Question 1:
What was Vijay Singh’s weakness? Which awkward situation did it push him into?
Answer:
Boasting was Vijay Singh’s weakness. It pushed him into the awkward situation of walking alone at night into a haunted desert.
Question 2:
Was the old woman’s gift to Vijay Singh eccentric? Why?
Answer:
Yes, the gift given by the old woman was an eccentric one. It was a packet which contained a lump of salt and an egg. It was a very unusual gift to be given to someone.
Question 3:
Why did Vijay Singh ask the ghost, disguised as Natwar, to come closer?
Answer:
Vijay Singh asked the ghost to come closer because he wanted to see how powerful his enemy was.
Question 4:
What made the ghost speechless? Why?
Answer:
Instead of showing any sign of fear, Vijay Singh called the ghost stupid and even challenged him to wrestle with him. The ghost was taken aback and became speechless.
Question 5:
Why did Vijay Singh say, “Appearances can be deceptive”?
Answer:
When the ghost told Vijay Singh that he didn’t look strong enough to fight with him, Vijay Singh replied by saying that appearances could be deceptive. He told the ghost that he is much stronger than he looks.
Question 6:
How did Vijay Singh use the egg? How did he use the lump of salt?
Answer:
When Vijay Singh squeezed the egg, the oozing yellow yolk and the cracking sound made by the egg shells created an illusion of a stone being crushed. Similarly, when he deceptively crushed the second rock, the ghost actually thought that there was salt in it. Vijay Singh took out these two things from the packet when the ghost was not watching.
Question 7:
Why did Vijay Singh conclude that the ghost would not be a worthy opponent to him? Was he fair in his judgement?
Answer:
When Vijay Singh saw the ghost he got really scared. To hide his fear he stayed calm and played tricks on the ghost. When the ghost lost twice he started doubting his own strength. Vijay Singh took this as an opportunity and called him an unworthy opponent to make him further lose his confidence. Vijay Singh was not fair in his judgement because the ghost was very cunning and later in the story he even tried to kill Vijay Singh.
Question 8:
Why did Vijay Singh ask the ghost to accompany him to town next day?
Answer:
Vijay Singh wanted to show the ghost to the villagers as his trophy, a sign of victory.
Question 9:
What made the ghost believe Vijay Singh was dead?
Answer:
The ghost struck the spot with a club where he thought Vijay Singh’s head was. When no groan was heard, he believed that Vijay Singh was dead because of his attack.
Question 10:
Vijay Singh complained of insects in the cave. What was he referring to and why?
Answer:
Vijay Singh was referring to the seven hard blows by the club that the ghost had given him. He wanted to prove that he could easily stand such blows and that they were as trivial as insect bites.
Question 11:
Was it really a ghost who Vijay Singh befooled? Who do you think it was?
Answer:
It was not really a ghost because ghosts don’t behave the way he did. He was probably a robber who had collected a lot of ill-gotten wealth in his cave.