DOCTORS WORD

R.K.NARAYAN

INTRODUCTION:
R. K. Narayan (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001), shortened from Rasipuram
Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami, was an Indian writer, best known for his works set in
the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He is one of three leading figures of early
Indian literature in English (alongside Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao), and is credited with
bringing the genre to the rest of the world. Narayan’s works also include The Financial
Expert, hailed as one of the most original works of 1951, and Sahitya Academy Award
winner The Guide, which was adapted for film and for Broadway.
In a writing career that spanned over sixty years, Narayan received many awards and
honours. These include the AC Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature and the
Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award. He was also nominated to the
Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament
SUMMARY
In "The Doctor's Word" R.K.Narayan tells the story how a doctor's word saves
the life of a patient. Dr.Raman was an experienced doctor. He spoke plainly and always
spoke the truth. So, his pronouncement was held in high esteem.
Dr. Raman, a fictitious physician in the imaginary South Indian city of Malgudi that
is the microcosm for many of Narayan's stories, is renowned for his diagnostic acumen and
"certain curt truthfulness; for that very reason his opinion was valued; he was not a mere
doctor expressing an opinion but a judge pronouncing a verdict." When Dr. Raman is called
upon to make a house call and subsequent operation on his dearest friend, Gopal, he faces
a very difficult professional ethical dilemma.
Gopal was the dearest friend of Dr.Raman. They had been friends fro forty years.
They spent their time in dinning, seeing a picture and talking. Their friendship was not at
all affected by changing of time. One day Dr.Raman was informed that Gopal was ill. He
went to Gopal's house. Gopal was lying on the bed as if asleep. Dr.Raman examined him
and gave necessary treatment. He was worried about his friend’s life and he had no hope
of saving his life.
The patient asked the doctor about his condition. He wanted to sign the will and settled
the property before he dies. Dr.Raman decided to tell a lie. For the first time in life, he told
his patient a lie. He informed Gopal that he would live for long time. Gopal was relieved
to hear this information. The next morning the doctor was surprised to fined Gopal alive
with study pulse. How the patient survives would be a puzzle to him all his life. Yet, if Dr.
Raman reveals his pessimistic opinion, which he does to his assistant, i.e., that Gopal will
not survive the night, then it would "virtually mean a death sentence and destroy the
thousandth part of a chance that the patient had of survival."Dr. Raman does "a piece of
acting" and assures his friend and patient that he will live. Gopal replies, "If it comes from
your lips it must be true . . . .”
Gopal lives and Dr. Raman remarks to his assistant, "How he has survived this attack
will be a puzzle to me”. This story adroitly tackles truthfulness in the physician-patient
relationship as well as the intricate associations between truth-telling, prognosis and hope.
Additionally it raises, in a minor way, the tricky problem of a professional relationship
with a good friend. It often happens that one becomes friends with a patient. But to initiate
a professional relationship with a long-standing friend (they have been friends for 40 years)
may not always be wise. It is clear in this story that Gopal's original physician was not his
friend Dr. Raman but a "doctor in the next street," a physician Raman does not know.
In other words, this story's concern is not only with professional ethics but also with the
tension that often arrives when personal ethics and professional ethics intersect and conflict
(see B. Freedman's "A meta-ethics for professional morality" in the journal Ethics, 1978;
89:1-19) since it is clear that Dr. Raman violates his usual practice of truth-telling in the
interest of his friendship. It is also a commentary on paternalism; Dr. Raman tells the
patient's wife and patient only what he wants them to hear since the truth as
he perceives it would be damaging to the patient's outcome, a much censured notion known
as "therapeutic privilege."
This story demonstrates the economy and grace with which expertly wrought fiction can
capture and present for discussion important issues in (medical) ethics.

THE POSTMASTER
RABINDRANATH TAGORE

INTRODUCTION
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Nobel prize-winning Bengali poet, author,
songwriter, philosopher, artist, and educator wrote “Gitanjali” (1912);
This is a touching story of a city-bred young man working as a
postmaster in a remote village to earn his bread and butter. He lives
here more out of compulsion rather than a choice. Rabindranath’s
finely crafted poetic narrative brings out the haunting home-sickness
of the educated young man at a place where he finds no suitable
companion as well as the mellow natural greenery and serenity that
encompasses him here.

SUMMARY
In the small village of Ulapur, an Englishman who owns an indigo factory near it
manages to get a post office established. A postmaster from Calcutta gets separated from
his family and transferred to this village. From the noise of the city, he comes to a deserted
village with just scattered glimpses of people. Tagore, a lover of nature, uses it to describe
the surroundings. The postmaster's office has a green, slimy pond, surrounded by dense
vegetation. The way he describes this shows that postmaster is not in a position to
appreciate his closeness to nature.

There are three central themes to this story.

