Atmiya Vidiyapeeth

Standard-10: Worksheet
Lesson-3
Understanding concepts and Q&A
Time: 1.5 hours Marks: 25

Two Stories About Flying

(i)His First Flight-Liam O’Flaherty
(ii) Black Aeroplane-Fredrick Forsyth

Introduction
Here are two stories that tell us about courage and tireless effort. In the first story, “His
First Flight” by Liam O’Flaherty, a seagull conquers his flight possible and he learns to fly.
In the second story, the writer Fredrick Forsyth gives an account of his own experience. He
was flying an old Dakota airplane over France to England. Suddenly he was surrounded by
black clouds and storm. It was almost a miracle that he was able to land his plane safely.
More than a miracle is the story of his courage and tireless efforts. We learn from these
stories that courage and hard work are necessary for any success.

About The Authors

Story-1: Liam O’Flaherty was born on 28 August 1896 in County Galway, Ireland. He was
an Irish novelist and short story writer and major figure in Irish Literary Renaissance. His
works combine brutal naturalism, psychological analysis, poetry, and biting satire with an
abiding respect for the Irish people.

Story-2: Frederick Forsyth was born on 25th August 1938 in England. He is an English
author, journalist, spy and occasional political commentator. Before becoming a journalist
he joined the RAF and was a jet fighter pilot.

Summary

Story:1 “His First Flight” by Liam O’Flaherty tells about the need for courage and self-
confidence to overcome fears in life. A young seagull looked desperately at the vast expanse
of water that stretched before him.

His parents, brothers and little sister had flown away and left him alone on the rock. There
was no food and he was hungry. He could not fly. Many a times he had tried to run forward
to the brink of the edge and flapped his wings. But he was afraid and felt that his wings
would not support him. Despite making countless efforts his parents could not persuade
him to make an attempt to fly.

He was starving and felt that he would die if he did not get any food. He saw his mother
tearing a piece o fish with her beak. When he cried out to her, she just screamed back
mockingly. Then he saw his mother approaching towards him with food which made him
very happy. But she stopped at a distance. He was very hungry, so he dived at the fish. His
mother flew upward and he started falling. He was terrified for a moment, but then he
realized that he was flying. In this way he made his first flight.
Story:2 In the lesson, “The Black Aeroplane”, a pilot of old Dakota aeroplane was flying in
the midnight over the sky of Paris. He wanted to reach England, so that he could join his
family at the time of breakfast. But unfortunately, he was passing through mountainous
black clouds. If he gets lost in the black clouds, there was no chance of his survival. But he
dared it willingly. As he was in the turmoil of black clouds, all his system failed to work. He
couldn’t communicate to anybody. Suddenly, he noticed a black aeroplane in front of him.
The pilot of plane instructed him to follow. So, he followed. He followed like a child, in the
meantime, his fuel tank was getting exhausted. Suddenly, he noticed a row of light on the
ground. It was the runway, an airport. He landed down and straightforward went to the
control room. He enquired about the other aeroplanes. But he was dumbstruck, when he
came to know that there was no aeroplane noticed on the radar that night. Many questions
remained unanswered, mysterious and unsolved. We as readers may believe that it could be
divine being, a guiding light, a ghost, a supernatural power/being guiding him. Or it could
be a fragment of writer’s imagination.

Themes

Story1: The story, “His First Flight”, brings home the point that fear is the most negative
feeling that block’s one’s progress. One can conquer it with courage and sincere efforts. It is
important to take the first important step, which is not always easy. In the story the young
seagull, afraid of flying, remains in his nest, as his parents, his siblings fly away. He turns
isolated knows that he will starve to death if he does not fly down from his high nest. It is his
mother, who with a fish in her beak, comes near the edge, falls down, stumbles, but then his
wings are spread. The first fear he experiences is gone. He finds himself flying. He soars
high and then comes down to touch the green sea. In this way he finally overcomes his fear
and learns how to fly.

Story2: It is difficult to decide whether the story ‘The Black Aeroplane’ is a mystery story
or not. It seems sometimes to the scientific world, the way in which the story is depicted. On
one hand we may doubt, on the other we may not deny the existence of such supernatural
happenings. We do not know, as readers, who was the pilot of the mysterious black
aeroplane who guided the narrator to land his Dakota safely amidst a dangerous storm.

