1.

Chief Seattle’s Speech

Chief Seattle (1786-1866)

In 1854, the “Great White Chief” in Washington made an

offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a
“reservation” for the Indian people. Chief Seattle was an
important Native American leader in the middle of the 19th
century. He was considered very wise by everyone. It is said
that he delivered a heartfelt speech to the governor of the
state of Washington. It was a memorable speech because of
its recognition of the necessity to preserve the land, an
important and timely topic today. A translation of the
speech was published in the Seattle Sunday Star newspaper
on October 28, 1857.

Extract I

"Yonder sky that has wept tears … greetings of

friendship and goodwill."
Question (i): Who speaks these words? Give the meaning
of:

“Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my

people for centuries untold”

Answer (i): These words are spoken by Chief Seattle.

It means that circumstances have been favourable for his

people for countless centuries. His tribe has prospered and
reached its glory during this period.

Question (ii): Why does the speaker say “tomorrow it may

be overcast with clouds”?

Answer (ii): Chief Seattle fears that the day is not far when
their race might disappear. Seattle says this because he has
to take tough decision of surrendering their land to White
people in return for protection from lurking enemy tribes.

Question (iii): Who is the ‘Great Chief at Washington’?

What has the Great Chief done to Seattle and his people?
Answer (iii): Seattle believes that George Washington, the
first President of the United States of America, is the Great
Chief at Washington.

The Great Chief has sent kind greetings of friendship and

goodwill to Seattle and his people.

Question (iv): How much are Seattle’s words reliable as far

as the Great Chief is concerned?

Answer (iv): Seattle’s words are like stars that never change.
Whatever he says the Great Chief at Washington can rely
upon with as much certainty as he can upon the return of
the sun or the seasons.

Question (v): Briefly state the reaction of Chief Seattle to

the greetings sent by the Big Chief at Washington?

Answer (v): Chief Seattle says that Big Chief at Washington

was being kind to them for sending greetings of friendship
and goodwill, even if he has little need for their friendship in
return.
Extract II

"His people are many. … in need of an extensive

country."

Question (i): Compare the number of Chief Seattle’s people

with that of the White Chief. How does the narrator
illustrate this fact?

Answer (i): Chief Seattle’s people are few and resemble the
scattering trees of storm-swept plain, whereas, White
Chief’s people are many like the grass that covers the vast
prairies.

Question (ii): What message does the White Chief send to

the native people?

Answer (ii): The White Chief conveyed the message of

buying the land of native people. The natives will have to
surrender their land to the White people and have to move
away from their ancestor’s land to the land reserved for
them.
Question (iii): A little later, how does Seattle describe that
his people were numerous once upon a time?

Answer (iii): Seattle says that there was a time in the past
when his people covered the land as the waves of a wind-
ruffled sea covers its shell-paved floor.

Question (iv): State the message sent by the White Chief to

the native people. What is the reaction of Chief Seattle to
the message?

Answer (iv): White Chief sent a message expressing his wish

to buy the land of the native people and was willing to offer
them enough land to live comfortably.

Chief Seattle reacted by saying that the message appeared

just, even generous, for the Red Man no longer has rights on
their land, and the offer of reservation for native people
seemed to be wise as their population was declining and are
no longer in need for an extensive country.

Question (v): What happened when the White man began

to push the natives Westward? Should the native people
take revenge on the White men? Why?
Answer (v): When the White man began to push the natives
Westward the impulsive young men of Seattle’s tribe grew
angry and launched revengeful action against the White
man. White men were more in number and powerful, any
attempt at revenge would be futile and wholly self-
destructive. Moreover, old men who stay at home in times of
war and mothers who have young sons to lose would have
lost everything and gained nothing.

Extract III

"Our good father in Washington … women,

children and old men."

Question (i): Who is referred to as our father in Washington?

Since when he has become “our father and your father”?

Answer (i): George Washington, the first President of The

United States of America is referred to as “our father in
Washington”.

Since King George had moved his boundaries to the north,

he has become the father of the Native Americans.
Question (ii): A little earlier, Chief Seattle exclaims that
“youth is impulsive”. Why does he say that? What does it
reflect about his character?

Answer (ii): Chief Seattle exclaimed that “youth is

impulsive” because when young men grow angry at some
real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black
paint, their hearts, also, are disfigured and turn black, and
then their cruelty is relentless and knows no bounds, and
the old men are not able to restrain them. Indulgence in
violent conflicts caused bloodshed and loss of lives of
several young natives contributing to decline in their
population.

Chief Seattle is pragmatically evaluating the proposal for

surrendering the natives’ land to the Whites. He is
attempting to reconcile with the Whites by saying that it
was his youth who reacted impulsively to real or imaginary
threat from the White men and only Whites cannot be
blamed for the crisis natives are facing today. He needs help
and is opening himself to the Whites in response to their
proposal, and looking forward to having peaceful and
friendly relationship with them so as to secure his people
against attacks from their sworn enemy tribes.
Question (iii): Under what condition is the good father going
to protect the native people? What is meant by “bristling
wall of strength”?

Answer (iii): The good father would protect Seattle’s people

from their ancient tribal enemies like Haidas and
Tsimshians, by deploying his brave warriors and wonderful
ships of war, only if they submitted to his desires by selling
their land and retiring to the reserved land.

“Bristling wall of strength” refers to the white people’s brave

warriors who will provide them strength and will protect
them from their ancient enemies.

Question (iv): Who are Haidas and Tsimshians? How will

they cease to frighten the natives?

Answer (iv): They are two tribes who constantly engaged in

violent conflict with the Suquamish tribe. Haidas are
indigenous people of North America. Tsimshians are North
American Indians of the North-west Coast.
The White Chief’s brave warriors will be to natives a
bristling wall of strength, and his wonderful ships of war
will fill the harbours so that their ancient enemies will cease
to frighten their women, children, and old men.

Question (v): How does Chief Seattle prove that White

man’s God is not the God of the natives?

Answer (v): Chief Seattle proves that White man’s God is not
the God of natives because He is partial and does not treat
natives justly. He loves White people and hates natives. He
folds his strong arms lovingly around the White man and
leads him as a father leads his infant son, but shows no
compassion for the Red man. He makes White people strong
every day but does not care about Red People who are on the
brink of extinction.

Extract IV

“Our God, the Great Spirit … dreams of returning

greatness?”

Question (i): Who is referred to as the God of the natives?

Why does he seem to have forgotten them?
Answer (i): The Great Spirit is referred to as the God of the
natives.

The natives who had once filled the vast land were on the
brink of extinction. Seattle believed that the Great Spirit
seemed to have forsaken his people because their
population is ebbing away like rapidly receding tide that
would never return.

Question (ii): Why are the natives compared to the

receding tide and are called orphans?

Answer (ii): The natives are compared to the receding tide

because their population was rapidly declining and had
reached the point of extinction. Seattle believed that their
God, the Great Spirit, had forsaken his people and the white
man’s God was partial and only loved and favoured white
people. Seattle calls the natives orphans because they have
been forsaken by the gods, both their and that of White
man’s, and could look nowhere for help and protection.

Question (iii): Why does the Chief say ‘that if there was a
common father for both races, he must be partial?

Answer (iii): The chief said that if there was a common

Heavenly Father for both races He must be partial because
He protects and leads His paleface children like a father but
has forsaken His Red children. He makes the White people
stronger every day but has no concerns for well-being of His
Red children who are facing extinction. He gave laws to be
followed by White men but never spoke any words for His
Red children.

Question (iv): Finally, the Chief says “We are two distinct
races with separate origins and separate destinies”. Give
examples to prove this statement.

Answer (iv): The Red people are native inhabitant of the

land whereas White people are settlers who originally
belonged to European countries and had occupied the lands
of the natives. The White people are becoming powerful and
their population is growing, whereas, the population of the
natives is rapidly declining and is destined to get extinct
soon.

Question (v): How does the speech of the Chief show that
his people were oppressed?
Answer (v): Rapid decline in natives’ population, hastened
by atrocities of White settlers, rendered them weak and
exposed them to attacks from enemy tribes of Haidas and
Tsimshians. The Whites seized this opportunity to capture
the land of natives by pressing Seattle into signing the
unjust land treaty. In return, the Whites would allow them
enough reserved land to live comfortably. The Big Chief
imposes condition upon Seattle that he would protect them
from their tribal enemies, by deploying his brave warriors
and wonderful ships of war, only if they submitted to his
desires. This shows that Whites oppressed Seattle’s people
by exercising unfair authority on them and did not respect
their land rights.

Extract V

“Your religion was written … hearts of our

people.”

Question (i): Give the meaning of

(a): tablets of stone.

Answer (a): It refers to the words written onto stone tablets
that later were brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses.
The tablets were also known as Ten Commandments.

(b): iron finger of your God.

Answer (b): It refers to finger of the God which engraved

rules on stone tablets for Christians so that they cannot
forget.

Question (ii): What was the Red Man’s religion?

Answer (ii): The Red Man’s religion was traditions of their

ancestors. Their ancestors had received it from the Great
Spirit in their dreams in the solemn hours of the night. Their
religion also embodied the visions of their sachems and was
written in the hearts of their people.

Question (iii): Compare the religion of White Man with that

of the Red Man.

Answer (iii): According to Seattle, the White Man’s religion

was written upon tablets of stone by the iron finger of their
God so that they could not forget. On the other hand, the
Red Man’s religion is the traditions of their ancestors and is
written in the hearts of their people. Unlike the White men
who have forgotten their ancestors, the natives have honour
and reverence for their ancestors who had received their
religion from the Great Spirit, and seek guidance from them.
Natives consider ashes of their ancestors sacred and their
resting place is hallowed ground, whereas, White men
wander far from the graves of their ancestors and seem to
have no regret.

Question (iv): How can you conclude that natives are more
dependent on their ancestors than the White men?

Answer (iv): The natives have honour and reverence for

their ancestors who had received their religion from the
Great Spirit. Their religion is written in the hearts of their
people and is the traditions of their ancestors. Natives
consider ashes of their ancestors sacred and their resting
place is hallowed ground. They love to stay in the land
where their ancestors’ memories are alive.

Question (v): What does Seattle say about Christianity?

Answer (v): Seattle says that the White men followed

Christianity which was written upon tablets of stone by the
iron finger of their God so that they could not forget. Seattle
says that their God is partial and hates native people. He
gave laws to them but had no words for natives.

Extract VI

“Your dead cease to love … console and comfort

them.”

Question (i): Why do the dead of the White men cease to

love their land and their people?

Answer (i): White Men’s dead cease to love their land and
people because their connection with them is confined to
the physical realm. All their lives they have limited
experience obtained only through materialistic bond with
their surroundings. And when death snaps the bond, they
have no means to experience this world. Thus, they forget
their land and people as soon as they pass the portals of the
tomb and wander away beyond the stars, never to return.

Question (ii): On the other hand, what do the dead of the

Red man do to their living?
Answer (ii): The dead Red men forever yearn in tender fond
affection over the lonely hearted living and often return to
visit and comfort, guide and console them.

Question (iii): What proposal was put forward to the Red

man by the Great White Chief?

Answer (iii): The Great White Chief proposed to buy the land
of native people. In return, he would allow them enough
reserved land to live comfortably. Also, he would protect
Seattle’s people from their ancient tribal enemies Haidas
and Tsimshians, only if they submitted to his desires.

Question (iv): What is the impact of the proposal on the

Red man and the White man?

Answer (iv): The Red man will have to vacate the native
land where their dead ancestors, friends and children are
entombed and retire to the reserved land offered by the
White man. The White man will become rulers of the land
and, in return, deploy their brave warriors to protect the
natives from ancient enemy tribes of Haidas and
Tsimshians.
Question (v): What role do the dead Red men play for the
living? How do the dead Red men show that they are an
intimate part of nature?

Answer (v): The dead Red men forever yearn in tender fond
affection over the lonely hearted living and often return to
visit and comfort, guide and console them.

The dead Red men never forget this beautiful world that
gave them being. They still love its verdant valleys,
murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains, its
sequestered vales and verdant lined lakes and bays. Their
spirits throng the places they still love.

Extract VII

“Tribe follows tribe and nation … brothers after

all. We will see.”

Question (i): How has the Chief shown earlier that he is not
happy about the fate of his people?
Answer (i): The Chief shows his unhappiness about the fate
of his people by saying that the Indian’s night promises to be
dark. No bright star hovers about the horizon. Sad-voiced
winds moan in the distance. Grim fate seems to be on the
red man’s trail, and wherever he goes he will still hear the
sure approaching footsteps of the fell destroyer and prepare
to meet his doom, as does the wounded doe that hears the
approaching footsteps of the hunter. Chief feels that his
people’s days are numbered and soon their race will
disappear.

Question (ii): What is the order of nature referred to by the

Chief? How does he hint that justice will be done at the
end?

Answer (ii): The Chief refers to the order of nature where

one tribe or nation which has risen to zenith of its glory
definitely falls to its nadir one day and is followed by
another tribe or nation starting next cycle of rise and fall,
like the waves of the sea.

Seattle believes that similar destiny is awaiting the White

man, and like the natives, that time will come when the
Whites would also be moving towards their inevitable doom.
This is how justice will be done at the end.

Question (iii): What is referred to: ‘White man’s God who

walked and talked with him?’

Answer (iii): This is a reference to the Biblical God and his

Ten Commandments that always supported and guided the
White men.

Question (iv): Give the meaning and significance of:

‘We may be brothers after all.’

Answer (iv): Seattle believes that just as tribe follow tribe

and nation follow nation, destiny similar to that of Red Man
is awaiting the White Man, and like the natives, that time
will come when the Whites would also be moving towards
their inevitable doom. It would be then that the White men
and Red men would share a common destiny like brothers.

Question (v): What could be the common destiny of man?

Give the hints given in the extract to show that the Chief
foresees the unity of all human beings?
Answer (v): The common destiny of man is that his death is
inevitable. Red man’s death is near and White man’s time of
decay may be distant, but it will surely come. It is through
the White man’s decay the Seattle foresees the unity of all
beings. He says: ‘we may be brothers after all. We will see.’

Extract VIII

“In all the earth there … White man will never be

alone.”

Question (i): Explain why there is “no place dedicated to

solitude”?

Answer (i): The natives believe that in all the earth there is
no place dedicated to solitude. Their dead visit this world as
spirits and even after the last Red man has vanished from
this earth the shores will still swarm with the invisible dead.
Though the White men might think they are alone in the
fields, the forests, the shops, the highways, or in the silence
of the pathless woods, they will not be alone. At night when
the streets of the cities and villages are silent and the White
Man might think them to be deserted, they will throng with
the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this
beautiful land.

Question (ii): When do the shadowy spirits visit the places?

Answer (ii): At night when the streets of White men’s town

and cities are quiet, and the White Man might think them
deserted, the shadowy spirits visit the places that they still
love.

Question (iii): When would the memory of the tribe be a

myth among the White men?

Answer (iii): After the last Red man had vanished from the
natives’ land, the memory of the tribe would become a myth
among the White men children’s children.

Question (iv): What is the attitude of the dead towards the

objects of nature?

Answer (iv): The dead Red men never forget this beautiful
world that gave them being. They still love its verdant
valleys, murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains, its
sequestered vales and verdant lined lakes and bays. Their
spirits visit the places that they still love.

Question (v): Explain how does the speech of the Chief

reflect upon the theme of changing human life to another
form.

Answer (v): The dead Red men never forget this beautiful
world that gave them being. They still love its verdant
valleys, murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains, its
sequestered vales and verdant lined lakes and bays. At
evening the forests are dark with the presence of the dead.
At night when the streets of White men’s town and cities are
quiet, and thought to be deserted the shadowy spirits visit
the places that they still love. Though the White men might
not feel their presence, they will not be alone, as the
invisible spirits of the dead Red men will throng the fields,
the forests, the shops, the highways, or the quiet of the
woods. Chief Seattle tells the white people to be just and
deal kindly with his people, for the dead are not powerless.
In the end Seattle says “There is no death, only a change of
worlds”.
 2. Old Man at the Bridge

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

The narrator in “The Old Man at the Bridge” by Ernest

Hemingway is going to a bridge across Ebro River to check
how far the enemy army has advanced. Near the bridge
there is an old man who is sitting in the dust and seems too
tired to move. He chats with the man and finds out that he
is coming from a town called San Carlos, 12 kilometres
away. The old man was the last to leave the town, and his
duty was to take care of some animals.

Extract I

"There was a pontoon bridge across the river…..he

was too tired to go any further"

Question (i): What is a pontoon bridge? Why are many

people crossing the bridge?
Answer (i): A Pontoon bridge is made up of large air-tight
containers which are connected together and laid across a
river or canal. The containers have a track laid on top for
pedestrian and vehicles travel.

The story is set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Many
people are crossing the bridge over the Ebro River to get to a
safe distance from artillery attack of advancing Fascist army.

Question (ii): Where is the old man sitting? Unlike others,

why doesn’t he move?

Answer (ii): The old man is sitting by the side of a road near
a pontoon bridge. Unlike others he does not move because
he has already walked twelve kilometres and is too tired to
walk any further.

Question (iii): Who is the speaker in the above extract?

Why is he there?

Answer (iii): The unnamed narrator of the story is the

speaker. He is a soldier on a mission to cross the bridge and
find out how far the enemy has advanced.
Question (iv): What is the first question that the narrator
asks the old man? What does he answer? Why does the
old man smile?

Answer (iv): The narrator asked the old man where he came
from. The old man answered that he came from a place
named San Carlos. The man smiled as it was a pleasure to
him to mention his native land.

Question (v): Why is the old man the last one to leave his
town? Describe his physical appearance.

Answer (v): He was the last one to leave his town because he
was taking care of his animals.