Firstly, the story revolves around 'longing and separation'; starting and ending with
this. The postmaster is taken away from his family and brought to a remote village. He was
in a village, where its busy people were no company, and he was left with not much work
to do. He tries to pacify his longing emotions by writing poetry. However, the fact that he
tries to write something external to him, like nature, makes it an impossible venture.
An orphan girl of the village, Ratan, helps him with his daily chores. He speaks to her
about his mother and sister in the evenings, and would keep enquiring about her family.
He would speak with sadness of all those "memories which were always haunting him".
Secondly, 'companionship', and thirdly 'dependency' can be seen through how the
relationship between the postmaster and Ratan grows through the course of this story.
Ratan did not have many memories of her family to be recalled. There were only fragments,
like pictures, of her father coming home in the evening, and her little brother whom she
played with, fishing on the edge of the pond.
Once she met the postmaster, 'Dada', she spent her days with him. She would sit outside
his shed, being only a call away from him, and doing all the small chores. Dada would
share his meals with her. Then in the evenings, she would listen to him talking about his
relatives and in imagination make them her own.
Tagore translates the longing ringing in Dada's heart to nature, when he says, "A
persistent bird repeated all the afternoon the burden of its one complaint in Nature's
audience chamber." A man, who initially failed his attempt at verse, thinks of this as
parallel to his emotions. Poetry is something that comes from the inner overflow of
emotions. He hopes for the presence of a loving human being he could hold close to his
heart.
The postmaster can't stand the quietude of Ulapur. He longs for the noises of traffic and
life in Calcutta. But, as the season's rain seemed like it would never end, like the constant
patter on the roof, Dada was troubled by his heart's exile. He falls sick in his solitude. Ratan
takes care of him, and he recovers just taking her presence for granted. But, he then decides
that he has to leave this village. He writes an application of transfer, based on the
unhealthiness of the village. The transfer is rejected.
He tells Ratan that he has resigned and will be leaving the village. She asks him to take
her with him. He thinks of it as an absurd idea and she is haunted by his reaction. He
consoles Ratan saying that he would inform the postmaster about her. He even offers her
some money to keep. She refuses both and expresses that she doesn't want to stay there any
more.
Ratan has lived a life of loneliness. Dada was her only companion, and the only one
who seemed to understand her. She is broken, when he has to leave without her.
He leaves as soon, as the new postmaster arrives. He hesitates for a moment as the boat
leaves, but it is too late for him to take her with him. Tagore illustrates the two ways a
human mind works. The postmaster uses the element of philosophy to console himself. He
tells himself that meeting, attachment, and departing are all part of life. It will all settle
with the passage of time. The wind that fills the sails of the boat indicates the reason the
postmaster fills his heart with, as he separates himself from the village.
However, Ratan stands outside the office "with tears streaming from her eyes." She has
succumbed to a common human folly, as Tagore expresses, of hope. She has been separated
from her only bond and now longs for it to return. Tagore ends by saying that humans often
fall into hope than seeing the reason, and long before we realize, disappointment becomes
too hard to handle.
Longing and Separation: The story starts and ends with this, The postmaster is taken
away from his family and brought to a remote village. He spends his evening with Ratan
speaking about his family: “memories which were always haunting him”. He also falls sick
from his heart’s exile and loneliness. The story also ends with this. Ratan gets separated
from him. She stands with streaming tears and longs for him to come back, “wandering
about the post office with tears streaming from her eyes”. Thus the story explains about the
postmaster’s and Ratan’s relationship and also explain how they depend on each other.
The contrast between the city and the village are explained best from the
postmaster’s point of view. Tagore brings out the references of how he uses nature to
illustrate the emotion.
The postmaster despite his not so little feelings for Ratan realised
with a heavy heart that no lasting relationship was possible with her.
Finally, as his boat begins sailing swiftly and the village of Ulapur
recedes further in the distance, he tries to find comfort in the
thought that “there are so many separations and deaths” in the world.
Both Ratan and the Postmaster have nobody in their lives. Both share moments to gather
that fill their heart. The Postmaster teaches Ratan to read and Rattan fills his bath and other
odd jobs. They tell each other recollections of their past. In an ideal world we might have
the Postmaster adopting Rattan but the world is less than ideal. For reasons that we can
only speculate Ratan can't take the child with him yet their remains a connection between
both. It is a connection of longing more than anything else. Really it is a connection
between a lonely old man and a lonely orphaned girl;
Two people who need each other bur can't be together.

THE PRINCESS SEPTEMBER

WILLIAM SOMERSET MAUGHAM

William Somerset Maugham was born on 25 December 1874 at the British Embassy in
Paris, France.
Princess September is a story of a princess of Siam, now a day Siam is known as the
Thailand. Princess father, the king of Siam had a strange idea about naming his children.
When he had only two daughters, he named them Day and Night, when two more were
added, he named them Spring, Autumn, Winter and Summer. Then three more daughters
were born. He named them again by the days of the week. When the eighth daughter arrived
he named them again by the months, and when the ninth daughter was born, he named the
child by September. Thus, she was called the Princess September. She was the last daughter
of the king of Siam and thereafter the Queen gave birth only baby boys.
The first eight daughters had bitter mood as their names were changed more than
once. Also the king had another habit of giving birthday presents. On one birthday, he gave
the present of green parrots in a beautiful golden cage to each of his daughters. When
Princess September’s parrot died and she wept bitterly. Then a tiny bird came to her and
sang musical songs, she became very happy; but her sisters advised her to cage the bird
into a golden cage, which has been gifted by her father. And when the bird was caged, it
stopped singing, and did not eat food and drink very well. The little bird was suffocated
into the golden cage. The bird wanted to freedom from this beautiful golden cage. Finally
princess September made it free, and then she was married to King of Cambodia and lived
a happy life with him.
 Fairy tale means something far beyond this world or out of this actual world or
supernatural, or belonging to the land of fairies, or non-human. There are five elements
that clearly show the fairy-like atmosphere, background and condition. First of all the title
of the story, itself like fairy. The word September is the name of the month, a non-human
element, and it is used for the name of the princess because she is the ninth daughter, as
the month of September is ninth in the year.
(b) The personality of the Princess is more fairies like than an ordinary human being.
(c) The little bird singing and talking to the Princess is also responsible to make story fairy
like.
(d) The king of Siam also behaves in a strange manner he has expressed this in naming his
daughters after Day and Night, the seasons, the days of the week and the months of the
year. The jealousy and envies of the other eight princesses towards September also makes
the story a fairy tale.
The moral of the story is that the writer has described a great moral lesson in the
story. One theme of the story is the friendship between the Princess and the bird, and
another theme, continued in the end of the story that is on the topic of liberty. The truth
about freedom is expressed by the use of symbols of wings, wide blue sky, green rice
growing in the fields. On the other hand, denied of freedom, which is symbolized by the
use of the golden cage. However the cage is made of golden, but it has no value against the
freedom. The theme of true freedom is explained by the words of the bird – “I cannot sing
unless I am free, and if cannot sing, I die”. The true melody or the real artistic work can be
done in the state of freedom only and this ideal of the freedom is the moral lesson of the
story, it is the real and true secret of happiness.

