the fair maid say to the person she met?
a) “I will hire you with a smile.”
b) “I will hire you with a frown.”
c) “I will hire you with a nod.”
d) None of the above
8. What happened to the fair maid’s smile?
a) It remained constant.
b) It paled and melted into tears.
c) It turned into a frown.
d) It disappeared into thin air.
9. What did the fair maid do after her smile paled and melted into tears?
a) She went back alone into the dark.
b) She hired the person with a smile.
c) She disappeared into thin air.
d) She went back with the person she met.
10. What was the atmosphere like when the fair maid went back alone into the dark?
a) Bright and cheerful
b) Gloomy and sad
c) Breezy and calm
d) None of the above
Answers:
6. a)
7. a)
8. b)
9. a)
10. b)
IV. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
The sun glistened on the sand, and the sea waves broke waywardly.
A child sat playing with shells.
He raised his head and seemed to know me and said, “I hire you with nothing.”
From henceforward that bargain struck in child’s play made me a free man.
1. What was the child doing in the stanza?
- A) Collecting shells
- B) Playing with shells
- C) Building sandcastles
- D) Swimming in the sea
Answer: B) Playing with shells
2. What was the weather like in the stanza?
- A) Cloudy
- B) Rainy
- C) Sunny
- D) Stormy
Answer: C) Sunny
3. What did the child say to the speaker?
- A) “I want to hire you.”
- B) “You’re hired!”
- C) “I hire you with nothing.”
- D) “You owe me something.”
Ans: C) “I hire you with nothing.”
4. What did the speaker mean when he said, “that bargain struck in child’s play made me a free man”?
- A) The child paid him money for his services.
- B) The child offered him a job.
- C) The child gave him some shells.
- D) The child taught him the value of true friendship.
Ans: D) The child taught him the value of true friendship.
5. What was the scene described in the stanza?
Ans: The scene described in the stanza is of the sun shining on the sand, and the sea waves breaking waywardly while a child sits playing with shells.
6. What did the child say to the speaker?
Ans: The child raised his head and seemed to know the speaker, and said, “I hire you with nothing.”
7. What was the bargain struck between the child and the speaker?
Ans: The bargain struck between the child and the speaker was made in child’s play and it made the speaker a free man.
8. How did the sun and sea waves impact the scene?
Ans: The sun glistened on the sand and the sea waves broke waywardly, creating a beautiful and serene atmosphere around the child and the speaker.
9. What was the impact of the child’s statement on the speaker?
Ans: The child’s statement, “I hire you with nothing,” made in child’s play, made the speaker a free man and possibly brought about a significant change in his life.
