January Night Questions & Answers

Question 1: Why did the landlord come in search of Halku?

Answer: The landlord came in search of Halku to get his rent because Halku was a tenant
farmer so, he was supposed to pay rent to the landlord.
Question 2: Why did Munni want Halku to pay the landlord only after the harvest?
Answer: Munni wanted Halku to pay the landlord only after the harvest because they had only
three rupees which Halku had saved up to buy a blanket for the cold January nights. If he gave
that money to the landlord he would not have been able to buy a blanket therefore Munni
wanted Halku to pay the landlord only after the harvest.
Question 3: Why did Halku need a blanket?
Answer: Halku was a poor tenant farmer. He had to sleep in the fields at night to protect it from
animals. He needed a blanket immediately because he had to face the intense cold in the field
at night.
Question 4: Read the line and answer the questions:

 (a) Who is speaking and to whom?

Answer: Munni is speaking to Halku.
(b) Who is ‘him’ the speaker refers to?
Answer: The landlord is being referred to as ‘him’.
(c) What is the payment the speaker refers to?
Answer: The payment the speaker is referring to is the rent.
January Night Questions & Answers
Question 5: What was the other plan that Halku tried? Was that successful?
Answer: The other plan that Halku tried was to pass the January nights without having a
blanket. No, it was not successful because Halku could not tolerate the coldness of the January
Nights. Moreover, he lost his ripen crops.
Question 6: Why did Munni want Halku to give up tenant farming?
Answer: Munni wanted Halku to give up tenant farming because it meant working on
someone’s land, doing all the work and getting very little reward for it. Halku’s harvest used to
go to pay up the arrear and taxes and they had no money to feed themselves. So, Munni wanted
Halku to give up tenant farming.
Question 7: What does Munni mean when she says “Fine work, farming someone
else’s land’?
Answer: Munni gave a sarcastic comment to Halku. She wanted him to give up the tenant
farming because Halku’s harvests used to go to pay up the arrears. If he works as a hired
labourer then, at least some money will remain. So, according to Munni farming another
person’s land is a bad choice.
Question 8: Why did Halku look as though ‘he were tearing his heart out and giving it
away’?
Answer: Halku looked as if he was tearing his heart out and giving it away because he had to
give all his money to the landlord that he had saved pice by pice. This was the money that he
was saving to buy the blanket.
Question 9: How do we know that Halku loves his dog a great deal? Give two
examples of how he shows his love?
Answer: The two examples are:
i. He had told Jabra to stay in the house and enjoy the comfort of the warm straw.
ii. He hugged his dog tightly and didn’t mind its smell.
January Night Questions & Answers
Question 10: Why did Jabra probably think he was in heaven?
Answer: Jabra’smaster held him in his lap and hugged him. He felt warm and comfortable and
probably thought that he was in heaven.
Question 11: Read the line and answer the questions:
“This is the reward you get for farming”.
(a) Who says this and to whom?
Answer: Halku is speaking to Jabra.
(b) When does the speaker make this statement?
Answer: The speaker makes this statement when he and Jabra go to guard the field on a cold
January night.
(c) What is the reward that the speaker mentions?
Answer: The speaker is making a sarcastic remark about having to guard the field on a cold
night at the same time not being able to reap any income or savings as he looks after someone
else’s field. There is actually no reward in his work apart from suffering the cold nights and
making no money therefore he makes this statement.
Question 12: Why did Halku look up to the skies?
Answer: Halku looked up at the skies to see how much of the night was left. According to him,
since the dipper had not yet climbed half the sky, it would last another three hours or so.
Question 13: Why did Halku feel proud when he lit the fire?
Answer: Halku felt proud when he lit the fire because it warmed his entire body and he felt as
though he could challenge the cold.
Question 14: Read the lines and answer the questions:
“In the flickering light the immense trees of the grove looked as though they were carrying a vast
darkness on their heads”.
(a) Where was the light coming from?
Answer: The light was coming from the fire that Halku lit.
(b) Where was the grove?
Answer: The grove was just beside Halku’s field.
(c) Who was in the grove at this time and what were they doing?
Answer: Only Halku and his dog Jabra were in the grove collecting leaves to build a fire.
January Night Questions & Answers
Question 15: How did Halku know that there were some animals in the field? How did
he react?
Answer: Sitting by the side of the burning leaves, Halku was warming himself and became
drowsy. Meanwhile, Jabra ran towards the field giving a loud bark. Halku heard the munching
and crunching of the animals but because he felt so warm near the fire he found himself unable
to get up to tend to his field. He also thought that with Jabra around no animal to harm the
field.
Question 16: The whole field was ruined. How did Halku feel about it? How did
Munni feel?
Answer: Since Halku had dozed off, the entire field was ruined. When Munni came in the
morning, she saw that the entire field had been ruined and that Halku had gone off to sleep. Her
face was shadowed with grief because she knew that they would not be able to pay off their
debts and they would have no crop for the harvest. Halku on the other hand, was content
because he knew that he could now work as a hired labourer, pay off his debts and save some
money for them to eat.
Question 17: Fill in the Blanks:
(a) The landlord had come to collect money from Halku.
(b) Close to Halku’s field there was a mango grove.
(c) Munni wanted to pay the money after the harvest.
(d) Wild animals/ Nilgai were eating his field.
(e) Halku embraced Jabra with the same affection he would have felt for a brother.
(f) Munni’s face was shadowed with grief but Halku was content.
(g) Munni wanted Halku to work as a hired labourer.
Question 18: Answer the following in one word:
(a) Who is the writer of ‘January Night’?
Answer: Premchand
(b) Premchand is originally known as……….
Answer: Dhanpat Rai
(c) Premchand’s which book was banned by the British Govt.?
Answer: Soje Vatan
(d) Who was Halku?
Answer: A tenant farmer.
(e) Who was Munni?
Answer: Halku’s wife.
(f) Who was Jabra?
Answer: Halku’s pet dog.
(g) How much money did Halku have?
Answer: Three rupees.
(h) For what Halku was saving money?
Answer: For buying blanket.
(i) All the money that Halku saved was spent on……
Answer: Paying off debts.
(j) What did Halku do to survive in the cold?
Answer: Burnt mango leaves.
(k) Which animals were destroying the crop? nilgai
.1. How many characters are there in the story ‘January Night’? List them.

