THINKING
ABOUT THE TEXT PAGE
5
I. Discuss in pairs and answer each question below in a short paragraph (30–40 words).
1. “The sound was a familiar one.” What sound did the doctor hear? What did he think it was? How many times did he hear it? (Find the places in the text.) When and why did the sounds stop?
Answer: The sound that the doctor heard was that of a wriggling cobra; however, the author thought that it was that of rats moving on the beam. He heard that sound twice - the first time after having returned to the house from work and the second time while he was admiring his beauty in the mirror. The sounds stopped after the snake fell onto the floor. Naturally, the snake was then wriggling over the back of the chair he was sitting in and made no sound like the one it was making before.
2. What two “important” and “earth-shaking” decisions did the doctor take while he was looking into the mirror?
Answer: The “important” decision the doctor took was that of shaving daily and growing a thin moustache to look more handsome than he already was. The “earth-shaking” decision, on the other hand, was that of keeping the attractive smile that he was sporting that day while looking at himself in the mirror.
3. “I looked into the mirror and smiled,” says the doctor. A little later he says, “I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself.” What is the doctor’s opinion about himself when: (i) he first smiles, and (ii) he smiles again? In what way do his thoughts change in between, and why?
Answer: The first time the doctor considers himself to be a handsome man who could bear an attractive smile. The second time, nevertheless, the author feels stupid and his smile then is only a reflection of that. His thoughts undergo a drastic change because the second time he smiles, he does so in the presence of a cobra slithering right on him, and he knows there is nothing much he can do if the snake strikes him. Despite being a doctor, he has no medicines that would save him from a snake bite. He feels poor, stupid, and foolish.
II. This story about a frightening incident is narrated in a humorous way. What makes it humorous? (Think of the contrasts it presents between dreams and reality. Some of them are listed below.)
1. (i)
The kind of person the doctor is (money, possessions)
(ii) The kind of person he wants to be (appearance, ambition) taken
with: attracted by 2020-21 The Snake and the Mirror / 61
Answer:
(i) The story makes the doctor’s reality very clear. He is poor, implying he isn’t a man of possessions. He stays in a rented flat, which is not electrified. Also, his earnings are limited. All he has as clothes are a black coat and some shirts and dhotis. He considers himself handsome and finds his own smile attractive
(ii) Contrary to his real life, he dreams of becoming a wealthy guy by getting married to a female doctor with a lot of money. He wants the woman to be a doctor too. He wants to become the best version of himself and look as attractive as he possibly can just so that he can make his presence felt.
2. (i) The person he wants to marry
(ii) The person he actually marries
Answer:
(i) The doctor was eager to marry a female doctor who had a lot of money. He had wanted her to be fat so she could not run after him if he made a mistake and ran away.
(ii) In real life, however, he marries a thin reedy woman whom he compares to a sprinter.
3. (i) His thoughts when he looks into the mirror
(ii) His thoughts when the snake is coiled around his arm
Write short paragraphs
on each of these to get your answer.
Answer:
(i)
When he looks at himself in the mirror, he feels he needs to groom himself so
he may become the best version of himself. He wishes to make his presence felt.
Not only does he decide to shave daily and grow a thin moustache but he also wishes
to always keep his attractive smile on the face so he may look more
handsome.
(ii) When the snake coiled around his arm, he was no less than a stone. He felt stupid and poor. Moreover, he recognised the presence of God. He also knew that he couldn’t do much if the snake struck him, for despite being a doctor he had no medicines.
As it can be seen, his real life turned out to be way different from what he had imagined. That’s what makes the story humorous.
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE PAGE 6
I. Here are some
sentences from the text. Say which of them tell you, that the author:
(a) was afraid of the
snake,
(b) was proud of his
appearance,
(c) had a sense of
humour,
(d) was no longer afraid of the snake.
1. I was turned to stone.
2. I was no mere image cut in granite.
3. The arm was beginning to be drained of
strength.
4. I tried in my imagination to write in
bright letters outside my little heart the words, ‘O God’.
5. I didn’t tremble. I didn’t cry out.
6. I looked into the mirror and smiled. It
was an attractive smile.
7. I was suddenly a man of flesh and
blood.
8. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor
too on top of it!
9. The fellow had such a sense of
cleanliness...! The rascal could have taken it and used it after washing it
with soap and water.
10. Was it trying to make an important decision about growing a moustache or using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead.
Answer:
The sentences (1), (3), (4), (5) state that the author (a) was afraid of the snake.
The sentences (6) and (8) state that the author (b) was proud of his appearance.
The sentences (9) and (10) suggest that (c) he had a sense of humour.
The sentences (2) and (7) tell us that (d) he was no longer afraid of the snake.