The old man is wearing black dusty clothes and steel

rimmed spectacles. His face is grey and dusty.

Extract II

He did not look like a shepherd…. “What animals

were they?”
Question (i): Who is referred to as He in the extract above?
In what condition is he?

Answer (i): The old man is referred as He in the given

extract.

He is in shabby condition as his clothes are dusty and his

face has turned grey. He is sitting by the side of the road
exhausted and is reluctant to climb up the steep bank and
cross the bridge.

Question (ii): What all animals did he own? What kind of

relationship did he share with them?

Answer (ii): He owned three types of animals; two goats, one

cat and four pairs of pigeons. He loved his animals and spent
his time looking after them. The impending war forced him
to abandon the animals but he kept on worrying about them
and expressed his concerns with the soldier several times.

Question (iii): What did he do with the animals? What

forced him to do so?

Answer (iii): He left the animals behind in his native town of

San Carlos. The town had come under heavy artillery firing
from enemy and the Captain of the army told him to leave
the town.

Question (iv): Why doesn’t the old man cross the bridge
and escape to a safer place?

Answer (iv): The old man knew nobody in the direction the
trucks were heading. The only family he had was his pet
animals whom he was forced to abandon. He loved his
native town and pet animals and was reluctant to leave
them behind. He had seemingly surrendered himself to his
fate and claimed he was too tired to go any further.

Question (v): What do the incidents in the story show

about the consequences of the war?

Answer (v): The incidents in the story take place during the
Spanish Civil War. The story conveys the plight of innocent
victims especially old people who are alone. The old man
becomes a symbol of the countless civilian who have to
leave their homes as victims of war with which they have
nothing to do. He is helpless and sits on road near the bridge
faced with the inevitability of death.
Extract III

“I am without politics…..forks for Tortosa.”

Question (i): What does the old man mean when he states,
“I am without politics”? Why does he mention his age?

Answer (i): The old man means to say that he does not hold
any political view and is not siding with any group in the
civil war. He mentions his old age to explain his neutral
standpoint on the ongoing civil war.

Question (ii): Describe the old man’s appearance. What

was he doing in San Carlos?

Answer (ii): The old man wore steel rimmed spectacles; his
clothes were black and dusty and his face had turned grey
from dust. In San Carlos, he was taking care of his animals.

Question (iii): The narrator says “This is not a good place

to stop.” Which place is he referring to? Why is it not
advisable to halt there?
Answer (iii): The place being referred to is a pontoon bridge
across Ebro River. The place is 12 kilometres from San Carlos
in Spain.

It was not advisable to halt there as the Ebro delta had

turned into a war zone and advancing enemy troops were
set to overrun the region.

Question(iv): What advice does the narrator give to the old

man? How does the old man react to it?

Answer (iv): The narrator advised the old man to cross the
bridge as it was not safe place to stop there, and catch one of
the trucks standing near the point on the road where it
forked for Tortosa.

The old man seemed unconcerned about his safety and said
that he would wait a while and then he would go.

Question (v): Explain why the old man finally resigns to his
fate.

Answer (v): The old man was forced to abandon his pet
animals and his hometown he loved so much. He was weary
of walking twelve kilometres and could not walk any
further. He had no family and did not know anybody in the
direction where the trucks were heading. He was seventy-six
years old and could not participate in the civil war in any
role. He felt devastated as the civil war snatched away
everything he had. He was too tired, had nowhere to go, was
left behind with nobody to help him climb the steep slope of
the bank and cross the bridge. He resigned himself to his
fate and waited for his impending death.

Extract IV

“He looked at me very blankly and tiredly….think

about others?”

Question (i): Why does the old man look blank and tired?
How can you say that the old man needed someone to talk
to?

Answer (i): The old man was forced to flee his native town
and abandon his pet animals, his only family. He knew
nobody in the direction trucks were heading. Feeling of
responsibility for his animals in addition to his lack of
motivation to cross the bridge made him blank. Besides, he
was seventy-six years old and had walked twelve kilometers
to reach the pontoon bridge so he was tired.

The man got engaged himself in prolonged conversation

with the narrator about his animals and native place. That
shows that he needed someone to talk to.

Question (ii): What is the cause of old man’s worry and

guilt?

Answer (ii): The old man believed that it was his

responsibility to watch over the cat, the goats and the
pigeons. He was filled with worry and guilt for abandoning
the animals and doing nothing to ensure their safety and
well-being.

Question (iii): Explain how the story brings out the conflict
between man and his inner self.

Answer (iii): The old man was filled with guilt of leaving his
animals behind and himself fleeing away. He started
worrying as to what his animals would do if they came
under artillery fire. The conflict between the man and his
inner self is reflected in character of the old man wearing
blank expression on his face and not feeling motivated to
cross the bridge to save his life.

Question (iv): The old man seems to have given up on his

life. Do you agree? Why?

Answer (iv): Yes, the old man seemed to have given up on

his life.

He sat by the side of the road near a pontoon bridge; aware

of the fact that enemy troops were advancing quickly
towards the bridge. He could not understand why the war
affected him since he was politically neutral and his only job
was to take care of animals. He was worried how his
animals would survive without him being around to look
after them. He never showed any concern about his life and
did not make any attempts to cross the bridge and catch a
truck to Barcelona despite being repeatedly advised by the
narrator.

Question (v): How does the narrator try to relieve the old
man of his worries? Does he prove successful? Support
your answer with instances from the story.
Answer (v): The narrator is willing to have a conversation on
concerns the old man was having for his animals. He tries to
assure the old man that his animals would be fine. Narrator
relieves the old man of his worry about pigeons by reasoning
that since he left the cage unlocked, the pigeons would fly
away. Initially, the old man was worried about the fate of
the goats but, later on during the course of conversation he
came to terms with the fact that goats would not survive
and said “it’s better not to think about the others”. At the
end of the conversation he thanked the narrator and got to
his feet. It seems that the narrator was successful, to a large
extent, in relieving the old man of his worries about the
animals.

Extract V

“I was taking care of animals……would ever

have.”

Question (i): Why does the narrator note that the old man
spoke ‘dully’.
Answer (i): It was difficult for the old man to come to the
terms with being forced to flee his native place and abandon
the animals for no fault of his. He was very old and
moreover, did not hold any political views. The civil war had
taken its toll on him as he seemed to have lost his mental
balance. The narrator was last person to leave the site when
he noticed the old man speaking dully to himself.

Question (ii): What makes the narrator feel that “there was
nothing to do about him”?

Answer (ii): The old man was too weary to climb up the
steep bank on his own. Since everyone including the carts
and the trucks had crossed the bridge, no help was readily
available for the old man. Crucial time was running out, the
enemy troops were advancing steadily towards the bridge. It
would have not been pragmatic on the part of the narrator
to call for help from far end of the bridge. He had completed
the task of watching the bridgehead and had to return
leaving the old man to his fate. This makes the narrator feel
that “there was nothing to do about him”.

Question (iii): State how both the narrator and the old man
are depicted as helpless by the end.
Answer (iii): The old man was left behind alone at the
bridge. He knew nobody and, after he fled his native town,
had nowhere else to go. He was too tired to cross the bridge
on his own and had nobody at the bridge to help him. The
narrator was obeying orders given to him. He was bounded
by his duty and was anxious to return back to the far end of
the bridge after completing his task. Only help he could offer
was to listen to the concerns of the old man about his
animals and convince him to cross the bridge.

At the end the old man sat down in the dust seemingly
surrendering himself to his fate while the narrator moves on
in frustration saying nothing could be done for him and that
his death seemed certain.

Question (iv): What is “all the good luck that old man
would ever have”?

Answer (iv): The old man's life is prolonged by the fact that
the day was overcast and Fascists could not launch their
planes to bomb the area. The fact that cats know how to
look after themselves would have given the old man some
relief. That is "all the good luck that old man would ever
have". But aside from that, the narrator said nothing could
be done for him and his death seemed certain.

Question (v): The story is set on an Easter Sunday, which

symbolically shows renewal and peace. How is it ironical
with reference to the events in the story?

Answer (v): The incidents in the story took place on Easter

Sunday. It is the day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead
on the third day after he was crucified. The irony of the
situation is that the old man's life is in danger on the very
same day which is symbolically viewed as the day of
renewal and peace. The old man lost his home town and
animals which were dear to him. He has some relief in
knowing that the cat will be able to fend for itself, and that
since he has unlocked the cage, the doves can fly away, but
the fate of the goats is uncertain and the man is worried by
this. On the day of resurrection, ironically, the old man is
left behind in the dust with his death looming.
 3. A Horse and Two Goats

R K Narayan (1906-2001)

A white foreigner gets out of the car and asks Muni in

English whether there is a gas station nearby. However,
Muni cannot communicate with him because he does not
speak English and the foreigner does not speak Tamil. The
foreigner, who tells Muni he is a coffee trader from New
York, takes an interest in the statue and wants to buy it. He
offers to pay Muni for the statue, thinking that it belongs to
him. Muni does not understand what the foreigner wants,
and initially mistakes him for a police officer, because he is
dressed in khaki. Muni believes the man had arrived to
investigate a dead body that was found on the border
between Kritam and a neighbouring village a few weeks
before. He tells him that he does not know anything about
the incident and that the murderer probably lives in the
other village.

Extract I
“Of the seven hundred thousand villages dotting the map
of India … by the iron-hooped wheels of bullock carts.”

Question (i): What is meant by microscopic dot? What is

said about Kritam in the extract?

Answer (i): It means something very small. Here it refers to

the small size of dot on the map indicating existence of a
village named Kritam.

Kritam was probably the tiniest of the seven hundred

thousand villages dotting the map of India as it was
indicated on the district survey map by a microscopic dot.

Question (ii): Why the map is said to be made for the use of
revenue officers than for the guidance of motorists?

Answer (ii): Motorists could not hope to reach Kritam since

it sprawled far from the highway at the end of an un-
motorable rough track furrowed up by the iron-hooped
wheels of bullock carts. So, the map only served the purpose
for revenue officers out to collect tax and was of no use to
motorists.
Question (iii): What in the extract shows the approach road
to Kritam is bad?

Answer (iii): “Kritam sprawled far from the highway at the

end of a rough track furrowed up by the iron-hooped wheels
of bullock carts” shows the approach road to Kritam was
bad.

Question (iv): Give the meaning of Kritam in Tamil. Where

did Muni live in the village?

Answer (iv): Kritam in Tamil meant “coronet” or “crown” on

the brow of the Indian subcontinent.

Muni lived in the last house in the fourth street in the

Village beyond which stretched the fields.

Question (v): How did the Big House differ from other
houses?

Answer (v): The village consisted of thirty houses and only

the Big House was built with brick and cement whereas, the
other houses were generally of bamboo thatch, straw, mud
and other unspecified material. The Big house was also
painted a brilliant yellow and blue all over with gorgeous
carvings of gods and gargoyles on its balustrade.
Extract II

“In his prosperous days Muni had owned ... sticks,

bundled them, and carried them for fuel at sunset.”

Question (i): How did Muni care for his sheep and goats?
Why did he carry a crook at the end of a bamboo pole?

Answer (i): Every morning, Muni would take his flock of

sheep and goats to the highway a couple of miles away from
village to graze around.

He carried a crook at the end of a bamboo pole and used it to

snap foliage from the avenue trees to feed his flock.

Question (ii): In his prosperous days how many sheep and

goats did Muni have? What happened to most of them
later?

Answer (ii): In his prosperous days Muni had owned a flock

of forty sheep and goats.
Muni’s fortune had declined gradually and from a flock of
forty sheep and goats which he drove into a pen at night, his
stock had now come down to only two goats.

Question (iii): What did Muni’s wife give him for breakfast
and midday meal? What does it show about his economic
condition?

Answer (iii): Muni’s wife boiled millet flour in water, added

salt and gave him for breakfast. For midday meal she once
again cooked the same millet into a little ball and packed it
together with raw onion and put in his hand.

Such a simple and repetitive diet indicates Muni’s poverty as

he could not afford anything else.

Question (iv): Why did Muni tether his two goats to the
trunks of the drumstick tree? What claim does he have
over the tree?

Answer (iv): Muni tethered his two goats to the trunk of the
drumstick tree because, unlike his prosperous days, he could
no more afford to rent a pen for his goats. Also, he
consumed drumsticks and leaves from the tree so he
tethered them to proclaim his ownership over the tree.
Although no one could say precisely who owned the tree,
Muni claimed it was his because he lived in its shadow.

Question (v): Compare and contrast Muni’s prosperous

days with his present living conditions.

Answer (v): Muni once lived a prosperous life and reared a

flock of forty goats and sheep, but now he was left with two
scraggy goats nobody wanted to buy. His only income was
from the odd jobs his wife occasionally got at the Big House.
He had to eat same meal daily and was tired of eating millet
balls and craved to chew the drumstick out of sauce but
failed to obtain the food items required to prepare it, as the
shopkeeper refused to give him items on credit anymore.
Now, that his days of affluence were gone he remembered
the time when he smoked cigarette, chewed betel leaves and
bhang in a hut in the coconut grove with the famous butcher
from the town.

Extract III

“You have only four teeth in your … store is empty today.”

Question (i): What was Muni craving for? Why?

Answer (i): Muni was craving for chewing the drumsticks

out of sauce because he was tired of eating boiled and salted
drumstick leaves.

Question (ii): Why did his wife agree to supply him with
what he was craving for? Under what condition would she
oblige him?

Answer (ii): Muni’s wife agreed to supply him with what he

was craving for because she thought next year he might not
be alive to ask for anything.
She agreed to oblige him under condition that Muni got her
a list of stuffs including a measure of rice or millet as their
store was empty of necessary items for cooking like dhall,
chilly, curry leaves, mustard, coriander, gingelly oil, and one
large potato.

Question (iii): How did Muni attract the attention of the

shopkeeper and win over his goodwill?
Answer (iii): Muni kept clearing his throat, coughing and
sneezing to draw attention of the shopkeeper until he could
not stand it anymore and demanded, “What ails you? You
will fly off that seat into the gutter if you sneeze so hard,
young man.” To please him, Muni laughed inordinately at
being called “young man”. Muni was thus successful in
completely winning over goodwill of shopkeeper as he liked
his sense of humour to be appreciated.

Question (iv): What local gossip did Muni indulge in? Why
was the shopkeeper pleased with the gossip?

Answer (iv): Muni engaged the shopkeeper’s attention in

local gossip for a few minutes, which always ended with a
reference to the postman’s wife who had eloped to the city
some months before.

The shopkeeper disliked the postman because he had been

cheated by him once. So, whenever Muni brought up the
topic of postman’s wife in his gossip, the shopkeeper felt
pleased to hear the worst of the postman.

Question (v): Explain why Muni could not progress beyond

getting two items of his request.
Answer (v): Muni was successful in humouring the
shopkeeper with his gossip but could not progress beyond
getting two items of his request because this time the
shopkeeper was not in good mood. The shopkeeper lost his
temper suddenly and barked at Muni for daring to ask for
credit again, and reminded him of his earlier debt instead.

Extract IV

“Muni felt impelled to rise and flee … expect to rob by

then?”

Question (i): Explain what happened because of which

Muni felt impelled to rise and flee.

Answer (i): Muni sat on an upturned packing case below the

platform of the shop and started a gossip to humour the
shopkeeper, hoping to obtain items of food with the promise
of repaying in the future. But the shopkeeper suddenly lost
his temper and barked at Muni for daring to ask for credit
again and took out an oblong ledger containing entries of
items he had obtained previously on credit. Muni feared bad
tempered shopkeeper would humiliate him in presence of
other customers for making excuses and his poverty would
be exposed to everybody. So, he felt impelled to rise and flee.

Question (ii): Finally, from where did Muni said that he

would get money?

Answer (ii): Muni finally said he would pay shopkeeper all

money on the first of the next month. He did not have any
progeny but to save himself from being humiliated in public
by the shopkeeper, he lied that his daughter had sent word
that she would be sending money for his fiftieth birthday.

Question (iii): According to Muni, how old was he? How did
he calculate his age?

Answer (iii): According to Muni he was fifty-year-old. He

calculated his age from the time of the great famine when
he stood as high as the parapet around the village well.

Question (iv): What did the shop man say about Muni’s
age? How could he guess that?

Answer (iv): The shop man said that most likely Muni was
seventy years old.
Muni assured the shop man that he would pay all his debts
as he was expecting money from his daughter next month
on his fiftieth birthday. But the shop man correctly
remembered that his birthday had passed only five weeks
ago when he had come asking for castor oil for his holy bath.
The shop man could guess his age because Muni was
forgetful, probably because of old age, about his birthday.
Also, Muni had only four teeth left in his jaw that made him
way older than fifty years.

Question (v): What did Muni say just before he left the
shop?

Answer (v): The shop man remarked about Muni’s age being
seventy year and not fifty as he now claimed. He reminded
Muni five weeks before he had mentioned a birthday to get
castor oil for holy bath. Muni felt offended because the shop
man had attacked his dignity by exposing his poverty in
presence of other customers and left the shop reacting
angrily by saying, “Bath! Who can dream of a bath when you
have to scratch the tank-bed for a bowl of water? We would
all be parched and dead but for the Big House, where they let
us take a pot of water from their well.”
Extract V

“He told his wife, That scoundrel … It’ll do you good.”

Question (i): Who is referred to as scoundrel? Why was

Muni annoyed with the scoundrel?

Answer (i): The shop man is referred to as scoundrel.

Muni’s fortune had gradually declined but he was still

having self-respect.

Muni got annoyed because the shop man had humiliated

him in presence of other customers. The shop man
suggested that Muni did not have money to repay for his
previous credits and that he always managed to get items on
pretext of his forthcoming birthday.