Ans. There are three characters in the story ‘January Night’. They are Halku, Munni, Jamindar and
Jabra.
Q. 2. Who was Halku ?

Ans. Halku was a tenant farmer.

Q.3. What was the present problem of Halku ?

Ans. Halku was surrounded in a debt-trap. He had saved some money for him to buy a blanket but
the landlord forced his to pay the money for rent.

Q.4. Why did Halku need a blanket?

Ans. Halku was a poor tenant farmer. He had to sleep in the fields at night. He needed a blanket
immediately because he had to face intense cold in the fields at night.

Q.5. How were Halku’s crops destroyed ?

Ans. Halku went there with his dog Jabra to guard the yield but they proved to be a failure as the
wild animals ruined the yield.

Q. 6. What were the main problems before Halku and his wife Munni ?

Ans. The main problems before Halku and Munni were to guard their crops in the severe cold of
January without a rug and to pay the dues of the landlord.

Q. 7. How did Halku take his failure ?

Ans. Halku took this very lightly. He said that now, at least, I won’t have to go out in the night.
Q.8. What kind of a woman was Munni ?

Ans. Munni was the wife of Halku. As a typical housewife, she was very concerned about her
incomes and husband. However, she was in great troubles due to poverty.

Q.9. Who was Munni? Why did Munni suggested Halku to give up tenant farming ? Or,Sketch
the character of Munni.

