अंग्रेजी पाठ्य पुस्तकें
English Book
Part - 01
Class 10th
ऊँ जितेन्द्र सिंह तोमर
विनजीत पब्लिशर्स एण्ड प्रिटर्स
ISBN –
विनजीत पब्लिशर्स एण्ड प्रिटर्स
ए – 136, वैस्ट विनोद नगर
दिल्ली – 110092
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इस पुस्तक का काॅपीराइट प्रकाशक और लेखक के पास सुरक्षित है। प्रकाशक की अनुमति के बिना इस पुस्तक के किसी भी अंश की किसी भी प्रकार से नकल करना या अन्य किसी रूप में छापना या अन्य किसी रूप में वितरित करना या संग्रह करना कानूनन जुर्म है। काॅपीराइट एक्ट के अन्तर्गत ऐसा करने वाला व्यक्ति क्षति पूर्ति का अधिकारी होगा। यदि इस पुस्तक में किसी प्रकार की कंम्प्यूटर टाइप सेटिंग या प्रिंटिग या तथ्यात्मक त्रुटि पाई जाती है तो इसके लिए प्रकाशक, संपादक, मुद्रक या लेखक जिम्मेदार नहीं होगा। |
संस्करण:- 2015
आवरण:- विनजीत पब्लिशर्स एण्ड प्रिटर्स
आवरण:- विनजीत पब्लिशर्स एण्ड प्रिटर्स
आवरण:- विनजीत पब्लिशर्स एण्ड प्रिटर्स
मूल्य:- ₹ 50
लेखक के विचार
अंग्रजी विदेशी भाषा है इसलिए भारतीय इस भाषा को जानने व समझने की कौशिश नहीं करते। उनका तर्क होता है कि अंग्रजी गुलामी का प्रतीक है। उनकी बात एकदम सत्य है। मैं उनके तर्क से पूर्णतया सहमत हूँ। हमारी देश में जहाँ हिन्दी भाषा संपूर्ण देश में सपर्क का माध्यम होना चाहिए था वहीं, देश के सभी कार्य हिन्दी में होने चाहिए थे। वहाँ आज यह कार्य अंग्रजी बाखूबी कर रही है। गलती किसी की भी हो हमारी राष्ट्र भाषा हिन्दी पिछड़ रही है।
देश में रहने वाले अनेक ऐसे लोग मिल जायेंगें जो हिन्दी बोलने में शर्म महसूस करते हैं। मेरा ऐसा कहकर किसी को ग्लानि महसूस करना नहीं है। मैं आपसे कहना चाहता हूँ कि जहाँ हिन्दी बोलना हमारे लिए गर्व की बात होनी चाहिए तथा अंग्रेजी बोलना हमारी मजबूरी वहीं हमारे देश में इसका उल्टा होता है।
लोग अंग्रेजी बोलने में महारत पाना चाहते हैं। वे अनेक प्रकार की पुस्तकें पढ़ते हैं। खरीदते हैं परंतु अंग्रेजी में महारत नही प्राप्त कर पाते। उसी बात को ध्यान में रखकर हमने यह प्रयास किया है कि एक ऐसी पुस्तक लिखी जाए जो अंग्रेजी को A, B, C D से प्रारम्भ करके पढ़ने, लिखने से आगे जाकर हमारी विचाराविभ्यक्ति अर्थात बोलचाल का साधन बने।
यह पुस्तक उसी का एक प्रयास है। बस करना इतना है कि इसके प्रथम पृष्ठ से लेकर शुरू करें तथा याद करते तथा अनुवाद करना सीखते चले जाएं। जल्द ही एक दिन ऐसा आयेगा कि आप अंग्रजी पढ़ने के साथ-साथ उसे समझने भी लगेंगें। बस जरूरत है आपको उसे जीवन में अपनाने की। इस पुस्तक को जीवन की आवश्यकताओ के अनुरूप आपकी समस्याओं को देखते हुए ही बनाया गया है। फिर भी इसमें सुधार अपेछित है। यदि आप इसमें कहीं सुधार चाहते हैं तो आपका सुझाव सादर आमंत्रित है। आप हमसे विचारों का आदान प्रदान कर सकते हैं।
कापी राईट लेखक व प्रकाषक के आधीन (फोटो काॅपी व किसी अंंश का उपयोग ने करें। )
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First Flight | |||
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Chapter - 1 |
A Letter to God. |
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Poem –
1.1 |
Dust of
Snow |
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Poem –
1.2 |
Fire and
Ice |
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Chapter - 2 |
Long Walk to
freedom (Nelson Mandela) |
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Poem – 2.1 |
The Tiger in the
Zoo |
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Poem – 2.2 |
The Tiger |
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Poem – 2.3 |
The Panther |
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Chapter - 3 |
Two Stories about Flying |
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3.1 |
First Flight |
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3.2 |
Black Airoplane |
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Poem – 3.1 |
How to tell Wild Animals |
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Poem – 3.2 |
The Ball Poem |
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Chapter - 4 |
From the Diary of Anne Frank |
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Poem –
4.1 |
Amanda ! |
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Chapter - 5 |
The Hundred Dress - I |
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Chapter - 1 |
A Triumph of
Surgery |
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Chapter - 2 |
The Thief's
story |
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Chapter - 3 |
Midnight Visitor |
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Chapter - 4 |
A Question Of Trust |
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Chapter - 5 |
Foot Print Without Feet |
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The Trees
Can
there be a forest without trees? Where are the trees in this
poem,
and where do they go?
The
trees inside are moving out into the forest,
the
forest that was empty all these days
where no
bird could sit
no
insect hide
no sun
bury its feet in shadow
the
forest that was empty all these nights
will be
full of trees by morning.
All
night the roots work
to
disengage themselves from the cracks
in the
veranda floor.
The
leaves strain toward the glass
small
twigs stiff with exertion
long-cramped
boughs shuffling under the roof
like
newly discharged patients
half-dazed,
moving
to the
clinic doors.
I sit
inside, doors open to the veranda
writing
long letters
in which
I scarcely mention the departure
of the
forest from the house.
The
night is fresh, the whole moon shines
in a sky
still open
the
smell of leaves and lichen
still
reaches like a voice into the rooms.
My head
is full of whispers
which
tomorrow will be silent.
Listen.
The glass is breaking.
The
trees are stumbling forward
into the
night. Winds rush to meet them.
The moon
is broken like a mirror,
its
pieces flash now in the crown
of the
tallest oak.
ADRIENNE RICH
Adrienne Rich
was born in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. in 1929. She is the author of nearly
twenty volumes of poetry, and has been called a feminist and a radical poet.
1. (i) Find,
in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest.
(ii) What
picture do these words create in your mind: “… sun bury its feet in shadow…”?
What could the poet mean by the sun’s ‘feet’?
2. (i) Where
are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves, and their twigs
do?
(ii) What
does the poet compare their branches to?
3. (i) How
does the poet describe the moon: (a) at the beginning of the third stanza, and
(b) at its end? What causes this change?
(ii) What
happens to the house when the trees move out of it?
(iii) Why do
you think the poet does not mention “the departure of the forest from the
house” in her letters? (Could it be that we are often silent about important
happenings that are so unexpected that they embarrass us? Think about this
again when you answer the next set of questions.)
Homophones
Can you find
the words below that are spelt similarly, and sometimes even pronounced
similarly, but have very different meanings? Check their pronunciation and
meaning in a dictionary.
• The dump was so full that it had to
refuse more refuse.
• When shot at, the dove dove into the
bushes.
• The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
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Fog
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
CARL SANDBURG
1. (i) What does Sandburg think the fog is like?
(ii) How does the fog come?
(iii) What does ‘it’ in the third line refer to?
(iv) Does the poet actually say that the fog is like a cat? Find
three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat.
2. You know that a metaphor compares two things by transferring
a feature of one thing to the other (See Unit 1).
(i) Find metaphors for the following words and complete the
table below.
Also try to say how they are alike. The first is done for you.
Storm tiger pounces over the fields, growls
(ii) Think about a storm. Try to visualise the force of the
storm, hear the sound of the storm, feel the power of the storm and the sudden
calm that happens afterwards. Write a poem about the storm comparing it with an
animal.
3. Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have
an obvious rhythm or rhyme is called ‘free verse’.
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Q. 1: When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from
house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not? Ans. : Kisa Gotami goes from house to house
to get some medicine which could put back life in her dead son. But once a
person is dead, he cannot be revived. Hence, people only pity at her agony
because they know that no medicine can bring life back in her child. Q. 2: Kisa Gotami again goes from house to
house after she speaks with the Buddha. What does she ask for, the second
time around? Does she get it? Why not? Ans. : After speaking with the Buddha, Kisa
Gotami goes from house to house to get a handful of mustard seeds. But Buddha
had made a condition, i.e. mustard seeds should be only from a house in which
nobody ever died. Since death is an imminent fact and is integral to the life
cycle, so Kisa Gotamy does not get mustard seeds. Q. 3: What does Kisa Gotami understand the
second time that she failed to understand the first time? Was this what the
Buddha wanted her to understand? Ans. : She understood the real truth of life
and death. She understood that everyone who has come into this world is going
to die sooner or later. By sending her to different houses, Buddha wanted her
to realize the fragile nature of human life. He also wanted her to rise above
worldly matters so that the departed soul could rest in peace. Q. 4: Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood
this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her
understanding? Ans. : Buddha applied practical way of
teaching an important lesson. Sometimes, we may not understand a complex
subject by only reading a text material. Many a time, we need to have
practical experience to understand complex issues. Q. 5: How do you usually understand the idea
of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish
in her grief ’? Ans. : Being concerned with your own desires
and beliefs is called selfishness. Kisa Gotami was only thinking about her
personal sorrow and life after her personal tragedy. She was not thinking
about grief of all other people. So, it can be said that she was being
‘selfish in her grief.
THE PROPOSAL
Summary: This drama is about certain
deep-entrenched notions and beliefs in our society. In most of the societies,
marriages are arranged according to economic status of bride’s and groom’s
family. This cannot be denied that money is an important factor to lead a
happy life. But many people ignore personal shortcomings of prospective bride
and groom; just to ensure economic compatibility of both families. This drama
shows three characters; a young man, a young girl and girl’s father. These
three characters indulge in quarrel with each other at the drop of a hat.