Point of view about the story

As the member of the society I would like to say that do not tame the animals
because they are part of the nature. Some people are taming the animals like parrots cats
and dogs for their own sake of hobby or status symbol. Some people are beating their
animals this would be stopped by the people. This story also gives the message to the
society to prevent the cruelty against the animals there are numbers of NGO’s working
now a day for the prevention of cruelty against the dumb animals. Animals are the greatest
gift by the nature; we cannot survive without the animals. The best example I would like
to give here is the Project Tiger, in which saving the tiger and give emphasis on growing
up population of the tiger. The reason behind this activity is that if tiger does not survive
we the mankind also does not survived. We have learned in the elementary level in science
subject that there is a ‘food chain’ in the Eco system if one affects the other also affects. If
there is no tiger at all the number of deer and other animals are increasing and it cause of
the imbalance the system of nature. It causes the effect on the environment; the
environment also disturbs by this effect.

THE OPEN WINDOW

SAKI

Saki is the pen name of Hector Hugh Munro, a famous writer of short stories and
novels born in Scotland. He began his career as a journalist and was foreign correspondent
to the Morning Post in Russia and Paris. He served World Was I as a Corporal in France
and killed in action. Saki's language is very simple and he writes with an ardour and
sympathy that mark him out from the common run of writers.
The Open Window" is Saki's most popular short story. It was first collected
in Beasts and SuperBeasts in 1914. Saki's wit is at the height of its power in this story of a
spontaneous practical joke played upon a visiting stranger. The practical joke recurs in
many of Saki's stories, but "The Open Window" is perhaps his most successful and best
known example of the type. Saki dramatizes here the conflict between reality and
imagination, demonstrating how difficult it can be to distinguish between them. Not only
does the unfortunate Mr. Nuttel fall victim to the story's joke, but so does the reader. The
reader is at first inclined to laugh at Nuttel for being so gullible. However, the reader, too,
has been taken in by Saki's story and must come to the realization that he or she is also
inclined to believe a well-told and interesting tale.
The Open Window by Saki is a "slice-of-life" story of irony that is typical of Saki.
The narrative of Saki's stories is masterfully crafted to invoke a sense of British charm.
Many of his characters are blunt, yet charmingly witty. This story is a striking example of
the right way to use irony. This has become one of his most cherished stories.
Frampton Nuttel, a nervous young man has come to stay in the country for his health.
His sister, who thinks he should socialise while he is there has given letters of introduction
to families in the neighbourhood who she got to know when she was staying there a few
years previously. Armed with a letter of introduction, Framton Nuttel is visiting Mrs.
Sappleton's country estate for a nerve cure. Mr. Nuttel is greeted by the niece, Vera, a polite
"self-possessed young lady of fifteen, who begins telling him about her aunt's great tragedy.
Pointing to the open French window, Vera spins a yarn about her aunt's husband and two
brothers who went out through the window on a hunting trip through three years earlier
and never returned. The aunt keeps the window open in the expectation of their imminent
return. Suddenly the aunt enters.
When Mrs Sappleton comes down she talks about her husband and brothers, and
how they are going to come back from the shooting soon, and Frampton, believing she is
deranged, tries to get her to distract her by talking about his health. Then, to his horror,
Mrs.Sappleton points out that her husband and her brothers are coming, and he sees them
walking towards the window with their dog Spaniel. He thinks that he is seeing ghost and
runs away.
Mrs.Sappleton can't understand why he has run away, when her husband and
brothers come in. They are not of course ghosts. She tell them about the odd young man
who has just left. The explains that Frampton Nuttel ran away because of the Spaniel, he
is afraid of dogs since being hunted by a pack of pariah dogs in India. The niece enjoys
making up stories about people. Romance at short notice was her speciality. The masterful
use of irony in this story is what makes it such a satisfying story.
The most remarkable of Saki's devices in "The Open Window" is his construction of
the story's narrative. The structure of the story is actually that of a story-within-a-story. The
larger "frame" narrative is that of Mr. Nuttel's arrival at Mrs. Sappleton's house for the
purpose of introducing himself to her. Within this narrative frame is the second story, that
told by Mrs. Sappleton's niece. The most important symbol in "The Open Window" is the
open window itself. When Mrs. Sappleton's niece tells Mr. Nuttel the story of the lost
hunters, the open window comes to symbolize Mrs. Sappleton's anguish and heartbreak at
the loss of her husband and younger brother. When the truth is later revealed, the open
window no longer...

In conclusion, the dramatic irony in the story is that the reader knows that Vera’s
story is a lie, and Mr. Nuttel does not. The story’s conflicts include the external struggle
between Mr. Nuttel and Vera and the internal struggle within Mr. Nuttel between his
nervous and reclusive tendencies and his decision to try to calm his nerves by meeting total
strangers. The situational irony occurs when the hunters return, violating Mr. Nuttel’s
expectation that they are dead. When Mr. Nuttel expects to be welcomed by “nice” people,
he instead ends up being driven away. Also, when Mr. Nuttel expects to calm himself
through social interaction, he becomes highly agitated.

THE PRICE OF FLOWERS

Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay
Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay was a writer of short stories in Bengali. His short
stories are collected in more than dozen volumes.Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay wrote the
story in Bengali and it has been translated into English by Lila Ray.
Mr. Gupta, the narrator, one day went to a restaurant for lunch at England. He sat at
a corner table and opened the newspaper. He noticed that a young girl of about thirteen or
fourteen was gazing at him. Her clothes betrayed her poverty; her eyes had a sad
expression. The girl was also curious about Mr. Gupta. This interest of the girl in Mr. Gupta
naturally aroused his interest in her. He wondered why the girl was curious about him. The
girl was curious about Mr.Gupta because she and her old widowed mother wanted to meet
an Indian. They wanted to know about India as her brother Frank was posted in India. Frank
had not written to them for a long time. Moreover they has heard that India was full of
snakes and tigers and people often suffered from diseases like malaria and cholera. So the
young girl Maggie took Mr. Gupta to her home.
Mrs. Clifford was curious to know about India from an Indian himself. She enquired
Mr. Gupta about the condition of India, fever, tigers and snakes in the country. He told her
that India was quite safe country and snakes and tigers live in jungles. He also told her that
though people sometimes, at some places, did fall sick, it was not all the time and
everywhere. Then Mrs. Clifford asked about Punjab. He told her that Punjab was a fine
and healthy place and there was hardly any illness there.

