A Legend of the Northland(from Class 9 Beehive)

Word Meaning

  • Legend:পুৰণি কাল্পনিক কাহিনী
  • Northland:উত্তৰৰ বৰফাবৃত্ত দেশ
  • Harness:গাড়ী টানিবলৈ জন্তুৰ গাত সঁজুলি বন্ধা
  • Swift:দ্ৰুত বেগী
  • Reindeer:ৰেইনডিয়াৰ (এক প্ৰকাৰৰ হৰিণা)
  • Sledges:শ্লেজ গাড়ী (বৰফত চলা চকা নথকা গাড়ী)
  • Curious:কৌতুহল
  • Tale:সাধুকথা
  • Preaching:ধৰ্মোপদেশ দিয়া
  • Cottage:পঁজা ঘৰ
  • Hearth:জুইশাল
  • Faint:দুৰ্বল (ভোকৰ বাবে)
  • Fasting:উপবাস (লঘোণে থকা)
  • Kneaded:চটকাই লোৱা (ময়দা বা আটা)
  • Scrap:সৰু টুকুৰা
  • Wafer:পাতল পিঠা
  • Provoke:খং উঠোৱা
  • Dwelling:বসবাস কৰা
  • Scanty:অতি তাকৰ
  • Boring:বিন্ধা কৰা (কাঠ ফুটোৱা)
  • Woodpecker:কাঠৰোকা চৰাই
  • Scarlet:টকটকীয়া ৰঙা

Thinking about the Poem

I.

  1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?

Ans:- Northland refers to the countries in the north where days are short and nights are long.

  1. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady’s reaction?

Ans:- Saint Peter asked the old lady a single pieces of cake as alms(দান). The old lady behaved miserly(কৃপণভাৱে) and kept changing the size of the cakes, but could not provide him anything to eat.

  1. How did he punish her?

Ans:- He Cursed(অভিশাপ দিয়া) her and made her a woodpecker.

  1. How does the woodpecker get her food?

Ans:- To get its food, the woodpecker bores the hard and dry wood.

  1. Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?

Ans:-If the old lady known about Saint Peter, she would not have done this . She might have given him the smallest piece of cake as she was very greedy one.

  1. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important?

Ans:-No,  this is not a true story. It is an imaginary story. The third stanza of this poem is very important.

  1. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?

Ans:- A legend is a mythological story from ancient times about people and events. The Title of the poem tells that it is a legend. The poet himself says that he doesn’t believe that is true. 

  1. Write the story of ‘A Legend of the Northland’ in about ten sentences.

Ans:-

  1. The story takes place in the very cold, snowy Northland.
  2. Saint Peter grows tired and very hungry while preaching on Earth.
  3. He stops by a cottage where a little woman is baking cakes.
  4. He asks her for just one cake to eat.
  5. The greedy woman bakes a cake, but it looks too big to give away.
  6. She tries baking a much smaller cake, but it still looks too large.
  7. Finally, she makes a cake as thin as a wafer but still keeps it.
  8. Saint Peter gets angry because she is too selfish to be a human.
  9. He curses her and changes her into a woodpecker.
  10. Now, she must live in the woods and bore into trees for food.

II.

  1. Let’s look at the words at the end of the second and fourth lines, viz., ‘snows’ and ‘clothes’, ‘true’ and ‘you’, ‘below’ and ‘know.’ We find that ‘snows’ rhymes with ‘clothes’, ‘true’ rhymes with ‘you’ and ‘below’ rhymes with ‘know’. Find more such rhyming words.

Ans:-

  1. earth –> hearth
  2. done –> one
  3. lay –> away
  4. flat –> that
  5. shelf –> myself
  6. faint –> saint
  7. wood –> food
  8. same –> flame
  9. bird –> word
  1. Go to the local library or talk to older persons in your locality and find legends in your own language. Tell the class these legends.

Ans:-

The Legend of Tejimola

Introduction for the class: “I would like to share a famous traditional legend from Assam called Tejimola. Just like the poem A Legend of the Northland, this story teaches us about the dark consequences of human greed, jealousy, and cruelty, and features a magical transformation.”

The Story: Long ago, there lived a merchant who had a beautiful and kind daughter named Tejimola. After Tejimola’s mother passed away, the merchant remarried. The stepmother was extremely jealous of Tejimola’s beauty and the love she received from her father.

One day, the merchant went away on a long business trip. Seizing the opportunity, the cruel stepmother forced Tejimola to do heavy household chores and plotted to get rid of her. While Tejimola was crushing rice using a traditional wooden treadle (dheki), the stepmother deliberately crushed the young girl’s hands, killing her. To hide her crime, she buried Tejimola secretly in the garden.

Soon, a beautiful gourd plant grew out of the burial spot. When a passerby tried to pluck a gourd, the plant sang a sorrowful song, revealing that it was Tejimola. Terrified, the stepmother cut down the plant and threw it near the river, where it transformed into a beautiful flowering tree. Later, when the merchant finally returned home by boat, a bird sitting on the tree sang to him, revealing the stepmother’s cruelty. Through the power of her innocence, the bird transformed back into human form, and Tejimola was reunited with her loving father, while the wicked stepmother was punished.

Alternative: The Legend of Sati Joymati (Historical Legend)

If the class prefers a historical legend of bravery and sacrifice:

The Story: During the 17th century Ahom kingdom in Assam, a corrupt and cruel young king known as Lora Roja ordered the mutilation and execution of all rival princes to secure his throne. To save his life, Prince Gadapani fled into the hills, leaving behind his brave wife, Princess Joymati.

The king’s soldiers captured Joymati and demanded to know her husband’s whereabouts. Despite being tied to a thorny tree at JerengaPathar and brutally tortured for days under the open sky, Joymati refused to utter a single word that would endanger her husband or the future of her motherland. Her endurance and ultimate sacrifice inspired the people to overthrow the tyrant. Prince Gadapani returned to become one of the greatest kings of Assam, and Joymati is remembered to this day as a symbol of ultimate loyalty and patriotism.

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