Princess September.pptx by William Somerset Maugham

This PPT is very helpful for class 8 students, lesson explains the summary and some questions-answers of Princess September. The main purpose of creating the presentation is to provide quality education access for the students to understand the concept easily.

1. PRINCESS SEPTEMBER by William Somerset Maugham CREATED BY ABHINAYA

2. Major Characters Princess September The King The Queen The other eight princess The singing bird

3. Princess September

4. INTRODUCTION It is a story about a princess September. The king had gifted a parrot to all the nine princess. But princess September’s parrot died. While she was weeping all alone in her room, a little bird came into her room. He sang about the king’s garden, the goldfish, and the willow tree. The princess caged the bird but it could not sing. Later, she understood her fault and released him. The bird used to come to her and sing for her, she was then married to the King of Cambodia and lived a happy life.

5. Summary of Princess September In this story, the King and Queen of Siam have nine daughters. The Queen finds it confusing to remember all their names. Thus, the King decides to name them after the months. So, he named the youngest of them, September.

The king had the habit of giving gifts to others on his birthday. One year on his birthday, he gave a green parrot in a golden cage to each of his daughters. The princesses were happy and they used to spend an hour daily with them. The parrots said ‘God save the king and Pretty Polly’ in seven languages.

6. One morning, princess September found her parrot dead. She was very sad and wept and wept. The queen told the maids not to put her to sleep without supper. But as they had to go to a party, they left her crying and went. She saw a little bird coming into her room. It started to sing about the King’s garden, the goldfish, the willow tree, etc. In all this, she forgot to have supper. Bowing to the princess, the bird asked her if she would keep it with her in place of the parrot. The bird was not pretty. When the princess clapped her hands, it sang and she fell asleep. She fed it with her own hands also bathed him. She took him to the king, queen, and her sisters. Everyone was delighted to see and hear its song. The king was very impressed by the bird’s singing and said that he would love to hear it sing. He is tired of listening to the parrots.

7. The other princesses were jealous of Princess September. They asked September to buy a new parrot but she said that she already has a pet bird. It sings sweet songs like a nightingale and she does not need a parrot. They told her that the bird flies in and out anytime. Thus, she should keep him in a cage as someday it may not return . She was worried about the bird as it took too long to return. So, she put it in the cage. On being asked by the bird, she said that it will be safe in the cage from the cats. The bird asked her to open the cage the next day. But she refused. Princess September asked him to sing but it could not sing. It wanted to see the trees, the river, etc. It did not eat food also.

8. The next day, the bird told her that if he is not free, he cannot sing and will die. She thus set it free. The bird flew away with a promise to return. She kept her window open and the bird returned. It sang lovely songs for her. Princess September grew very beautiful and got married to the King of Cambodia. However, her sisters were ugly and were married to the king’s councilors.

9. Glossary Perch : An edge of something Gilded : To cover a surface with thin layer of gold Vexed : Feeling or showing irritation or distress Glum : Disappointed or sad Absurd : Stupid and unreasonable Prowling : Moving slowly Obstinate : Stubborn Disagreeable : Unpleasant/ unattractive

10. QUESTIONS – ANSWERS Question 1: How many daughters did the royal couple have? Answer: The royal couple of Siam had nine daughters who were named after the months of the year. Question 2:Why were they named after the months of the year? Answer: The princesses were named after the months of the year because the Queen of Siam found it difficult to remember so many names. Hence, the King decided to name the princesses as per the months of the calendar year.

11. Question 3: The King had a peculiar habit. What was it? Why is it called peculiar? Answer: The King had a peculiar habit of giving gifts instead of receiving gifts on his birthday. In one such year, on his birthday, he gave each of his daughters a green parrot in a golden cage. As a matter of fact, people receive gifts instead of giving away gifts on their birthday. But the King followed an opposite tradition, and due to this reason, his habit was peculiar. Question 4: What did the sisters advise the Princess to do about her bird? Answer: The sisters were very jealous of Princess September’s singing bird. With an evil intention, they advised her to keep the bird in a cage, otherwise, it would fly away forever.

12. Thank you… 🙂