We are, however, certain that the story points out to the heroic spirits of the narrator who
did not loose his nerve despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. He continued to make
sincere efforts with courage. That is why, he succeeded in landing his plane safely. The pilot
of the plane could be supernatural being, or a figment of his won fertile imagination.

Messages:

Story1: “His First Flight” conveys a very useful message to us. It says that we should never
allow fear to overcome us. If we remain fearful we lag behind others. Sometimes fear may
prove to be fatal. Whenever we face any kind of fearful situation we should take courage and
take the first step forward. If we move forward, we soon overcome fear. This is what the
young seagull in the story experiences. He is afraid of flying. However, once he comes out of
his nest, his fear is gone. He gains confidence and succeeds in his efforts of flying. So the
message is success comes to those who overcome all fears and move ahead.
Story2: “The Black Aeroplane” seems to be a mystery story. However, it clearly conveys us
the message that one must not give up in the face of troubles and obstacles. One needs to be
courageous and fearless. Only then can one hope to achieve success in one’s mission.
The narrator flying his Dakota over France is suddenly in the midst of a terrible storm. He
has inadequate fuel to fly up and over the stormy clouds. His all means of communication is
snapped. Even his compass does not work. He finds himself entirely on his own. When he
sees a pilot of a mysterious plane beckoning to him to follow him, he takes the risk and
follows him like a child. With heroic efforts he is able to land his plane safely.

Titles

Story1: The title of the story, ‘His First Flight’ is appropriate. The story relates the young
seagull’s maiden flight after he is stuck up in his high nest as a result of his fear of flying.
The title focus on a particular situation where a young seagull is trying to fly and is in
difficulty. He too, like his family, wants to fly and go down and catch and eat fish, as his
brothers and sisters are doing. But he finds no courage to take the first step. He becomes
hungry. Hunger forces him to come to ledge. When he suddenly falls down, he is seized with
sudden panic. But soon his wings are spread. He finds himself flying. The first flight fills
him with great joy and thrill. He goes up and down, and thus overcomes his fear.

Story2: The title of the story, “The Black Aeroplane” is quiet appropriate. The narrator
intends to focus on the fact of the mysterious black color aeroplane throughout the story.
When he finds is seen flying his Dakota over France finds a mysterious aeroplane flying
beside his, he is greatly surprised. The pilot of this mysterious plane seems to ask him to
follow him. It is this black mysterious plane that helps him and asks the narrator to follow
him, making the narrator and his plane land safely. And when he makes the enquiry about
the plane, he is shocked to learn that there had been no other plane than his in the sky that
night.
We are thus made to think beyond the text. What is the reality of the black aeroplane? Who
was piloting it? Was he a ghost or a supernatural being out to help the author in distress?
No rational answers to such questions are possible. The Balck Aeroplane continous to haunt
us.

I. On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any

five of the questions given below by choosing the most appropriate
option: (5 marks)

1. When was Liam O’Flaherty born? (1)

a. 28 August 1897
b. 28 August 1896
c. 28 August 1986.

2. What does “Fly high” mean?: (1)

a. To Fly along.
b. To be successful
c. To escape.
3. What does “Fly the coop” mean? (1)
a. To escape
b. To Fly along
c. To fly high

4. Here the word ’Black’ refers to__ (1)

a. Mystery.
b. Horror.
c. Romance.

5. The themes of the lessons are: (1)

a. Courage and fearlessness
b. Self-dependency.
c. Confidence and self-dependency.

Answer the following questions: (15 marks)

6. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? (2)

7. What risk does the narrator in story-2 take? (2)
8. What made the woman in control center look at
the narrator strangely? (2)
9. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the airplane
into the storm? (3)
10. “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does it suggest?
What compelled the young seagull to finally fly? (3)
11. Why according to you is it important to be courageous
and fearless? Justify your answer giving examples from
the lesson. (3)
12. Justify the Titles of the stories from the lesson in detail. (5)