II. Expressions used to show fear
Can you find the expressions in the story that tell you that the author was frightened? Read the story and complete the following sentences.
1. I was turned _________________________________________________
2. I sat there holding _____________________________________________
3. In the light of the lamp I sat there like ______________________________
Answer:
1. I was turned to stone.
2. I sat there holding my breath.
3. In the light of the lamp I sat there like a stone image in the flesh.
III. In the sentences
given below some words and expressions are italicised. They are variously mean
that one
•
is very frightened.
•
is too scared to move.
•
is frightened by something that happens suddenly.
• makes another feel frightened.
Match the meanings with the words/expressions in italics, and write the appropriate meaning next to the sentence. The first one has been done for you.
1. I knew a man was following me, I was scared
out of my wits. (very frightened)
2. I got a fright when I realised how
close I was to the cliff edge.
3. He nearly jumped out of his skin
when he saw the bull coming towards him.
4. You really gave me a fright when
you crept up behind me like that.
5. Wait until I tell his story — it will make
your hair stand on end.
6. Paralysed with fear, the boy faced
his abductors.
7. The boy hid behind the door, not moving a muscle.
Answer:
1. I knew a man was following me, I was scared
out of my wits. (very frightened)
2. I got a fright when I realised how
close I was to the cliff edge. (frightened by something that happens suddenly)
3. He nearly jumped out of his skin
when he saw the bull coming towards him.(too scared to move)
4. You really gave me a fright when
you crept up behind me like that.(frightened by something that happens
suddenly)
5. Wait until I tell his story — it will make
your hair stand on end. (very frightened)
6. Paralysed with fear, the boy faced
his abductors. (too scared to move)
7. The boy hid behind the door, not moving a muscle. (too scared to move)
IV. Reported questions
Report these questions using if/whether or why/when/where/how/which/what. Remember the italicised verbs change into the past tense.
1.
Meena asked her friend, “Do you think your teacher will come
today?”
2.
David asked his colleague, “Where will you go this summer?”
3.
He asked the little boy, “Why are you studying English?”
4.
She asked me, “When are we going to leave?”
5.
Pran asked me, “Have you finished reading the newspaper?”
6.
Seema asked her, “How long have you lived here?”
7. Sheila asked the children, “Are you ready to do the work?”
Answer:
1. Meena asked her
friend if he thought his teacher would come that day.
2. David asked his
colleague where she would go that summer.
3. He asked the little
boy why he was studying English.
4. She asked me when we
were going to leave.
5. Pran asked me if I
had finished reading the newspaper.
6. Seema asked her how
long she had lived there.
7. Sheila asked her children if they were ready to do the work.
WRITING PAGE 8
1. Try to rewrite the story without its humour, merely as a frightening incident. What details or parts of the story would you leave out?
Answer: On a hot summer night, the doctor returns home after dining at a restaurant. Upon opening the door, he hears a noise from above, which he finds very familiar. The sound, he feels, is that of rats that are moving to and from the beam over the window. And because the rented room is not electrified, the doctor lights a kerosene lamp.
His earnings are meagre, and all he possesses are some shirts, dhotis, and a black coat. He then doffs his shirt and vest before opening the two windows the room has. He proceeds to make his bed, pulls the bed closer to the window, and lays himself down. However, he is unable to sleep. So he goes to the veranda to get some fresh air only to return disappointed because of its absence.
He then sits on a chair with a book in his hand, and a mirror right in front of him reflects his image. He takes a look at the mirror, and being an admirer of beauty, he picks up a comb and runs it through his hair. This time he hears the sound again, but since he finds it familiar, he does not brood over it. Instead he makes an important decision of shaving every day and growing a thin moustache.
Considering his smile to be attractive, he makes yet another decision - that of bearing a smile all the time like the one he is sporting. The sound is heard again even as he decides to get married to a doctor who has plenty of money. With these thoughts running in his mind, he sits himself down on the chair once again. Right then, he hears a dull thud, and when he turns around, he finds a snake wriggling over the back of the chair he is seated in.
He doesn’t jump or cry out in panic, instead he allows the snake to slither along his shoulder and around his left arm above the elbow. And although his body stays still, his mind continues working. He immediately feels the presence of the almighty God. He then realises that if the snake decided to strike him, he would be dead, for he did not even have medicines at his house that could treat a snake bite. He feels ashamed, poor, and foolish. She smiles feebly after.
The snake, however, starts looking at itself in the mirror. It is difficult for the doctor to say whether or not the snake is admiring its beauty. The snake then unwinds itself from the author’s left arm and creeps onto the table, getting closer to the mirror. The doctor, as can be imagined, runs for his life. He runs till he reaches his friend’s house. He smears oil all over himself before taking a bath. The next morning with two of his friends, he heads back to his room, only to find that it has been robbed. He never sees the snake after.