She then showed the ring which Frank had sent them. Frank was given the ring by a
yogi. He said that if while gazing on the ring one concentrated on a distant person, one
would be able to see him and see what he was doing. She further told Mr. Gupta that she
had concentrated on it for a long time but could not see anything. She requested him to do
the same for them. But in order to safeguard Mrs. Clifford from death; Mr. Gupta told a lie
that Frank was safe on the request of Maggie.
But unfortunately Frank died while fighting on the north-west frontier before Mr.
Gupta see the ring. He was ashamed to see the face of Clifford so he wrote a condolence
letter and he was about to return to India. At that time Maggie came to see him. When Mr.
Gupta assured her that he would certainly visit Fort Monroe in Punjab where Frank was
buried, she became emotional. So she gave him a shilling with which she wanted him to
buy flowers and place them on her brother's grave on her behalf. Mr.Gupta was deeply
touched by this affectionate gesture of the girl. Initially he wanted to return it because he
knew that she had earned the money with so much toil and there were abundance flowers
in India. However he did not want to deprive her of the joy of this sacrifice for the love of
her brother. The joy of doing so was beyond all price. The price she paid for flowers
symbolises love, affection, sacrifice and was thus beyond measure. Thus the title of the
story was very appropriate.

THE MODEL MILLIONARIE

OSCAR WILDE
Oscar Wilde was a famous Irish writer who made a good contribution to English light
comedy and short stories. At Oxford he became the founder of Aesthetic movement. His
first volume of poems was published in 1881 and it was followed by his collection of short
stories 'The Happy prince and other Tales’. In his writing we find a kind of flashing wit
which is good humoured and cutting at once.
The short story Model Millionaire emphasises the materialistic aspects of life. The
protagonist Hugie Erskine was a very good-looking young man. He was popular and kind.
However, he was not clever and had no money. He kept changing his job but always failed.
Finally he stopped working and lived on the money given to him by an old aunt. Thus he
is a misfit in a mercantile world. He is at a loss in the world of Bull and Bears. He cannot
understand the ways of the world and ends up miserably whenever he tries to be successful
materially.
His affair with Laura is at stake as he has failed to raise a fund of ten thousand pounds
as demanded by Laura's father who welcomes Hugie as a person but is not ready to accept
him as his son-in-law. It is significant
But chance played a major role in the life of Hughie. On day he accidentally met the
disguised Baron at his friend Trevor's studio. The artist Trevor was painting the portrait of
beggar with Baron as a model. Hughie feels sorry for him and has an intimate exchange of
feelings with him. Accidentally there is a sovereign in his pocket and he give as alms to
Baron.
Later that night, Hughie met Alan Trevor at Palette Club. They had a talk. Hughie
found from Alan that the model was not actually beggar-man, but a millionaire. Hughie
went home unhappily, whereas Alan laughed loudly. Strangely enough the beggar turns
out to be a millionaire. That is the whim of the millionaire Baron Hausberg to be portrayed
as a beggar.
The next morning, a messenger from Baron came and brought him a letter. The letter
contained a cheque for ten thousand pound which was wedding present to Hugh Erskine
and Laura Merton from the model. On the day of marriage, Alan was the best man and the
Baron made a speech at the wedding breakfast. Alan said “Millionaire models are rare
enough, but model millionaires are rarer still". By helping Hughie to marry Laura, Baron
exemplifies the ideal way to spend money. That is why he raises himself to the status of a
model millionaire from the status of a millionaire model.
Thus this delightful short story illustrates the author’s ability as a story writer and makes
us sympathise with the ‘ineffectual young man with a perfect profile with no profession’.
The characterization of Hughie Erskine is really commendable. There are many striking
sentences in which his wit often crystallized into memorable phrases some truth or some
serviceable critical judgement. Even when his wit was used playfully, it left a lasting
impression. We can understand his genius from the following:
"Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed”.
“Millionaire models are rare enough, but model millionaires are rarer still".

My Brother, My Brother
Norah Burke
Norah Burke is a great British writer. He spent his early years in jungles of India and
his interest in jungle life is revealed in all his works. My Brother, My Brother has won the
first prize in the New York Herald Tribune World Contester short stories. The story deals
with the heroism of a boy in the Indian jungles. It has been acclaimed as one of the best
known short stories, where we find a true picture of the wild life in the jungles and the
hardships of the poor who live near jungles.
Sher Singh, a small boy of age twelve was living at Laldwani village in the hill. The
village was near the jungle. Sher Singh’s younger brother Kunwar was suffering from
Cholera and influenza. His brother and sisters were dead due to these diseases. So he
wanted to safeguard his last surviving brother. His father Bahadur was a famous Shikari.
He was a man of brave expedition. Whenever there was an expedition into the jungle in
search of big game, either to shoot or photograph them, they sent for this man, Bahadur the
brave. Now he was away in the jungle with a photographic expedition. All the men of that
village went along with him as beaters.
Sher Singh’s mother wanted to rescue his son Kunwar, but she could not do
anything because she did not know how far her husband was from that village. She told
Sher Singh that Kunwar might be carried into hospital at Kalaghat. Then only Sher Singh
knew that his brother was dying.
Sher Singh told his mother since there was no men in the village; he would take his
brother to hospital alone. Sher Singh’s mother could not go along with him because she
has to take care of the starving cattle. Her own home was way up in the high mountains
above these foothills here round Laldwani, and she knew the difficulty in carrying load. So
she took one of her sari and she made a sling for Sher Singh to put round his forehead and
down his back, and she lifted up the child Kunwar who was doubled with pain and put him
into it. In a deep hope of despair, she sent her two sons and prayed for them. In the evening
Sher Singh started his adventurous voyage to safeguard his loving brother.
Sher Singh had to travel 50 miles to reach Kalaghat and on the way he had to get
through jungles and cross the two rivers lay between him and his goal, he might get a lift
in a bullock cart or perhaps even a broken down truck for the last part of his journey. On
the way he had to face many heart blowing experience.