Throughout the drama, they keep on quarreling on trivial issues. But finally,
they agree on the marriage of the young man with the young girl because both
of them could understand economic compatibility. Q. 1: What does Chubukov at first suspect that
Lomov has come for? Is he sincere when he later says “And I’ve always loved
you, my angel, as if you were my own son”? Find reasons for your Ans. from the play. Ans. : Chubukov at first suspects that Lomov
must have come to borrow some money. Chubukov knows that Lomov is young and
reasonably well off. He is quite happy to get the proposal for his daughter.
He does not like Lomov but for the sake of his daughter, he trying to flatter
Lomov. Q. 2: Chubukov says of Natalya: “... as if she
won’t consent! She’s in love; egad, she’s like a lovesick cat…” Would you
agree? Find reasons for your Ans. . Ans. : The way Lomov and Natalya start
quarreling with each other, does not show that they are in love. Even at the
end of the play, they start quarreling. Hence, her father’s statement that
she was lovesick does not sound true.
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Richard Ebright has recieved the Searle Scholar Award and
the Schering Plough Award for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It was his
fascination for butterflies that opened the world of science to him.
READ AND FIND OUT
• How did a book become a turning point in Richard Ebright’s
life?
• How did his mother help him?
AT the age of twenty-two, a former ‘scout of the year’
excited the scientific world with a new theory on how cells work. Richard H.
Ebright and his college room-mate explained the theory in an article in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
It was the first time this important scientific journal had
ever published the work of college students. In sports, that would be like
making the big leagues at the age of fifteen and hitting a home run your first
time at bat*. For Richard Ebright, it was the first in a long string of
achievements in science and other fields. And it all started with butterflies.
An only child, Ebright grew up north of
So he did, and did he ever! Beginning in kindergarten,
Ebright collected butterflies with the same determination that has marked all
his activities. He also collected rocks, fossils, and coins. He became an eager
astronomer, too, sometimes star-gazing all night.
* A home run in the game of baseball is when the batter
scores a run after running safely around all bases and back to the home plate
without stopping. A ball hit out of the playing field is also called a home
run. Getting a paper published at the age of fifteen in a scientific journal is
here compared to scoring a home run while batting for the first time.
From the first he had a driving curiosity along with a
bright mind. He also had a mother who encouraged his interest in learning. She
took him on trips, bought him telescopes, microscopes, cameras, mounting
materials, and other equipment and helped him in many other ways.
“I was his only companion until he started school,” his
mother said. “After that I would bring home friends for him. But at night we
just did things together. Richie was my whole life after his father died when
Richie was in third grade.”
She and her son spent almost every evening at the dining
room table. “If he didn’t have things to do, I found work for him — not
physical work, but learning things,” his mother said. “He liked it. He wanted
to learn.”
And learn he did. He earned top grades in school. “On
everyday things he was just like every other kid,” his mother said.
By the time he was in the second grade, Ebright had
collected all twentyfive species of butterflies found around his hometown. (See
following box.)
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Species
and Sub-species of Butterflies Collected in Six
Weeks in Reading, Pennsylvania |
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Gossamer-Winged
Butterflies •
white M hairstreak •
acadian hairstreak •
bronze copper •
bog copper •
purplish copper •
eastern-tailed blue •
melissa blue •
silvery blue Snout
Butterfly |
Wood
Nymphs and Satyrs •
eyed brown •
wood nymph (grayling) Monarchs •
monarch or milkweed Whites
and Sulphurs •
olympia •
cloudless sulphur •
European cabbage |
Brush-footed
Butterflies •
variegated fritillary •
Harris’s checkerspot •
pearl crescent •
mourning cloak •
painted lady •
buckeye •
viceroy •
white admiral •
red-spotted purple •
hackberry |
“That probably would
have been the end of my butterfly collecting,” he said. “But then my mother got
me a children’s book called The Travels of Monarch X.” That book, which told
how monarch butterflies migrate to
At the end of the book, readers were invited to help study
butterfly migrations. They were asked to tag butterflies for research by Dr Frederick
A. Urquhart of the University of Toronto, Canada. Ebright’s mother wrote to Dr
Urquhart, and soon Ebright was attaching light adhesive tags to the wings of
monarchs. Anyone who found a tagged butterfly was asked to send the tag to Dr
Urquhart.
The butterfly collecting season around
“Eventually I began to lose interest in tagging butterflies.
It’s tedious and there’s not much feedback,” Ebright said. “In all the time I
did it,” he laughed, “only two butterflies I had tagged were recaptured — and
they were not more than seventy-five miles from where I lived.”
THE MAKING OF A NEW SCIENTIST (C)
READ AND FIND OUT
• What lesson does Ebright learn when he does not win
anything at a science fair?
• What experiments and projects does he then undertake?
• What are the qualities that go into the making of a
scientist?
Then in the seventh grade he got a hint of what real science
is when he entered a county science fair — and lost. “It was really a sad
feeling to sit there and not get anything while everybody else had won
something,” Ebright said. His entry was slides of frog tissues, which he showed
under a microscope. He realised the winners had tried to do real experiments,
not simply make a neat display.
Already the competitive spirit that drives Richard Ebright
was appearing. “I knew that for the next year’s fair I would have to do a real
experiment,” he said. “The subject I knew most about was the insect work I’d
been doing in the past several years.”
So he wrote to Dr Urquhart for ideas, and back came a stack
of suggestions for experiments. Those kept Ebright busy all through high school
and led to prize projects in county and international science fairs.
For his eighth grade project, Ebright tried to find the
cause of a viral disease that kills nearly all monarch caterpillars every few
years. Ebright thought the disease might be carried by a beetle. He tried
raising caterpillars in the presence of beetles. “I didn’t get any real
results,” he said. “But I went ahead and showed that I had tried the experiment.
This time I won.”
The next year his science fair
project was testing the theory that viceroy butterflies copy monarchs. The
theory was that viceroys look like monarchs because monarchs don’t taste good
to birds. Viceroys, on the other hand, do taste good to birds. So the more they
look like monarchs, the less likely they are to become a bird’s dinner.
Ebright’s project was to see whether, in fact, birds would
eat monarchs. He found that a starling would not eat ordinary bird food. It
would eat all the monarchs it could get. (Ebright said later research by other
people showed that viceroys probably do copy the monarch.) This project was placed first in the zoology division and
third overall in the county science fair. How is the monarch butterfly (top) different
from the viceroy butterfly (bottom)?
In his second year in
high school, Richard Ebright began the research that led to his discovery of an
unknown insect hormone. lndirectly, it also led to his new theory on the life
of cells. The question he tried to answer was simple: What is the purpose of
the twelve tiny gold spots on a monarch pupa?
“Everyone assumed the spots were just ornamental,” Ebright
said.
“
To find the answer, Ebright and another excellent science student
first had to build a device that showed that the spots were producing a hormone
necessary for the butterfly’s full development.
This project won Ebright first place in the county fair and
entry into the International Science and Engineering Fair. There he won third
place for zoology. He also got a chance to work during the summer at the
entomology laboratory of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
As a high school junior, Richard Ebright continued his
advanced experiments on the monarch pupa. That year his project won first place
at the International Science Fair and gave him another chance to work in the
army laboratory during the summer.
In his senior year, he went a step further. He grew cells
from a monarch’s wing in a culture and showed that the cells would divide and
develop into normal butterfly wing scales only if they were fed the hormone
from the gold spots. That project won first place for zoology at the
International Fair. He spent the summer after graduation doing further work at
the army laboratory and at the laboratory of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
The following summer, after his freshman year at Harvard
University, Ebright went back to the laboratory of the Department of
Agriculture and did more work on the hormone from the gold spots. Using the
laboratory’s sophisticated instruments, he was able to identify the hormone’s
chemical structure.
A year-and-a-half later, during his junior year, Ebright got
the idea for his new theory about cell life. It came while he was looking at
X-ray photos of the chemical structure of a hormone.
When he saw those photos, Ebright didn’t shout, ‘Eureka!’ or
even, ‘I’ve got it!’ But he believed that, along with his findings about insect
hormones, the photos gave him the answer to one of biology’s puzzles: how the
cell can ‘read’ the blueprint of its DNA. DNA is the substance in the nucleus
of a cell that controls heredity. It determines the form and function of the
cell. Thus DNA is the blueprint for life.
Ebright and his college room-mate, James R. Wong, worked all
that night drawing pictures and constructing plastic models of molecules to
show how it could happen. Together they later wrote the paper that explained
the theory.
Surprising no one who knew him, Richard Ebright graduated
from Harvard with highest honours, second in his class of 1,510. Ebright went
on to become a graduate student researcher at
If the theory proves correct, it will be a big step towards
understanding the processes of life. It might also lead to new ideas for
preventing some types of cancer and other diseases. All of this is possible
because of Ebright’s scientific curiosity. His high school research into the
purpose of the spots on a monarch pupa eventually led him to his theory about
cell life.
Richard Ebright has been interested in science since he
first began collecting butterflies — but not so deeply that he hasn’t time for
other interests. Ebright also became a champion debater and public speaker and
a good canoeist and all-around outdoors-person. He is also an expert
photographer, particularly of nature and scientific exhibits. In high school
Richard Ebright was a straight-A student. Because learning was easy, he turned
a lot of his energy towards the Debating and Model United Nations clubs. He
also found someone to admire —
Richard A. Weiherer, his social studies teacher and adviser
to both clubs. “Mr Weiherer was the perfect person for me then. He opened my
mind to new ideas,” Ebright said.
“Richard would always give that extra effort,” Mr Weiherer
said. “What pleased me was, here was this person who put in three or four hours
at night doing debate research besides doing all his research with butterflies
and his other interests.
“Richard was competitive,” Mr Weiherer continued, “but not
in a bad sense.” He explained, “Richard wasn’t interested in winning for
winning’s sake or winning to get a prize. Rather, he was winning because he
wanted to do the best job he could. For the right reasons, he wants to be the
best.”
And that is one of the ingredients in the making of a
scientist. Start with a first-rate mind, add curiosity, and mix in the will to
win for the right reasons. Ebright has these qualities. From the time the book,
The Travels of Monarch X, opened the world of science to him, Richard Ebright
has never lost his scientific curiosity.