Ans. Munni was the wife of Halku, a poor tenant farmer. Munni advised Halku to give up farming
and to work as a hired labour. By doing so he at least got enough food to eat from it. He should
not have to pay land rent. In farming whatever he earned he threw back into it and got insulted in
the bargain.

Q.10. What happened to their yield ?

Ans. Halkı went there with his dog Jabra to guard the yield i they proved to be a failure as the wild
animals ruined the yield.

Q.11. Why didn’t they go to save the yield ?

Ans. They were under the state of extreme cold and even their body didn’t support them to work.

Q. 12. Give the main idea of the story ?Or, Give the main idea of the story January Night;

Ans. The story touches different aspects of life. There are a number of things which can be learnt
from the story, like the understanding power of animals, the concerns of a housewife. Mostly, it
deals with the attitude and approach of life. Halku, the main character, lies in a very poor state and
is surrounded with problems all around him always.

Q. 13. Sketch the character of Halku.

Ans. Halku was a poor tenant farmer. He worked hard but he could not get enough food. Whatever
he earned was spent in paying up the arrears. So, he was always in debt. He was self-respected
person and so he could not buy a blanket and paid the money to the landlord to save his dignity.
Halku was very fond of his pet dog, Jabra who was his constant companion.

Q. 14. How many characters are there in the story ‘January Night’? Whom dą you like most?
Give reasons for your choice ?

Ans. There are mainly three characters Halku, his wife Munni and their Dog Jabra. Among them
Halku is the most impressive character according to me. He was in great trouble to have money
but still he faced it with great courage and bold attitude.

Q. 15. Who was Halku? How were his crops destroyed ?

Ans. Halku was a poor tenant farmer. He had to sleep in his field without a blanket in the cold
nights of January. One night he found the cold unbearable. So, he could not drive away the wild
animals which distroyed his crops.

Q. 16. Who was Jabra ?Or, Describe Jabra.

Ans. In the story January Night, Jabra is a dog who feels all the problems of Halku. He was with
Halku in January Night at Halku’s field. He always accompany Halku, and also guarded his field
alone in the January night.

Q.17. Suppose you are Munni, the landlord comes to your house, asks you to pay the rent.
What will you do then ?

Ans. If I would have been in Munni’s place I would have tried to request him to grant us some time
to pay off his debt because if I would have paid him now then I would be in great trouble. I know it
would have been tough for me like him but I would have done my best for my husband’s sake.

Q.18. Animals also passess the ability to understand human feeling. Elaborate this
statement keeping in view the role of. Jabra in the story.
Ans. Animals also have a heart and a power to understand. As we have seen in this story, Jabra the
dog was very intimate to his master, Halku. He was ready to lose all his comfort for the sake of I his
master’s welfare. Even in the cold night of January he faced the cold and wild animals alone. This
shows how deeply he understood i his master.

Q.19. Haiku didn’t go to the field even when he know that animals were devouring the
crops. Had you been there what i would you have done ?

Ans. Halku didn’t go to the field even knowing that animals 1 were there. He was in a very helpless
condition at that time. If I s would have been in his place I would have tried to go to the field. I But
if the circumstances and my body would have forced me then í may be I also would have turned
helpless.

Q.20. Who was Munni and why was she angry with Haiku ?

Ans. Munni was the wife of Halku. Her husband could not save enough money for food and clothes
after paying rent to the 1 landlord. Munni was a practical and bold woman. She knew that it was
very difficult for her husband to sleep in his field without a blanket in cold winter nights. So, when
Halku was determined to give the saved money to the landlord and to live without blanket, he
became angree.

Q.21. Focus the role of Jabra in the story January Night. Or, Ellaborate the role of Jabra in the
story’ January Night.

Ans. In the story ‘January Night’, Jabra is a dog who feels all the problems of Halku. He was with
Halku in January Night at Halku’s field. When Halku could not bear the cold he picked Jabra up and
put his hand in his lap. Jabra could not oppose. When Jabra listened the noise of animals he woke
up and ran towards the field barking.