At first the cobra swayed, watching him, its tongue playing in and out like a leech. Sher
Singh stopped and give way to the cobra and it subsided and slipped off into the matted
grass. He drew a breath.
Then the sight of bear tracks in the dust- the shaggy claws made him glance round
easily. He quickened his step. Then he had to pass the cliff above a river bed. He got his
burden against a tree and he let Kunwar down as gently as he could.
Afterwards they heard the jostle and squeals of elephants. They came round towards the
boys. Sher Singh chilled with fright. With Kunwar to carry, he could neither climb nor run.
He prayed God and the elephant snorted, trumpeted and his head and suddenly disappeared.
He sat down and he could not rise due to tiredness. But when he again heard the trumpet
sound, he starts running.
While he was crossing the river through a bridge, a thunder came a loud tearing
sound; the bridge moved like a monster, heeled over and broke. He could not either cross
nor swim. Then he gathered grass and plaited it into a rope. After tedious sufferings and
lot of hurt and blood shed, he thrived hard to safeguard his brother, his little brother and at
last came to the road.
Finally with the help of villagers, bullock cart and truck he reached the hospital.
Since he has no money he was laboured at rail yards and earned a few pence. In the evening
the doctor appreciated him and says, “Your brother will alive. Come and see.
Thus the short story portrays the heroism of a young boy, his affections towards his
brother, his will power and courage. We also find a true picture of the wild life in the
jungles and the hard ships of the poor who live near the jungles.

UNEASY HOMECOMING
Will F Jenkins

In the short story Uneasy Homecoming written by Will F Jenkins, Connie is the first
character introduced in the story, and is the protagonist; the antagonist in the short story is
Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Wilson’s son. After we are introduced to the characters we are then
led into the setting, Connie was being driven home by a taxi as, “The red, dying sun cast
long shadows across the road” (pg. 83), this created a picture that the sun was setting.
During this cab ride home from her two week vacation, Connie feels uneasiness and dread,
which help us understand the mood and atmosphere of the short story

The event that begins the conflict is when Connie called Mrs. Wilson for comfort, and Mrs.
Wilson ask her if her house was all right, and that it was dreadful here, there have been a
series of burglaries in the town and somehow the burglary know where Mr. saddler kept
his day’s receipts from his shop. Connie had a wired feeling about this and being alone,
but she didn’t follow it because she thought it was meaningless
Three things that are rising action is when Connie finds some cigarettes buts on the rug in
Toms room and starts to panic a bit, then she finds a lump in the bed not knowing what it
is she starts to walk away from it, then she look and saw it was all the burglary’s stolen
stuff. Connie realized that they probably know she’s home and can see her from the bay so
she turned off all the lights quickly “The window was broken. A neat jagged section of
glass was missing.”(pg.89) that’s how there were getting in, she locked all the doors and
windows but not the broken one because she can’t they’ll just unlock it so she goes and
hides.
Connie hears a noise coming from the outside garden; she knew that they knew about her
knowing that they were there and had proof. They turned off the power so the house would
be darker; she hears him in the house and carefully goes out the back door.
Connie knows someone is in her home, a stranger who is not welcome. She locks
the doors, but doing so she sees a man, a recognizable man. She becomes terrified and
starts to make a plan to escape from the house without the strangers knowing. She manages
to get out of the house and sets a motorcycle on fire, causing an explosion.

The sirens begin to ring, louder and louder. When they arrive, Connie knows she is safe.
Mrs.Winston was standing there waiting to see if Connie was alright. Connie begins to cry,
for she could have been killed. The stranger who she recognized turned out to me
Mrs.Winston's son. Connie cries even more, hugging Mrs.Winston. Even though Connie
is safe and feels bad for herself, she feels even worse for Mrs.Winston.

Resignation
Prem Chand
Introduction:
Prem Chand is one of the most famous short story writers in Hindi. He started writing
Urdu stories and later switched over to Hindi. He has written a number of novels and short
stories that depict the lower middle class life in India. There is a spirit of the reformer in
his writings.
Character of Lala Fetch Chand:
Resignation is the story of an office clerk Lala Fetch Chand. He has control over his
feelings, that even yogi cannot acquire after years of penance and self-control. He is a
combination of all the virtues. Inspite of this, fortune never smiles on him. There is never
a ray of light in his darkness. It is more appropriate to call him as ‘The Slave of Defeat’.
He had no son but three daughters and two sisters-in-law. His health too was always
poor. At the age of thirty two his eyes were lusterless, his digestion ruined and his face was
pale and his shoulders drooped. He went to his office at nine in the morning and returned
at six in the evening. He has no idea what was happening in the world outside the four
walls of his home and office.
Humiliation faced by Fetch Chand:
 On winter evening, Fetch Chand returned from his office at half past five and he was
taking rest. Twenty minutes after his arrival at home he was called again by his officer
Shahib. A Chaprasi came and informed him and asked Fetch Chand to accompany him to
Shahib’s house.

