NCERT Solutions Class 8 English It So Happened How The Camel Got His Hump PDF Free Download
The NCERT Solutions available are provided to students to understand different topics present in the chapters. Students can refer to these solutions to prepare themselves for the final exams. To know more about the NCERT Solutions for class 8 English chapter How The Camel Got His Lump, check out the summary and bullet points below:
| Subject | English |
| Class | 8 |
| Book | It So Happened |
| Chapter | How The Camel Got His Lump |
Summary of the chapter How the Camel got his Lump
How the Camel got his Lump is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling. It is a fable, tells the story of a lazy camel. When everything was new at the beginning of the world, animals were used to work for human beings. There was a camel who lives in the middle of the howling desert. He ate sticks, thorns but he would not work and just say ‘Humph!’. If anyone asked, he would just say ‘Humph!’.
One Monday morning, the horse asked the camel to trot like the rest of them; he said no. The horse went and informed the man. The next time the dog went with the stick in his mouth and asked the camel to come along with him to work, he again said ‘Humph!’. Then the Ox went with the yoke on his neck and asked him to plough like him again; the camel gave the same reply. The ox went to report the man. The man called all the three animals and asked them about the camel. They said what had happened. They asked them to work for double-time to compensate for the camel’s work. They all three became furious and decided to held a panchayat.
During the panchayat, the Dijinn of all dessert came and inquired about the camel. The horse explained everything about the camel, and the Dijinn promised them that he would set the camel right. He found the camel was looking at his reflection in the water and asked him to work. When the camel said’Humph!’. Now the Dijinn saw his back puffing up. He told the camel that he got the hump, and he is responsible for this as he did not work. Dijinn asked the camel to work, but he said he could not work with this lump for three days. Dijinn said you could work for three days without taking any food or water. And he warned him to behave appropriately with the other animals.
Important points from the chapter Hoe the Camel got his Lump
- This chapter for class 8 English tells the story of a dog to carry and fetches made to plough the fields.
- The camel did not want to work because it lived in the middle of the desert. The different animals were angry at their master because he was making them work together.
- The Djinn is the master of the deserts, so when the horse complained about the animal with the long neck and long legs, he knew who he was talking about.
Thus, these are the NCERT Solutions for class 8 English. To know more about NCERT Solutions, keep visiting!
NCERT Solutions Class 8 English It So Happened
How The Camel Got His Hump
Question 1: What tasks do you think were assigned to the dog and the ox?
Answer: Different tasks were assigned to different animals. The dog was given to fetch and carry sticks since he was carrying a stick in his mouth. The ox was assigned to plough the field as there was a yoke on his neck.
Question 2: Why did the camel live in the middle of the desert?
Answer: Of all the animals, the camel was the laziest animal as he did not want to work and help man. Hence, he lived in the middle of a howling desert because he did not want to work. He ate sticks, thorns and prickles, and whenever anybody came to speak to him, he just said “Humph!” and nothing more.
Question 3: What made the dog, the horse and the ox very angry?
Answer: The dog, the horse, and the ox were furious because the man assigned them the work of the camel, too, as he laid lazy in the middle of the desert. This meant that the three of them would need to work for double-time to make up for the camel’s laziness.
Question 4: How did the Djinn know the horse was complaining against the camel?
Answer: While the other animals were assigned the camel’s work due to his laziness, the horse complained against the camel to the Djinn who was in charge of All Deserts. He told that the animal which stayed in the middle of the desert with a long neck and long legs had not done a stroke of work since the beginning of the week. Hearing this, the Djinn instantly understood that the horse was referring to the camel for his idleness which was not helping them in work.
Comprehension Check (Page 5)
Question 1: The camel was looking at this own reflection in the pool. What does it suggest to you about the camel?
Answer: The camel was looking at this own reflection in the pool, indicating that he was proud of his looks and appearance, especially his back. Perhaps he assumed that he was the most handsome looking animal and admiring himself upon seeing his reflection in the pool.
Question 2: The camel said, “Humph” repeatedly. How did it affect him?
Answer: The Djinn tried hard to remind the camel about his work which the lazy animal avoided due to his idleness. The camel kept saying “Humph” again and again in a repetitive tone which annoyed the Djinn. In no time, the camel’s back puffed up into a vast hump for repeating the word “Humph” over again and not performing the tasks assigned to him.
Question 3: What, according to the Djinn, was the use of the “humph”?
Answer: According to Djinn, the camel missed his daily work for three successive days; hence he said that the camel would perform his tasks for three days without eating. The hump on his back would help him to store food and use the energy derived from it without eating food and work for a more extended period.
Question 4: “…he has never yet learnt to behave”. In light of this, what is the writer’s opinion about the camel?
Answer: As per the writer, the camel is a sluggish animal that loves sitting idle and avoids doing work. All-day, he would spend eating sticks, thorns and prickles. However, after he got the hump, the Djinn asked him to go out of the desert and help the other three animals – horse, ox, and dog-and behave like others while working. It is due to his laziness; he missed performing tasks for three days. The Djinn told him that his hump would help him store food and use its energy without eating food. It would also help him finish the pending work and continue carrying the hump and living in the desert forever.
Exercise (Page 6)
Discuss the following topics in groups.
Question 1: Can this story be factually true?
Answer: No, it is not a factually true story. It is an imaginative tale.
Question 2: What, according to you, is the story about? Consider the following:
- How did the world begin?
- Why should everyone do their share of work seriously?
- How are animals important to humans?
- How the camel got his hump?
Answer: (iv) How the camel got his hump.
Question 3: What did you do over the weekend? Were you generally active or idle? Please check your back before starting to discuss or answer the question.
Answer: The last weekend, I woke up at 8 A.M. and did some physical exercise in the morning. I helped my mother in doing the household chores. In the evening I played badminton with my sister. Overall, I actively spent my weekend. Yes, I have checked my back, and there is no hump.
Question 4: There are broadly two categories of workers – those who prefer to do today what they can do tomorrow, and those who like to do tomorrow what they can do today. Where do you belong?
Answer: I belong to the first category of workers, i.e. those who prefer to do today what they can do tomorrow. This implies that I like doing my work promptly on time rather than unnecessarily piling it up for the future.