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Of the seven hundred villages dotting the map of India……by the iron-hooped wheels of bullock carts.
1. What is meant by microscopic dot? What is said about Kritam in the extract?
a. Something very small. Kritam was probably the tiniest of the seven hundred villages in India as it was
a microscopic dot on the survey map.
3. Change the question. Give a brief description of the village Kritam.
a. It is ‘probably the tiniest’ of India’s seven hundred villages. It is a village that consists of ‘fewer than
thirty houses, only one of them built from brick and cement.’ There are four streets in the village, with a
shop for foodstuff and other items in the third street.
4. Give the meaning of Kritam in Tamil. Where did Muni live in the village?
a. Kritam in Tamil meant ‘ coronet’ or ‘crown’ on the brow of the Indian subcontinent. Muni lived in the
last house in the fourth street in the village, beyond which stretched the fields.
5. How did the Big House differ from other houses?
a. The Big House, unlike other houses was built with brick and cement. It was painted yellow and blue
all over with carvings of gods. The other houses were of bamboo thatch, straw, mud and other
unspecified materials.
Extract II
In his prosperous days Muni had owned a flock…….dry sticks, bundled them, and carried them for fuel at
sunset.
1. How did Muni care for his sheep and goats? Why did he carry a cook at the end of a bamboo pole?
He would take his sheep and goats everyday to the highway to graze around.
He carried a crook at the end of a bamboo pole to collect foliage from the avenue trees to feed his
flock.
2. In his prosperous days how many sheep and goats did Muni have? What happened to most of them
later?
In his prosperous days Muni had owned a flock of forty sheep and goats. Gradually, Muni’s fortunes
declined and his flock of forty was reduced to only two goats.
3. What did Muni’s wife give him for breakfast and midday meal? What does it show about his
economic condition?
Muni’s wife would give him salted millet flour in boiled water for breakfast. For midday meal, she would
give him the same raw onion. This shows their poverty as they could not afford anything else.
4. Why did Muni tether his two goats to the trunks of the drumstick tree? What claim does he have
over the tree?
This was done so that his two goats could graze only within a set radius and not wander off and get lost.
Although no one could say precisely who owned the tree, the only claim Muni had was that he lived in
its shadow.
5. Compare and contrast Muni’s prosperous days with his present living conditions.
He once lived a prosperous life and reared a flock of forty, but now he was left wit two goats. Muni
wanted to enjoy life, but now he had lost his riches, he had no option but to remember his past with
regret. He remembered the time when he smoked cigarette, chewed betel leaves and bhang in a hut in
the coconut grove with the famous butcher from the town. Even today, he craved to chew the drumstick
out of sauce but failed to obtain the food items prepare it, on credit from the shopkeeper.
Extract III
2. Why did his wife agree to supply him with what he was craving for? Under what condition would she
oblige him?
His wife agreed thinking that next year, Muni might not be alive to ask for anything. She asked him to
bring a few food items including a measure of rice or millet.
3. How did Muni attract the attention of the shopkeeper and win over his goodwill?
To attract the attention of the shopkeeper, Muni kept clearing his throat, coughing and sneezing. Muni
responded appropriately at the shop man’s jokes. This helped him win the shop man over.
4. Change the question. How could Mini get some raw food items from the shop?
Muni would go and sit outside the shop. He would make polite sounds by cleaning his throat, coughing
and sneezing until he caught the attention of the shop man. He would humour the shop man by
appropriately responding to his jokes and then request the food items he needed.
Extract IV
Muni felt impelled to rise and flee…….. whom do you expect to rob by then?
1. Change the question. Explain what has happened earlier because of which the shopkeeper is
reluctant to give on credit.
Muni had been in the habit of coming to the shop, humouring the shop man and requesting for one or
two items of food with the promise of repaying later. This time the shop man was not in good mood so
he lost his temper at Muni for daring to ask for credit.
2. Finally, from where did Muni say that he would get money?
Muni said that his daughter would be sending him money soon for his fiftieth birthday.
3. According to Muni, how old was he? How did he calculate his age?
According to Muni, he was fifty year old. He calculated his age from the time of great famine.
4. What did the shop man say about Muni’s age? How could he guess that?
According to the shop man, Muni was seventy years old. Muni might be referring to himself as fifty
years old since past few years.
5. What did Muni say just before he left the shop?
Muni had told the shop man that his daughter had sent word that she would be sending him money for
his fiftieth birthday.
Extract V
1. Who is referred to as scoundrel? Why was Muni annoyed with the scoundrel?
The shop man is referred to as scoundrel. Muni was annoyed because the shop man mocked at his habit
of mentioning his birthday time and again to procure things on credit.
2. Why doesn’t Muni argue against what she says? How can you conclude that he trusts her as far as
his welfare is concerned?
Muni did not argue because he knew that if he obeyed his wife she would somehow conjure up some
food for him in the evening. Muni trusted her as far as his welfare was concerned. He knew by taking up
occasional jobs in the big house, she would earn some money to keep dinner ready for him in the
evening.
4. When Muni was passing through the village what was his and onlookers attitude to each other?
Why?
When Muni was passing through the village, he avoided looking at anyone. He even ignored the call of
his friends.
5. Change the question. What was Mini thinking as he led his goats to the highway?
Muni was worried about his wife as he was seventy years old and might die soon. He also was pondering
about the absence of progeny.