Question (ii): Why doesn’t Muni argue against what she

says? How can you conclude that he trusts her as far as his
welfare is concerned?
Answer (ii): Muni knew his wife’s temper was undependable
in the morning but improved by evening time. Arguing
against what she said would have irritated her, therefore
Muni reasoned that it was in his best interest to obey her
and fast till evening. By then she would have calmed down
and would have somehow conjured up some food for him.

Muni trusted his wife as far as his welfare is concerned.

Muni knew she was sure to go out and work and earn
enough to buy foodstuff and keep a dinner ready for him in
the evening.

Question (iii): How would Muni’s wife get money to buy

foodstuff?

Answer (iii): If needed, Muni’s wife would sometimes go out

and work - grind corn in the Big House, sweep or scrub
somewhere, and earn enough money to buy foodstuff.

Question (iv): When Muni was passing through the village

what was his and onlookers attitude to each other? Why?

Answer (iv): Muni passed through the village with his head
bowed in thought. He did not want to look at anyone or be
accosted. A couple of cronies lounging in the temple corridor
hailed him, but he ignored their call.

Muni avoided the onlookers because they always

commented on Muni’s poverty and spurned him.

Question (v): After he smoked bhang, what thought passed

through Muni’s mind?

Answer (v): After he smoked bhang Muni felt light and

elated and inclined to forgive everyone including that
brother-in-law of his who had once tried to set fire to his
home.

Extract VI

“Muni sat at the foot of the statue … goats feed long

enough.”

Question (i): Describe the statue of the horse.

Answer (i): The statue of the horse was nearly life-size,

moulded out of clay, baked, and brightly coloured, and
reared its head proudly, prancing its forelegs in the air and
flourishing its tail in a loop.

Question (ii): How did the statue of the warrior look? How
did the image makers depict him as a man of strength?

Answer (ii): The statue of the warrior stood beside the statue
of horse. The warrior was depicted with scythe-like
mustachios, bulging eyes and an aquiline nose.

The old image makers believed in indicating a man of

strength by bulging out his eyes and sharpening his
moustache tip like a scythe.

Question (iii): Why didn’t Muni, the villagers or the vandals

notice the splendour of the statue of the horse?

Answer (iii): The statue of the horse stood couple of miles in

the outskirts of the village on the side of a highway. Since it
stood at the edge of the village and across the fields, the
villagers or the vandals did not notice its splendour. Muni,
although spent all his waking hours at its foot, never
bothered to look up and appreciate its splendour.

Question (iv): Why didn’t Muni go back home early?

Answer (iv): Muni decided not to go back home early
because if he went too early his wife would have no food for
him. Also, he wanted to give her some time to cool off her
temper and feel sympathetic, and then she would scrounge
and manage to get some food. Moreover, his wife would be
pleased to know that he had let the goats feed long enough.

Question (v): Briefly give the difference between Muni and

the visiting American.

Answer (v): Muni was an old man residing in the tiny

village of Kritam. The farthest distance he had ever travelled
was couple of miles from his village to the highway with his
goats and sheep. His fortune had declined gradually and he
felt distressed by his poverty. He wanted to open a small
shop with fried nuts and green coconut on display near the
statue but did not have money. He fondly remembered his
old days when he considered himself prosperous. The
American, on the other hand, was a wealthy businessman
from New York City who had been travelling India as a
tourist on his station wagon. Muni had never been to school
but the American seemed to be well educated and was able
to appreciate the sound of Tamil language even though he
could not comprehend a single word spoken by Muni. Also,
he valued the beauty of the horse statue and wished to take
it back home as a souvenir; quite unlike Muni who could
never appreciate its beauty and only used it to rest under its
shadow.

Extract VII

“Today, while he observed the yellow … wait until another

car comes.”

Question (i): Describe the arrival of the red-faced foreigner.

Answer (i): Muni noticed a new sort of vehicle coming down

on the highway at full speed. It was yellow coloured and
looked like both a motor car and a bus. He was wondering
how to describe this strange vehicle later to his wife when it
sputtered and stopped in front of him. A red-faced foreigner
in khaki clothes, who had been driving it, got down and
went round it, stooping, looking, and poking under the
vehicle. He then straightened himself up, looked at the
dashboard - the car had ran out of gas, stared at Muni’s
direction and approached him to enquire about the gas
station.
Question (ii): What did the foreigner say looking at the clay
horse?

Answer (ii): The foreigner was enquiring Muni about the gas
station, then without completing his sentence, he looked up
at the clay horse and cried abruptly, “Marvellous”.

Question (iii): State the feelings of Muni after meeting the

foreigner. Why did he have such feelings?

Answer (iii): After meeting the foreigner Muni felt he should

get up and run away. But he cursed his age because he could
not readily put his limbs into action to run. Also, he could
not have left his goats behind.
The foreigner wore khaki clothes so Muni mistook him for a
policeman or a soldier who was out to investigate the
murder that had been committed in the outskirts of his
village at the border between Kritam and Kuppam a few
weeks ago, and had come to arrest him.

Question (iv): Looking at the clothes of the foreigner what

did Muni think? How did the foreigner put him at ease?
Answer (iv): A few weeks before a body had been found
mutilated and thrown under a tamarind tree at the border
between Kritam and Kuppam. The foreigner wore khaki
clothes so Muni assumed he was a policeman who was out
to investigate the murder, and had come to arrest him.

The foreigner pressed his palms together, smiled, and said,

“Namaste!” and put him at ease by offering him a strong
American cigarette made of roasted tobacco.

Question (v): Having exhausted his English vocabulary,

what did Muni say in Tamil?

Answer (v): After having exhausted his English vocabulary,

Muni said in Tamil that his name was Muni and the goats
belonged to him. Nobody could gainsay it, though his village
was full of slanderers who would not hesitate to say that
what belonged to a man did not belong to him.

Extract VIII

“The foreigner faithfully looked … from anyone for years

now.”
Question (i): Who was the foreigner? What was his
background?

Answer (i): The foreigner was an American businessman

who was doing rounds in India as a tourist.
The American dealt in coffee and had an office on the
fortieth floor of the Empire State Building in New York.

Question (ii): What is referred to as the courtesies of the

season? Why did Muni answer, “Yes, no”?

Answer (ii): ‘Courtesies of the season’ refers to the

foreigner’s polite behaviour towards Muni. When he met
Muni he pressed his palms together, smiled and said
“Namaste! How do you do?” then he lighted a cigarette and
asked Muni if he too smoked and offered him one.
Muni spoke only Tamil as he did not get the opportunity to
go to school and learn English, which was the language only
spoken by the learned men and officers. He could not
understand words spoken by the foreigner and spoke the
only English expressions he had learnt i.e. “Yes, no” to
respond.
Question (iii): How did Muni manage to smoke bhang?
State his earlier experience of smoking cigarette. When the
foreigner flicked the light open and offered it to Muni, what
were the latter’s feelings?

Answer (iii): In Muni’s affluent days, there was a famous

butcher from the town who used to come over to village on
the weekly market days and brought enough bhang for
himself and Muni. Together they used to smoke bhang in a
secluded hut in the coconut grove, undisturbed by wives and
well-wishers.

Earlier, only once, the village shop man had been kind
enough to give Muni one cigarette on credit. Muni fondly
remembered how good it had tasted.

When the foreigner flicked the light open and offered it to

Muni, he felt so confused about how to act that he blew on
the light and put it out.

Question (iv): What were the consequences of smoking an

American cigarette on Muni?
Answer (iv): Muni drew a deep puff and started coughing. It
was racking but Muni felt extremely pleasant, and his head
started reeling from its effect. Also, Muni understood that
since he had given him a potent smoke, the American was
not an inquisitor of any kind and therefore, there was no
need to run away from him.

Question (v): Describe Muni’s fears and anxieties when he

was given the card by the visitor.

Answer (v): Muni had become extremely anxious about

foreigner’s appearance. He believed the red-faced visitor was
a policeman investigating a murder that happened few
weeks before near his village. Muni wanted to run away
from him to avoid getting into trouble but was too old to do
so. When he was given the card, Muni feared he was being
shown his arrest warrant and shrank away from it.

Extract IX

“Out of this heritage the Tamil … Don’t ask me about it. I

know nothing.”
Question (i): What is meant by unimpeded flow? Why did
Muni speak in such a way?

Answer (i): Unimpeded flow’ means ‘unhindered speech’. It

refers to the confident manner of Muni when spoke with the
seeming policeman to avoid getting arrested.

Muni was too old to run away from the American who
seemed a policeman to him. So, he reasoned that only way
of warding off trouble was by talking. He spoke with an air of
confidence to convince the policeman that he did not know
anything about the murder and therefore, be allowed to
leave. Muni also assured him that if any suspicious person
was found he would certainly inform him.

Question (ii): The foreigner said, “I am sure you know

when this horse was made.” When was the horse made?

Answer (ii): According to Muni, he learnt about the horse

and warrior from his grandfather when he was an urchin.
His grandfather himself was a young boy when he learnt
from his grandfather. Muni could not say with certainty
when the horse was made, but apparently it was made long
before Muni was born.

Question (iii): Explain why Muni spoke of a murder with

the foreigner.

Answer (iii): The foreigner wore khaki clothes so Muni

thought he was a policeman investigating a murder that
happened few weeks before near his village. Since Muni did
not know English, he assumed that he was being questioned
about the murder and responded accordingly.

Question (iv): State how the title of the story, ‘A horse and
two goats’ is relevant.

Answer (iv): The story is about an old man Muni who owned
two goats and every morning drove them couples of miles to
the highway for grazing. That day Muni happened to meet
an American tourist who approached him while he was
laying on the pedestal of the horse statue. The American
believed that Muni owned the marvellous statue and
expressed his interest to buy it for one hundred rupees. ‘A
horse and two goats’ title is relevant because the goats and
the statue of horse stimulated a long unrelated conversation
between Muni and the American. Muni did not know English
language and wrongly understood that the foreigner wished
to buy his goats. Muni believed he had sold his goats off
whereas the American believed he had bought the horse as
souvenir. Muni was distressed by his abject poverty and felt
relieved to have sold off those useless scraggy goats for one
hundred rupees. He would now be able to fulfil his dream of
opening a small shop there and earn himself a decent living.

Question (v): How is the clash of cultures brought about in

the story?

Answer (v): On one hand, Muni is the representative of

typical Indian native; who is poor, rural and uneducated. He
doesn’t know English and is striving to make a living. On the
other hand, we have the American who knows no Tamil but
expects Mini to understand English. While the horse statue
carries great cultural and religious importance for Muni’s
village, to the foreigner it is just a decorative item to serve as
a talking piece during house parties.

Extract X
“I never went to a school … learned men and officers know
it”

Question (i): What has the foreigner just said about Tamil
and Muni’s sales talk?

Answer (i): The foreigner said that the language Muni spoke
sounded wonderful to him and he got a kick out of every
word he uttered, and he wished he had brought his tape
recorder to record this conversation.

The foreigner assumed Muni was engaging him in sales talk.

He said that he appreciated the article and Muni didn’t have
to waste his breath explaining its points.

Question (ii): What is Pongal? What does Muni do on Pongal

in his village?

Answer (ii): Pongal is a four-day festival mainly celebrated in

Tamil Nadu to convey gratitude to Sun God for successful
harvest.

On Pongal after Muni and his father had cut the harvest,
Muni’s father allowed him to go out and play with others at
the tank.
Question (iii): State what Muni hints at the caste and class
distinction between the rich and the poor in Kritam.

Answer (iii): Muni said he never went to school as he was

born in lower cast and in those days only children from
Brahmin caste went to schools. Since he was a young boy he
had to labour in the fields along with his father morning till
night, from sowing to harvest time.

Question (iv): After the extract how does Muni show

himself as a gossip-monger?

Answer (iv): Muni started gossiping about the postman who

spoke English well, but since his wife eloped with someone
he did not speak to anyone at all. He quipped that women
must be watched otherwise they would sell themselves and
the home, and laughed.

Question (v): State briefly the position of women in villages

as seen in the story, A Horse and Two Goats.

Answer (v): Child marriage was prevalent as in the case of

Muni and his wife. Women were honoured as seen as
nurturers but they needed a man to support them. Muni
knew his wife would garner the raw materials and prepare
his drumstick gravy. He was worried what would happen to
her after his death.

Extract XI

“Muni, now assured that … trample down all bad men.”

Question (i): Which dead body is referred to in the extract?

Why was Muni afraid of the dead body earlier?

Answer (i): A few weeks before a dead body had been found
mutilated and thrown under a tamarind tree at the border
between Kritam and Kuppam.
The foreigner wore khaki clothes and spoke in English, so
Muni assumed he was a policeman who was out to
investigate the murder. Because the dead body was found
near his village, Muni feared getting into trouble when the
foreigner approached him earlier.

Question (ii): What is Kali Yuga? What is said to happen in

Kali Yuga?
Answer (ii): Kali Yuga is the last stage of the four stages the
world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas.
At the end of Kali Yuga, this world and all other worlds will
be destroyed, and the Redeemer will come in the shape of a
horse called Kalki. Muni believed that the horse statue
would come to life and gallop and trample down all bad
men.

Question (iii): Name the enemy of Muni. What harm had

the enemy done to Muni? How will Kalki treat Muni’s
enemy at the end of Kali-Yuga?

Answer (iii): Muni considered his brother-in-law as enemy

because he had once tried to set his home on fire.
At the end of Kali-Yuga Muni believed that Kalki will
trample down and kill his enemy.

Question (iv): Describe the living room in America of the

foreigner as stated by him.

Answer (iv): The living room in America had a book case

packed with volumes of books. There were more books in
the foreigner’s living room piled up as high as the statue of
horse.

Question (v): How would the horse be accommodated in

the foreigner’s house?

Answer (v): The American would push away the book case
and would remove the piled-up books to make space for the
horse in his living room. The foreigner assured Muni that it
would have the best home in the U. S. A.

Extract XII

“Muni was still hovering on … My trade is coffee.”

Question (i): Who speaks these words? In what context

does he speak them?

Answer (i): The foreigner spoke these words.

Muni was reflecting about the Redeemer who would save

good people and destroy the evil at the end of Kali Yuga. He
asked the foreigner when it was going to happen. The
foreigner appreciated Muni’s questioning tone and assumed
he was being asked about his business and thus responded
accordingly.

Question (ii): What does Muni say about the coffee hotel in
the locality? Why does he say about the coffee hotel?

Answer (ii): Muni had learnt from passers-by that in the

next town further up the highway there were coffee hotels
opened at the Friday market.

When the foreigner mentioned about his coffee business,

Muni recognised the word “coffee” and thought he wanted
to drink some. Therefore, Muni gave him directions to help
him reach the coffee hotel.

Question (iii): What has Muni said about the end of the
world?

Answer (iii): Muni said that at the end of Kali Yuga, this
world and all other worlds will be destroyed, and the
Redeemer will come in the shape of a horse called Kalki. The
horse statue would come to life and gallop and trample
down all bad men. And when the oceans are going to close
over the earth in a huge wave and swallow everyone, the
horse would grow bigger than the biggest wave and carry on
its back only the good people and kick into the flood the evil
ones.

Question (iv): Explain what kind of businessman was the

foreigner.

Answer (iv): The foreigner traded in coffee and was not a

millionaire but a modest business man. He explained by
saying that he couldn’t afford to buy more than sixty
minutes of T.V. time in a month. He hoped that if his sales
graph continued to grow up, then in course of time, he
would be able to sponsor a one-hour T.V. show regularly.

Question (v): How does the foreigner plan to transport the

horse to America?

Answer (v): The foreigner planned to cancel his air tickets

and travel by ship with the horse in his cabin all the way if
necessary. He would be padding the horse with straw to
ensure that it did not break.
Extract XIII

“Noting the other’s interest … this is what I meant.”

Question (i): Muni asked the red man, “How many children
do you have?” The red man replied, “I said a hundred.”
What was each one talking about? Explain the humour in
this conversation.

Answer (i): Muni was wary of the foreigner who had

suddenly approached him wearing clothes of a policeman.
He assumed he was a policeman and was there to inquire
about a murder and might arrest him. So, to ward off the
apparent trouble Muni decided to engage him in
conversation. The foreigner, who was in fact a tourist,
wanted to buy the horse. He assumed Muni was selling the
statue and started to negotiate the price of the horse. Muni,
trying to establish good rapport with the seeming policeman
asked how many children he had. To which, in accordance
with Muni’s questioning tone, the foreigner responded, “I
said a hundred”; offering a price for the horse. Interestingly,
they did not understand each other’s language yet got
themselves engaged in lengthy unrelated conversation
based on wrong assumptions about each other.

The foreigner was eager to buy the horse for souvenir, so he

promptly responded to Muni’s curiosity about number of
children he had. It conveys an impression that the foreigner
seemed to have a hundred children and therefore, leaves a
humorous impact in the mind of the reader.

Question (ii): Give two examples to show that Muni was

curious about the red man.

Answer (ii): Muni wanted to know how many children the

red man had. He was also curious about how many of them
were boys and how many were girls.

Question (iii): Looking at the hundred rupees note, how did

Muni react? What did he think was the purpose of giving
him that money?

Answer (iii): Muni peered closely at the hundred rupees

note. He was amazed as he had never seen a currency note
of that colour before.
Muni thought the red man was asking for change. He
laughed to himself at the notion of anyone coming to him
for changing a thousand or ten-thousand rupee note.

Question (iv): How did Muni describe the village headman?

Answer (iv): Muni described the village headman to be a rich

person who disguised himself in rags just to mislead the
public. He had so much gold hoarded under the floor of his
puja room that he could change even a lakh of rupees in
gold sovereigns.

Question (v): Why did the red man show some interest in
Muni’s goats? Briefly describe the intentions of Muni for
rearing the goats. Why couldn’t his plan be carried out?