When Fetch Chand was about to leave his house, his wife asked him to have some
food. As he ate porridge and walked slowly, he went late to Shahib’s house. Shahib was in
a drunken state. He scolded Fetch Chand and used abusive language to torture him. He
asked Fetch Chand to hold his ears and ask forgiveness for his late.
The Shahib also ordered the Chaprasi to pull Fetch Chand’s hands. But Chaprasi
said that he could not do that as he was his superior and he also said that he would not lay
hands on another’s self respect. He resigned his job too. The anger of that drunken man
now turned towards Fetch Chand. He caught both his ears and shook him and ordered him
to go and bring the file from the office without mentioning the name of the file.
Fetch Chand mustered some courage and asked him “Which file do you want?” Shahib
instead of giving answer scolded him and kicked him from behind. Being humiliated Fetch
Chand ran out of the gate and reached the road fastly. He would not have borne so much
indignity from a drunkard. He wanted to attack the Shahib. But when he thought about his
family situation, he went home and narrated the events to his wife.
His wife Sharda replies, “The biggest thing for a man is to keep his honour: if you lose
your honour, you don’t deserve to look after your children. Since you have beaten that
devil, I am proud of you”. Like a madman Fetch Chand ran out of the house. There was
iron resolution in his face. He first went to a friend’s house and borrowed a good strong
stick and then went to the bungalow.
Fetch Chand revenge on Shahib:
Fetch Chand did not wait for him to finish his meal. He lifted the curtain and went
inside. Then he raised his stick and he said that he had brought his file. The Shahib was
stunned with an expression half of fear and of anger. He felt that he was in a desperate
position and asked him to forgive him.
But Fetch Chand asked him to hold his ears and ask forgiveness. If he failed to do that,
he threatened him to crack his skull. The Englishman was not willing to go through this
humiliating virtual so lightly. He jumped from his chair and tried to snatch the stick. Before
Shahib had left the table, he gave him one full flow on his bare head.
Shahib threatened him that he would dismiss him. But Fetch Chand did not care. He
told him that he would not leave him until he holds his ears and swear that he wouldn’t
behave towards people as he behaved to him. Saying so, he lifted the stick high.

Shahib immediately put his hands on his ears and said: “I will never swear at anybody”.
Fetch Chand then voluntarily submitted his resignation explaining that he was not wiling
to serve under a man who had bad manners.
Conclusion:
 Thus the dumb office clerk left the room and with an easy mind started walking
back home. He had a sense of true victory and personal freedom. Never in his life had he
experienced such happiness.

THE REFEREE
W.H. ANDREWS and GEOFFREY DEARMER

The Referee, written by W.H. Andrews and Geoffrey Dearmer, contemporary British
authors, is a hilarious comedy. The induction of the timid and ignorant Beltwood to
impersonate the celebrated referee Potts for the Derby Match provides the right start to the
play.
Colonel Wortlebury is the chairman of “The Rovers” Football Club. Beryl is his
daughter. He is worried about the absence of the referee Potts. The worry drove him crazy.
He thought that no one can control the match and keep that crowd in order. The crowd
would get wild and the players would start kicking each other about. He misunderstood
John Beltwood as Potts as they resemble each other. Without Potts the match would be a
fizzle. The share holders will receive no dividend.
As Potts and John Beltwood resemble each other, Wortlebury decided to send
Beltwood as Potts before the ground. Beltwood refused but Barker his brother-in-law
forced him to accept. The encouraging words of Barker, You are the boss’ give Beltwood
more than the needed assurance and he tests the efficiency of the whistle in various
situations.
Barker gave the following instructions to him, “Whenever you see a man on the line
wave a flag -blow. If you see a man in the middle with red hair in a blue jersey, standing
fifty yards from anyone else and the ball coming to him, blow offside. If two chaps knock
another chap down when the ball is nowhere near -blow. If the player hands the ball - blow.
And finally if you see two players kicking each other, send them off. Sammy was there to
help Beltwood.

Diana sister of Beltwood accused her husband Barker for having sent her brother
as referee who didn’t know anything about the game. It was five minutes half-time and the
score already seven-six for the Rovers, two men sent off, eleven penalties, fifteen fights in
different sections of the ground and extra police sent for.
He gave six penalties and five goals to the Celtic team. Boffin, the captain of the
Celtic team asked Beltwood Fiercely why he disallowed three goals. He replied that all of
them were probably offside. Boffin doubted Beltwood to be mad and warned him that if
any the Celtic did not win the League there would be no more Potts.
Kettle the captain of the Rover’s Club abuses Beltwood for whistling often and
shouting offside, foul! Penalty! and he wanted explanation. Beltwood answered that as he
was very short-winded he let his breath out and whistle being in his mouth blows, as he
could take the whistle from his mouth he might lose it. With anger Kettle went off.
 Besides these doings of the hero on the ground, Diana’s angry reaction to her
brother’s predicament involving the reputation of the family, the unexpected admiration of
Beryl for Beltwood’s courage in facing the hostile players and spectators, and the strange
reasons given by the proxy referee for his outrageous rulings provide plenty of occasions
for laughter.
The play reaches its climax when Potts himself arrives on the scene threatening legal
action for impersonation. The suspense is broken by the influential Reporter’s fanciful
interpretation of the referee’s atrocious rulings. He says, “The game started with the
prospects of being the dirtiest match on record. It finished up like milk and water. Every
foul or attempted foul is penalized. The match is a sensation. The whole country’s attention
is drawn to it. It will bring rough and dirty play into the white light of national criticism.
It’s out now in big headlines: ‘Potts the Genius’, ‘The Death Knell of Dirty Football’. Thus
the play had a surprise ending.

THE CASE STOLEN DIAMONDS

Farrell Mitchell
Detective stories became more popular in England after the publication of the Sherlock
Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle. They naturally led playwrights to exploit the
detective theme in drama. ‘The Case of the Stolen Diamond is one such venture. This play
is written by Farrell Mitchell, an English master.
The play starts with a state of confusion in the house of Sir George Carson, a diamond
merchant. Along with him are four diamond dealers, Dupont, Spiller, Rodney and
Macnulty. The reason for confusion is that six diamonds in a case are stolen by somebody.
The problem is that the diamonds vanish away within a fraction of time and no thief or
outsider comes into the room.
So George suspects that out of four one will be the thief. George asks them to confess
the truth. So George sent for Magnus Main, a detective to find out the thief. When Main
arrives, George narrates the whole incident that is while George and McNulty are
conversing near the fireplace, they heard the sound of pebbles being thrown against the
panes. On hearing the sound the rest of them run near the window. After some moments
when they turned, they saw the diamonds in the case were lost.
Main carefully examines the situation. On seeing the oil-sticken cushion cover and
ink-stained table cloth, he could deduct where the three persons are seated. He said that the
diamonds were in the pocket of George and Spiller was the thief at the final conclusion.
They were shocked and asked Main for explanation. He explained the issues he
watched carefully and points out the reason why Spiller was the thief.
Spiller was to be left-handed because his left fingers were badly stained with nicotine.
So he had match box with him and he stole diamonds. While the others ran to the window
he put it into his match box. When others are discussing about the stolen diamonds he
tactfully put the match box on the pockets of George. As George is the host no one would
suspect him.
 Other than that Spiller was not at all a merchant or dealer. He used only the name of that
great family on order to steal the diamonds. Main comes to this conclusion by hearing the
accent of Spiller. On seeing the bulge of waist coat pocket he said that all of them are
having cigarette lighters except Spiller. Spiller, at the beginning criticizes the detective so
badly, but at the end he is caught and he threatens all other by a gun. But atlast he is
handover to the police.
Thus the play displays Main’s wonderful powers of observation and deduces how the
American crook Spiller stole the diamonds , put them in a match box and deposited them
in the host own pocket. The theme and characterization are interesting and the art of
narration created a thrill.