ROBERT W. PETERSON
GLOSSARY
Leagues:
groups of sports clubs or teams playing matches among themselves
County:
region
Starling:
common European bird (with black, brown-spotted plumage) which nests near
buildings and is a good mimic
Entomology:
the study of insects
Eureka:
a cry of triumph at a discovery (originally attributed to Archimedes)
Canoeist:
a person who paddles a canoe, a light boat
Think
about it
1.
How can one become a scientist, an economist, a historian... ? Does it simply
involve reading many books on the subject? Does it involve observing, thinking
and doing experiments?
2.
You must have read about cells and DNA in your science books. Discuss Richard
Ebright’s work in the light of what you have studied. If you get an opportunity
to work like Richard Ebright on projects and experiments, which field would you
like to work on and why?
Talk
about it
1.
Children everywhere wonder about the world around them. The questions they ask
are the beginning of scientific inquiry. Given below are some questions that
children in India have asked Professor Yash Pal and Dr Rahul Pal as reported in
their book,
Discovered
Questions (NCERT, 2006).
(i) What is DNA fingerprinting? What are its uses?
(ii) How do honeybees identify their own honeycombs?
(iii) Why does rain fall in drops?
Can
you answer these questions? You will find Professor Yash Pal’s and Dr Rahul
Pal’s answers (as given in Discovered Questions) on page 75.
2.
You also must have wondered about certain things around you. Share these
questions with your class, and try and answer them.
Suggested reading
•
‘Journey by Night’ by Norah Burke
•
Children Who Made It Big by Thangamani
•
School Days by Tom Brown
1.
Children everywhere wonder about the world around them. The questions they ask
are the beginning of scientific inquiry. Given below are some questions that
children in India have asked Professor Yash Pal and Dr Rahul Pal as reported in
their book,
Discovered
Questions (NCERT, 2006).
(i) What is DNA fingerprinting? What are its uses?
(ii) How do honeybees identify their own honeycombs?
(iii) Why does rain fall in drops?
Can
you answer these questions? You will find Professor Yash Pal’s and Dr Rahul
Pal’s answers (as given in Discovered Questions) on page 75.
Answers
given by Professor Yash Pal and Dr Rahul Pal
(see
questions on page 38)
(i) DNA exists as strands of bases that carry genetic
information specific to each living thing. The sequence of bases of DNA in each
of our cells is the same, but differs from that of any other living thing
except possibly an identical twin. This difference makes the DNA break at
different places when certain proteins called enzymes are added to it,
resulting in smaller DNA fragments of different sizes. These fragments migrate
at different rates in an electric field, resulting in a unique pattern; this
pattern is referred to as a DNA fingerprint.
Our DNA is inherited from our parents. Some parts come from
the father and some from the mother. DNA fingerprinting can help identify
parentage, since a son or a daughter would always exhibit a pattern
identifiable as coming from both parents. DNA fingerprinting analysis is very
useful in forensic science; from a single hair or a tiny spot of blood, it is
possible to prove the innocence or guilt of a murder suspect. Similarly, it is
also possible to identify human remains after violent accidents have caused
disfigurement.
It has been suggested that in the not so distant future, a
DNA fingerprinting profile of the individual will have to accompany
applications for an ID card, a bank account and a driving license. Human right
groups say this type of “genetic profiling” constitutes an invasion of privacy.
As with a lot of new technology, DNA fingerprinting also has a potential for
abuse.
(ii) Honeybees are very sophisticated at position location
and navigation. It is known that they use the sun as a guide. They also appear
to have a good memory. They convey the information of a new find of food to the
hive through an amazingly clever dance language. The dance indicates the
direction and distance of the food source with respect to the direction of the
sun in the sky! If it is dark inside the hive and a light bulb is switched on,
the dance is modified to include the light bulb as a new reference direction!
Since
bees have pictorial memory of some sort, a direction-finding mechanism and a
way of reckoning distance, they are probably better equipped for getting back
home than any of us!
(iii) Rain is the result of condensation of vapour when the
air is cooled below the dew point. All the vapour in a cloud cannot condense at
the same time and turn into a large pool of water. Pockets of air move up
independently and slowly cool till condensation begins and water droplets form.
It is believed that most raindrops start out as tiny ice crystals — so tiny
that they float down, slowly accreting more moisture on the way; at lower
altitudes, the crystals melt into water droplets. In colder climates, the
crystals reach the ground as snowflakes.
Matilda is invited to a grand party. She has a beautiful
dress but no jewellery. She borrows a necklace from a friend ... and loses it.
What happens then?
READ AND FIND OUT
• What kind of a person is Mme Loisel — why is she always
unhappy?
• What kind of a person is her husband?
SHE
was one of those pretty, young ladies, born as if through an error of destiny,
into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming
known, loved, and married by a man either rich or distinguished; and she
allowed herself to marry a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education.
She was simple, but she was unhappy.
She suffered incessantly, feeling herself born for all
delicacies and luxuries. She suffered from the poverty of her apartment, the
shabby walls and the worn chairs. All these things tortured and angered her.
When she seated herself for dinner opposite her husband who
uncovered the tureen with a delighted air, saying, “Oh! the good potpie! I know
nothing better than that…,” she would think of elegant dinners, of shining
silver; she thought of the exquisite food served in marvelous dishes. She had
neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things.
She had a rich friend, a schoolmate at the convent, who she
did not like to visit — she suffered so much when she returned. She wept for
whole days from despair and disappointment. One evening her husband returned
elated bearing in his hand a large envelope.
“Here,” he said, “here is something for you.”The She quickly drew out a printed card on which
were inscribed these words:
The Minister of Public Instruction
and
Madame George Ramponneau
ask the honour of M. and Mme Loisel’s company. Monday
evening, January 18, at the Minister’s residence.
Instead of being delighted, as her husband had hoped, she
threw the invitation spitefully upon the table murmuring, “What do you suppose
I want with that?”
“But, my dearie, I thought it would make you happy. You
never go out, and this is an occasion, and a fine one! Everybody wishes one,
and it is very select; not many are given to employees. You will see the whole
official world there.”
She looked at him with an irritated eye and declared
impatiently, “What do you suppose I have to wear to such a thing as that?”
He had not thought of that; he stammered, “Why, the dress
you wear when we go to the theatre. It seems very pretty to me…” He was silent,
stupefied, in dismay, at the sight of his wife weeping. He stammered, “What is
the matter? What is the matter?”
By a violent effort, she had controlled her vexation and
responded in a calm voice, wiping her moist cheeks, “Nothing. Only I have no
dress and consequently I cannot go to this affair. Give your card to some
colleague whose wife is better fitted out than I.”
He was grieved, but answered, “Let us see, Matilda. How much
would a suitable costume cost, something that would serve for other occasions,
something very simple?”
She reflected for some seconds thinking of a sum that she
could ask for without bringing with it an immediate refusal and a frightened
exclamation from the economical clerk. Finally she said, in a hesitating voice,
“I cannot tell exactly, but it seems to me that four hundred francs ought to
cover it.”
He turned a little pale, for he had saved just this sum to
buy a gun that he might be able to join some hunting parties the next summer,
with some friends who went to shoot larks on Sunday. Nevertheless, he answered,
“Very well. I will give you four hundred francs. But try to have a pretty
dress.”
READ AND FIND OU T
• What fresh problem now disturbs Mme Loisel?
• How is the problem solved?
The day of the ball approached and Mme Loisel seemed sad,
disturbed, anxious. Nevertheless, her dress was nearly ready. Her husband said
to her one evening, “What is the matter with you? You have acted strangely for
two or three days.”
And she responded, “I am vexed not to have a jewel, nothing
to adorn myself with. I shall have such a poverty-stricken look. I would prefer
not to go to this party.”
He replied, “You can wear some natural flowers. In this
season they look very chic.”
She was not convinced. “No”, she replied, “there is nothing
more humiliating than to have a shabby air in the midst of rich women.”
Then her husband cried out, “How stupid we are! Go and find
your friend Mme Forestier and ask her to lend you her jewels.”
She uttered a cry of joy. “It is true!” she said. “I had not
thought of that.”
The
next day she took herself to her friend’s house and related her story of distress.
Mme Forestier went to her closet, took out a large jewel-case, brought it,
opened it, and said, “Choose, my dear.”
She saw at first some bracelets, then a collar of pearls,
then a Venetian cross of gold and jewels of admirable workmanship. She tried the
jewels before the glass, hesitated, but could neither decide to take them nor
leave them. Then she asked, “Have you nothing more?”
“Why, yes. Look for yourself. I do not know what will please
you.”
Suddenly she discovered, in a black satin box, a superb
necklace of diamonds. Her hands trembled as she took it out. She placed it
about her throat against her dress, and was ecstatic. Then she asked, in a
hesitating voice, full of anxiety, “Could you lend me this? Only this?”
“Why, yes, certainly.”
She fell upon the neck of her friend, embraced her with
passion, then went away with her treasure. The day of the ball arrived. Mme
Loisel was a great success. She was the prettiest of all — elegant, gracious,
smiling and full of joy. All the men noticed her, asked her name, and wanted to
be presented.
She danced with enthusiasm, intoxicated with pleasure,
thinking of nothing but all this admiration, this victory so complete and sweet
to her heart.
She went home towards four o’clock in the morning. Her
husband had been half asleep in one of the little salons since midnight, with
three other gentlemen whose wives were enjoying themselves very much.
He threw around her shoulders the modest wraps they had
carried whose poverty clashed with the elegance of the ball costume. She wished
to hurry away in order not to be noticed by the other women who were wrapping
themselves in rich furs.
Loisel detained her, “Wait,” said he. “I am going to call a
cab.”
But
she would not listen and descended the steps rapidly. When they were in the
street, they found no carriage; and they began to seek for one, hailing the
coachmen whom they saw at a distance.
They walked along toward the river, hopeless and shivering.
Finally they found one of those old carriages that one sees in
It
took them as far as their door and they went wearily up to their apartment. It
was all over for her. And on his part, he remembered that he would have to be
at the office by ten o’clock.
She removed the wraps from her shoulders before the glass,
for a final view of herself in her glory. Suddenly she uttered a cry. Her
necklace was not around her neck.
READ AND FIND OUT
• What do M. and Mme Loisel do next?
• How do they replace the necklace?