Answer (v): The red man thought he had just bought the
statue of horse from Muni. So, he decided it would be a
sound policy, after having clinched the deal, to demonstrate
courteous attention towards his goats.

Muni had reared the goats up with a hope of selling them

some day, and with the capital, opening a small shop on
that very spot. He had often dreamt of how he would put up
a thatched roof there, spread a gunny sack out on the
ground, and display on it fried nuts, coloured sweets and
green coconut for the thirsty and famished wayfarers on the
highway, which was sometimes very busy.

There was no buyer for Muni’s goats as they looked

miserable and scraggy. He couldn’t carry out his plan of
opening a shop because he was unable to raise money by
selling his useless goats.

Extract XIV

“Muni hurried homeward … carried them off in his

motorcar!”

Question (i): What food did Muni normally take? Explain

why he is expecting miracle food at this occasion.

Answer (i): Muni’s wife would give him salted millet cooked
into a little ball along with a raw onion.

He was expecting a miracle food because he craved to chew

drumsticks out of sauce the same morning. He knew that if
he obeyed his wife she would somehow conjure food for him
by evening.
Question (ii): How did Muni’s wife react when she saw the
cash?

Answer (ii): Muni’s wife got furious and cried at him. She
enquired how he managed to obtain so much cash and
accused him of stealing it.

Question (iii): As soon as Muni completed his speech what

did Muni’s wife conclude from the scene?

Answer (iii): As soon as Muni completed his speech they

heard bleating outside. Muni’s wife opened the door and saw
the two goats at her door. She concluded that Muni had been
lying about selling the goats and that he had indeed stolen
the money.

Question (iv): How can you conclude that Muni was

annoyed by seeing the goats?

Answer (iv): Muni was annoyed when he saw the goats as

he muttered great curse and seized one of the goats by its
ears and shouted, “Where is that man? Don’t you know you
are his? Why did you come back?” He asked same question
of the other too.
Question (v): How does the story end? What has appealed
to you in the story?

Answer (v): When Muni and his wife saw the goats bleating
outside their house, the story ends there with Muni staring
at goats in confused state, while his wife stood shocked and
suspected him of stealing the money, and said she would go
to her parents’ home because she did not want to be there
when the police apprehended him.

R K Narayan is known for using ironic humour in his stories.

It is in no way insulting but is enjoyable. It lets the readers
laugh at the characters and their situation gently. There are
various situations in the story which creates comic effect.

Muni craves to ‘chew the drumstick out of sauce’, to which

his wife replies, “You have only four teeth in your jaw, but
your craving is for big things.” Later in the story the
American pays him great compliments on his very set of
teeth, “Boy, what is the secret of your teeth? How old are
you?”

When the shopkeeper doesn’t pay any attention to Muni

sitting below the platform of the shop, Muni keeps coughing
and sneezing to attract his attention.
In a humorous way, Muni’s poverty is commented upon
when shopkeeper says to Muni, “You also forget that you
mentioned a birthday five weeks ago when you wanted
Castor oil for your holy bath.
 4. Hearts and Hands

O Henry (1862-1910)

Hearts and Hands by O. Henry is a story about two

acquaintances who meet on a train. When Mr. Easton
encounters Miss Fairchild, he is handcuffed to another man.
Miss Fairchild gets excited when she learns that her old
friend from Washington has become a marshal. One
passenger on the train, however, realizes that things are not
as they seem.

Extract I

"As they passed down the aisle ... accustomed to

speak and be heard."

Question (i): Which coach is referred to in this extract?

How can you conclude that the coach was crowded?
Answer (i): The coach of the eastbound B&M Express is
referred to in this extract. The only vacant seat left was a
"reversed one facing the attractive woman". This tells us
that the coach was crowded.

Question (ii): Name the young woman in the coach. What

is said about her just before the extract?

Answer (ii): The young woman in the coach is named Miss

Fairchild. She is described as an elegantly dressed, pretty
young woman who had all the luxuries and who loved
travelling.

Question (iii): Which linked couple is referred to in the

extract above? In what way were they linked?

Answer (iii): The linked couple referred to in the extract is

Mr. Easton and marshal. They were handcuffed together.

Question (iv): Describe the reaction of the young woman on

seeing the two men.

Answer (iv): At first, she saw them indifferently with a

'distant, swift disinterest'. As soon as she recognized Mr
Easton she smiled at them and started conversing.
Question (v): What was the relationship between Mr.
Easton and the young woman?

Answer (v): Mr. Easton and the young woman were old
friends.

Extract II

"It's Miss Fairchild ... from his keen, shrewd eyes".

Question (i): Who said, "It's Miss Fairchild"? Which hand of

his was engaged? How?

Answer (i): Mr. Easton said "It's Miss Fairchild". Mr Easton's

right hand was engaged as it was handcuffed to the left
hand of the marshal.

Question (ii): Why did the young lady's look changed to

bewildered horror? What changes were seen in her due to
horror?

Answer (ii): As soon as the young lady saw Mr Easton

handcuffed to another man, the glad look in her eyes
changed to bewildered horror. She got upset, 'the glow faded
from her cheeks and her lips parted in a vague, relaxing
distress'.

Question (iii): What did the glum-faced man say about the
marshal? As per the context here where was the glum-
faced man being taken? Why?

Answer (iii): The glum-faced man had been keenly

observing the countenance of Miss Fairchild change from
glad to horror when she saw her old friend Mr Easton
handcuffed. To bring her some relief he said that he was a
convict and Mr. Easton was a marshal who was taking him
to Leavenworth prison on charges of counterfeiting .

Question (iv): With reference to question (iii) above explain

what happened in reality.

Answer (iv): In reality, the glum-faced man was the marshal

and Mr Easton was the convict. Mr Easton was handcuffed to
the marshal and was being taken to prison. The marshal
came to know in the train that Mr. Easton and Miss Fairchild
were old friends. To save Mr. Easton from humiliation in
front of old friend and at the same time to assure Miss
Fairchild, the marshal introduced himself as a convict.

Question (v): Explain the significance of 'hands' in the

story.

Answer (v): The real marshal presented himself as a convict

to save Mr. Easton from humiliation in front of old friend
Miss Fairchild. He also dispelled her doubts when he lied
about Mr. Easton being a marshal. An astute passenger who
was sitting nearby noticed that Mr Easton right hand was
handcuffed. A marshal would never handcuff his right hand
to the left hand of a convict, and in fact Mr Easton was the
convict and not the glum-faced man who posed himself as
convict. The handcuffed 'hands' were significant for
revealing the true identities of Mr. Easton and the marshal.

Extract III

"Oh! said the girl, with deep breath ... position as

that of ambassador, but--"
Question (i): Why did Miss Fairchild call Easton, a marshal?
What was he in reality?

Answer (i): Miss Fairchild called Easton a Marshal because

the real marshal made her believe so by lying for him. In
reality, Easton was a convict and was being taken to prison
by the real marshal on charges of counterfeiting.

Question (ii): Explain why Easton was going to

Leavenworth.

Answer (ii): Easton was going to Leavenworth prison

because he was convicted of counterfeiting.

Question (iii): Give the meaning of:

(a) Money has a way of taking wings unto itself.

Answer (a): Mr. Easton is referring to the idea that money

goes away too quickly and their lives in Washington were
expensive.

(b) to keep step with our crowd.

Answer (b): Mr. Easton is referring to the idea that money is
required to attract dignity and acceptance among the
wealthy upper class of Washington.

Question (iv): What did Easton say he was doing in the

past?

Answer (iv): Easton said that he was making money in the

past but it was not enough to keep up with high society in
Washington that is why he took up the position of a marshal
in the West.

Question (v): What did Fairchild say about Easton's life in

Washington? Why was she not likely to see Easton in
Washington soon?

Answer (v): Fairchild was surprised to learn that Easton had

discarded his adventurous life in Washington to become a
duty-bound marshal out West. She was not likely to see
Easton in Washington soon because she believed that he
was now a responsible marshal and the nature of his duty
would not allow him to travel to East when he wished.
Extract IV

"The girl’s eyes, fascinated, went back……my

butterfly days are over."

Question (i): Why were the girl’s eyes fascinated? Who

were handcuffed? Why?

Answer (i): The girl eyes fascinated with the handcuffs. She
imagined that her old friend Easton was like those dashing
Western heroes who ride and shoot and get into all kind of
dangers to catch criminals.

Easton was handcuffed to the marshal.

He was convicted on charges of counterfeiting and was

being taken to the Leavenworth prison.

Question (ii): Why did the glum-faced man say, “ Mr

Easton knows his business’?

Answer (ii): The glum-faced man tried to assure her that it

was normal for a marshal to handcuff himself to his
prisoner to keep him from getting away.
Question (iii): What kind of relationship existed between
Mr Easton and Miss Fairchild?

Answer (iii): When Miss Fairchild saw Mr Easton, there

appeared a lovely smile on her face and her cheeks turned
pink. She started flirting with Mr. Easton and wanted him to
know that she liked him in Washington more than she liked
the ambassador, and she is hinting that she is interested in
living in the West where he is. Her eyes were shining softly
when she said this. It shows that they had shared intimate
relationship in the past.

Question (iv): Why won’t Easton be in Washington in the

near future? What is meant by ‘my butterfly days are
over’?

Answer (iv): Mr. Easton is now a marshal, he has gone from

living on the East coast to living in the West, and he has a
possibility of a relationship with Miss Fairchild. This is
similar to a butterfly because of the metamorphosis a
caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly, the migration
butterflies take on, and how they search for other butterflies.
Mr. Easton could also mean that he is not as fancy anymore
since moving to the west where things are less refined. He
also has to wear handcuffs instead of being “free to fly” so to
speak.

Question (v): How is the mistaken identity used in the plot

of the story?

Answer (v): Mistaken identity is used by the author as a

means to end the story with an element of surprise.

Extract V

"The two men sidled down the aisle……..a

prisoner to his right hand?"

Question (i): What did the glum-faced man do to cut short

the conversation between Easton and Miss Fairchild? What
could be the reason for his action?

Answer (i): The glum-faced man complained that Easton

and Miss Fairchild had been in conversation for long time
and it was not fair to keep a man from having his drink and
smoke.
The marshal had shown favour to Easton by not revealing
his true identity in front of old friend Miss Fairchild. Easton,
on other hand, seemed unappreciative of the compassionate
marshal, got himself engrossed in conversation with his
flirtatious friend. That could have annoyed the marshal and
by interrupting the conversation he wanted to subtly assert
Easton, without alarming Miss Fairchild, that he is the one in
control.

Question (ii): What reason did the glum-faced man give for
his going for a smoke?

Answer (ii): The glum-faced man said he was in need of a

drink and a smoke. He asked Mr Easton to accompany him
to the smoker car as he was ‘half dead for a pipe.

Question (iii): Which hand of an officer is handcuffed to the

hand of the convict? Why is this information necessary to
end the story?

Answer (iii): Generally, an officer’s left hand is handcuffed

to the right hand of the convict because he would need to
use it.
In the beginning of the story Easton is embarrassed to shake
hand with Miss Fairchild because his right hand was cuffed.
Easton is a young man with a handsome presence and a
bold, frank countenance and manner. He is accompanied
with a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly
dressed who looks like a criminal. This creates a doubt in
reader's mind as to why Easton is feeling embarrassed about
this. All doubts get cleared when the story ends by revealing
the reader that in reality Mr Easton was the convict and the
glum-faced man was the marshal.

Question (iv): Do you like the way the story ends? Give
reason to justify your opinion.

Answer (iv): Yes, the story ends with a surprise. Throughout

the length of the story the reader is made to believe that Mr.
Easton was a marshal and the glum-faced man was the
convict. This wrong belief is reinforced in the minds of
reader by portraying Easton as a handsome, well-dressed
man and the marshal as glum-faced, roughly-dresses man.
Mr. Easton is shown as a gentleman who belonged to high
class society in Washigton and who has close friendship
with a cultured and sophisticated lady Miss Fairchild. The
end brings surprise to the reader when the author reveals
through a fellow passenger that handcuffing indicates that
in reality Easton was a convict and the glum-faced man was
a marshal.

Question (v): What role do the ‘hearts’ and ‘hands’ play in

the plot of the story?

Answer (v): 'Hearts' and 'Hands' is directly related to the

theme of showing compassion and not judging people in a
few key ways. To begin, the story starts with two people, Mr.
Easton and the marshal, handcuffed together. It is this
handcuffing that lends to the “Hands” part of the title. The
entire story is based on the premise that there are two men
held together by their hands.

It is the 'heart' which constitutes the core of the overall

theme of the story. The marshal told a lie for Mr. Easton to
prevent him from humiliation in front of his friend. The
marshal’s willingness to play along with the lie of Mr. Easton
shows that he is understanding and compassionate to
people in need. This makes readers see that we should have
compassion for others.
 5. A Face in the Dark

Ruskin Bond (b. 1934)

"A Face in the Dark" by Ruskin Bond narrates an incident

that revolves around Mr. Oliver, an Anglo-Indian teacher
who taught in an English school in Simla. It describes
strange and frightening encounter of Mr. Oliver who spots a
faceless boy in the eerie forest in the dark of the night.
Panicked, he drops his torch and in the dark starts running
and bumps into the night watchman who too is faceless.

Extract I

“From before Kipling’s time, the school had been

run……..the school for several years.”

Question (i): Who was Mr Oliver? What was his usual

leisure activity?
Answer (i): Mr Oliver was an Anglo-Indian teacher, who was
teaching in a school, located on the outskirts of the hill-
station of Simla. He was a bachelor and would usually stroll
into the Simla Bazaar town located three miles from the
school, and would return after dark by taking a shortcut
through the pine forest.

Question (ii): What was called ‘Eton of the East’? Why?

Answer (ii): The all-boys school in Simla, in which Mr Oliver

was a teacher has been called ‘Eton of the East.’

Life Magazine, in a feature on India, had once called Mr

Oliver’s school ‘Eton of the East’ because the school had
been run on an English public school lines and the boys,
most of them were from wealthy Indian families and were
supposed to wear blazers, caps and ties. Eton is also a school
in England meant for royalty and elite class. Hence, the
comparison.

Question (iii): What kind of weather was there on the night

when Oliver was returning to his school? How does it add
to the setting of the story?
Answer (iii): That night strong wind was blowing through
the pine forest which created sad, eerie sounds.
Supernatural atmosphere is created by the elements like
eerie sounds of the pine trees, batteries of the torch running
down, flickering light, silent sobbing, and lantern swinging
in the middle of the path. All these things prepare us for
some mysterious or uncanny happenings.

Question (iv): What did Oliver encounter while coming

back to school one night? What did he do after that?

Answer (iv): While walking back to school one night, in

flickering light of his torch, he saw a boy who was crying
silently with his head hung down, sitting on a rock.

After seeing the boy, Oliver immediately thought that he

was a miscreant from his school as boys were not allowed to
leave the premises after dark. He got angry and questioned
the boy as to what he was doing so late and approached
closer to the boy in order to recognise the miscreant.

Question (v): What kind of man was Oliver as described

earlier by the author? How did he prove himself opposite
of this description?
Answer (v): In the beginning of the story the author
describes Oliver to be a courageous man who did not believe
in existence of supernatural things. He was the only person
who could dare to take shortcut route through the pine
forest late in the night even in a stormy weather.

Later towards the end of the story when Oliver saw the boy
with a featureless face, he was horrified and seemed to be in
the grip of unknown fear. The torch he was holding fell from
his trembling hand and he ran blindly through the tress
calling for help. This incident shows that when Oliver was in
real danger, he got overwhelmed with unknown fear, could
not think rationally and reacted like a coward. His behaviour
was quite opposite of what was portrayed earlier about him
being a daring personality.

Extract II
“What are you doing out here……felt distinctly
uneasy.”

Question (i): Where did Mr Oliver find the boy? What did
he notice about the boy?

Answer (i): Mr. Oliver was walking through the pine forest
late in a stormy night when he happened to spot a boy
sitting on a rock.

He noticed that the boy was crying with his head hung down
and his face held in his hands.

Question (ii): Why do you think the boy was called a

miscreant? In what condition was he found by Oliver?

Answer (ii): Boys were not supposed to be out of school

premises after dark. The boy had broken the rule and was
spotted in the forest late in the night. This is the reason the
boy was called a miscreant by the author.

Oliver found the boy sitting on a rock and crying silently

with his head hung down and his face held in his hands.
Question (iii): How did Mr Oliver express his concern for
the boy? How did the boy react to it?

Answer (iii): Since the boy had broken the rule by staying
out after dark, Mr Oliver got angry. But when he noticed that
the boy was continuously crying he got concerned and asked
him what he was doing there and why he was crying.

The boy did not respond and continued to cry silently. Oliver
again enquired what was troubling him and asked him to
look up.

Question (iv): How can you explain the boy’s ‘strange,

soundless weeping’?

Answer (iv): The boy’s 'strange, soundless weeping' could be

explained on the basis that Oliver had been hearing stories
about supernatural events happening in the region. Being a
bachelor and lonely person, the stories of ghosts and spirits
might have left deep impressions in his subconscious mind.
The boy sitting on a rock, as perceived by him in the
flickering light of the torch, augmented with eerie
atmosphere created by the weather and the forest; triggered
a sequence of images in his mind which made him feel
uneasy.

Or

The flickering light from Oliver’s torch was insufficient to

completely illuminate the object he was seeing. Oliver
perceived a boy sitting on a rock with his head hung down
and who seemed to be weeping silently. His school was
located in the outskirts of the hill-station of Simla which
reinforced his belief that what he saw was indeed a boy
from his school. Concerned about his well-being, he tried to
communicate with the boy, but the boy did not respond and
continued to weep silently.

