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Chapter 2 TOO DEAR 4 Mark Questions 1. How does the narrator describe the ‘Toy Kingdom’ in ‘Too Dear!’? Ans: Refer to the text book for the description of the kingdom. Do not make any factual errors while providing information. 2. What made the king of Monaco alter his decisions in dealing with the criminal in ‘Too Dear!’? Ans: Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is a Russian prolific writer, who started his career with short stories and novels, later he turned to write essays and plays. After 1880 his deep concern for morals in the human life led him to spirituality that radically changed his life. Too dear was written after 1890. So naturally his angle was humanitarian, where he reflects on the well being of mankind. The kingdom of Monaco had never encountered a crime like Murder in its domains. When this happened the king and the law keepers did not know how to handle this crisis. Though the judges sentenced the murderer to be beheaded, this was not possible, as the kingdom of Monaco had no means to execute the murderer and they had to rely on their neighboring country France to supply them a guillotine, a machine to cut the heads off. But, this cost them 16,000 Francs which was a heavy sum. So the king decided to enquire the cost of machine from Italy. Italy offered guillotine machine for a lesser sum of 12,000 Francs. Even this was too much for countries economy, therefore king decided to alter the death sentence to one of imprisonment for life, which was cheaper than the earlier death sentence. After one year king noticed that life imprisonment cost came up to more than 600 Francs which was heavy and at last king resorted to paying a pension of 600 Francs annually to the prisoner and ordered him to leave the domains of Monaco forever. 3. Why does the criminal in ‘Too Dear!’ refuse to escape from the prison? Explain. According to the advice given by the ministers to bring down the expenses incurred on the prisoner, the Prince decided to dismiss the special guard who was kept to watch over the prisoner. This would indirectly give an opportunity for the prisoner to escape and the prince waited to see whether the prisoner escaped but this never happened. The criminal was reluctant to go out of prison for the following reasons. Firstly he was timely fed by the royal kitchen and he had got used to a very easy life. Secondly he had no other place to go, as nobody would offer him a job as he was a murderer. Thirdly he had gotten out of the way of working and if he returns to the world, he would starve. He also blames the kingdom for not executing him in the first place and also finds fault with the kingdom for altering his punishment. In this way the prisoner wasn’t ready leave the prison, because in the present circumstances, he didn’t find any good outside the prison. 4. How did the criminal spend his life after he was given a pension in ‘Too Dear!’? Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is a Russian prolific writer, who started his career with short stories and novels, later he turned to write essays and plays. After 1880 his deep concern for morals in the human life led him to spirituality that radically changed his life. Too dear was written after 1890. So naturally his angle was humanitarian, where he reflects on the well being of mankind. It was agreed that the criminal would leave Monaco and its domain forever and for doing this he would be paid 600 Francs annually. This somehow appeased the criminal and he readily agreed to do so. It was only a quarter of an hour by rail and he emigrated, and settled just across the frontier, where he bought a bit of land, started market- gardening and lived comfortably. He always went at the proper time to draw his pension and having received it, he spent two or three francs at the gaming table, winning sometimes and losing sometimes and now lived peaceably well. 6 Mark Questions 1. The king of Monaco is a man without a decisive stand. Do you agree with this? Substantiate your answer with reference to ‘Too Dear!’. All is well in the kingdom of Monaco until a man commits a murder. The king had never had to deal with a murderer before, and after the judicial process, the convict had been sentenced to death. But there was only one hitch in the matter and that was they had neither a guillotine for cutting heads, off, nor an executioner. So they had to rely on their neighboring country France. But this cost them 16,000 Francs, which was a very heavy sum. The prince later enquired it with Italy, Italy offered it for a lesser sum of 12,000 Francs, and even this was too much burden. The decision was (reversed) revoked and the murderer was imprisoned for life. Life imprisonment, however presented its own set of problems. There need to be a guard at all times and the man had to be fed. The yearly costs were calculated to be more than 600 Francs, which would still necessitate an increase of taxes. It was decided that the guard should be dismissed, even at the risk of losing the prisoner. But the prisoner however does not try to escape and when it was enquired, the criminal responds that he has nowhere to go in Monaco and that his reputation was ruined. King finally decides to pay 600 Francs to the murderer as an annual pension by the government to remain in exile. Leo Tolstoy’s angle was humanitarian, where he reflects on the wellbeing of mankind. He presents this story in a most humorous way and concludes that king who was less concerned with his responsibilities and was earning profit from evil sources also tries to save the expenses (from death sentences to life imprisonment) but it turns to be too expensive for the kinglet. So the King was indecisive and heavily depended on his ministers to take any call. All that he wanted was to get rid off the prisoner, so that he could save the money. His indecisiveness leads to humorous twists and finally lets off the prisoner with a regular pension, which is quite incredulous. Thus the king was not only indecisive but also inept in dealing with the criminal. 2. You can’t earn stone palaces by honest labour. Justify this statementwith reference to ‘Too Dear!’. Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is a Russian prolific writer, who started his career with short stories and novels, later he turned to write essays and plays. Tolstoy's best known novels are war and Peace, Anna Karenina, Master and man etc. He was one of the prominent social reformers. After 1880 his deep concern for morals in the human life led him to spirituality that radically changed his life. Too dear was written after 1890. So naturally his angle was humanitarian, where he reflects on the well being of mankind. Monaco is a tiny little kingdom of seven thousand inhabitants, which lies on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea near the borders of France and Italy. Many a small country town has more inhabitants than this kingdom. In spite of this, Monaco has a Kinglet, a palace, courtiers, Ministers, a bishop, generals and an army, consisting of sixty men. The kingdom also levies taxes on its subjects on the use of tobacco, wine and spirits and a poll-tax. Since this kingdom has very few subjects, the revenue drawn from them is not sufficient. Therefore the prince of Monaco has no other option other than resorting to keep gaming houses for extra revenue. Though kinglet of Monaco knows it is a dirty business, but what is he to do? He has to live. He was much interested in all his ceremonies. He has his coronation, his levees, his rewards, sentences and pardons. He also had his reviews, councils, laws and courts of justice, just like any other kings, only on a smaller scale. King was more interested in leading a luxurious life and also more concerned with all his financial gains and less concerned with his duties. So he drew revenue from all evil sources like gambling houses, tax on tobacco, wines and spirits which represents the negative aspects of life. Income collected from the evil side of life may not lead us to good future. Ill-gotten gain was spent in the ill mannered way in the end.