The Dear Departed

William Stanley Houghton

In this drama, The Dear Departed, by William Stanley Houghton satirizes (criticizes) the
degradation of moral values in respect and care within the members of the family itself.

Stanley in his one act play tries to bring out the qualities of the two daughters called
Mrs. Slater & Mrs. Jordan towards their father. The author tries to show how the sisters are
interested in the property of their father rather than to show true care and affection towards
their father. The play begins with Mrs. Slater who is dressed in black demands her husband
Henry and her daughter to be in black dresses as a symbol of mourning. The hero of the
play Abel who is sick and bedridden is taken as a dead person and she starts dividing the
properties of her father.

The three things Mrs. Slater takes from his father’s property, first she took his Slippers
and asks her husband Henry Slater to wear it. Second is Clock, it was in the upstairs in his
room, and then it has been shifted to her ground floor and third one is Bureau. After all
arrangement and shifting, her sister Mrs. Jordan and her husband Ben Jordan enter there
for Mr. Abel’s mourning. Mrs. Slater asks them to have something like coffee or tea before
seeing their father’s dead body and they start to discuss about the property of his father.
Mrs. Jordan asks to her sister about Bureau and Clock to be there. Mrs. Slater tells her, it
has been gifted by her father, before his death.

They plan to see the will, so Victoria Slater goes to get the Bureau key in the upstairs her
Grandfather’s room and she tells, he is alive and coming. Abel asks them about their black
dress and shifted things. Mrs. Jordan explains to him all what happened. Then Able
understands about their interest to get his property and he says, going to marry a woman
who take care him up to end. He says, three things going to do on next day. First he has to
change his property to his new wife and should pay the premium in Insurance office and
last he has to go St. Philip’s Church to marry Mrs. John Shorrock who is a widow and
living in Ring-O- Bells place. Finally Abel says thanks to Mrs. Slater for shifted the Bureau
down because that will be easy to carry to Ring-O-Bells and the dear departed from there
Stanley Houghton’s The Dear Departed is a social play on the condition of the elderly
people who are being abandoned and neglected by their own children. The play is
optimistic that even elderly people may choose to live merrily, despite their old age. They
can even opt to marry at old age to lead a happy life .
In the beginning of the play Mrs. Slater goes to offer something to grandfather Abel
Merryweather and finds him quite cold, not responding at all. He is motionless. So, Mrs.
Slater declares that the grandfather is no more.
Accordingly, her sister and her husband, the Jordans are informed about the sudden demise
of the grandfather. Mrs. Slater and her husband are busy making arrangement for the
mourning. They are expecting the Jordans to join them. They start using the various
materials used by the grandfather. Victoria, daughter of Mrs. Slater does not like all these
but reluctantly she is helping her parents in these matters. Victoria is asked to keep a watch
on the main door to inform her mother about the arrival of the Jordans. Mrs. Slater is not
willing to share everything of her father’s belongings with Mrs. Jordan. When all these
arrangements are being done, the Jordans arrive to join them. The family members start
detailed conversation on the deeds of the grandfather, planning the details of the obituary
announcement in the papers and the insurance premium payment. They start discussion
over the distribution of grandfather’s belongings among them.
Surprisingly, at this point of time, the play witnesses a turn of events. Victoria who has
been sent to the grandfather’s room, returns very scared. She tells everyone that grandfather
is alive. To everybody’s surprise, grandfather is seen coming downstairs. He is surprised
to find the Jordans . No one dares to tell him that he has been declared 'dead '. While taking
tea, the truth comes out and the grandfather gets to know how his daughters have been in
a hurry to divide his possessions among them.
On knowing the harsh reality, the grandfather decides not to live with any of his
daughters. He even expresses his final intention to change his Will. He declares that he is
going to give everything to Mrs. Shorrocks whom he will marry. He feels that by marrying
Mrs. Shorrocks he will have someone to look after him wholeheartedly without considering
him to be a burden.

This drama signifies that how the present generation is reacting towards the elders. The
worldly people are after materialistic things, not the care and affectionate they have for the
lonely old aged ones. How close we are to them and even a bit time we spend with them,
we should ask ourselves.