Question (v): What strange revelation took place when the

boy finally looked up at Oliver?

Answer (v): When the boy finally looked up at Oliver, it was

revealed that the boy had no features on his face. Oliver was
terrified to see that the face was without eyes, ears, nose or
mouth. It was just a round smooth head with a school cap
on it.
Extract III

“The torch fell from his trembling hand……Why

are you running?”

Question (i): Whose ‘trembling hand’ is referred to in the

above extract? Why was it trembling?

Answer (i): Oliver’s ‘trembling hand’ is referred to

here. Oliver was expecting to see a familiar face but was
horrified to see a face that was featureless, without eyes,
ears, nose or mouth. His hands started trembling as he was
gripped by some unknown fear.

Question (ii): Explain the sentence:

“He turned and scrambled down the path, running blindly

through the trees.”

Answer (ii): Oliver was horrified and gripped by unknown

fear when he saw the faceless boy. The torch had fallen from
his trembling hand and he was unable to see the path in the
dark. Without the torch, for all practical purposes, he was
blind. He got panicked and, in attempt to save his life,
scrambled down the path running blindly through the trees
in direction of the school building.

Question (iii): What did Oliver answer the watchman’s

questions in the extract above?

Answer (iii): Oliver told the watchman that he had

encountered something horrible in the forest. He said he had
seen a boy weeping in the forest who had no face, eyes, ears,
nose or mouth.

Question (iv): The story ends with a thrilling climax. Do

you agree? Why?

Answer (iv): Panicked by the horrified scene, Oliver dropped

his torch and blindly ran away from the faceless boy. He
called for help and was pleased to see it coming his way as a
night watchman swinging a lantern in middle of the path.
He stumbled up to the watchman and told him about the
strange encounter with a faceless boy. The story ends with
a thrilling climax when the watchman raised the lamp and
showed Oliver that he too was faceless, with no features or
even eyebrows. The climax is reached when the wind blew
out the lamp and it becomes dark again.
No clue is given by the narrator about the reaction of Oliver
when he encounters another faceless person. The narrator
ends the story abruptly leaving the readers to suspect that
something bad might have happened to Oliver.

Question (v): Comment on the appropriateness of the title.

Answer (v): The story is set in the darkness of the night. It

describes strange and frightening encounter of Mr. Oliver
who spots a faceless boy in the eerie forest in the dark of the
night. Panicked, he drops his torch and in the dark starts
running and bumps into the night watchman who too is
faceless. Mr. Oliver experiences supernatural incidents
which indicate that he might me holding deep rooted fear of
spirits and ghosts in the darkness of his subconscious mind.

The title ‘A Face in the Dark’ seems appropriate because

darkness of the night materialises Oliver’s deep-rooted fear
of the supernatural which he had been hiding in the
darkness of his subconscious mind.
 6. An Angel in Disguise

Timothy Shay Arthur (1809-1885)

A poor woman, who was hated during her life by nearly

everyone in her village, dies while intoxicated and leaves
two daughters and a son behind to fend for themselves. The
towns people pitied these children, and the two oldest were
taken in by new families, but the youngest Maggie, who was
crippled, was left alone because nobody wanted to deal with
her disability. A man named Joe Thompson decided to take
her in for the night but planned on bringing her to the poor
house the next morning, because he knew his wife would
not approve of her. When Joe brought Maggie home in his
arms, his wife Mrs. Thompson was enraged that he brought
that "sick brat" into her house.

Extract I

"Death touches the spring....old tumble-down

hut..."
Question (i): Which woman is referred to here? How did
she die?

Answer (i): The 'woman' referred to here is Maggie's mother.

She died of excessive alcoholism. She had fallen upon the
threshold of her own door in a drunken fit and died in the
presence of her three children.

Question (ii): What kind of relations did the woman have

with others? Why do you think it was so?

Answer (ii): The woman had very bitter relationship with

the village folks because she had been despised and scoffed.
They did so because she had very bad habit of drinking.

Question (iii): What did the neighbours take to the old hut?

Answer (iii): The neighbours took the dead woman to the

old hut.

Question (iv): What kind of living conditions were the

woman and her children subjected to?

Answer (iv): The woman and her children did not get any
food to eat, they did not have clothes to wear.
Question (v): What was the prospective future of the
children after the death of their mother?

Answer (v): John a boy of twelve year age was a stout lad
who could earn his living by working with any farmer and
was eagerly adopted by farmer Jones. Kate aged between ten
and eleven, being a bright active girl was taken by Mrs. Ellis
to work in her house as a maid. Maggie the youngest of the
siblings was bed-ridden due to a spinal injury and was pitied
by everyone. Nobody was willing to adopt her as she was
considered of no use and would be dependent on others
forever. She was adopted by a childless compassionate man
named Mr. Thompson.

Extract II

"Pitying glances were cast....who wanted a bed-

ridden child?"

Question (i): Who was glanced at with pity? Why?

Answer (i): Maggie was glanced at with pity because she was
crippled and bed-ridden since two years due to spinal injury
and she appeared pale and thin.

Question (ii): Give the meaning of:

(a) "her wan and wasted form."

Answer (a): Maggie's pale and thin form.

(b) "even knocked at them for entrance."

Answer (b): Maggie's appearance arouse intense feelings

of pity and sadness in the hearts of neighbours and
disturbed them with the thoughts of her well-being.

Question (iii): Which incident made the child bed-ridden?

Answer (iii): Two years before Maggie had fallen from a

window and her spine got injured. She had not been able to
leave her bed since, except when lifted in the arms of her
mother.

Question (iv): Which shelter was suggested by one of the

neighbours for the "bed-ridden" child? Why?
Answer (iv): One of the neighbours suggested that Maggie
should be sent to the poorhouse as no one was willing to
take trouble for raising a child who could not perform any
household work due to her disability.

Question (v): What role does the child play in the life of:

(a) Joe Thompson

Answer (a): The moment Joe held Maggie in his arms, he felt
affectionate towards her. He could immediately connect
with her as a father figure and felt as if love had sprung back
into his dull life.

(b) Jane Thompson

Answer (b): Being a childless woman, Jane had become ill-

tempered, irritable and desolate, with nobody to take care of.
But Maggie's presence aroused motherly feelings in her and
brought back happiness and joy in her life.
Extract III

"It's cruel thing to leave....into her thin white face"

Question (i): Who are having a conversation in the above

extract? What is the main topic of their conversation?

Answer (i): The wheelwright man named Joe Thompson and

blacksmith's wife is having a conversation. The main topic
of their conversation is about the fate of the orphaned and
disable child named Maggie. The villagers instead of helping
her only mouthed verbal sympathy for the disabled child
and left her alone in the hovel. Joe felt that villagers showed
cruelty on her by leaving her alone in the hovel.

Question (ii): Why was Maggie's effort to raise herself

painful?

Answer (ii): Two years ago Maggie had injured her spine and
because of the injury she had become bed-ridden. She could
leave her bed only when lifted in arms of her mother. After
her mother's death she had to raise herself to an upright
position and sat on the bed without anybody's help. The
effort of raising herself from bed caused her lot of pain.
Question (iii): What thought terrified Maggie? What did she
exclaim to Mr. Thompson?

Answer (iii): The thought of being left alone and helpless in

the hovel terrified Maggie. Maggie exclaimed to Mr.
Thompson pitifully begging him not to leave her all alone in
the hovel.

Question (iv): Why do you think the man stood with a

"puzzled air"? What did he do when he went into the
hovel?

Answer (iv): The man stood with a "puzzled air" because he

was confused and unable to decide whether to leave Maggie
alone in the hovel or take he with him. If he took her with
him then his wife would not accept Maggie and treat her
badly.

When he went into the hovel he assured Maggie that he is

not going to leave her alone. He then wrapped her body in
the clean bedclothes and lifted her in his strong arms and
took her home.

Question (v): What kind of man was Joe Thompson? How

can you say so?
Answer (v): Joe Thompson was a kind hearted and a
compassionate man.

We can say so because it was only he who chose to adopt

helpless and disabled Maggie and take care of her whereas
everybody in the village wanted her to be sent to a
poorhouse.

Extract IV

"Mrs. Thompson saw him approaching ... love was

springing into life"

Question (i): Whom did Mrs. Thompson see approaching?

What "precious burden" was he carrying? Why is the
burden precious?
Answer (i): Mrs. Thompson saw her husband Mr. Joe
Thompson approaching towards their house.

He was carrying Maggie, who was an orphaned and disabled

child, in his arms.

The moment Mr. Thompson held the little girl Maggie in his
arms, he felt affectionate towards her. Being a childless
man, parental feelings for Maggie developed in his heart.
The burden is precious because he held Maggie so close to
his bosom just like a father would carry his own sick child.

Question (ii): What did Mrs. Thompson ask her husband?

How did Joe Thompson react to it?

Answer (ii): Mrs. Thompson asked her husband what he

was carrying in his arms.

Joe expected Mrs. Thompson would be angry to see Maggie

with him. He pleaded her to be gentle with him and Maggie
and wait a little for his explanations.

Question (iii): Describe Joe Thompson’s behaviour, since

the day he brought the sick child home?
Answer (iii): Usually Joe Thompson got out of his wife's way,
or kept rigidly silent and non-combative when she fired up
on any subject. Since he brought Maggie home, Joe
Thomson’s behaved in tactful and assertive manner with his
wife. He confronted her wearing a firmly-set countenance
and a resolute pair of eyes.

Question (iv): What reason did Joe Thompson give his wife
for bringing the child home?

Answer (iv): Joe Thompson reasoned that the child being

disabled could not walk by herself to the poorhouse so he
decided to bring her home because his arms were strong
enough to carry her.

Question (v): What was the reaction of Mrs. Thompson

when the sick child was brought in? How did her attitude
change later?

Answer (v): Mrs. Thompson was known to be a very cruel

and harsh person. She reacted with anger and astonishment
when the sick child was brought in. Initially she displayed
little compassion for Maggie, and called her a "sick brat".
Later on, after spending time with Maggie, Mrs. Thompson
got transformed and her attitude toward Maggie became
that of a caring and considerate person. Mrs. Thompson
ends up falling in love with Maggie, and finds purpose in
taking care and looking after her.

Extract V

“Mrs, Thompson did not reply, but presently

turned … it was a good omen.”

Question (i): What made Mrs. Thompson move towards

Maggie in the little chamber?

Answer (i): Joe begged Mrs. Thompson to “look at her kindly,

speak to her kindly”. He invoked compassion in her by
making her think of Maggie’s dead mother, and the
loneliness, the pain, the sorrow the disable child had to
suffer all throughout her life. He quoted texts from the Bible
to appeal to Jane’s compassion. The tone of Joe’s voice was
so impressive that it subdued his wife. The “trembling of his
voice and moisture in his eyes” were effective in melting her
heart and compelled her to move towards Maggie in the
little chamber.

Question (ii): Why did Joe consider light shining through

the window a good omen?

Answer (ii): Joe was worried about the uncertainty of

Maggie’s future. On his way back home, the very first object
which attracted his attention was light shining through little
chamber windows. In some tradition, seeing light as first
object in the evening is considered a good omen, in this case
for Joe’s family.

Question (iii): What did Joe see when he came back home
from his shop?

Answer (iii): Joe saw Maggie laying a little raised on the

pillow with the lamp shining full upon her face. Mrs.
Thompson was sitting by the bed talking to the child with
her back towards the window.

Question (iv): What did Joe gather from Maggie’s facial

expression? To what extent, did it relieve him?
Answer (iv): Maggie’s facial expression showed that she was
sad and tender but Joe did not notice any sign of bitterness
or pain. Joe gathered that his wife Jane’s kind and
considerate behaviour towards Maggie was being reflected
in her expressions. Joe was relieved and he felt as if a weight
had lifted from his heart.

Question (v): How did Joe behave on coming back from his
shop? What did he ask his wife?

Answer (v): On coming back, Joe did not go immediately to

the little chamber where Maggie was kept but went
straightaway into the kitchen. He behaved as if it was just
another usual day. He asked his wife how soon the supper
would be ready.
 7. The Little Match Girl
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)

The story is about a little girl’s dream and hope. On a cold

New Year's Eve, a poor, young girl tries to sell matches in the
street. She is already shivering from cold and starvation, and
she is walking barefoot having lost her two large slippers.
She is too afraid to go home, because her father will beat her
for not selling any matches, and also as the many cracks in
their shack can't keep out the cold wind. The girl takes
shelter in an alley. The girl lights the matches to warm
herself. In their glow she sees several lovely visions, starting
with a warm stove, then a luxurious holiday feast where the
goose almost jumps out at her, and then a magnificent
Christmas tree and thereafter she happened to see her
deceased grandmother.

Extract I
"It was bitterly cold, snow was … but what good
were they?"

Question (i): What was special about the particular evening

in the story? What kind of weather was there in the
evening?

Answer (i): It was New Year’s Eve, the last evening of the
year.

The weather in the evening was bitterly cold and snow was
falling.

Question (ii): The girl had the slippers on, but they were of
no use. Why?

Answer (ii): The girl was wearing her mother’s slippers

when she stepped out of her home. The slippers were of no
use to her as they were too big for her tiny feet.

Question (iii): How can you conclude from the story that
the girl was poor and dejected?

Answer (iii): The girl belonged to poor family and is evident

from the fact that she was walking in snowy winter weather
bareheaded and she had been wearing her mother’s slippers
which was too big for her feet. Her scanty clothes were not
enough to keep her warm. Her house is described to be cold
and having nothing but a roof with cracks on the walls
allowing cold wind to whistle through them. The girl’s
longings for love and affection from her family got reflected
in the imaginary visions she experienced, whereas in real
life she was afraid of her father who treated her badly.
Because of that she felt dejected and in the final vision she
pleaded with her late grandmother to take her to heaven.

Question (iv): Why was the girl out in the cold? What
prevented her from going back home?

Answer (iv): The girl was sent out in the cold by her father
to earn money from selling matches.

All day had passed but she was unable to sell any matches.
She was afraid to go home as her father was very strict and
had warned her that if she returned home without money
he would give her a beating.

Question (v): How appropriate is the title of the story?

Answer (v): The title of the story “The Little Match Girl” is
appropriate as it revolves around a little girl who sells
matches. The little girl in the story was sent out by her
father in cold and snowy weather to sell matches. She did
not have proper clothes to wear; she had to walk bareheaded
and barefoot and was trembling with cold and hunger. She
was afraid to go home because she could not sell any
matches, and therefore, would get a beating from her father.
She huddled herself in a corner formed between walls and
tried to keep herself warm by lighting the matches, but it
was of no avail and she died in the freezing cold.

Extract II

“So the little girl walked … packet of them in her

hand as well”.

Question (i): Who is referred to as little girl in the extract

above? How did she lose her shoes?
Answer (i): In the above extract a poor match seller is
referred to as little girl.

The girl was wearing her mother’s slippers when she

stepped out of her home. The slippers were of no use to her
as they were too big for her tiny feet. She could not manage
to keep them strapped on her feet when she ran across the
street so as to escape from two carriages that were being
driven terribly fast. While she was running they slipped off
from her feet. She could not find one of the slippers and a
boy ran off with the other saying he could use it as a cradle
when he had children of his own.

Question (ii): Why was the girl carrying matches with her?

Answer (ii): The girl was sent out by her father in the cold
and snowy weather to sell matches.

Question (iii): Why does the author describe the girl as “the
picture of misery”?

Answer (iii): The poor little girl was moving bareheaded and
barefoot in the snowy winter of New Year’s Eve. Her feet had
turned red and blue due to extreme cold. Her old apron was
stuffed with matches and she was holding a packet of
matches in her hand as well. She was hungry and shivering
in cold and was walking slowly. The description of the girl as
“picture of misery” creates vivid impressions of the little girl,
in the mind of the reader, who is suffering intense mental
and physical agony.

Question (iv): What tells you that the girl was not only
trembling with cold but also with hunger?

Answer (iv): The fact that the girl was walking about the
streets on her naked feet which had turned red and blue
with frostbite tells us that she was trembling with cold.
Moreover, she was also trembling with hunger as she did not
have money to buy food. This can be said from the fact that
all day had passed but her apron and hand were still stuffed
with matches suggesting that nobody had bought any of her
matches. Also, nobody took pity on her and gave her a single
penny to help her buy some food.

Question (v): Explain how the story is interspersed with

didactic elements.

Answer (v): The story attempts to teach people to show

empathy towards people who are poor, especially innocent
children. The poor looking girl was almost run over twice by
recklessly driven carriages. It was New Year’s Eve and every
household was feasting with delicious roasted geese but
nobody was kind to offer the little girl food, warm clothes,
shelter or buy her matches. The poor little girl was moving
on the street trembling with cold and starvation all day but
people seemed to have overlooked her. The miserable
condition of the girl evokes feelings of compassion strong
enough to motivate wealthy people to work towards
alleviating the sufferings of the poor.

Extract III

“She tucked her little legs … with straw and rags”

Question (i): Where was the girl sitting? How did she try to
warm her fingers?

Answer (i): She was sitting huddled down in a heap in a

corner formed by two houses.

She burned a match by striking it on the wall to warm her

fingers.
Question (ii): When did the girl feel as if she were sitting
before a large iron stove? Why did she feel this way?

Answer (ii): When she burnt the first match by scratching it

on the brick wall to warm her fingers, she felt as if she was
sitting before a large iron stove which gave her lovely
warmth.

The girl was trying to keep herself warm in the small fire
produced by the matches. She hoped that the fire would
help fight freezing cold by imagining that she was sitting
before a large iron stove.

Question (iii): Explain what kind of relationship the girl

shared with her father.

