Summary of Torch Bearers
Once, there was an old man there. He’s been working hard all his life, buyingq and selling things. The result was that he gained a lot of money and became wealthy. He had two sons. He had a dilemma when he will become old — whom he should give his money to. He decided to give it to a son who would prove himself to be wiser. He gave each of them one rupee to resolve this problem. He then asked them to buy something that could fill the whole house with it. The first son carefully bought the hay. But it was not enough to even cover the floor. For one rupee, the second son bought several candles. In each bed, he placed two or three candles and lit them. The entire house was suddenly filled with light. The second son was pleased with the father. He had demonstrated real wisdom, he said. So he gave his second son all the money.
Model Question Answers
Question: 1 What happened when the second son lit the candles?
Answer: When the second son lit the candles, the whole house was full of light.
Question: 2 Why were Guru Nanak and Mardana forced to spend the night in the open?
Answer: Guru Nanak and Mardana were forced to spend the night in the open because the villagers were very rude and they did not let them stay anywhere in the village.
Question: 3 What did Guru Nanak say about the rude villagers?
Answer: Guru Nanak wished that the rude villagers should always remain where they were.
Question: 4 Why was Mardana puzzled? (or) Why did Mardana, a disciple of Guru Nanak, get puzzled?
Question: 6 What will happen if a link in the chain is weak?
Answer: If a link in the chain is weak, it will break from that very place. So the strength of a chain depends on the strength of its weakest link.
Question: 7 Why did the first son of the old merchant go up to the driver of the bullock-cart?
Answer: The first son of the old merchant went up to the driver of the bullock-cart thinking that the hay might fill the whole house.
Question: 8 How did the people of second village treat Guru Nanak and Mardana? What did Nanak say to them?
Answer: The people of the second village treated Guru Nanak and Mardana in a friendly way and welcomed them with shelter and food. Nanak said to them that should not remain in their village, but may be scattered throughout the country.
Question: 9 What was the result of the merchant’s hard toil? To whom did he want to give all his money? How did he solve this problem?
Answer: The result of the merchant’s hard toil was that he made a lot of money. He wants to give all his money to one of his sons, who proved himself to be the cleverer of the two. He solved this problem by giving his sons a test.
Question: 10 How did the people of the first village treat Guru Nanak and Mardana? What did Nanak say to them?
Answer: The people of the first village forced Guru Nanak and Mardana to spend the night in the open as they were inhospitable and selfish. They did not let them stay anywhere in the village. Guru Nanak said that the rude villagers should always remain in their village.
Question: 11 How did the second son prove that he was more intelligent than his elder brother in the lesson “Torch Bearers”?
Answer: The second son sat thinking and in the evening he went to the market and bought candles with the rupee given by his father. He placed the candles and lighted them. The whole house was filled with light.