I have left out all the parts that were plausibly added by the author to bring about a humorous effect.
2. Read the description given alongside this sketch from a photograph in a newspaper (Times of India, 4 September 1999). Make up a story about what the monkey is thinking, or why it is looking into a mirror. Write a paragraph about it.
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THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL A monkey preens itself using a piece of mirror, in the Delhi ridge. (‘To preen oneself’ means to spend a
lot of time making oneself look attractive, and then admiring one’s
appearance. The word is used in disapproval. |
Answer:
Yesterday afternoon, I saw a monkey in the Delhi ridge. It looked less like a monkey and more like a human being. But I was pretty darn sure it was a monkey, for it couldn’t walk like the way we humans do. Moreover, it was looking itself in the mirror that I think it snatched from someone. I could not figure out what its thoughts were, or whether or not it had any thoughts at all. But it looked as if trying to tell something to itself. Its hands kept moving across its head. Perhaps it was trying to look better. I stood there for a while, clicking photos. Anyhow, no sooner did the monkey see me did it come down. Its displeasure at being clicked was evident. I got afraid and ran, never to look back or see that monkey again.
TRANSLATION PAGE 9
Compare the two translations on the basis of the following points.
• the tense of narration (past and present tense)
• short, incomplete sentences
• sentence length
Which of these translations do you like? Give reasons for your choice.
Answer: While Translation A is in the past tense, Translation B is in the simple present. In the first translation, the sentences are long and complete. Furthermore, they seem to be nothing more than a recollection of events. In Translation B, however, the sentences are short and crisp. Also, there is an element of magic as the translator transports us to the world of the writer. I personally like Translation B because it is easy to understand, interesting, and entertaining.
Poem: A
Legend of the Northland by Phoebe Cary
THINKING
ABOUT THE POEM PAGE
12
I. 1.
Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?
Answer:
I
think “the Northland” refers to the Arctic Region which includes Russia,
Canada, and Greenland.
2. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady
for? What was the lady’s reaction?
Answer:
Saint
Peter asked the old lady to give him just one piece of cake. The lady initially
went on to bake a piece but thinking it was too large for him, she chose not to
give him. She kneaded one more, but each time she was reluctant to give the
hungry saint the cake.
3. How did he punish her?
Answer:
He
punished her by cursing that she would turn into a bird and live the rest of
her life boring for food.
4. How does the woodpecker get her food?
Answer:
The
woodpecker gets its food by boring.
5. Do you think that the old lady would
have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was? What would
she have done then?
Answer:
I
don’t think the lady would have been ungenerous had she realised that the
person asking for food was Saint Peter. She would have then given him more than
he had asked for.
6. Is this a true story? Which part of
this poem do you feel is the most important?
Answer:
No,
this doesn’t seem to be a true story. Also, that part of the poem where Saint
Peter reprimands the old lady by saying that she was far too selfish to dwell
in a human form is the most important, according to me.
7. What is a legend? Why is this poem called
a legend?
Answer:
A
legend is a popular story that is passed down through the generations but not
regarded as authenticated. This poem is called a legend because it is a popular
narrative, has a moral, and has elements that are not authenticated.
8. Write the story of ‘A Legend of the
Northland’ in about ten sentences.
Answer:
Once
Saint Peter, who was walking about the Earth preaching good values, lands in a
cottage situated in the Northland. He sees an old lady baking cakes on the
hearth. As he is faint and hungry on account of fasting, he approaches the lady
and asks her to part with a piece of cake. The lady then goes on to bake one.
However, she doesn’t give it to Saint Peter, saying it is too large to give
away. She tries kneading a smaller one after, but this time again she is
reluctant to give the cake to Saint Peter. This provokes the saint, who goes on
to tell the lady that someone as selfish as her doesn’t deserve to dwell in the
human form. Thereupon, he curses her, saying she will be transformed into a
bird and live the rest of her life boring for food. This is exactly what
happens and the lady is turned into a woodpecker that goes on to live on the
trees in the wood.
II. 1. Let’s look at the words at the end of
the second and fourth lines, viz., ‘snows’ and ‘clothes’, ‘true’ and ‘you’,
‘below’ and ‘know.’ We find that ‘snows’ rhymes with ‘clothes’, ‘true’ rhymes
with ‘you’ and ‘below’ rhymes with ‘know’.
Find more such rhyming words.
Answer:
few,
through; earth, hearth; done, one; lay, away; flat, that; myself, shelf; faint,
saint; farm, warm; food, wood; word, bird; same, flame.
2. Go to the local library or talk to
older persons in your locality and find legends in your own language. Tell the
class these legends.
Answer: To be done by the student.
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