Answer (iii): In the terrible cold and snowy weather the girl
was sent by her father to sell matches. The girl was unable
to sell matches and was afraid of going home because of the
fear of being beaten by her father. It shows that her father
was not concerned about her welfare and used to ill-treat
her.

Question (iv): With reference to the story, bring out the

theme of class differentiation.
Answer (iv): The girl’s clothes and her house as having only
the roof, through which wind whistled and large cracks were
stuffed with straw and rags, indicate that she belonged to
the poor class of the society. She was being used as child
labour and was looked down upon by others. She imagined
beautiful things in the glow of matches she longed for which
only rich upper class people enjoyed. She walked in the
street in snowy winter trembling with cold and hunger but
nobody was kind to her and showed only pity when her
frozen dead body was found the next morning. All the
experience the girl had, both in reality and imagination,
highlights class differentiation in the Victorian society.

Question (v): The children in Victorian society were not

only orphaned but also deserted, neglected and abused.
Give evidence from the story to prove this statement.

Answer (v): The girl’s father did not have affection for her
and abused her. She was not given proper warm clothes and
shoes to wear. The little girl was used as a child labour and
was sent out in snowy winter to sell matches. She was
trembling with cold and hunger but nobody in the street
took notice of her. She was not yet home in the evening but
it seems that her father was least concerned about her. The
condition of the girl shows that children in Victorian society
were not only orphaned but also deserted, neglected and
abused.

Extract IV

“She struck another … she could see into the

room”.

Question (i): What happened when the girl lit the first
match?

Answer (i): When the girl lit the first match it gave a warm,
bright flame like a candle. The light of flame was strange
and it seemed to the girl that she was sitting before a large
iron stove with polished brass knobs and brass ornaments.
The fire burnt beautifully and gave out lovely warmth to her
hands. She stretched her feet to warm them too.

Question (ii): What did the girl see in the window when
she lit the second match?
Answer (ii): When the light of the second match fell upon
the wall, the bricks become transparent like gauze and she
could see right into the room. She saw a shining white cloth
was spread on the table. It was covered with beautiful china
and in the centre of it stood a roast goose, stuffed with
prunes, and apples, steaming deliciously. The girl was struck
with wonder when she saw the goose hop down from the
dish and waddle towards her with carving knife and fork in
its back.

Question (iii): Explain how the girl’s visions are symbolic of

her undying hope.

Answer (iii): The girl’s was living a life full of misery but she
always kept her hope alive. She believed that she would pull
through the difficulties and lighted the matches to keep her
warm. In the glow of the light she imagined things which
made her feel comfortable. The girl’s visions are symbolic of
her undying hope because they helped her reinforce her
desires of enjoying a life full of affection, love, fun and
delicious food.
Question (iv): What does the light from the matches
symbolise in the story?

Answer (iv): The light from the matches is symbolic of

warmth and hope. The girl burned her matches hoping the
light would keep her warm and comfortable in the cold
snowy weather. All her longings for warmth in chilling
winter, for enjoying delicious meal, for celebrating
Christmas, for loving presence of her old grandmother got
reinforced in brief episodes of visions she saw in the light
from the matches.

Question (v): Explain why the girl lighted the whole bundle
of matches at the end?

Answer (v): At the end when the girl lighted the fourth
match she saw lovely vision of her late grandmother. She
got worried that when the match would burn out her
grandmother would go away just like the warm stove,
delicious roasted goose and magnificent Christmas tree had
disappeared before. In order to prolong the vision of her
grandmother, the girl lighted the whole bundle of matches
at once.
Extract V

“But in the cold dawn … heavenly joys and

gladness of a new year”.

Question (i): Which girl is referred to in the extract above?

Why does she have “rosy cheeks” and “smiling lips”?

Answer (i): The little match girl who was lying dead in the
corner made by walls of two house is referred to in the
extract.

The girl had seen lovely visions in the light of the matches
and was happy to see her loving late grandmother in one of
the visions. She wished to enjoy delicious food, to sit under a
beautiful Christmas tree, and to have the company of her
dear old grandmother. She has rosy cheeks and smiling lips
because she is happy that her miserable life has ended. In
heaven she was going to have a new life filled with joy
where there is no cold, no hunger and no fear.

Question (ii): What is referred to as “beautiful visions” in

the extract above? How does the girl encounter these
“beautiful visions”?
Answer (ii): The beautiful visions which the girl saw were, a
large iron stove with brass knobs and brass ornaments
which gave out lovely warmth, a roasted goose steaming
deliciously standing close to her, a magnificent Christmas
tree decorated beautifully like she had never seen before and
finally she saw her loving late grandmother.

These beautiful visions appeared when the girl lighted her

matches one after another.

Question (iii): What kind of relationship existed between

the girl and her deceased grandmother?

Answer (iii): As she lighted the fourth match, she saw a

vision of her deceased grandmother, the only person to have
treated her with love and kindness all through her life. The
vision of her grandmother gave her hope and to keep the
vision alive for as long as she could, the girl lighted the
entire bundle of matches at once. The girl loved her so much
that she pleaded with her grandmother to take her with her
to heaven.

Question (iv): How does the extract bring out the hope for a
better life after death?
Answer (iv): Throughout her life the girl had suffered in
poverty and abuse in the hands of her father. She longed for
a better life and was happy to see her deceased grandmother
in her vision. She found hope for better life after death and
died with a smile on her face. The smile of her face suggests
that the girl finally got relief from her pain after her death.

Question (v): Give the brief character sketch of the match

girl.

Answer (v): The girl walked bareheaded and barefoot

trembling with cold and hunger in the streets all day to sell
the matches because she was afraid of her father who ill-
treated her. She was brave and despite all the sufferings
kept her hope and faith alive. She attempted to fight bitter
cold by lighting the matches. In the glow of the light she
imagined beautiful things which gave her comfort. She
found hope for better life in the image of her late
grandmother and died with a smile on her face.
 8. The Blue Bead

Norah Burke (1907-1976)

This story is about a young girl named Sibia who one day
goes to the cliffs with her mother and other women to
collect paper grass. On her return journey she gets left
behind. In order to get home Sibia has to cross a river. She
was too tired so she stopped to take rest. She sees a Gujar
woman getting attacked by a crocodile. Sibia rushes to help
the woman and she stabs the crocodile in the eye with a
hayfork. Sibia takes the wounded woman back into the
village. When she returns to the river to get her hayfork she
finds a blue bead lying in water. In the end Sibia doesn't tell
her mother about helping the lady because she is excited
about finding the blue bead for her necklace.

Extract I
"Timber was being floated down … breathing the
clean sunny air."

Question (i): What are sleepers? What made the timber

float down the river?

Answer (i): Sleepers are rectangular pieces of timber which

are specifically cut for construction of building and railway
tracks.

Trees in the forest further up the great Indian river were

being harvested by industries and the river was used to
transport the timber.

Question (ii): What is meant by dislodge? How can the

sleepers be dislodged?

Answer (ii): Dislodge is an act of forcefully removing

something from its position.

Sleepers that are lying stuck in the stones can be dislodged

by delivering sufficient force, manually or mechanically, to
the sleepers using a lever like contrivance. Also, floods can
lift them and jostle them along.
Question (iii): From where did the crocodile come? Why did
he come? What was he doing in the shallow waters?

Answer (iii): The crocodile had come from deep black water
of the river where the flowing streams produced whirlpools.

He had come to glassy shallows of the river to rest.

He balanced his body on tiptoe on the rippled sand so that

only his eyes and nostrils were visible above the water. He
lay in the water motionless breathing clean sunny air.

Question (iv): Why did the crocodile raise his eyes and
nostrils out of water?

Answer (iv): The crocodile raised his eyes to get a clear sight
of the area around the stepping stones and raised his
nostrils to breath easily, this enabled him to lay motionless
and concealed, in ambush, for prolonged duration.

Question (v): The author says, “Now nothing could pierce

the inch-thick armoured hide”. What does she mean by
the sentence given above? Why does she say so?
Answer (v): Over the years, the crocodile had grown, from a
baby crocodile vulnerable to birds of prey and carnivorous
fishes, into a juggernaut so ferocious and formidable that
nothing could pierce his inch-thick armoured hide. The
author is suggesting that the crocodile is invincible as he is
covered with thick armour-like hide which weapons cannot
pierce.

The author is describing the strength of the crocodile in

detail as foreshadow of violent conflict which was going to
take place between crocodile and Sibia later in the day. And,
how brave Sibia uses her presence of mind to overpower the
crocodile and save the Gujar woman’s life.

Extract II

"The mugger crocodile … a throb in his throat."

Question (i): What is a mugger crocodile?

Answer (i): A mugger crocodile is a species of freshwater
crocodile with a short snout found throughout the Indian
subcontinent.

Question (ii): Give the meaning of:

(a) An antediluvian saurian:

Answer (a): It means a large reptile which is very old as if it

belonged to the times before the biblical flood.

(b) Prehistoric juggernaut:

Answer (b): Something which has been in existence from

very old times and is huge and powerful and moving with
overwhelming force that cannot be stopped.

Question (iii): Describe the appearance of the crocodile.

What made him move?

Answer (iii): The crocodile with a huge tail was twice the
length of a tall man. His colour was blackish brown on above
and yellowy white on underside. A throb in his throat, his
mouth was closed and fixed in evil bony smile, ran almost
the whole length of his head and was tinged with green
where the yellow underside came up to it. His hide was one
inch thick and nothing could pierce it.

The crocodile used unimaginable and irresistible power of

his huge tail to move in water.

Question (iv): How can you conclude from the extract that
the crocodile was a strong and dangerous animal?

Answer (iv): The crocodile is described as “an antediluvian

saurian, a prehistoric juggernaut, ferocious and formidable,
a vast force in water, propelled by unimaginable and
irresistible power of the huge tail”, suggests that he was a
strong and dangerous animal.

Question (v): How did the crocodile rest in the shallows?

Answer (v): The crocodile balanced on tiptoe on the rippled

sand of the shallows with only his eyes and nostrils raised
out of water so that he could see and breathe easily.
Extract III

"From the day, perhaps a hundred … his brainless

craft and ferocity."

Question (i): What is said about the birth of the crocodile?

How can you say that the crocodile was very active even
before he was fully hatched?

Answer (i): The crocodile hatched from an egg, probably a

hundred years ago, in a sandbank.

The crocodile was very active because as soon as he

managed to get his head out of his shell he was looking
around ready to snap at anything even before he was fully
hatched.

Question (ii): What is meant by brainless craft and ferocity?

Answer (ii): It means making use of one’s craft and ferocity

guided purely by natural instinct. The young crocodile could
escape from predators by instinctively using his skills and
fierceness.
Question (iii): What were the dangers facing the young
crocodile?

Answer (iii): The young crocodile faced the dangers of

getting eaten by birds of prey and great carnivorous fishes
who fed on baby crocodiles.

Question (iv): How did the young crocodile get the food and
stored it? What did the big crocodile feed on?

Answer (iv): The young crocodile caught the food and stored
it in holes in the river bank.

The big crocodile fed mostly on fish but had also caught
deer, monkeys, and ducks. He had also sometimes fed on pi-
dog full of parasites and a skeleton cow. Sometimes he went
down to the burning ghats and fed on half-burned bodies of
Indians cast into the stream.

Question (v): How is the body of the crocodile strong

enough to protect him? How was he vulnerable to an
attack?
Answer (v): The body of crocodile is protected with one inch
thick layer of armoured hide on the above. Nothing can
pierce it, even rifle bullets would bounce off.

His eyes and the soft underarms made him vulnerable to an

attack.

Extract IV

"It was not a gem; though … dressed in an earth-

coloured rag."

Question (i): Describe the strange object found near the

crocodile?

Answer (i): The strange object found near the crocodile

glimmered like a blue gem in shallow water. It was a sand-
worn glass that had been rolling about in the water for a
long time. It was possibly neck of a glass as it was perforated
right through and resembled blue bead worn in a necklace.

Question (ii): From where did the little girl come? What did
she wear? What was she eating?
Answer (ii): The little girl came out of an earth coloured
mud house in a noisy village.

She was dressed in skirt and sari made by tearing an earth

coloured rag in two parts.

She was eating chupatti wrapped round a smear of green

chili and rancid butter.

Question (iii): Describe the physical appearance of the little

girl.

Answer (iii): The girl was thin starveling child dressed in an

earth coloured rag. She was eating chupatti and bit it
showing straight white teeth. She was twelve years old
happy immature child-woman and was standing barefoot
with her ebony hair and great eyes, and skin of oiled brown
cream.

Question (iv): Give evidence to prove that the girl was from
a poor household.

Answer (iv): The little girl lived in a mud house, she was
wearing clothes made out by tearing rags into two, she was
eating chupatti and divided it into pieces to make it seem
more, she was barefoot and often goosey cold on winter
morning; are evidences which prove that the girl was from a
poor household.

Question (v): Why was the little girl known as a child-

woman and born to toil?

Answer (v): The little girl Sibia was twelve years old and had
always lived in poverty. The moment she was born she was
marked for toil. She toiled as a child-woman in order to
support her family. She had husked corn, and gathered
sticks, and put dung to dry, and cooked and weeded, and
carried, and fetched water, and cut grass for fodder.

Extract V

"In all her life, she had never… choose which

colour you would have."

Question (i): Where was the bazaar? How did the girl know
about it?
Answer (i): The bazaar was in a little town located across
the jungle at the railhead.

She had been all through the jungle to the little town with
her parents and brothers.

Question (ii): What had she seen and heard while passing
through the bazaar?

Answer (ii): In the bazaar she walked through all the milling
people, and the dogs and monkeys full of fleas, she had seen
people who were idling, gossiping, bargaining and spitting
betel juice. She had heard the bell of a sacred bull clonking
as he lumped along through the dust and hubbub. She had
also seen sweetmeat stall, cotton cloth stall, stain sewn with
real silver thread, tin trays from Birmingham and a sari
which had chips of looking glass embroidered into the
border. She happened to see a Kashmiri travelling merchant
who was showing dawn-coloured silk that poured like cream
and he had a little locked chest with turquoises and opals in
it. Best of all she saw a box with him which when pressed, a
bell tinkled and a yellow woollen chicken jumped out.
Question (iii): What was her experience at the sweetmeat
stall?

Answer (iii): She had paused before the sweetmeat stall and
gazed amazingly at the brilliant honey confections green
and magenta in colour and giving out wonderful smell.

Question (iv): What did she sometimes taste at home?

Answer (iv): At home, she sometimes tasted wild honey, or

crunched a syrup out of a stalk of sugarcane.

Question (v): Describe what Sibia saw at the cloth stall? Did
she like the stall? Why?

Answer (v): At the cloth stall Sibia saw stacks of great rolls
of new cotton cloth which had arrived straight from the
mills. The edge of the cloth was stamped with the maker’s
sign of tiger’s head.

Yes, she liked the wonderful smell of new cloth so much

that she could have stood by it all day.
Extract VI

"But there were other wonders… his way to the

bungalows."

Question (i): Mention any two of the wonders Sibia had

seen in the bazaar.

Answer (i): Sibia had seen green and magenta coloured

sweetmeats which gave out wonderful smell and another
wonder she saw was in the cloth stall where great rolls of
wonderfully smelling new cotton cloth were stacked.

Question (ii): What did the Kashmiri merchant sell?

Answer (ii): The Kashmiri merchant was selling dawn-

coloured silk that poured like cream, he had a little locked
chest with turquoises and opals in it and a box which when
pressed, a bell tinkled and a yellow woollen chicken jumped
out.

Question (iii): Describe the box having the best of the

merchant’s goods.
Answer (iii): The best of the merchant’s goods was a box
which when pressed, a bell tinkled and a yellow woollen
chicken jumped out.

Question (iv): How was Sibia spending her time since her
childhood?

Answer (iv): Sibia had spent her time toiling since her
childhood. She had husked corn, and gathered sticks, and
put dung to dry, and cooked and weeded, and carried, and
fetched water, and cut grass for fodder.

Question (v): What does Sibia’s life show about her

family’s status?

Answer (v): Sibia’s life shows that she belonged to a poor

family. She had never owned anything but a pair of clothes
made by tearing a piece of rag into two. She was thin,
undernourished and divided her chupatti to make it seem
more. Since her childhood she toiled as a child-woman in
order to support her family. She had husked corn, and
gathered sticks, and put dung to dry, and cooked and
weeded, and carried, and fetched water, and cut grass for
fodder. She was going to climb the cliffs to collect paper
grass and sell in the market.
Extract VII

"Such thoughts did not trouble… was a great load

to carry."

Question (i): What thoughts did not trouble Sibia?

Answer (i): The women often toiled all day cutting paper
grass on the cliffs above the river and in the evening they
carried home bundle of dried grass with a hayfork. When
they had collected enough, they would carry the paper grass
by bullock cart to the railhead and sell it to the agent who
would arrange for its despatch to the paper mills. The
thoughts of the women toiling all day for this work, and the
agent doing nothing but sitting on silk cushions and
drinking hookah, did not trouble Sibia.

Question (ii): Where was Sibia going? Why?

Answer (ii): Sibia was going to climb the cliffs above the
river to collect bundles of paper grass and later sell it to an
agent.
Question (iii): Who were with Sibia during the journey?
Why couldn’t Sibia skip during her return journey?

Answer (iii): During the journey Sibia was accompanied with

her mother and some other women.

Sibia couldn’t skip during her return journey because she

would be aching with tiredness toiling all day cutting paper
grass and, moreover, she would be carrying a great load of
paper grass with her.

Question (iv): Describe the necklaces worn by women. Why

did they want to wear several necklaces?

Answer (iv): Some of the women were wearing necklaces

made out of lal-lal-beeges, the shiny scarlet seeds, black one
end that grew everywhere in the jungle.

