NCERT Class 6 English ‘Honeysuckle’ Unit 8: Notes and Solutions (Free PDF)

NCERT Class 6 English Honeysuckle Unit 8 is a story titled “The Banyan Tree” by Ruskin Bond. The story is about a young lad who loves the banyan tree in his grandfather’s garden. He likes to hang out on the branches of this tree which is older than his house and his grandfather. He enjoys reading books and watching animals and birds while spending his time with the tree. As the story progresses, you get to know about more interesting anecdotes. 

Thus, to help you know the entire story, we have provided a simplified story in CBSE Class 6 English Honeysuckle notes. Also, you can browse through NCERT solutions to questions following the story in Unit 8. 

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Download NCERT Class 6 English Honeysuckle Unit 8 Important Questions and Answers PDF

Explore Notes of all Chapters of ‘Honeysuckle’ Here:

Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Unit 4
Unit 5	Unit 6	Unit 7	Unit 8

NCERT Class 6 English Honeysuckle Unit 8 Story: The Banyan Tree

“The Banyan Tree” by Ruskin Bond tells the story of a young boy who forms a special connection with an ancient banyan tree on his grandparents’ property. This tree has huge branches that touch the ground. Also, the branches create secret passages that become the home of the boy. The passage is filled with squirrels and butterflies that mesmerize the boy. 

In the tree, a small grey squirrel becomes the first friend of the boy. Initially afraid, the squirrel becomes friends with the boy. Also, he started accepting treats. The tree is older than the house and the boy’s grandfather. Thus, the banyan tree becomes a place for quiet reading after the boy builds a platform midway up the tree. Here, he loses himself in classic books like “Treasure Island” and “Huckleberry Finn.”

One afternoon, the boy becomes an audience to a battle between a mongoose and a cobra. The mongoose faces off against the cobra. The Mongoose is a skilled fighter. Whereas, the cobra is known for its sudden moves and deadly venom. They engage in a tense fight below the banyan tree. Before starting the fight, they both are aware of each other qualities. 

As the battle unfolds, two unexpected spectators arrive, a myna and a jungle crow. They sit on a cactus, eager to witness the outcome. However, they become involved in the fight as they both attempt to intervene. Instead, they both start arguing with each other. Amidst this chaos, the mongoose avoids the cobra’s strikes. The mongoose bites the snake with accuracy.

In the final round of the battle, the mongoose takes the advantage. Despite the cobra’s constant attempts, the mongoose gains the upper hand and eventually defeats the cobra. After the victory, the boy’s spectators react differently. The myna moves away. Whereas, the crow meets a tragic end after a failed attempt to join the fight

The story is a display of the boy’s close relationship with nature. It is shown by his beloved banyan tree. It captures the thrill of witnessing a dramatic battle between two strong animals, showcasing the resilience and cunning of the mongoose in the face of danger. The tree is a silent spectator that stands as a symbol of the power of nature. 

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Important Words and Phrases and Their Meanings

Let us now look at the important words and phrases and their meanings mentioned in the NCERT Class 6 English Honeysuckle Unit 8:

• Spy: To watch someone or something secretly
• Resent: To get angry about or dislike something
• Morsels: Tiny pieces of food
• Delving: Dig into something
• Propping myself up: Support someone or something
• During the fig season: The period when figs appeared
• Grandstand view: To stand or be in a position to get a clear view of something
• Gliding: To move without any effort
• Emerged: Appear
• Clearing: An open space or place in a forest where there are no plants or trees
• Sacs: A bag or pouch-shaped part of an animal or a plant
• Fangs: The long sharp teeth of a fox or snake
• Defiance: Opposition
• Dart: To move swiftly or sudden movement
• Combatants: Fighter
• Spectators: Audience
• Outcome: End result
• Mesmerise: Fascinate 
• A false move: A careless action
• Glistened: Sparkles or shone
• Round: Stages in a sport, competition, or a fight
• Pull up: Stop (in the story)
• Whipped…back: Move back quickly
• Snout: Mout and nose of an animal
• To no avail: Without any success

Check out: 50 Difficult Words with Meanings

Explore NCERT Solutions of all Chapters of ‘Honeysuckle’ Here:

Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Unit 4
Unit 5	Unit 6	Unit 7	Unit 8

NCERT Solutions Class 6 English Honeysuckle Unit 8 Story

In this section, we have compiled answers to all the writing questions in the NCERT Class 6 English Honeysuckle Unit 8 story. 