Loisel already half undressed, asked, “What is the matter?”
She turned towards him excitedly. “I have — I have — I no longer have Mme
Forestier’s necklace.”
He arose in dismay, “What! How is that? It is not possible.”
And they looked in the folds of the dress, in the folds of
the cloak, in the pockets, everywhere. They could not find it.
He asked, “You are sure you still had it when we left the
Minister’s house?”
“Yes, I felt it as we
came out.”
“But if you had lost it in the street, we should have heard
it fall. It must be in the cab.”
“Yes, it is possible. Did you take the number?”
“No. And you, did you notice what it was?”
“No.”
They looked at each other utterly cast down. Finally Loisel
dressed himself again.
“I am going,” he said, “over the track where we went on
foot, to see if I can find it.”
And he went. She remained in her evening gown, not having
the force to go to bed.
Toward seven o’clock her husband returned. He had found
nothing.
He went to the police and to the cab offices, and put an
advertisement in the newspapers, offering a reward.
She waited all day in a state of bewilderment before this
frightful disaster. Loisel returned in the evening, his face pale; he had
discovered nothing.
He said, “Write to your friend that you have broken the
clasp of the necklace and that you will have it repaired. That will give us
time.”
She wrote as he dictated.
At the end of a week, they had lost all hope. And Loisel,
older by five years, declared, “We must replace this jewel.”
In a shop of the Palais-Royal, they found a chaplet of
diamonds, which seemed to them exactly like the one they had lost. It was
valued at forty thousand francs. They could get it for thirty-six thousand.
Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs, which his father
had left him. He borrowed the rest. He made ruinous promises, took money from
usurers and the whole race of lenders. Then he went to get the new necklace,
depositing on the merchant’s counter thirty-six thousand francs.
When Mme Loisel took back the jewels to Mme Forestier, the
latter said to her in a frigid tone, “You should have returned them to me
sooner, for I might have needed them.”
Mme Forestier did not open the jewel-box as Mme Loisel
feared she would. What would she think if she should perceive the substitution?
What should she say? Would she take her for a robber?
Mme Loisel now knew the horrible life of necessity. She did
her part, however, completely, heroically. It was necessary to pay this
frightful debt. She would pay it. They sent away the maid, they changed their
lodgings; they rented some rooms in an attic.
She learned the odious work of a kitchen. She washed the
dishes.
She
washed the soiled linen, their clothes and dishcloths, which she hung on the
line to dry; she took down the refuse to the street each morning and brought up
the water, stopping at each landing to catch her breath. And, clothed like a
woman of the people, she went to the grocer’s, the butcher’s and the
fruiterer’s, with her basket on her arm, shopping, haggling to the last sou of
her miserable money.
The husband worked evenings, putting the books of some
merchants in order, and nights he often did copying at five sous a page. And
this life lasted for ten years. At the end of ten years, they had restored all.
Mme Loisel seemed old now. She had become a strong, hard
woman, the crude woman of the poor household. Her hair badly dressed, her
skirts awry, her hands red, she spoke in a loud tone, and washed the floors
with large pails of water. But sometimes, when her husband was at the office,
she would seat herself before the window and think of that evening party of
former times, of that ball where she was so beautiful and so flattered.
How would it have been if she had not lost the necklace? Who
knows? How singular is life, and how full of changes! How small a thing will
ruin or save one!
One Sunday as she was taking a walk in the Champs-Elysees to
rid herself of the cares of the week, she suddenly perceived a woman walking
with a child. It was Mme Forestier, still young, still pretty, still
attractive. Mme Loisel was affected. Should she speak to her? Yes, certainly.
And now that she had paid, she would tell her all. Why not?
She approached her. “Good morning, Jeanne.”
Her friend did not recognise her and was astonished to be so
familiarly addressed by this common personage. She stammered, “But, Madame — I
do not know — you must be mistaken—”
“No, I am Matilda Loisel.”
Her
friend uttered a cry of astonishment, “Oh! my poor Matilda! How you have
changed!”
“Yes, I have had some
hard days since I saw you; and some miserable ones — and all because of you ...”
“Because of me? How is that?”
“You recall the diamond necklace that you loaned me to wear
to the Minister’s ball?”
“Yes, very well.”
“Well, I lost it.”
“How is that, since you returned it to me?”
“I returned another to you exactly like it. And it has taken
us ten years to pay for it. You can understand that it was not easy for us who
have nothing. But it is finished and I am decently content.”
Mme Forestier stopped short. She said, “You say that you
bought a diamond necklace to replace mine?”
“Yes. You did not perceive it then? They were just alike.”
And she smiled with proud and simple joy. Mme Forestier was
touched and took both her hands as she replied, “Oh! My poor Matilda!
Mine
were false. They were not worth over five hundred francs!”
GUY DE MAUPASSANT
GLOSSARY
Incessantly:
continuously
Tureen:
covered dish from which soup is served at the table
M.:
abbreviation for ‘Monsieur’ (form of address for a man in French)
Mme:
abbreviation for ‘Madame’ (form of address for a woman in French)
Vexation:
state of being distressed
Ruinous:
disastrous
Usurers:
money-lenders, especially those who lend money on a high rate of interest
sou:
a former French coin of low value
Awry:
not in the correct position or shape; twisted
Think
about it
1.
The course of the Loisels’ life changed due to the necklace. Comment.
2.
What was the cause of Matilda’s ruin? How could she have avoided it?
3.
What would have happened to Matilda if she had confessed to her friend that she
had lost her necklace?
4.
If you were caught in a situation like this, how would you have dealt with it?
Talk
about it.
1.
The characters in this story speak in English. Do you think this is their
language? What clues are there in the story about the language its characters
must be speaking in?
2.
Honesty is the best policy.
3.
We should be content with what life gives us.
Suggested reading
•
‘The Dowry’ by Guy de Maupassant
•
‘A Cup of Tea’ by Katherine Mansfield
•
‘The Bet’ by Anton Chekov
A young lawyer comes to a village to serve summons on Oliver
Lutkins. A friendly hack driver takes him round the village in search of
Lutkins. Does he find him? Who is Lutkins?
READ AND FIND OUT
• Why is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does
he first think about the place?
• Who befriends him? Where does he take him?
• What does he say about Lutkins?
AFTER graduating with honours, I became a junior assistant
clerk in a magnificent law firm. I was sent, not to prepare legal briefs, but
to serve summons, like a cheap private detective. I had to go to dirty and shadowy
corners of the city to seek out my victims. Some of the larger and more
self-confident ones even beat me up. I hated this unpleasant work, and the side
of city life it revealed to me. I even considered fleeing to my hometown, where
I could have been a real lawyer right away, without going through this
unpleasant training period.
So I rejoiced one day when they sent me out forty miles in
the country, to a town called New Mullion, to serve summons on a man called
Oliver Lutkins. We needed this man as a witness in a law case, and he had
ignored all our letters.
When I got to New Mullion, my eager expectations of a sweet
and simple country village were severely disappointed. Its streets were rivers
of mud, with rows of wooden shops, either painted a sour brown, or bare of any
paint at all. The only agreeable sight about the place was the delivery man at
the station. He was about forty, red-faced, cheerful, and thick about the
middle. His working clothes were dirty and well-worn, and he had a friendly
manner. You felt at once that he liked people.
“I want,” I told him, “to find a man named Oliver Lutkins.”
“Lutkins? I saw him around here about an hour ago. Hard
fellow to catch though — always up to something or other. He’s probably trying
to start up a poker game in the back of Fritz’s shop. I’ll tell you, boy — is
there any hurry about locating Lutkins?”
“Yes. I want to catch the afternoon train back to the city.”
I was very important and secret about it.
“I’ll tell you what. I’ve got a hack. I’ll get it out and we
can drive around together and find Lutkins. I know most of the places he hangs
out.” He was so open and friendly that I glowed with the warmth of his
affection. I knew, of course, that he wanted the business, but his kindness was
real. I was glad the fare money would go to this good fellow. I managed to
bargain down to two dollars an hour, and then he brought from his house nearby
a sort of large black box on wheels. He remarked, “Well, young man, here’s the
carriage,” and his wide smile made me into an old friend. These villagers are
so ready to help a stranger. He had already made it his own task to find Oliver
Lutkins for me.
He said, “I don’t want to interfere, young fellow, but my
guess is that you want to collect some money from Lutkins. He never pays
anybody a cent. He still owes me fifty cents on a poker game I was foolenough
to play with him. He’s not really bad, but it’s hard to make him part with his
money. If you try to collect from him, in those fancy clothes, he’ll be
suspicious and get away from you. If you want I’ll go into Fritz’s and ask for
him, and you can keep out of sight behind me.”
I loved him for this. By myself, I might never have found
Lutkins. With the hack driver’s knowing help, I was sure of getting my man. I
took him into my confidence and told him that I wanted to serve the summons on
Lutkins — that the man had refused to be a witness, when his information would
have quickly settled our case. The driver listened earnestly. At the end, he
hit me on the shoulder and laughed,
“Well, we’ll give Brother Lutkins a little surprise.”
“Let’s start, driver.”
“Most folks around here call me Bill or Magnuson. My
business is called ‘William Magnuson Fancy Carting and Hacking’.”
“All right, Bill. Shall we proceed to Fritz’s”.
“Yes, Lutkins is just as likely to be there as anywhere.
Plays a lot of poker. He’s good at deceiving people.” Bill seemed to admire
Lutkins’ talent for dishonesty. I felt that if he had been a policeman, he
would have caught Lutkins respectfully, and jailed him with regret.
Bill led me into Fritz’s. “Have you seen Oliver Lutkins
around today?
Friend
of his looking for him,” said Bill cheerily.
Fritz looked at me, hiding behind Bill. He hesitated, and
then admitted, “Yes, he was in here a little while ago. Guess he’s gone over to
Gustaff’s to get a shave.”
“Well, if he comes in, tell him I’m looking for him.”
We drove to Gustaff’s barber shop. Again Bill went in first,
and I lingered at the door. He asked not only the Swede but two customers if
they had seen Lutkins. The Swede had not. He said angrily, “I haven’t seen him,
and don’t care to. But if you find him you can just collect that dollar
thirty-five he owes me.” One of the customers thought he had seen Lutkins
walking down Main Street, this side of the hotel.
