I am a king and I think, a just king. At least that is what my people say. The wise king Vikramaditya, they call me, the good King Vikramaditya. The granaries in my kingdom are bursting with grain, we are at peace with our neighbours and the sweet rain falls when it should, cooling the earth and minds of men. Then why am I, the fortunate king of such a kingdom, slashing my way through this dark and dense forest, which sees no light, either of the sun or of the fifteenth-day moon. No wind visits here and no raindrops fall. Yet the earth beneath my feet is cold and damp. It smells of dead water, of things that rot even before they grow, it stinks of never-ending decay. The darkness is an enemy, it shows me shapes that are shadows and shadows that are trees as thick as the wall of my fort. Large, hanging rings of wet, sticky, furry leaves fall across my face.
I had been brought up to be obedient and I can be obedient when I want to, though my mother would disagree. So I stayed quiet. He began, “I call this story ‘The Princess and the Three Kings’,” he said.
The sun, high in the blue sky, seemed to dim, as he began to tell his story. I smelt the green of dark trees, the moist earth, a dense black night. I was in a place that I didn't know and could hardly see. And yet I wasn’t afraid. I had been here before.
‘Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. When she grew up and it was time for her to marry, her father ....’
“Why am I, the fortunate king of such a kingdom, slashing my way through this dark and dense forest”
The quote from the passage indicates that the narrator is :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Pensive and contemplative
Pensive means deep in serious thought, and contemplative means thinking quietly and deeply about something. In the quote the king asks himself why he, who has everything, is cutting his way through a dark forest. A person who questions his own actions in this way is pensive and contemplative.
Example: He sat in a pensive mood, looking out of the window.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Angry and revengeful — Incorrect. Not mentioned: revengeful means wanting to hurt someone who has hurt you. The king is asking a question of himself; he shows no anger or wish for revenge.
Option 2: Waiting to replenish his granaries — Incorrect. Contradicted: to replenish is to fill up again. His granaries are already bursting with grain, so they need no refilling.
Example: The waiter replenished our glasses.
Option 4: Religious and weak — Incorrect. Not mentioned: the quote says nothing about religion, and a king slashing his way through a dense forest is not shown as weak.