Working with the Text

Ques A. Complete the following sentences:

1. The old banyan tree “did not belong” to grandfather, but only to the boy, because_________________________________________.
2. The small grey squirrel became friendly when____________________.
3. When the boy started to bring him pieces of cake and biscuit, the squirrel_______________________.
4. In the spring, the banyan tree_(a)_______________________, and_(b)________________ would come there.
5. The banyan tree served the boy as a_______________________________________.
6. The young boy spent his afternoon in the tree________________________________.

Ans:

1. His grandfather was 65 years old and could no longer climb it.
2. He found that the boy did not arm himself with a catapult or air gun.
3. Grew quite bold and was soon taking morsels from his hand.
4. (a) Was full of small red flags; (b) birds of all kinds
5. Library where he had made a crude platform to sit and read books.
6. When it was not too hot, leaning against it and reading story books.

Ques B. Answer the following questions:

1. “It was to be a battle of champions”.

• What qualities did the two champions have? Pick out words and phrases from the paragraph above this line in the text and write them down.

Mongoose	Cobra
a.	a.
b.	b.
c.	c.

• What did the cobra and the mongoose do, to show their readiness for the fight?

2. Who were the other two spectators? What did they do? (Did they watch, or did they join in the fight?) 

3. Read the descriptions below of what the snake did and what the mongoose did. Arrange their actions in proper order.

Ceased to struggle	a. Grabbed the snake by the snout
Tried to mesmerise the mongoose	b. Dragged the snake into the bushes
Coiled itself around the mongoose	c. Darted away and bit the cobra on the neck
Struck the crow	d. Pretended to attack the cobra on the side
Struck again and missed	e. Refused to look into the snake’s eyes
Struck on the side that the mongoose pretended to attack	f. Sprang aside, jumped in and bit

4. 

1. What happened to the crow in the end?
2. What did the myna do finally?

Ans:

1. a. 

Mongoose	Cobra
Superb fighter	a. Skillful
Clever	b. Experienced fighter
Aggressive	C.  Swift

b. To display readiness for the fight, the cobra raised his body above the ground, hissing with a forked tongue, and spread his fangs. Whereas, the mongoose bushed his tail due to which his spine’s long hair erected. 

2. The crow and myna are the other two spectators. They perched on the cactus to watch the end result. They were not only satisfied with watching the battle but they took part in the fight and threw themselves at the cobra. 

3. 

Cobra	Mongoose
2. Tried to mesmerize the mongoose	e. Refused to look into the snake’s eyes
6. Struck on the side that the mongoose pretended to attack	d. Pretended to attack the cobra on one side
5. Struck again and missed	f. Sprang aside, jumped in, and bit
4. Struck the crow	c. Darted away and bit the cobra on the back
3. Coiled itself around the mongoose	a. Grabbed the snake by the snout
1. Ceased to struggle	b. Dragged the snake into the bushes

4. 

1. As the fight was about to end, the crow hurled about 20 feet across the boy’s garden when the cobra whipped back and hit with strength. In this event, the cobra’s snout smashed into the crow’s body and it flapped for some time. After this, the cobra lay on the ground still and died within seconds.
2. The myna cautiously sank to the ground, hopped around, and carefully glanced into the bushes. Thereafter, with a piercing cry of triumph, it flew away.

Working with Language

Ques A. 

1. The word ‘round’ usually means a kind of shape. What is its meaning in the story?
2. Find five words in the following paragraph, which are generally associated with trees. But here, they have been used differently. Underline the words.