As we climbed back into the hack, Bill concluded that since
Lutkins had exhausted his credit at Gustaff’s he had probably gone to Gray’s
for a shave. At Gray’s barber shop we missed Lutkins by only five minutes. He
had just left — probably for the poolroom. At the poolroom it appeared that he
had just bought a pack of cigarettes and gone out. So we pursued him, just
behind him but never catching him, for an hour till it was past one o’clock. I
was hungry. But I had so enjoyed
Bill’s rough country opinions about his neighbours that I
scarcely cared whether I found Lutkins or not.
“How about something
to eat?” I suggested. “Let’s go to a restaurant and I’ll buy you lunch.”
“Well, I ought to go home to the wife. I don’t care much for
these restaurants — only four of them and they’re all bad. Tell you what we’ll
do. We’ll get the wife to pack up a lunch for us — she won’t charge you more
than half a dollar, and it would cost you more for a greasy meal in a
restaurant — and we’ll go up to Wade’s Hill and enjoy the view while we eat.”
READ AND FIND OUT
• What more does Bill say about Lutkins and his family?
• Does the narrator serve the summons that day?
• Who is Lutkins?
I know that Bill’s helpfulness to the Young Fellow from the
City was not entirely a matter of brotherly love. I was paying him for his
time; in the end I paid him for six hours (including the lunch hour) at what
was then a very high price. But he was no more dishonest than I. I charged the
whole thing to the firm. But it would have been worth paying him myself to have
his presence. His cheerful country wisdom was very refreshing to a country boy
like myself who was sick of the city. As we sat on the hilltop, looking over
the pastures and creek which slipped among the trees, he talked of New
Mullion, and painted a picture in words of all the people in
it. He noticed everything, but no matter how much he might laugh at people, he
also understood and forgave their foolishness. He described the minister’s wife
who sang the loudest in church when she was most in debt. He commented on the
boys who came back from college in fancy clothes. He told about the lawyer
whose wife could never succeed in getting him to put on both a collar and a tie
on the same day. He made them all live. On that day I came to know
New Mullion better than I did the city, and to love it
better. Bill didn’t know about colleges and cities, but he had traveled around
a lot of the country, and had had a lot of jobs. From his adventures he had
brought back a philosophy of simplicity and laugher. He strengthened me.
We left that peaceful scene of meadows and woods, and
resumed our search of Oliver Lutkins. We could not find him. At last Bill
cornered a friend of Lutkins and made him admit what he guessed, “Oliver’s gone
out to his mother’s farm, three miles north.”
We
drove out there, laying plans.
“I know Oliver’s
mother. She’s a terror,” Bill sighed. “I took a trunk out there for her once,
and she almost took my skin off because I didn’t treat it like a box of eggs.
She’s about nine feet tall and four feet thick and quick as a cat, and she sure
can talk. I’ll bet Oliver heard that somebody’s chasing him, and he’s gone on
there to hide behind his mother’s skirts. Well, we’ll try her. But you’d better
let me do it, boy. You may be great at literature and law, but you haven’t had
real training in swearing.”
We drove into a poor farmyard; we were faced by an enormous
and cheerful old woman. My guide bravely went up to her and said,
“Remember me? I’m Bill Magnuson, the carter and hackman. I
want to find your son, Oliver.”
“I don’t know anything about Oliver, and I don’t want to,”
she shouted.
“Now, look here. We’ve had just about enough nonsense. This
young man represents the court in the city, and we have a legal right to search
all properties for this Oliver Lutkins.”
Bill made me sound very important, and the woman was
impressed. She retired into the kitchen and we followed. She seized an iron
from the old-fashioned stove and marched on us shouting. “You search all you
want to — if you don’t mind getting burnt first.” She shouted and laughed at
our frightened retreat.
“Let’s get out of here. She’ll murder us,” Bill whispered.
Outside, he said, “Did you see her smile? She was laughing at us.”
I agreed that it was pretty disrespectful treatment. We did,
however, search the house. Since it was only one storey high, Bill went round
it, peering in at all the windows. We examined the barn and stable; we were
reasonably certain that Lutkins was not there. It was nearly time for me to
catch the afternoon train, and Bill drove me to the station.
On the way to the city I worried very little over my failure
to find Lutkins. I was too busy thinking about Bill Magnuson. Really, I
considered returning to New Mullion to practise law. If I had found Bill so
deep and richly human, might I not grow to love Fritz and Gustaff and a hundred
other slow-spoken, simple, wise neighbours? I pictured an honest and happy life
beyond the strict limits of universities and law firms. I was excited. I had
found a treasure. I had discovered a new way of life.
But if I did not think much about Lutkins, the office did. I
found them all upset. Next morning the case was coming up in the court, and
they had to have Lutkins. I was a shameful, useless fool. That morning my
promising legal career almost came to an end before it had begun.
The Chief almost murdered me. He hinted that I might do well
at digging ditches. I was ordered back to New Mullion, and with me went a man
who had worked with Lutkins. I was rather sorry, because it would prevent my
loafing all over again with Bill.
When the train arrived at New Mullion, Bill was on the
station platform, near his cart. Strangely enough, that old tigress, Lutkins’
mother was there talking and laughing with Bill, not quarrelling at all. From
the train steps I pointed Bill out to my companion and said,
“There’s a fine fellow, a real man. I spent the day with
him.”
“He helped you hunt for Oliver Lutkins?”
“Yes, he helped me a lot.”
“He must have; he’s Lutkins himself.”
What really hurt me was that when I served the summons,
Lutkins and his mother laughed at me as though I were a bright boy of seven.
With loving kindness they begged me to go with them to a neighbour’s house for
a cup of coffee.
“I told them about you and they’re anxious to look at you,”
said Lutkins joyfully. “They’re about the only folks in the town that missed
seeing you yesterday.”
SINCLAIR LEWIS
GLOSSARY
Hack:
a horse-drawn vehicle
Agreeable
sight: pleasant sight
Poker:
a card game in which bluff is used as players bet on the value of their cards
Earnestly:
very seriously
Creek:
short arm of river; inlet on sea-coast
Think
about it
1.
When the lawyer reached New Mullion, did ‘Bill’ know that he was looking for
Lutkins? When do you think Bill came up with his plan for fooling the lawyer?
2.
Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all over the village. How is it that no one
lets out the secret? (Hint: Notice that the hack driver asks the lawyer to keep
out of sight behind him when they go into Fritz’s.) Can you find other such
subtle ways in which Lutkins manipulates the tour?
3.
Why do you think Lutkins’ neighbours were anxious to meet the lawyer?
4.
After his first day’s experience with the hack driver the lawyer thinks of
returning to New Mullion to practise law. Do you think he would have reconsidered
this idea after his second visit?
5.
Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have avoided being taken for
a ride?
Talk
about it
1.
Do we come across persons like Lutkins only in fiction or do we encounter them
in real life as well? You can give examples from fiction, or narrate an
incident that you have read in the newspaper, or an incident from real life.
2.
Who is a ‘con man’, or a confidence trickster?
From her very childhood Bholi was neglected at home. Why did
her teacher take special interest in her? Did Bholi measure up to her teacher’s
expectations?
READ AND FIND OUT
•
Why is Bholi’s father worried about her?
•
For what unusual reasons is Bholi sent to school?
HER name was Sulekha, but since her childhood everyone had
been calling her Bholi, the simpleton.
She was the fourth daughter of Numberdar Ramlal. When she
was ten months old, she had fallen off the cot on her head and perhaps it had
damaged some part of her brain. That was why she remained a backward child and
came to be known as Bholi, the simpleton.
At birth, the child was very fair and pretty. But when she
was two years old, she had an attack of small-pox. Only the eyes were saved,
but the entire body was permanently disfigured by deep black pockmarks.
Little Sulekha could not speak till she was five, and when
at last she learnt to speak, she stammered. The other children often made fun
of her and mimicked her. As a result, she talked very little.
Ramlal had seven children — three sons and four daughters,
and the youngest of them was Bholi. It was a prosperous farmer’s household and
there was plenty to eat and drink. All the children except Bholi were healthy
and strong. The sons had been sent to the city to study in schools and later in
colleges. Of the daughters, Radha, the eldest, had already been married. The
second daughter Mangla’s marriage had also been settled, and when that was
done, Ramlal would think of the third, Champa. They were good-looking, healthy
girls, and it was not difficult to find bridegrooms for them.
But Ramlal was worried about Bholi. She had neither good
looks nor intelligence.
Bholi was seven years old when Mangla was married. The same
year a primary school for girls was opened in their village. The Tehsildar
sahib came to perform its opening ceremony. He said to Ramlal, “As a revenue
official you are the representative of the government in the village and so you
must set an example to the villagers. You must send your daughters to school.”
That night when Ramlal consulted his wife, she cried, “Are
you crazy? If girls go to school, who will marry them?”
But Ramlal had not the courage to disobey the Tehsildar. At
last his wife said, “I will tell you what to do. Send Bholi to school. As it
is, there is little chance of her getting married, with her ugly face and lack
of sense. Let the teachers at school worry about her.”
READ AND FIND OUT
• Does Bholi enjoy her first day at school?
• Does she find her teacher different from the people at
home?
The next day Ramlal caught Bholi by the hand and said, “Come
with me. I will take you to school.” Bholi was frightened. She did not know
what a school was like. She remembered how a few days ago their old cow,
Lakshmi, had been turned out of the house and sold. “N-n-n-n NO, no-no-no,” she
shouted in terror and pulled her hand away from her father’s grip.
“What’s the matter with you, you fool?” shouted Ramlal. “I
am only taking you to school.” Then he told his wife, “Let her wear some decent
clothes today, or else what will the teachers and the other schoolgirls think
of us when they see her?”
New clothes had never been made for Bholi. The old dresses
of her sisters were passed on to her. No one cared to mend or wash her clothes.
But today she was lucky to receive a clean dress which had shrunk after many washings
and no longer fitted Champa. She was even bathed and oil was rubbed into her
dry and matted hair. Only then did she begin to believe that she was being
taken to a place better than her home!
When they reached the school, the children were already in
their classrooms. Ramlal handed over his daughter to the headmistress. Left
alone, the poor girl looked about her with fear-laden eyes. There were several
rooms, and in each room girls like her squatted on mats, reading from books or
writing on slates. The headmistress asked Bholi to sit down in a corner in one
of the classrooms.