They wanted to wear several necklaces because lots of

necklaces worn together made pleasant rattling swish
around their necks.

Question (v): What types of ornaments did Sibia wish to

wear?

Answer (v): Sibia longed for decorating her little golden body
with glorious dazzle of ornaments she had seen in the
bazaar. She wanted to have necklaces made out of glass and
beads, anklets, earrings, nose-rings and bangles.

Extract VIII

"Chattering as they went… nomadic graziers

would live for a time..."

Question (i): Why were the women going to the river?

Answer (i): The women had set out to collect paper grass
from the cliffs located across the river. A dusty track led
them to the shallows and they would cross the river
jumping from stone to stone.

Question (ii): What is meant by ‘nomadic graziers’? How

long do these people stay in one place?

Answer (ii): Nomadic graziers are community of people who

travel from place to place to find fresh pasture for their
cattle and have no permanent home.

They stay in one place for a time until their animals have
perhaps finished all the easy grazing within reach, or they
were not able to sell enough of their white butter or white
milk in the district, or there was no one to buy the young
male buffaloes for tiger bait. Or perhaps a cattle-killing tiger
was making nuisance of himself.

Question (iii): Describe the appearance of Gujar women as

seen by Sibia.

Answer (iii): Sibia saw Gujar women wore trousers, tight and
wrinkled at the ankles, and in their ears large silver rings
made out of melted rupees.

Question (iv): Where were the men and boys from the
camp?

Answer (iv): The men and boys had gone out for grazing the
herd or had gone to market to sell produce obtained from
their cattle.

Question (v): Explain why Gujars are called the “Man in the
wandering Pastoral Age”?

Answer (v): Gujars are junglis, born and bred in the forest.
For countless centuries their forebears had lived like this,
getting their living from animals, from grass and trees. They
are not Stone Age hunters and not yet cultivators but the
“Man in the wandering Pastoral Age” because they wander
from place to place with their cattle in search for food and
have no permanent home.

Extract IX

"Where Sibia was working… where she had

played as a child.”

Question (i): How was Sibia compared to a bird in this

passage?

Answer (i): On the cliff where Sibia was working she could
look down over the river as if she were a bird. Her
imagination took her in swooping flight over the bright
water and golden air to the banks where she had played as a
child.

Question(ii): What did she keep in the cave? Why?

Answer(ii): She had moulded some little clay bowls and kept
them in the cave for drying.
After the bowls had completely dried and hardened she
would have coloured them with paintings of marigolds and
elephants before using.

Question (iii): Why was the mother angry with her? How
did Sibia react to the situation?

Answer (iii): While toiling for paper grass Sibia look down
over the river and, for a moment she got carried away by her
vivid imagination and stopped toiling. Her mother saw her
idling and got angry with her and shouted.

The sharp word and the glare of her mother’s angry

sweating face pulled Sibia back to work.

Question (iv): Where did the women carrying the load go?

Answer (iv): After completing their work the women set out
on return journey to the village carrying the load of paper
grass. They crossed the river safely and disappeared up the
track into the trees on the other side.

Question (v): At the end of the day, how did Sibia feel?

Answer(v): Sibia’s muscle stretched and ached under heavy

weight of the paper grass. Halfway across the river, she put
her load down on a big boulder to rest; and leaned,
breathing, on the fork.

Extract X

"At the same moment a Gujar… she walked on to

the stepping-stones”.

Question (i): What happened when the Gujar woman

walked on to the stepping-stones?

Answer (i): The crocodile had been hiding near the stepping-
stones and he lunged at the Gujar woman when she walked
on to the stepping-stones within a yard distance from him.

Question (ii): When the crocodile attacked the women, how

did she react?

Answer (ii): When the crocodile attacked the woman, she

screamed, dropped both brass pots on the boulder, recoiled
from the crocodile, slipped and fell on the bone-breaking
stone, and clutched one of the timber logs to save herself.
Question (iii): Describe the struggle between the woman
and the crocodile.

Answer (iii): The woman was clung to the log jammed

between two boulders and was screaming, while the
crocodile pulled on her leg, thrashing his mighty tail to and
fro as he tried to drag her free and carry her off down into
the deeps of the pool. Blood started coming out of her leg
and spread everywhere in the water.

Question (iv): Show how Sibia came to help the woman

immediately.

Answer (iv): Sibia grabbed the hayfork, came leaping from

boulder to boulder like a rock goat. Sometimes it had
seemed difficult to cross these stones, especially the big gap
in between where the river coursed through like a bulge of
glass. But now she came on wings, choosing her footing in
mid-air without even thinking about it, and in one moment
she was beside the shrieking woman.

Question (v): Briefly state the theme of conflict between

human beings and wild nature as shown in the story.
Answer (v): One day when the village women were crossing
the river on their way home, Sibia decided to rest as she was
tired. A Gujar woman went down to fill her two gurrahs with
water. The theme of conflict between human beings and
wild animals is shown when a crocodile, which had been
waiting all day, suddenly attacked the woman and caught
her leg. At that moment Sibia got up, grabbed her hayfork,
jumped from boulder to boulder and stabbed the crocodile in
the eye with all her power. The crocodile immediately went
into convulsion and let go of the woman’s leg.

Extract XI

"The crocodile reared up… uproar of bloody foam

he disappeared”.

Question (i): Why did the crocodile go into convulsion?

What happened during his convulsion?

Answer (i): The crocodile swung his powerful tail towards

Sibia missing her twice. But she did not hesitate and with all
the force of her little body, she drove the hayfork at the
reptile’s eyes. One prong of the hayfork pierced his eye while
its pair scratched passed on the horny cheek of the
crocodile. The excruciating pain delivered into his eye by
Sibia’s hayfork sent the crocodile into convulsion.

During his convulsion the crocodile involuntarily lost hold

on the Gujar woman’s leg, reared up standing on his hind
legs, till half his lizard body was out of the river with his tail
and nose nearly meeting over his stony back. Then he
crashed back into the water and disappeared.

Question (ii): How did Sibia attend to the Gujar woman?

Answer (ii): Sibia got her arms around the fainting Gujar
woman and managed to drag her out of water. She stopped
her wounds with sand, bound them with rag and helped her
home to the Gujar encampment.

Question (iii): Where was Sibia’s sickle and fork? What

strange object did she see in water?

Answer (iii): Sibia’s had kept the sickle on a big boulder with
the paper grass and after encounter with the crocodile the
fork was left lying in the shallow water.
When she bent to pick up the fork she saw a blue bead
whose shape was wobbling in the movement of the stream.

Question (iv): How did she take possession of the strange

object? Describe the object.

Answer (iv): The strange object was lying one yard in the
cold silk water she reached her arm down to get it. The
object appeared near because of refraction and Sibia missed
it first but got hold of it in her second attempt.

The object lay in her wet palm with the sunset shuffling
about inside it like gold-dust, was perfect, even pierced and
ready for use in the necklace she was making.

Question (v): State why Sibia was not excited at saving the
Gujar woman but she was thrilled at finding the blue bead.

Answer (v): Sibia lived in a village surrounded by forest

where life was always at risk from wild animals. Physical
danger was so commonplace in her life that saving the Gujar
woman from being devoured by the crocodile did not excite
her. Sibia had always longed for fine clothes and ornaments
she had once seen in the bazaar. When she retrieved the
blue bead from the river she got thrilled, her heart went up
in flames of joy. She felt as if she had discovered a treasure.
The blue bead, a symbol of luxury to her, was perfect, even
pierced ready for use in the necklace she was making.
 9. My Greatest Olympic
Prize

Jesse Owens (1913-1980)

Jesse Owens was expecting to win gold medals especially in

the broad jump event hands down. He was startled to see a
tall German boy named Luz Long hitting the pit at almost 26
feet on his practice leaps. Hitler had kept Long under wraps,
evidently hoping to win the jump with him. Owens, being a
black American, was infuriated by Hitler’s deception and got
preoccupied with the thought that if Long won, it would add
some new support to the Nazis’ Aryan-superiority theory.
Owens fouled twice in his qualifying jumps and was left
with one attempt. At this point, the tall German introduces
himself as Luz Long and said encouragingly, “You should be
able to qualify with your eyes closed”.
Extract I

"I wasn’t too worried about all … of those gold

medals."

Question (i): Which games are referred to in the extract

above? Who wasn’t too worried about them?

Answer (i): The Olympic Games were being held in Berlin in

the summer of 1936.

Jesse Owens, a black American athlete, had trained hard for

the Games and wasn’t too worried about them.

Question (ii): Why were nationalistic feelings high during

these Games?

Answer (ii): Hitler had propagated the myth about Aryan-

supremacy theory and had childishly insisted that his
performers were members of a master race and, therefore,
would naturally outperform participants of inferior non-
Aryan races. So, the nationalistic feelings were at an all-time
high during these Games.
Question (iii): In which game was the speaker expected to
win the gold medal? Why?

Answer (iii): In the broad jump event the speaker was

expected to win the gold medal because, a year ago, as a
sophomore at Ohio State University, he had set a world
record of 26 feet 8-1/4 inches.

Question (iv): When the speaker went for his trials, he was
startled to see somebody. Whom did he see? What has the
speaker said about him?

Answer (iv): The speaker was startled to see a tall boy

hitting the pit at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps. He was
a German named Luz Long and Hitler had kept him under
wraps.

The speaker said that if Long won, it would add some new
support to the Nazis’ Aryan-superiority theory.

Question (v): What did Owens do to succeed in the

competition?

Answer (v): Owens had trained, sweated and disciplined

himself for six years with the Games in mind. He had his eye
especially on the running broad jump as he had set a world
record a year ago and it was expected of him to win that
Olympic event hands down.

Extract II

"A little hot under … was superior and who

wasn’t."

Question (i): Who is the speaker of above lines? What was

the speaker preoccupied with?

Answer (i): Jesse Owens, the black American athlete, is the

speaker.

Jesse Owens was expecting to win gold medals especially in

the broad jump event hands down. He was startled to see a
tall German boy named Luz Long hitting the pit at almost 26
feet on his practice leaps. Hitler had kept Long under wraps,
evidently hoping to win the jump with him. Owens, being a
black American, was infuriated by Hitler’s deception and got
preoccupied with the thought that if Long won, it would add
some new support to the Nazis’ Aryan-superiority theory.
Question (ii): Give the meaning of:

(a) hot under the collar

Answer (a): Jesse Owens was angry because Hitler had kept
Luz Long under wraps, evidently hoping to win the jump
with him.

(b) Der Fuhrer

Answer (b): It is a political title which means leader of the

Nazis and refers to Adolf Hitler.

Question (iii): Where was the speaker determined to go?

What did he intend to do?

Answer (iii): The speaker was determined to go out to the

broad jump tracks.

The speaker was told that Hitler had kept Luz Long under
wraps. He was furious about Hitler’s methods to prove Aryan
supremacy by any means necessary and resolved to shake
the beliefs of Hitler and his master race by outperforming
his Nazi opponent.

Question (iv): How did the speaker perform in his trials?

Give reason for his unexpected performance.
Answer (iv): The speaker performed poorly and fouled in
first two attempts of his qualifying jumps.

The speaker was surprised to see outstanding performance

of Luz Long on his practice leaps. This got him preoccupied
with the thought of a Nazi winning the gold medal and was
driven by anger while initiating his leap, thus fouling twice.

Question (v): What was the Nazis’ Aryan-superiority

theory?

Answer (v): Nazis believed that Germans belonged to a

master race and called themselves Aryans. They considered
themselves genetically superior and were born to rule non-
Aryan races. In 1936 Berlin Olympics Adolf Hitler, leader of
the Nazi party wanted to demonstrate his racial superiority
by dominating the Games. Hitler had trained a talented
German named Luz Long and kept him under wraps in order
to startle the world record holder Owens and win the broad
jump event.

Extract III
"Did I come 3000 miles … a fool of myself?"

Question (i): What made the speaker of the extract bitter?

Why was he making fouls?

Answer (i): Speaker was bitter because he had fouled twice

in his qualifying jumps. He now had one last attempt left of
the trials to qualify for finals, if he fouled again he would be
eliminated from the competition.

He fouled twice because he was angry and preoccupied with

the thought of a Nazi athlete named Luz Long winning the
gold medal.

Question (ii): How did the speaker react to his poor

performance? How did his anger vanish?

Answer (ii): The speaker got tensed and had bitter thoughts
about his poor performance, walked a few yards from the pit
and kicked disgustedly at the dirt.

Luz Long approached the speaker and encouraged him by

saying that something must be bothering him else he should
be able to qualify with his eyes closed. Long seemed to
understand Owens’ anger and took pains to reassure him.
Soon, Owens realised that he had wrong impression about
Long, and just like him, he too did not believe in the Aryan-
supremacy myth. They laughed over the fact that he looked
like a Nazi. A warm and friendly conversation helped uplift
Owens’ spirits and somewhat calmed him down.

Question (iii): Briefly describe the appearance and accent of

man who comforted and guided the speaker.

Answer (iii): Luz Long, who comforted and guided the

speaker, was one inch taller than him, he had a lean
muscular frame, clear blue eyes, blond hair, and strikingly
handsome, chiselled face. He spoke English well with
German accent.

Question (iv): The speaker was told that something must

be eating him. Who said this and why?

Answer (iv): Luz Long said this to the speaker. The speaker
had leaped from several inches beyond the take-off board
for a foul. On the second attempt he fouled even worse. Long
noticed the frustration of Owens, the world record holder,
and told him encouragingly that something must be eating
him or he should be able to qualify with his eyes closed.

Question (v): What was the advice given to the speaker to

qualify for the finals? Did it prove successful?
Answer (v): Luz Long advised the speaker to draw a line a
few inches in back of the board and aim at making his take-
off from there. This way the speaker would avoid fouling
again and considering he jumped long enough he was sure
to qualify.

The advice proved successful and Jesse Owens qualified for

the finals.

Extract IV

"Suddenly all the tension … a foot to spare".

Question (i): Why was Owens tense? What released his

tension?

Answer (i): Owens was tense because he had fouled twice in

his qualifying jump and was left with only one chance.

Luz Long advised Owens to draw a line a few inches in back

of the board and aim at making his take-off from there, so as
to avoid fouling again. Long convinced him that it did not
matter if he was not first in the trials, “tomorrow is what
counts”. The truth of what Long said hit Owens and
suddenly tension seemed to ebb out of his body.

Question (ii): What did Owens do the night he qualified for

the finals?

Answer (ii): That night Jesse Owens walked over to Luz

Long’s room in the Olympic Village to thank him. They sat in
his quarters and talked for two hours – about track and field,
themselves, the world situation, and a dozen other things.

Question (iii): Owens believed that if it hadn’t been for Luz

Long he probably wouldn’t have qualified for the finals. Do
you agree? Why?

Answer (iii): Yes, because Luz Long approached the speaker

and encouraged him by saying that something must be
eating him else he should be able to qualify with his eyes
closed. Long seemed to understand what was bothering
Owens and took pains to reassure him. A warm and friendly
conversation helped uplift Owens’ spirits and somewhat
calmed him down. Then, he advised Owens to take-off from
few inches back of the board and convinced him to do so by
saying, “what does it matter if you are not first in the trials?
Tomorrow is what counts”. Owens suddenly felt tension
leaving his body. He leaped as advised by Long and qualified
with almost a foot to spare.

Question (iv): Briefly state how Luz and Owens performed

in the finals.

Answer (iv): In the broad jump finals, Luz Long beat his own
past record. In doing so, he pushed Owens on to a peak
performance. Owens won the gold medal and set Olympic
record of 25 feet 5-5/16 inches.

Question (v): Luz wanted Owens to do his best in the finals

– even if that meant his own defeat. How does it reflect the
theme of Owens’ autobiographical account?

Answer (v): Luz Long embodied true spirit of Olympic

Games. He was a good human and an exemplary
sportsperson. He did not believe in Aryan-supremacy
business and respected his opponents. He had easily
qualified for finals but got concerned by the world record
holder’s poor performance and approached him for a chat.
He seemed to understand what bothered Owens and took
pains to reassure him. Although Owens was a competitor,
Long encouraged him and gave him advice that helped him
qualify for finals. Long wanted Owens to give his best
performance and pushed him to do his best even if that
meant Owens winning. When Owens set the Olympic
record, Long was on his side to congratulate him. He shook
Owens’ hand hard with a sincere smile for winning the gold
despite the fact that Hitler was glaring at them from the
stands. Owens was deeply touched by the generous and
friendly attitude of Long toward him. Owens had found a
friend in Long, who was beyond racial prejudices and had
reached out to encourage him in crucial situation.

Extract V

"You can melt down … Luz Long at the moment".

Question (i): Give the meaning and significance of “24-carat

friendship” that Owens felt for Luz Long.

Answer (i): Carat is the term used to measure purity of gold.

24-carat means the gold is pure and does not contain
impurities in form of other metals. “24-carat friendship”
signifies that a friendship had formed between Owens and
Long which was pure and destined to last forever.
Question (ii): How and when was there a “real friendship”
formed between Owens and Luz?

Answer (ii): On the eve of finals, Jesse Owens walked over to

Luz Long’s room in the Olympic Village to thank him for his
advice. They sat in his quarters and talked for two hours –
about track and field, themselves, the world situation, and a
dozen other things. By the time Owens got up to leave both
of them knew that a “real friendship” had been formed
between them.

Question (iii): How did Luz Long respond to Owens’

winning the gold? What does it reflect about Luz’s
character?

Answer (iii): The instant Owens landed from his final jump,
Luz Long was on his side to congratulate him. He shook
Owens’ hand hard with a smile for winning the gold. Owens
felt it was not a fake “smile with a broken heart” grip.

It reflects that Luz was a good human and had true sporting
spirit.

