Ajamil and The Tigers

Chapter Summary

Ajamil and the Tigers is a satiric fable and in this poem, the animals are presented in a form of characters. Fable is considered to be included both the characters of animals as well as mythical. In this form, the animals have given verbal communication and the story with a moral lesson. The present poem describes the story of how Ajamil as well as King of tigers make an agreement.

Ajamil is a shepherd here and his sheep are guarded by a trustworthy sheepdog.

The effect of this matter is that the tigers are not able in hunting the sheep and they get starved. They complain to their king and he goes to confront the dog but gets defeated. Later the king came to Ajamil as a friend and enjoyed dinner together. They make an agreement and the agreement says that Ajamil offers the tigers sheep in exchange for peace.

The poem has a literal level and a figurative level. Why has the poet chosen ‘Tigers’ and ‘Sheep’ to convey his message?

This poem has presented both the figurative model as well as the literal level and it is called a satire on modern politics. Here people are sheep, warriors are sheepdogs, politicians are compared with Ajamil. In this part, the tigers are presented as the countries that try to attack other nations. Here sheep is presented for describing the matter of innocence. The innocence of people is described here whereas the tigers present other nations’ cruelty who tried to harm other nations.

What facet of political life does the behaviour of Ajamil illustrate?

The poem Ajamil and the Tigers is considered to be a political satire, and here, Ajamil as well as the Tigers present the politicians that are corrupted and the subjects who are oppressed. The sheep mainly represent the mass as well as the mob whereas the sheepdog is the incarnation of the army.

This poem presents that the brave dog brought all the tigers as war prisoners. It is presented that Ajamil did not punish them and instead of this he signed a treaty friendship with them. It mainly means that the politician's lack of confidence within the army is the reason for the prisoners getting hospitality in place of punishment.

Why did Ajamil refuse to meet the sheepdog’s eyes?

The sheepdog is presented as a great warrior and he was capable of winning all the wars against the tigers. Therefore, Ajamil knows the fact that the sheepdog would not be happy in seeing the sign of the treaty with that the tigers. That is the reason he did not want to meet the eyes of the sheepdog. He in this part did not want to change his decision of making peace with the tigers and he avoided the eyes of the sheepdog.

The fact was known to Ajamil that the sheepdog was the great warrior and he will not agree to any kind of treaty that he can overcome. He can win against the tigers and he will disagree with the matter of a treaty with the tigers. Ajamil did not want to change his decision and that is the reason he did not look at the dog.

Why the words, ‘pretended’ and ‘seemed’ been used in the following lines: ...pretended to believe every single word of what the tiger king said. And seemed to be taken in by all the lies. How does the sense of these lines connect with the line ‘Ajamil wasn’t a fool’?

The poem presents that Ajamil was an intelligent person and he knows well the fact that he had signed a treaty but it is not permanent. He was sure about the fact that whenever the tigers will get the change they would attack them. Although he wanted the fact he signed the treaty for some temporary peace. That is the reasons the words pretended as well as seemed are used for expressing the feelings of Ajamil that he had no trust in the tigers.

Those words prove the intelligence of Ajamil as well as his nature of peace-making. The fact was clear to him that the tigers are pretending to make the agreement and they can cheat as well as attack the sheep any day. He wanted to make a temporary peace ad that is the reason he signed the agreement after knowing about the facts.

FAQs

Q1. Who is the author of the poem Ajamil and the Tigers?

Ans. The poem Ajamil and the Tigers is written by the famous poet Arun Kolatkar. This poem is called a political satire and it mainly represents the subject’s plight that is oppressed by the corrupt politicians. It mainly presents a story that talk about a shepherd who made an agreement with the king of Tigers for restoring peace between the two communities.

Q2. What does the phrase a common bond refer to?

Ans. The phrase represents a common bond between the sheep as well as the tigers in the poem Ajamil and the Tigers. Here it is presented that all the animals whether it is weak or strong live in the same land as well as drink the same water. All of them had lived for a common good and these matters are referred to by the phrase.

Q3. What is a fable poem?

Ans. Fable is considered to be a story which can be written in prose or verse and concludes with a moral. These poems applied personification and allows animals’ verbal communication.