The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Class 10 English · First Flight – Poems · Chapter 9
Visual story
Watch as storyTap a card to open it full-screen — swipe through like a story.
158 members in the CBSE community
View all
CBSE Class 10 · English
First Flight: what 34 board papers asked- Marks booster + cheatsheet: key concepts in 2 lines each, common traps
- 9 prose pieces, each summarised
- 10 poems with their poetic devices
- Common traps to avoid
- Long-answer pairs the board has set
- 10 marks each: grammar and writing formats
CBSE Class 10 · English
105 board questions, counted story by story- Marks booster + cheatsheet: key concepts in 2 lines each, common traps
- 9 stories: plot, characters, themes
- Character-sketch frames
- Common traps to avoid
- Diary-entry and long-answer frames
- Values in all 9 stories
CBSE Class 10 · English
Both English readers: what the board asked- 34 board papers counted for First Flight
- 105 board questions on Footprints, by story
- 9 prose pieces and 10 poems summarised
- 9 Footprints stories: plot, characters, themes
- 10 + 10 marks: Section B grammar and writing
- Traps + 12-question test in both kits
CBSE Class 10 · All available subjectsTrending
All 12 Class 10 kits: where board marks sit- Maths: 20 marks in Algebra, the biggest unit
- Science: 25 marks each in Units I and II
- English: what 34 board papers asked
- Geography: all 79 CBSE map items, by location
- Economics: all 20 marks, with 18 traps
- 12 kits, one per subject or book
The story in short
Ogden Nash’s “The Tale of Custard the Dragon” is a humorous ballad about a little girl named Belinda who lives in a small house with her pets — a kitten called Ink, a mouse called Blink, a little yellow dog called Mustard, and a dragon named Custard. While the others all boast of how brave they are, Custard the dragon is mocked for being a coward and always cries for a nice safe cage. One day, however, a fearsome pirate breaks into the house. The boastful Belinda and the brave-talking pets all panic and hide, but it is the so-called cowardly Custard who charges at the pirate and gobbles him up, saving everyone. Afterwards the others again pretend they were braver than Custard. Through this comic tale, Nash satirises false bravado and shows that those who boast loudest are often not the bravest, while true courage may lie in the most unexpected person. Appearances can be deceptive.
The story in 6 beats
- 1Belinda lives in a little white house with Ink, Blink, Mustard, and Custard, and each pet has a funny description.
- 2Everyone says they are very brave, but they call Custard a coward because he asks for a safe cage.
- 3Belinda and the pets keep laughing at Custard and make fun of his fear again and again.
- 4Suddenly a pirate enters the house with pistols, and Belinda, Ink, Blink, and Mustard all run away in fear.
- 5Custard bravely attacks the pirate, eats him up, and saves Belinda and all the pets.
- 6After the danger ends, the others boast again, but the poem shows that Custard is the truly brave one.