Bholi did not know what exactly a school was like and what
happened there, but she was glad to find so many girls almost of her own age
present there. She hoped that one of these girls might become her friend.
The lady teacher who was in the class was saying something
to the girls but Bholi could understand nothing. She looked at the pictures on
the wall. The colours fascinated her — the horse was brown just like the horse
on which the Tehsildar had come to visit their village; the goat was black like
the goat of their neighbour; the parrot was green like the parrots she had seen
in the mango orchard; and the cow was just like their Lakshmi. And suddenly
Bholi noticed that the teacher was standing by her side, smiling at her.
“What’s your name, little one?”
“Bh-Bho-Bho-.” She could stammer no further than that.
Then she began to cry and tears flowed from her eyes in a
helpless flood. She kept her head down as she sat in her corner, not daring to
look up at the girls who, she knew, were still laughing at her.
When the school bell rang, all the girls scurried out of the
classroom, but Bholi dared not leave her corner. Her head still lowered, she
kept on sobbing.
“Bholi.”
The teacher’s voice was so soft and soothing! In all her
life she had never been called like that. It touched her heart.
“Get up,” said the teacher. It was not a command, but just a
friendly suggestion. Bholi got up.
“Now
tell me your name.”
Sweat broke out over her whole body. Would her stammering
tongue again disgrace her? For the sake of this kind woman, however, she
decided to make an effort. She had such a soothing voice; she would not laugh
at her.
“Bh-Bh-Bho-Bho-,” she began to stammer.
“Well done, well done,” the teacher encouraged her. “Come
on, now — the full name?”
“Bh-Bh-Bho-Bholi.” At last she was able to say it and felt
relieved as if it was a great achievement.
“Well done.” The teacher patted her affectionately and said,
“Put the fear out of your heart and you will be able to
speak like everyone else.”
Bholi looked up as if to ask, ‘Really?’
“Yes, yes, it will be
very easy. You just come to school everyday. Will you come?”
Bholi
nodded.
“No, say it aloud.”
“Ye-Ye-Yes.” And Bholi herself was astonished that she had
been able to say it.
“Didn’t I tell you? Now take this book.”
The book was full of nice pictures and the pictures were in
colour — dog, cat, goat, horse, parrot, tiger and a cow just like Lakshmi. And
with every picture was a word in big black letters.
“In one month you will be able to read this book. Then I
will give you a bigger book, then a still bigger one. In time you will be more
learned than anyone else in the village. Then no one will ever be able to laugh
at you. People will listen to you with respect and you will be able to speak
without the slightest stammer. Understand? Now go home, and come back early
tomorrow morning.”
Bholi felt as if suddenly all the bells in the village
temple were ringing and the trees in front of the school-house had blossomed
into big red flowers. Her heart was throbbing with a new hope and a new life.
READ AND FIND OUT
• Why do Bholi’s parents accept Bishamber’s marriage
proposal?
• Why does the marriage not take place?
Thus the years passed. The village became a small town. The
little primary school became a high school. There were now a cinema under a tin
shed and a cotton ginning mill. The mail train began to stop at their railway
station. One night, after dinner, Ramlal said to his wife, “Then, shall I
accept Bishamber’s proposal?”
“Yes, certainly,” his wife said. “Bholi will be lucky to get
such a well-to-do bridegroom. A big shop, a house of his own and I hear several
thousand in the bank. Moreover, he is not asking for any dowry.”
“That’s right, but he is not so young, you know — almost the
same age as I am — and he also limps. Moreover, the children from his first
wife are quite grown up.”
“So what does it
matter?” his wife replied. “Forty-five or fifty — it is no great age for a man.
We are lucky that he is from another village and does not know about her
pock-marks and her lack of sense. If we don’t accept this proposal, she may
remain unmarried all her life.”
“Yes, but I wonder what Bholi will say.”
“What will that witless one say? She is like a dumb cow.”
“May be you are right,” muttered Ramlal.
In the other corner of the courtyard, Bholi lay awake on her
cot, listening to her parents’ whispered conversation.
Bishamber Nath was a well-to-do grocer. He came with a big
party of friends and relations with him for the wedding. A brass-band playing a
popular tune from an Indian film headed the procession, with the bridegroom
riding a decorated horse. Ramlal was overjoyed to see such pomp and splendour.
He had never dreamt that his fourth daughter would have such a grand wedding.
Bholi’s elder sisters who had come for the occasion were envious of her luck.
When the auspicious moment came the priest said, “Bring the
bride.”
Bholi, clad in a red silken bridal dress, was led to the
bride’s place near the sacred fire.
“Garland the bride,” one of his friends prompted Bishamber
Nath. The bridegroom lifted the garland of yellow marigolds. A woman slipped
back the silken veil from the bride’s face. Bishamber took a quick glance. The
garland remained poised in his hands. The bride slowly pulled down the veil
over her face.
“Have you seen her?” said Bishamber to the friend next to
him.
“She has pock-marks on her face.”
“So what? You are not young either.”
“Maybe. But if I am to marry her, her father must give me
five thousand rupees.”
Ramlal went and placed his turban — his honour — at
Bishamber’s feet. “Do not humiliate me so. Take two thousand rupees.”
“No. Five thousand, or we go back. Keep your daughter.”
“Be a little considerate, please. If you go back, I can
never show my face in the village.”
“Then out with five thousand.”
Tears streaming down his face, Ramlal went in, opened the
safe and counted out the notes. He placed the bundle at the bridegroom’s feet.
On Bishamber’s greedy face appeared a triumphant smile. He
had gambled and won. “Give me the garland,” he announced.
Once again the veil was slipped back from the bride’s face,
but this time her eyes were not downcast. She was looking up, looking straight
at her prospective husband,and in her eyes there was neither anger nor hate,
only cold contempt.
Bishamber raised the garland to place it round the bride’s
neck; but before he could do so, Bholi’s hand struck out like a streak of
lightning and the garland was flung into the fire. She got up and threw away
the veil.
“Pitaji!” said Bholi in a clear loud voice; and her father,
mother, sisters, brothers, relations and neighbours were startled to hear her
speak without even the slightest stammer.
“Pitaji! Take back your money. I am not going to marry this
man.”
Ramlal was thunderstruck. The guests began to whisper, “So
shameless! So ugly and so shameless!”
“Bholi, are you crazy?” shouted Ramlal. “You want to
disgrace your family? Have some regard for our izzat!”
“For the sake of your izzat,” said Bholi, “I was willing to
marry this lame old man. But I will not have such a mean, greedy and
contemptible coward as my husband. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.”
“What a shameless girl! We all thought she was a harmless
dumb cow.” Bholi turned violently on the old woman, “Yes, Aunty, you are right.
You all thought I was a dumb–driven cow. That’s why you wanted to hand me over
to this heartless creature. But now the dumb cow, the stammering fool, is
speaking. Do you want to hear more?”
Bishamber Nath, the grocer, started to go back with his party.
The confused bandsmen thought this was the end of the ceremony and struck up a
closing song.
Ramlal stood rooted to the ground, his head bowed low with
the weight of grief and shame. The flames of the sacred fire slowly died down.
Everyone was gone. Ramlal turned to Bholi and said, “But what about you, no one
will ever marry you now. What shall we do with you?”
And Sulekha said in a voice that was calm and steady, “Don’t
you worry, Pitaji! In your old age I will serve you and Mother and I will teach
in the same school where I learnt so much. Isn’t that right, Ma’am?”
The teacher had all along stood in a corner, watching the
drama. “Yes, Bholi, of course,” she replied. And in her smiling eyes was the
light of a deep satisfaction that an artist feels when contemplating the
completion of her masterpiece.
K.A. ABBAS
|
Q.1 Who was Bholi? Write the Character sketch of Sulekha? Ans. Sulekha was called Bholi in her childhood.
She was the forth and smallest girl of Numberdar Ramlal. She got brain damage
when she fell from the cot at the age often months .She was attacked by small
pox it leave pack marks over her body. She started speaking at the age of
five years. She stammered and talked little to others. Bholi was looked ugly.
Children often made of fun her and mimicked like her. She was scented to school at the age of seven. She talked with
teacher stammering. Her teacher inspired her and gave some book. Bholi was
growing in young girl. Bishambar the school deeper proposed to marry with
her. Ramlal accept it because he was feared that nobody would marry with her.
Bishambar came with marriage party and band. To see her pomp and splendor her
elder sisters were envious of her luck. At the time of garland ceremony demanded five thousand Rupees to
marry with her. His father agrees to
give the Rupees. When Bishamber wanted to place her garland in the neck of
Bholi. She snapped it and throws it the fire of Yagna. She refused to marry with a greedy person .She speak without startled
all person were surprised at her loud and clear voice. Q. Who was Bholi or Sulekha? What did he fell when was sending to
school? Sulekha was called Bholi in her childhood. She was the forth and
smallest girl of Numberdar Ramlal. She got brain damage when she fell from
the cot at the age often months .She was attacked by small pox it leave pack
marks over her body. She started speaking at the age of five years. She
stammered and talked little to others. Bholi was looked ugly. Children often
made of fun her and mimicked like her. She was scented to school at the age of seven. She talked with
teacher stammering. Her teacher inspired her and gave some book. She was
feared when she was carrying to school because it was her first time .He
pulled her hand away from his father because he remembered how her old cow
had been sold out of the house. She has no clothes because it was not seemed
urgent she was given an old frock to wear when she was going to school. She
was happy in school because there were her age groups children. In the book
she saw dog, cat, goat, parrot and a cow just like Laxmi Q. Who propose her to marry? Why did she refuse to marry with him? Ans. Bholi was growing in young girl. Bishambar
the school deeper proposed to marry with her. Ramlal accept it because he was
feared that nobody would marry with her. Bishambar came with marriage party
and band. To see her pomp and splendor her elder sisters were envious of her
luck. At the time of garland ceremony Bishamber saw he face and refused to
marry with her. He demanded 5 thousand to marry with her. His father agrees to give the Rs. When
Bishamber wanted to place her garland in the neck of Bholi. She snapped it
and throws it the fire of Yagna. She refused to marry with a greedy person .She speak without startled
all person were surprised at her loud and clear voice. An old lady called her a harmless dumb cow Bholi answered violently
“yes you are right aunty you all thought I am a dumb driven cow. That is why
you wanted to hand me over to this heartless creature, which was greedy,
contemptible cowered and lamb now that dumb cow is speaking do you want to
hear any more. Q.8 What happened on the ceremony? (Bholi) Ans. At the time of garland ceremony demanded
five thousand Rupees to marry with her.