Hari leaves for work at nine every morning. He works in the local branch of the firm of which his uncle is the owner. Hari’s success is really the fruit of his own labour. He is happy, but he has a small problem. The root cause of his problem is a stray dog near his office. The dog welcomes Hari with a loud bark every day.

Ans:

1. In the story “The Banyan Tree”, ‘round’ means the course or stages of the fight between the cobra and mongoose. 

Hari leaves for work at nine every morning. He works in the local branch of the firm of which his uncle is the owner. Hari’s success is really the fruit of his own labour. He is happy, but he has a small problem. The root cause of his problem is a stray dog near his office. The dog welcomes Hari with a loud bark every day.

Ques B. The words in the following table describe movement. Use them to fill in the blanks in the below-mentioned sentences.

dived	gliding	darting
whipped back	delving	sprang

1. When he began to trust me, the squirrel began_____________ into my pockets for morsels of cake.
2. I saw a cobra_______________ out of a clump of cactus.
3. The snake hissed, his forked tongue_____________ in and out.
4. When the cobra tried to bite it, the mongoose______________ aside.
5. The snake_(a)_______________ his head__(b)_______________ to strike at the crow.
6. The birds_______________ at the snake.

Ans:

1. Delving
2. Gliding
3. Darting 
4. Sprang
5. (a) whipped (b) back
6. Dived 

Ques C. Find words in the story, which show things striking violently against each other:

1. The cobra struck the crow, his snout th_ _ _ ing against its body.
2. The crow and the myna c_ ll_ _ _ _ in mid-air.
3. The birds dived at the snake, but b _ _ _ _ d into each other instead.

Ans:

1. Thudding 
2. Collided 
3. Bumped 

Ques D. Look at the following sentences:

In the spring, birds of all kinds would flock into the banyan tree’s branches. I would spend the afternoons there.	In the spring, birds of all kinds would flock to the banyan tree’s branches. I would spend the afternoons there.
‘Would’ tells us what the author used to do, or what used to happen.	‘Could’ tells us what the author was usually able to do, or what grandfather is now not able to do.

Choose would and could to replace the italicized words in the following sentences:

Grandfather says, in the old days,

1. elephants were able to fly in the sky, like clouds. They were also able to change their shapes. They used to fly behind clouds and frighten them. People used to look up at the sky in wonder.
2. because there was no electricity, he used to get up with the sun, and he used to go to bed with the sun, like the birds.
3. like the owl, he was able to see quite well in the dark. He was able to tell who was coming by listening to their footsteps.

Ans:

1. elephants could fly in the sky, like clouds. They could also change their shapes. They would fly behind clouds and frighten them. People would look up at the sky in wonder.
2. because there was no electricity, he would get up with the sun, and he would go to bed with the sun, like the birds.
3. like the owl, he could see quite well in the dark. He could tell who was coming by listening to their footsteps.

Writing

‘My Favourite Place’

Read again the paragraphs of the story in which the author describes the banyan tree, and what he used to do there. Is there a place in your house, or in your grandparents’ or uncles’ or aunts’ houses, that you specially like? Write a short paragraph about it, saying

• Where it is
• What you do there
• Why you like it

You may instead write about a place you dislike, or are afraid of.

Ans: There is a special spot in my grandparents’ garden that holds a dear place in my heart. It is a weathered wooden bench below the canopy of an ancient oak tree. This quiet corner offers a perfect escape from the chaos of everyday life. I often find myself there with a book in hand, the rustling leaves above providing a soothing backdrop to my reading. The gentle sway of the branches and the dim sunlight filtering through the leaves create a peaceful atmosphere. This spot is a cherished refuge from the demands of the world.

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Access Notes and NCERT Solutions of all Chapters of ‘A Pact with the Sun’ Here:

Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3
Chapter 4	Chapter 5	Chapter 6
	Chapter 7

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Idioms to Express Excitement	Synonyms of Huge	Antonyms of Misogyny
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