Question (iv): What according to Coubertin, is the true

spirit of Olympics? State its significance with reference to
Owens’ success.
Answer (iv): According to Coubertin, “The important thing in
the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The
essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well”.

Luz Long embodied true spirit of Olympic Games. He was a

good human and an exemplary sportsperson. He did not
believe in Aryan-supremacy business and respected his
opponents. He had easily qualified for finals but got
concerned by the world record holder’s poor performance
and approached him for a chat. He seemed to understand
what bothered Owens and took pains to reassure him.
Although Owens was a competitor, Long encouraged him
and gave him advice that helped him qualify for finals. Long
wanted Owens to give his best performance and pushed him
to do his best even if that meant Owens winning. When
Owens set the Olympic record, Long was on his side to
congratulate him. He shook Owens’ hand hard with a
sincere smile for winning the gold despite the fact that Hitler
was glaring at them from the stands.

Question (v): Which is considered as the greatest Olympic

prize? Why?
Answer (v): Jesse Owens won several gold medals in the
Olympic Games, but considered true friendship of Luz Long
as the greatest Olympic prize.

Owens was deeply touched by the generous and friendly

attitude of Long toward him. Owens had found a friend in
Long, who was beyond racial prejudices and had reached out
to encourage and guide him in crucial situation. Owens had
won “24-carat friendship” of Long who epitomised the true
spirit of the Games and even Hitler’s glare did not deter him
from congratulating Owens.
 10. All Summer in a Day
Ray Bradbury (1920-2012)

Ray Bradbury’s dystopian story, “All Summer in a Day,” takes

place on Venus - a planet where it rains all the time. Margot, a
recent arrival on Venus, remembers what the other children
cannot. She remembers the warmth of the sun and how
beautiful sunshine can be. Margot is grieving the loss of the
sun. The other children are jealous she even remembers the
sun.

Extract I
"Ready? … for a look at the hidden sun."
Question (i): What is suggested in the extract above?
Answer (i): In the above extract the children are getting ready
for the moment when the rainfall would stop. They are peering
out of huge glass windows for a look at the sun which is
hidden, and as predicted by the scientists, was expected to
come out of clouds soon. This suggests that these children live
somewhere where sight of sun is rare.
Question (ii): The story opens with the question “Ready?
What are the characters getting ready for?
Answer (ii): The characters are getting ready for the moment
when the rainfall would stop for two hours so that they could
go out for a glimpse at the sun and basked in the sunshine.
Question (iii): Why do you think the sun is hidden?
Answer (iii): The story is set on the planet Venus where it rains
incessantly and the sky is forever filled with clouds hiding the
sun during daytime.
Question (iv): Why are the children peering out?
Answer (iv): The children are peering out of huge glass
windows of an underground school building for a look at the
hidden sun which is expected to come out of clouds soon.
Question (v): Give an example of a comparison from the
extract above. Explain the comparison.
Answer (v): The children are compared with so many roses and
so many weeds intermixed together.
The author is comparing the children to roses and weeds,
because they are closely bunching together and just like roses
and weeds they need sunlight. The author is also hinting that
they are not all sweetness and innocence.
Extract II
"And this was the way life … it’s stopping! Yes,
yes!"
Question (i): What kind of people are there on planet Venus?
Answer (i): A group of school children lived on the planet
Venus with their families. They are the children of men and
women who had come to Venus from Earth on rockets to set
up a civilisation and live out their lives in underground
colonies. They were born on Venus and were only two years
old when the sun was last seen. They seem excited about
appearance of the sun and are looking forward to experiencing
sunshine for the first time in their lives.
Question (ii): What does the phrase “rocket men and women”
indicate?
Answer (ii): The phrase “rocket men and women” refer to people
who had migrated from Earth to Venus in rockets.
Question (iii): What is referred to as the “raining world” why?
Answer (iii): The planet Venus is referred to as the “raining
world” because it rains there incessantly. The sun remains
hidden and comes out of cloud for only one hour, once every
seven years.
Question (iv): “It’s stopping!, it’s stopping!” What is stopping?
What does it tell us about the lives of the characters?
Answer (iv): It has been raining constantly for seven years and
the rain was now stopping.
The characters are schoolchildren who are nine years old and
do not remember to have seen the sun before. Continuous
rainstorms on planet Venus had confined their activities within
echoing tunnels of the underground city. Since the sunshine
was a rare occurrence on Venus, children are excited and are
looking forward to basking under brilliant sunshine for the first
time in their lives.
Question (v): State how the story is based on science fiction.
Answer (v): The story is based on science fiction because it
takes place in distant future on planet Venus. Men and women
from Earth had gone there in rockets to set up civilization and
live out their lives in underground buildings. Also, in reality,
Venus is a hot planet with atmosphere consisting mainly of
carbon dioxide, clouds of sulfuric acid and trace amounts of
water. But in the story it is described as a “raining world”
where days are filled with the drum and gush of water.

Extract III
"They were all nine years old … and their dreams
were gone."
Question (i): Who all are nine years old? Why they could not
recall the sun?
Answer (i): The school children are all nine years old.
They could not recall the sun because they grew up on Venus
where the sun came out of cloud once every seven years. Last
time when the sun appeared they were far too young, just two
years old, to remember what the sun was like.
Question (ii): Who is referred to as she in the above extract?
How is she different from others?
Answer (ii): Margot is referred to as she in the above extract.
Margot had come here only five years ago from Earth, and
unlike other children who had vague imagination about sun,
she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and the sky
was when she was four years old in Ohio and missed it deeply.
Question (iii): Give the meaning of: “the endless shaking
down of clear bead necklaces…”
Answer (iii): It means “sound”. The author uses the metaphor
to describe the noise of rain pouring relentlessly upon the roof,
the walk, the gardens and the forests.
Question (iv): Whose dreams vanish? How? What do they
dream about?
Answer (iv): The nine years old schoolchildren’s dreams vanish
when the noise of pouring rain suddenly awaken them from
their sleep.
The children stir in their sleep dreaming and remembering the
sun which they thought was like gold or yellow crayon or a
coin large enough to buy the world with. They thought they
remembered its warmness like a blushing in the face, in the
body, in the arms and legs and trembling hands.
Question (v): Describe the condition on Venus when it rains.
Answer (v): It had been raining incessantly on Venus for seven
years, thousands upon thousands of days compounded and
filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and
gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and
concussions of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come
over the islands. The noise of tatting drum and endless shaking
down of clear bead necklaces rained upon the roof, the walk,
the gardens and the forests.

Extract IV
"She’d better hurry, we’ll miss it! … world beyond
the huge glass."
Question (i): Who should hurry? What will be missed in case
she is late?
Answer (i): The teacher should hurry.
The schoolchildren are eagerly waiting for the rain to stop so
that they could be taken out by the teacher. If the teacher was
late they would miss the rare opportunity of going out and
enjoying the sunshine.
Question (ii): What effect does incessant rain have on Margot?
Answer (ii): Margot was a frail girl and years of incessant rain
and lack of sunlight had taken their toll on her. She looked as if
she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed
out the blue from her eyes, the red from her mouth and the
yellow from her hair. She appeared like an old photograph
dusted from an album, whitened away. She stood separated
from schoolchildren quietly staring at the rain and if she spoke
at all her voice would be a ghost.
Question (iii): Comment on the use of colour imagery in the
above extract.
Answer (iii): The author uses colour imagery to describe how
Margot, who once seemed to be as vibrant and excited as other
children, had withered away by relentless rain and lack of
sunshine on Venus. “The rain had washed the blue from her
eyes, the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair”.
Question (iv): Explain the phrase: “the loud wet world beyond
the huge glass.”
Answer (iv): The phrase describes the dreary environment on
Venus where it rains continuously. Margot stares outside
through huge glass windows of underground schoolroom. It
portrays Margot waiting anxiously for the rain to stop so that
she could go out and enjoy the sunshine. She had been in deep
agony for want of sun and its warmth. It was a strange wet
world where the rain poured relentlessly down on the roof, the
walk, the garden and the forests making loud noise which felt
like tatting drum and the endless shaking down of clear bead
necklaces.
Question (v): Give an example of metaphor from above
extract. Explain the implied comparison in its use.
Answer (v): The metaphor, “She was an old photograph dusted
from an album” is used to describe how relentless rain and lack
of sunshine had adversely affected the physical and mental
health of Margot and looked like an old faded photograph
which had lost its colours.

Extract V
"But Margot remembered … water mustn’t touch
her head."
Question (i): What does Margot remember and others do not?
Why?
Answer (i): Margot remembered how the sun looks like and
how its warmness is felt on the skin, whereas, others do not
remember and only have a vague idea about sun.
Other schoolchildren were born and had grown up on Planet
Venus where sun came out once in seven years. They were too
young, just two years old, to remember when the sun last
appeared seven years ago on Venus. However, Margot had
arrived from Earth when she was four years old, and
remembered how the sun looked like when she was there. She
remembered its brightness, its colour and its warmth, and she
missed it intensely.
Question (ii): List different ways in which Margot describes
the sun.
Answer (ii): Margot remembered brightness and heat of the
sun and said with her eyes closed, “It’s like a penny. It’s like a
fire in the stove”. She read a poem in the class about brief
appearance of sun on Venus, “I think the sun is a flower, That
blooms for just one hour”.
Question (iii): In what ways Margot was different from the
other children in her class?
Answer (iii): She was quiet and stood apart from other
children. She would play no games with other children in the
echoing tunnels of the underground city. If they tagged her and
ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow. She used
to live on Earth and remembered sun and its warmth and was
not happy about living on Venus. When other children sang
songs about happiness and life and games her lips barely
moved. She felt nostalgic about her life on Earth, and only
when the children sang about the sun and the summer, she
would sing as she watched the drenched windows deeply
longing for sun.
Question (iv): Why do you think Margot refused to take
shower in the school one day?
Answer (iv): For five years Margot had been experiencing
constant rain and no sunshine on Venus. She seemed to have
developed strong aversion to rain, so much so that even the
thought of water falling on her head reminded her of
rainstorm, and therefore, she refused to take shower in the
school one day.
Question (v): Why do the children say that Margot is lying?
What does it tell about them?
Answer (v): Margot remembered the sun and its warmth and
was able to describe it in her own words. She said the
brightness and shape of sun was like that of a penny, and like a
fire in stove it shone in sky and gave warmth. Whereas, other
children had only read about sun – “how like a lemon it was,
and how hot”; but did not remember ever experiencing it. They
refused to believe what Margot described was true and said
that she did not remember and was lying about sun, because
the idea of the sun described vividly by Margot did not match
with what they had read in the class.
The children only had vague idea about sun and, therefore,
were jealous of Margot because she seemed to know more. She
was also able to articulate facts about the sun in much better
way than them. Other children’s ignorance about sun suggests
they were purposefully kept in dark about friendly
environment on Earth.

Extract VI
"So that, dimly, dimly … reasons of big and little
consequence."
Question (i): Which incidence emphasized Margot’s difference
with other children?
Answer (i): Margot hated anything which reminded her of rain.
Once, a month ago, she had refused to shower in the school
shower rooms, had clutched her hands to her ears and over her
head, screaming the water must not touch her head. It was this
incidence which emphasized Margot’s difference with other
children for whom constant rain was normal.
Question (ii): Why is it vital for Margot to go back to the
Earth? What is seen as a hindrance to this proposal?
Answer (ii): Margot hated living on Venus where it rained
continuously for years together. She remembered sun and its
warmth on Earth, but on Venus she was confined to play
within echoing tunnels of the underground city. She was
unable to connect with other children and remained separated.
She had pale and seemed depressed. So, it was vital for Margot
to go back to the Earth.
Taking Margot back to Earth would have cost thousands of
dollars to her family, and was seen as a hindrance to this
proposal.
Question (iii): The children hate Margot for several reasons.
List any three of them.
Answer (iii): The children hated Margot’s pale snow face, her
waiting in silence for the sun to come out, her thinness, and
her possibility of returning back to Earth next year.
Question (iv): How does William along with other children
behave with Margot out of hatred and jealousy?
Answer (iv): William discredited Margot when she read a poem
comparing the sun to a flower saying that she did not write it.
The children had only vague idea about sun and out of jealousy
were not willing to believe Margot when she said sun was like a
penny and it was like a fire in the stove. They instead accused
her of telling lies about sun. The children shunned her
presence because they were envious to learn that Margot’s
parents were willing to spend thousands of dollars to take her
back to Earth. William shoved passed her when she was staring
at the window and waiting for the rain to stop. The children
would edge away from her and would not look at her.
Question (v): How does Margot react to the children locking
her in the closet? Why does she react this way?
Answer (v): When the children surged about Margot, she
reacted by first protesting, and then pleading, and then crying.
When she was locked in the closet, she kept on beating and
throwing herself against the closet door.
Margot sensed that she would be deprived of experiencing the
rare opportunity of enjoying the sun and its warmth. So, in
order to stop the children she reacted this way hoping to evoke
a sense of sympathy for her in them and a fear of getting
themselves into trouble if the teacher happened to know about
their spiteful behaviour. When they locked her in the closet she
frantically beat the closet door hoping the sound would alarm
the teacher and would arouse fear among the children.

Extract VII
"The silence was so immense … The sun came
out."
Question (i): What caused silence on the planet Venus? Why
was it immense and unbelievable?
Answer (i): The stopping of rainstorm cut-off all the associated
noises of blasts, repercussions and thunders thus, causing
silence on the planet Venus.
The children were so used to the noises of incessant rainstorm
that abrupt silence seemed immense and unbelievable as it felt
like their ears had been stuffed or they had lost their hearing
altogether. They put their hands to their ears to listen and
figure out that there actually was silence outside and their
hearing was alright.
Question (ii): Give the meaning and significance of the
following line: “The door slid back and the smell of the silent,
waiting world came into them.”
Answer (ii): The children were eagerly waiting for the rain to
stop and sun to come out. When the rain finally stopped, an
immense silence covered the entire planet. As soon as the door
slid back they were greeted by a strange smell of the silent
world awaiting them.
The children were experiencing things for the first time in their
lives. The immense silence, the smell gushing in from outside
and the sunshine overwhelmed their senses.
Question (iii): How does the author describe nature, sky and
the jungle when the sun came out?
Answer (iii): The author describes sun having the colour of
flaming bronze and it was very large. And the sky around it
was a blazing blue tile colour. And the jungle burned with
sunlight. The great jungle that covered Venus grew and never
stopped growing, tumultuously, even as you watched it. It was
a nest of octopi, clustering up great arms of fleshlike weed,
wavering, flowering in this brief spring. It was the colour of
rubber and ash from the many years without sun. It was the
colour of stones and white cheeses and ink, and it was the
colour of the moon.
Question (iv): Give a detailed description of children’s
activities as soon as the sun came out.
Answer (iv): As soon as the sun came out the children rushed
out, yelling into the springtime. They were running and turning
their faces up to the sky and feeling the sun on their cheeks
like a warm iron; they were taking off their jackets and letting
the sun burn their arms. The children lay out, laughing, on the
jungle mattress, and heard it sigh and squeak under them
resilient and alive. They ran among the trees, they slipped and
fell, they pushed each other, they played hide-and-seek and
tag, but most of all they squinted at the sun until the tears ran
down their faces; they put their hands up to that yellowness
and that amazing blueness and they breathed of the fresh,
fresh air and listened and listened to the silence which
suspended them in a blessed sea of no sound and no motion.
They looked at everything and savoured everything. Then,
wildly, like animals escaped from their caves, they ran and ran
in shouting circles. They ran for an hour and did not stop
running.
Question (v): Where was Margot when the sun came out?
Why was she there?
Answer (v): Margot was left behind locked in a closet when the
sun came out.
Previously, when the teacher was out, William along with other
children had locked her in a closet. They were driven by hatred
and envy for Margot and did not want her to enjoy the sun and
sunshine.

Extract VIII
"In the midst of their running … look at her
opened palm."
Question (i): Why do you think the girl wailed?
Answer (i): The girl wailed because she was sad to know that
rain was going to start again and it reminded her that their
outdoor activities was short-lived and had come to an end and
they have to go back to underground houses.
Question (ii): What did the girl show to the others? What
made her tremble?
Answer (ii): The girl held out her hand to show a huge raindrop
cupped in center of the palm.
The thought of the sun going away for seven years made her
tremble.
Question (iii): Describe the change in weather after this
incident.
Answer (iii): A few cold drops fell on children’s noses and their
cheeks and their mouths. The sun faded behind a stir of mist.
A wind blew cold around them. A boom of thunder startled
them and like leaves before a new hurricane, they tumbled
upon each other and ran. Lightning struck ten miles away, five
miles away, a mile, a half mile. The sky darkened into midnight
in a flash. They stood in the doorway of the underground for a
moment until it was raining hard. Then they closed the door
and heard the gigantic sound of the rain falling in tons and
avalanches, everywhere and forever.
Question (iv): How did the children feel when it rained? What
did they remember then?
Answer (iv): When it started raining again, a girl caught a huge
raindrop in the palm of her hand and showed it to others. She
began to cry looking and it and they glanced quietly at the sun.
They turned and sadly started to walk back toward the
underground house, their hands at their sides, their smiles
vanishing away.
They remembered Margot was still in the closet where they
had locked her up.
Question (v): The children by the end “could not meet each
other’s glances”. Why? Has seeing the sun changed the
children in any way? How?
Answer (v): The children feel guilty about locking Margot in the
closet. One of them lets out a cry and they could meet one
another’s glances. They are slow to let Margot out of the closet
because they are afraid of her reaction or of getting into
trouble.
The children had now experienced the sunshine and
understood how cruel they had been to Margot. They realised
their mistake of locking Margot in the closet out of jealousy.
Now they seemed to understand how Margot felt about dreary
climate on Venus.