His father agrees to give the Rupees. When Bishamber wanted to place
her garland in the neck of Bholi. She snapped it and throws it the fire of
Yagna. She refused to marry with a greedy person .She speak without startled
all person were surprised at her loud and clear voice. An old lady called her
a harmless dumb cow Bholi answered violently “yes you are right aunty you all
thought I am a dumb driven cow. That is why you wanted to hand me over to
this heartless creature, which was greedy, contemptible cowered and lamb now
that dumb cow is speaking do you want to hear any more. |
GLOSSARY
Simpleton:
a foolish person easily tricked by others
Numberdar:
an official who collects revenue
Matted:
entangled
Squatted:
sat on their heels
Scurried:
ran or moved hurriedly
Ginning:
separating raw cotton from its seeds
Downcast:
looking downwards
Think
about it
1.
Bholi had many apprehensions about going to school. What made her feel that she
was going to a better place than her home?
2.
How did Bholi’s teacher play an important role in changing the course of her
life?
3.
Why did Bholi at first agree to an unequal match? Why did she later reject the
marriage? What does this tell us about her?
4.
Bholi’s real name is Sulekha. We are told this right at the beginning. But only
in the last but one paragraph of the story is Bholi called Sulekha again. Why
do you think she is called Sulekha at that point in the story?
Talk
about it
1.
Bholi’s teacher helped her overcome social barriers by encouraging and
motivating her. How do you think you can contribute towards changing the social
attitudes illustrated in this story?
2.
Should girls be aware of their rights, and assert them? Should girls and boys
have the same rights, duties and privileges? What are some of the ways in which
society treats them differently? When we speak of ‘human rights’, do we
differentiate between girls’ rights and boys’ rights?
3.
Do you think the characters in the story were speaking to each other in
English? If not, in which language were they speaking? (You can get clues from
the names of the persons and the non- English words used in the story.)
Suggested reading
•
‘The Brass Gong’ by Qazi Abdul Sattar
•
‘Old Man at the Bridge’ by Earnest Hemingway
•
‘Gandhiji the Teacher’ by Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
Mother
Goose is a well-known book of nursery rhymes in English. Do you think such a
book can save Planet Earth from a Martian invasion? Read this play, set four
centuries in the future, and find out.
Characters
HISTORIAN LIEUTENANT IOTA
GREAT AND MIGHTY THINK-TANK SERGEANT OOP
APPRENTICE NOODLE OFFSTAGE VOICE
CAPTAIN OMEGA
SCENE
1
READ AND FIND OUT
• Why was the twentieth century called the ‘Era of the
Book’?
• Who tried to invade the earth in the twenty-first century?
TIME
: The
twenty-fifth century
PLACE : The
BEFORE RISE : Spotlight shines on Historian,
who is sitting at a table down right, on which is a movie projector. A sign on
an easel beside her reads:
Twentieth Century. She
stands and bows to audience.
HISTORIAN : Good afternoon. Welcome to
our
You haven’t heard about the Martian invasion of 2040? Tsk,
tsk. What do they teach children nowadays? Well, you know, the invasion never
really happened, because a single book stopped it. What was the book, you ask?
A noble encyclopedia? A tome about rockets and missiles? A secret file from
outer space? No, it was none of those. It was — but here, let me turn on the
historiscope and show you what happened many centuries ago, in 2040. (She turns
on projector, and points it left. Spotlight on Historian goes out, and comes up
down left on Think-Tank, who is seated on a raised box, arms folded. He has a
huge, egg-shaped head, and he wears a long robe decorated with stars and
circles. Apprentice Noodle stands beside him at an elaborate switchboard. A
sign on an easel reads:
MARS SPACE CONTROL
GREAT AND MIGHTY THINK-TANK, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
Bow low before entering).
NOODLE : (bowing) O Great and Mighty Think-Tank,
most powerful and intelligent creature in the whole universe, what are your
orders?
THINK-TANK : (peevishly) You left out part
of my salutation, Apprentice Noodle. Go over the whole thing again.
NOODLE : It shall be done, sir. (in a singsong) O
Great and Mighty Think-Tank, Ruler of Mars and her two moons, most powerful and
intelligent creature in the whole universe — (out of breath)
what-are-your-orders?
THINK-TANK : That’s better, Noodle. I wish
to be placed in communication with our manned space probe to that ridiculous
little planet we are going to put under our generous rulership. What do they
call it, again?
NOODLE
: Earth, your
Intelligence.
THINK-TANK : Earth — of course. You see how
insignificant the place is? But first, something important. My mirror. I wish
to consult my mirror.
NOODLE
: It shall be
done, sir. (He hands Think-Tank a mirror.)
THINK-TANK : Mirror, mirror, in my hand.
Who is the most fantastically intellectually gifted being in the land?
OFFSTAGE
VOICE : (after a pause) You, sir.
THINK-TANK : (smacking mirror) Quicker.
Answer quicker next time. I hate a slow mirror. (He admires himself in the
mirror.) Ah, there I am. Are we Martians not a handsome race? So much more
attractive than those ugly Earthlings with their tiny heads. Noodle, you keep
on exercising your mind, and someday you’ll have a balloon brain just like
mine.
NOODLE
: Oh, I hope
so, Mighty Think-Tank. I hope so.
THINK-TANK : Now, contact the space probe.
I want to invade that primitive ball of mud called Earth before lunch.
NOODLE : It shall be done, sir. (He adjusts levers
on switchboard. Electronic buzzes and beeps are heard as the curtains open.)
SCENE
2
READ AND FIND OUT
• What guesses are made by Think–Tank about the books found
on earth?
TIME
: A few
seconds later
PLACE
: Mars
Space Control and the Centerville Public Library
AT RISE : Captain Omega stands
at centre, opening and closing card catalogue drawers in a confused fashion.
Lieutenant Iota is up left, counting books in a bookcase. Sergeant Oop is at
right, opening and closing a book, turning it upside down, shaking it and then
riffling the pages and shaking his head.
NOODLE : (adjusting knobs) I have a close sighting
of the space crew, sir. (Think-Tank puts on a pair of enormous goggles and
turns towards the stage to watch.) They seem to have entered some sort of Earth
structure.
THINK-TANK
: Excellent. Make voice
contact.
NOODLE : (speaking into a microphone) Mars Space
Control calling the crew of Probe One. Mars Space Control calling the crew of
Probe One. Come in, Captain Omega, and give us your location.
OMEGA : (speaking into a disk which is on a
chain around her neck) Captain Omega to Mars Space Control. Lieutenant Iota,
Sergeant Oop, and I have arrived on Earth without incident. We have taken
shelter in this (indicates room) — this square place. Have you any idea where
we are, Lieutenant Iota?
IOTA : I can’t figure it out, Captain.
(holding up a book) I’ve counted two thousand of these peculiar items. This
place must be some sort of storage barn. What do you think, Sergeant Oop?
OOP : I haven’t a clue. I’ve been to
seven galaxies, but I’ve never seen anything like this. Maybe they’re hats. (He
opens a book and puts it on his head.) Say, maybe this is a haberdashery!
OMEGA : (bowing low) Perhaps the Great and
Mighty Think- Tank will give us the benefit of his thought on the matter.
THINK-TANK : Elementary, my dear Omega.
Hold one of the items up so that I may view it closely. (Omega holds a book on
the palm of her hand.) Yes, yes, I understand now. Since Earth creatures are
always eating, the place in which you find yourselves is undoubtedly a crude
refreshment stand.
OMEGA : (to Iota and Oop) He says we’re in a
refreshment stand.
OOP
: Well,
the Earthlings certainly have a strange diet.
THINK-TANK
: That item in your hand
is called a sandwich.
OMEGA
: (nodding) A
sandwich.
IOTA
: (nodding)
A sandwich.
OOP
: (taking
book from his head) A sandwich?
THINK-TANK : Sandwiches are the main staple
of Earth diet. Look at it closely.(Omega squints at book.) There are two slices
of what is called bread, and between them is some sort of filling.
OMEGA
: That is
correct, sir.
THINK-TANK
: To confirm my opinion,
I order you to eat it.
OMEGA
: (gulping)
Eat it?
THINK-TANK
: Do you doubt the
Mighty Think-Tank?
OMEGA : Oh, no, no. But poor Lieutenant Iota has
not had her breakfast. Lieutenant Iota, I order you to eat this — this
sandwich.
IOTA : (dubiously) Eat it? Oh, Captain!
It’s a very great honour to be the first Martian to eat a sandwich, I’m sure,
but — but how can I be so impolite as to eat before my Sergeant? (handing Oop
the book and saying brightly) Sergeant Oop, I order you to eat the sandwich
immediately.
OOP
: (making
a face) Who, Lieutenant? Me, Lieutenant?
IOTA
and OMEGA : (saluting) For the
glory of Mars, Oop!
OOP : Yes, of course! (unhappily)
Immediately. (He opens his mouth wide. Omega and Iota watch him breathlessly.
He bites down on a corner of the book, and pantomimes chewing and swallowing,
while making terrible faces.)
OMEGA
: Well, Oop?
IOTA : Well, Oop? (Oop coughs. Omega and
Iota pound him on the back.)
THINK-TANK
: Was it not delicious,
Sergeant Oop?
OOP : (saluting) That
is correct, sir. It was not delicious. I don’t know how the Earthlings can get
those sandwiches down without water. They’re dry as Martian dust.
NOODLE : Sir, sir. Great and Mighty Think-Tank. I
beg your pardon, but an insignificant bit of data floated into my mind about
those sandwiches.
THINK-TANK : It can’t be worth much, but
go ahead. Give us your trifling bit of data.
NOODLE : Well, sir, I have seen surveyor films of
those sandwiches. I noticed that the Earthlings did not eat them. They used
them as some sort of communication device.
THINK-TANK : (haughtily) Naturally. That
was my next point. These are actually communication sandwiches. Think-Tank is
never wrong. Who is never wrong?
