Question

the woman with two skins
southern nigerian folktale
cyamba i of calabar was a very powerful king. he fought and conquered all the surrounding countries, killing all the old men and women, but the able - bodied men and girls he caught and brought back as slaves, and they worked on the farms and dry - plied.
this king had two hundred wives, but none of them had borne a son to him. his subjects, seeing that he was becoming an old man, begged him to marry one of the spider’s daughters, as they always had plenty of children. but when the king saw the spider’s daughter he did not like her, as she was ugly, and the people said it was because her mother had had so many children at the same time. however, in order to please his people he married the ugly girl, and placed her among his other wives, but they all complained because she was so ugly, and said she could not live with them. the king, therefore, built her a separate house for herself, where she was given food and drink the same as the other wives. every one jeered at her on account of her ugliness, but she was not really ugly, but beautiful, as she was born with two skins, and at her birth her mother was made to promise that she should never remove the ugly skin until a certain time arrived save only during the night, and that she must put on again before dawn. now the king’s head wife knew this, and was very fearful lest the king should find it out and fall in love with the spider’s daughter, so she went to a ju - ju man and offered him two hundred rods to make a potion that would make the king forget altogether that the spider’s daughter was his wife. that the ju - ju man finally consented to do, after much haggling over the price, for three hundred and fifty rods, and he made up some “medicine,” which the head wife mixed with the king’s food. for some months this had the effect of making the king forget the spider’s daughter, and he used to pass quite close to her without recognizing her in any way. when four months had elapsed and the king had not once seen adaha (the first was the name of the spider’s daughter), she began to get tired, and went back to her parents. her father, the spider, then took her to another ju - ju man, who, by making spells and casting lots, very soon discovered that it was the king’s head wife who had made the ju - ju and had enchanted the king so that he would not look at adaha. he therefore told the spider that adaha should give the king some medicine which he would prepare, which would make the king remember her. he prepared the medicine, for which the spider had to pay a large sum of money, and that very day adaha made a meal dish of food, into which she had placed the medicine, and presented it to the king. directly he had eaten the dish his eyes were opened and he recognized his wife, and bade her to come to him that very evening. so...
4 when the reader is told that the king’s “eyes were opened,” what does this mean in context?
a he literally opened his eyes.
b he became aware of adaha’s beauty.
c he became conscious of the need to sire a son.
d he saw that he had been foolish in his behavior.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the context. The king was under a spell to forget his wife (Adaha). After she gives him medicine, "his eyes were opened" means he regained awareness of his actions. Option A is literal and incorrect. Option B: The king already knew of her beauty (she had two skins, one ugly, one beautiful, but he was made to forget). Option C: The story is about his relationship with his wife, not just needing a son (he had many wives, issue was forgetting her). Option D: When the spell is broken, he realizes his previous behavior (being made to forget her, treating her poorly due to the spell) was foolish. So D fits.

Answer:

D. He saw that he had been foolish in his behavior