The Princess and the Woodcutter

Alan Alexander Milne
 Alan Alexander Milne was an essayist, versifier and the author of Children’s
Books. When his child Robin was four years old, she showed a talent for writing children’s
books. His one act plays like ‘The Man in the Bowler Hat’ and ‘The Boy Comes Home’
bring out the author’s gentle caricature of human character and habits of mind.
The Princess and the Woodcutter is a light-hearted play in which the leisured classes
like the princes are caricatured. The theme and the language of the play are those of a fairy
tale play, at the same time we cannot miss the author’s ridicule of the ways of the rich.
Once there lived a woodcutter in the land of kings and Castles. The king’s daughter
helped the woodcutter to carry his wood and she listened to his tales. As years passed she
fell in love with him. One day she expressed her to him. On hearing that he was astonished
and he could not believe that. He too loved her and he could not accept her love or exposed
his love because Princess was supposed to love only the Prince and marry them.
Woodcutter thought over this and he worked out a plan to marry the princess. In the
mean time three princes came forward to marry the princess. They did not love her instead
they loved her kingdom. Princess informed the woodcutter about it and she expected help
from him. While the woodcutter was thinking about it, she saw the king and queen strolling
through the forest, deep in conversation. He stopped to overhear the conversation.
The king and the Queen spoke about the marriage of their daughter. They wanted
to choose a right price out of the three. They wished to test each one of them in disguise.
They aimed to choose the kindest, sensible person. So the queen disguised herself as a
beggar and she would meet hem individually and pray for bread. Those who offered her
their last crust of bread shall be selected as their bridegroom. In the meantime the king
would send the princes to the place where the beggar queen would be, by saying that the
princess was in the forest.
On hearing that, the woodcutter thought of a best plan and wanted to execute it. So
he individually met the three princes namely, Red, Blue and Yellow. He told them that he
would like to them in order to marry the princess. He also exhibits the plan of the queen to
them. He also gave to each one of them a piece of old moldy bread and insisted them that
they should compel the queen to eat the whole piece of bread.
These three princes went and meet the Queen disguised as beggar woman
separately. At first the blue prince then the red prince and finally the yellow prince offered
her bread and they forced her to eat the entire thing.
At last when the yellow prince forced her to have large quantity of bread, she shrieks and
falls back in a swoon. The king rushed out to help her and also seeked help from others.
He also called his daughter.
The woodcutter, who had been watching all these incidents from the tree back
rushed to the spot. As the queen was suffering from a surfeit of bread, the woodcutter
comes with a flagon of wine. He said, “Drink this”. The queen took his gift and swallowed.
She soon felt better. Now the woodcutter introduced himself and the princess also wished
him as if they had seen now. Unexpectedly the queen says,” You’d better marry the
princess”. In order to check his commonsense, she also asked him a question, “What do
you think of bread as a form of nourishment?”. He answers, “One can too much of it”. On
hearing this king also said, “the great thing, of course, is that our darling child should be
happy” and announced that the marriage will take place that evening.
 Thus the woodcutter wisely plans and executes his actions in order to win her lover
and marry her. This play also portrays that even though the woodcutter was poor; he was
accepted as their son-in-law for his virtues and commonsense. The King and The Queen
too do not give importance to money but for knowledge and virtue.

TWO MARK QUESTIONS

UNIT I
1. What was the patient anxious about?
The patient was anxious about writing the will. Because he wanted to know whether he
will alive or dead.
2. The doctor’s soothing lie saves the life of his friend. Who is he?
Dr. Raman’s soothing lies save the life of his friend Gopal.
3. When Rabindranath was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature?
Rabindranath Tagore was awarded Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 for his Gitanjali.
4. Why did the post master apply for a transfer?
The loneliness of his exile and his health condition makes the postmaster to apply for
transfer.
5. Mention the famous novels of Somerset Maugham.
Of Human Bondage, The Moon and Six Pence, Cakes and Ale, The Razor’s Edge.
6. How did Princess September grow very beautiful?
Princess September grew extremely beautiful as she kept the window open day and night.

UNIT II
7. Who is the author of the story “The Price of Flowers”?
Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay is the author of the story The Price of Flowers.
8. What worried Mrs. Clifford?
Mrs. Clifford worried about his son Frank who worked as soldier in Punjab. She
wanted to know about India.
9. Write the name of the dog?
Spaniel is the name of the dog.
10. Who is Vera?
Vera is a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen.
11. Name the author of the story “The Model Millionaire”?
Oscar Wilde is the author of the story “The Model Millionaire”.
12.Who is the Model Millionaire?
Baron Hauseberg is the Model Millionaire.

UNIT IIII
13. What is the name of Sher Singh’s little brother?
The name of Sher Singh brother is Kunwar.
14. What does the story “My Brother My Brother” deal with?
The story ‘My Brother, My Brother’ deals with the heroism of a boy in the Indian
jungles.
15. Where was Conni’s husband, when she returned home?
Connie’s husband Tom was away on business when she returned home.
16. How did Connie save herself?
Connie saved herself by burning the motor cycle.
17. Who is Prem Chand?
Prem Chand is one of the most famous short story writers in Hindi. He has written a
number of novels and short stories.
18. What does “Resignation” reveal?
Resignation reveals the miseries of an office clerk in the days of British rule.

UNIT IV
19. Write the names of the diamond dealers in “The Case of the Stolen Diamonds”.
Sir George Carson, Monsieur Dupont, Silas K.Spiller, Charles Rodney and Andrew
McNulty.
20. Who is Mr. Magnus Main in “The Case of the Stolen Diamonds”?
Mr. Magnus Main is the detective who detects the stolen diamond in the play.
21. What was spiller’s opinion about detectives in general?
Spiller’s opinion about detective’ “these flatties can fall down on a job like anybody
else”.
22. Who is the author of the play ‘The Referee’?
W.H. Andrews and Geoffrey Dearmer are the authors of the play
‘The Refree’.
23. Who were the objects of Pot’s anger?
Colonel Wortlebury, Robert Barker and John Beltwood were the objects of Pot’s
anger.
24. What was Beltwood’s experience at the first foot ball match he attended?
Beltwood courageously faced the hostile players and spectators at the first football
match he attended.

UNIT V
25. What reason did Elizabeth give for their delayed arrival?
Since Elizabeth could not start without getting the mourning, she was late.
26. What happened to Mr. Merry Weather’s new slippers?
Mrs. Slater gave that new slipper to her husband thinking that Merry Weather had died.
27. What was the first object of quarrel between the sisters in “The Dear Departed”?
The first object of quarrel between the sisters was regarding the payment of Premium
and whom to take care of their father.
28. How did the princess reveal her affection for the woodcutter during earlier meetings?
The Princess revealed her affection by saying that she would help the woodcutter daily
by chopping the woods.
29. Who is the author of the story “The Princess and the Woodcutter”?
Alan Alexander Milne is the author of the story “The Princess and the Woodcutter”.
30. How did the queen test the common sense of the Woodcutter?
The Queen tested the commonsense of the woodcutter by hearing the answer about the
bred, “one can have too much of it”.