ALL : (saluting) Great and Mighty
Think-Tank is never wrong.
THINK-TANK
: Therefore, I order you
to listen to them.
OMEGA
: Listen to
them?
IOTA
AND OOP : (to each other,
puzzled) Listen to them?
THINK-TANK : Do you have marbles in your
ears? I said, listen to them. (Martians bow very low.)
OMEGA : It shall be done, sir. (They each take
two books from the case, and hold them to their ears, listening intently.)
IOTA
: (whispering
to Omega) Do you hear anything?
OMEGA : (whispering back) Nothing. Do you hear
anything, Oop?
OOP : (loudly) Not a thing! (Omega and
Iota jump in fright.)
OMEGA
AND IOTA : Sh-h-h! (They listen
intently again.)
THINK-TANK
: Well? Well? Report to
me. What do you hear?
OMEGA
: Nothing,
sir. Perhaps we are not on the correct
frequency.
IOTA : Nothing, sir. Perhaps the
Earthlings have sharper ears than we do.
OOP : I don’t hear a thing. Maybe these
sandwiches don’t make sounds.
THINK-TANK : What? Does somebody suggest the
Mighty Think-Tank has made a mistake?
OMEGA : Oh, no, sir; no, sir. We’ll keep
listening.
NOODLE : Please excuse me, your Brilliance, but a
cloudy piece of information is twirling around in my head.
THINK-TANK : Well, twirl it out, Noodle,
and I will clarify it for you.
NOODLE : I seem to recall that the Earthlings did
not listen to the sandwiches; they opened them and watched them.
THINK-TANK : Yes, that is quite correct, I
will clarify that for you, Captain Omega. Those sandwiches are not for ear
communication, they are for eye communication. Now, Captain Omega, take that
large, colourful sandwich over there. It appears to be important. Tell me what
you observe. (Omega picks up a very large volume of Mother Goose, holding it so
that the audience can see the title. Iota looks over her left shoulder, and Oop
peers over her right shoulder.)
OMEGA
: It appears
to contain pictures of Earthlings.
IOTA
: There
seems to be some sort of code.
THINK-TANK : (sharply interested) Code? I
told you this was important. Describe the code.
OOP : It’s little lines and squiggles
and dots — thousands of them alongside the pictures.
THINK-TANK : Perhaps the Earthlings are not
as primitive as we have thought. We must break the code.
NOODLE : Forgive me, your Cleverness, but did not
the chemical department give our space people vitamins to increase their
intelligence?
THINK-TANK : Stop! A thought of magnificent
brilliance has come to me. Space people, our chemical department has given you
vitamins to increase your intelligence. Take them immediately and then watch
the sandwich. The meaning of the code will slowly unfold before you.
OMEGA : It shall be done, sir. Remove vitamins.
(Crew takes vitamins from boxes on their belts.) Present vitamins. (They hold
vitamins out in front of them, stiffly.) Swallow vitamins. (They pop the
vitamins into their mouths and gulp simultaneously. They open their eyes wide,
their heads shake, and they put their hands to their foreheads.)
THINK-TANK
: Excellent.
Now, decipher that code.
ALL : It shall be done, sir. (They
frown over the book, turning pages.)
OMEGA
: (brightly)
Aha!
IOTA
: (brightly)
Oho!
OOP
: (bursting
into laughter) Ha, ha, ha.
THINK-TANK : What does it say? Tell me this
instant. Transcribe, Omega.
OMEGA : Yes, sir. (She reads with great
seriousness.) Mistress Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With
cockle shells and silver bells And pretty maids all in a row.
OOP :
Ha, ha, ha. Imagine that. Pretty maids growing in a garden.
THINK-TANK : (alarmed) Stop! This is no
time for levity. Don’t you realise the seriousness of this discovery? The
Earthlings have discovered how to combine agriculture and mining. They can
actually grow crops of rare metals such as silver. And cockle shells. They can
grow high explosives, too. Noodle, contact our invasion fleet.
NOODLE
: They are
ready to go down and take over Earth, sir.
THINK-TANK : Tell them to hold. Tell them
new information has come to us about Earth. Iota, transcribe.
IOTA : Yes, sir. (She reads very gravely.)
Hey diddle diddle! The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon, The
little dog laughed to see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.
OOP
: (laughing)
The dish ran away with the spoon!
THINK-TANK : Cease laughter. Desist. This
is more and more alarming. The Earthlings have reached a high level of
civilisation. Didn’t you hear? They have taught their domesticated animals
musical culture and space techniques. Even their dogs have a sense of humour.
Why, at this very moment, they may be launching an interplanetary attack of
millions of cows! Notify the invasion fleet. No invasion today Oop, transcribe
the next code.
OOP : Yes, sir. (reading) Humpty Dumpty
sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the King’s horses and all
the King’s men, Cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again. Oh, look, sir. Here’s
a picture of Humpty Dumpty. Why, sir, he looks like — he looks like — (turns
large picture of Humpty Dumpty towards Think-Tank and the audience)
THINK-TANK : (screaming and holding his
head) It’s me! It’s my Great and Mighty Balloon Brain. The Earthlings have seen
me, and they’re after me. “Had a great fall!” — That means they plan to capture
Mars Central Control and me! It’s an invasion of Mars! Noodle, prepare a space
capsule for me. I must escape without delay. Space people, you must leave Earth
at once, but be sure to remove all traces of your visit. The Earthlings must
not know that I know. (Omega, Iota, and Oop rush about, putting books back on
shelves.)
NOODLE
: Where shall
we go, sir?
THINK-TANK : A hundred million miles away
from Mars. Order the invasion fleet to evacuate the entire planet of Mars. We
are heading for Alpha Centauri, a hundred million miles away. (Omega, Iota, and
Oop run off right as Noodle helps Think-Tank off left and the curtain closes.
Spotlight shines on Historian down right.)
HISTORIAN : (chuckling) And that’s how
one dusty old book of nursery rhymes saved the world from a Martian invasion.
As you all know, in the twenty-fifth century, five hundred years after all this
happened, we Earthlings resumed contact with Mars, and we even became very
friendly with the Martians. By that time, Great and Mighty Think-Tank had been
replaced by a very clever Martian — the wise and wonderful Noodle! Oh, yes, we
taught the Martians the difference between sandwiches and books. We taught them
how to read, too, and we established a model library in their capital city of
Marsopolis. But as you might expect, there is still one book that the Martians
can never bring themselves to read. You’ve guessed it — Mother Goose ! (She
bows and exits right.)
CURTAIN
CLAIRE
BOIKO
GLOSSARY
Easel:
wooden frame to support a blackboard or a picture
Zulus:
an African ethnic group belonging to
Apprentice:
learner of a trade who has agreed to work for a certain period of time in
return for being taught
Peevishly:
irritably
Riffling:
quickly turning over the pages of a book
Barn:
covered building for storing hay
Haberdashery:
shop which sells clothing, small articles of dress, pins, cotton, etc.
Squiggles:
scrawls; illegible writing or markings
Decipher:
find the meaning of something which is puzzling or difficult to understand
Transcribe:
write in full form from short-hand
Levity:
tendency to treat serious matters without respect; lack of seriousness
Think
about it
1.
Noodle avoids offending Think-Tank but at the same time he corrects his
mistakes. How does he manage to do that?
2.
If you were in Noodle’s place, how would you handle Think-Tank’s mistakes?
3.
Do you think books are being replaced by the electronic media? Can we do away
with books altogether?
4.
Why are books referred to as a man’s best companion? Which is your favourite
book and why? Write a paragraph about that book.
Talk
about it
1.
In what ways does Think-Tank misinterpret innocent nursery rhymes as threats to
the Martians? Can you think of any incidents where you misinterpreted a word or
an action? How did you resolve the misunderstanding?
2.
The aliens in this play speak English. Do you think this is their language?
What could be the language of the aliens?
Suggested
reading
•
‘Diamond Cuts Diamond‘ by J.H. Parker
•
‘The Cindrella Story’ by Kenneth Lillington
•
‘The Fun They Had’ by Isaac Asimov
Answers
given by Professor Yash Pal and Dr Rahul Pal
(see
questions on page 38)
(i) DNA exists as strands of bases that carry genetic
information specific to each living thing. The sequence of bases of DNA in each
of our cells is the same, but differs from that of any other living thing
except possibly an identical twin. This difference makes the DNA break at
different places when certain proteins called enzymes are added to it,
resulting in smaller DNA fragments of different sizes. These fragments migrate
at different rates in an electric field, resulting in a unique pattern; this
pattern is referred to as a DNA fingerprint.
Our DNA is inherited from our parents. Some parts come from
the father and some from the mother. DNA fingerprinting can help identify
parentage, since a son or a daughter would always exhibit a pattern
identifiable as coming from both parents. DNA fingerprinting analysis is very
useful in forensic science; from a single hair or a tiny spot of blood, it is
possible to prove the innocence or guilt of a murder suspect. Similarly, it is also
possible to identify human remains after violent accidents have caused
disfigurement.
It has been suggested that in the not so distant future, a
DNA fingerprinting profile of the individual will have to accompany
applications for an ID card, a bank account and a driving license. Human right
groups say this type of “genetic profiling” constitutes an invasion of privacy.
As with a lot of new technology, DNA fingerprinting also has a potential for
abuse.
(ii) Honeybees are very sophisticated at position location
and navigation. It is known that they use the sun as a guide. They also appear
to have a good memory. They convey the information of a new find of food to the
hive through an amazingly clever dance language. The dance indicates the
direction and distance of the food source with respect to the direction of the
sun in the sky! If it is dark inside the hive and a light bulb is switched on,
the dance is modified to include the light bulb as a new reference direction!
Since
bees have pictorial memory of some sort, a direction-finding mechanism and a
way of reckoning distance, they are probably better equipped for getting back
home than any of us!
(iii) Rain is the result of condensation of vapour when the
air is cooled below the dew point. All the vapour in a cloud cannot condense at
the same time and turn into a large pool of water. Pockets of air move up
independently and slowly cool till condensation begins and water droplets form.
It is believed that most raindrops start out as tiny ice crystals — so tiny
that they float down, slowly accreting more moisture on the way; at lower
altitudes, the crystals melt into water droplets. In colder climates, the
crystals reach the ground as snowflakes.
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