Extract VI
2. How did the statue of the warrior look? How did the image makers depict him as a man of strength.
The warrior beside the statue is depicted as a man of strength through his description as a warrior with
‘scythe-like mustachios, bulging eyes, and aquiline nose.”
3. Why didn’t Muni, the villagers or the vandals notice the splendour of the statue of the horse?
Nobody from the village noticed its existence. Even Muni, who spent all his days at the foot of the
statue, never bothered to look up.
5. Briefly give the difference between Muni and the visiting American.
Muni was an old man residing in the Kritam village. He once lived a prosperous life and reared a flock of
forty, but now he was left with two goats. Muni wanted to enjoy life, but now he had lost his riches, he
had no option but to remember his past with regret. He was a man who lived more in the past, than in
the present.
The red faced man represents a typically wealthy American. He is polite and courteous as he offered
Muni a cigarette and though he did not understand Muni, he listened to him attentively. He was a
typical American tourist who wished to take back home the statue as a souvenir.
Extract VII
2. What did the foreigner say looking at the clay horse?
He looked up at the clay horse and cried, “ Marvellous.
3. State the feelings of Muni after meeting the foreigner. Why did he have such feelings?
As soon as Muni met the foreigner his first impulse was to run away but his age did not allow him. He
assumed the foreigner to be a policeman or a soldier enquiring about the rumoured murder.
4. Looking at the clothes of the foreigner what did Muni think? How did the foreigner put him at ease?
The foreigner was wearing khaki clothes. it made Muni think that he was a policeman or a soldier. To
put Muni at ease, the other man pressed his palms together, smiled, and said, “ Namaste!”
5. Having exhausted his English vocabulary, what did Muni say in Tamil?
Muni said that his name was Muni and the goats belonged to him. The village was full of slanderers
who would claim what was not theirs.
Extract VIII
2. What is referred to as the courtesies of the seasons? Why did Muni answer ‘Yes, no”?
The foreigner’s polite behaviour on meeting Muni for the first time. As a courtesy he offered Muni a
cigarette. Muni, being a Tamil speaking man could not understand the foreigner, and used the only
English words he knew, i.e., “yes,no.”
3. Change the question .State earlier experience of Muni of smoking a cigarette. When the foreigner
flicked the light open and offered a light to Muni what were the latter’s feelings?
Muni remembered the cigarette the shop man had given him on credit. He recalled how good it had
tasted. When the foreigner flicked the light open Muni was confused about how to act so he blew on
the light and put it out.
5. Describe Muni’s fears and anxieties when he was given the card by the visitor.
Muni feared that the business card was an arrest warrant and he moved back.
Extract IX
2. The foreigner said, “ I am sure you know when this horse was made. “ When was the horse made?
The horse was made long before Muni was born i.e., it was made sometime when Muni’s grandfather’s
grandfather was a young boy.
4. State how the title of the story, ‘A Horse and Two Goats’ is relevant.
It is an apt title. Though the hero of the story is Muni who drives the story forward, the major part of the
story is a dialogue between the American and Muni concerning the house statue. From the beginning of
the story it is observed that Muni is left with two goats. It is only when the goats are being taken to
graze near the highway, that Muni’s chance encounter with the American takes place. Muni who is
sitting on the pedestal of the statue is assumed to be its owner by the American. Muni, on the other
hand does not understand what the foreigner says. When the American gives Muni a hundred rupee
note as the price for the statue, Muni gets confused. He assumes it to be the price of his two goats.
Extract X
1. What has the foreigner just said about Tamil and Muni’s sales talk?
The foreigner said that Tamil to him ‘sounds wonderful’ and he got a kick out of every word Muni
uttered. The foreigner assumed Muni to be engaging in sales talk and told him that he already
appreciated the article and was ready for a better sales talk.
3. State what Muni hints at the caste and class distinction between the rich and the poor in Kritam.
Muni had no formal education. He grew up as a member of a lower caste when only the Brahmins, the
highest caste, could attend school. he has not travelled beyond his village and he likes to watch trucks
and buses go by on highway a few miles away so that he can have ‘a sense of belonging to a larger
world.’
He has some knowledge of the two major religious texts the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which he
has learned by acting in plays and by listening to preachers at the temple.
. What is the Parangi language referred in the extract? Who are the people who know the language?
English. Learned people and officers in Muni’s country know Parangi language. But children in the
foreigner’s country know it.
4. State briefly the position of women in villages as seen in the story, A Horse and Two Goats?
Child marriage was prevalent as in the case of Muni and his wife. Women were honoured as seen as
nurturers but they needed a man to support them. Muni knew his wife would garner the raw materials
and prepare his drumstick gravy. He was worried what would happen to her after his death.
Extract XI
“ Muni, now assured that the subject………and trample down all bad men.
1. Which dead body is referred to in the extract? Why was Muni afraid of the dead body earlier?
Muni mistook the foreigner’s khaki dress and thought the foreigner was a policeman who was
investigating the case of a ’mutilated body thrown under a tamarind tree a few weeks before.”
3. Wrong question. How does the language barrier in the conversation between the American and
Muni provide humour?
Their different languages do not let them understand each other. They converse, though in reality, they
are both speaking on entirely unrelated subjects. The foreigner is concerned about the price of the
statue, Muni when through gestures realises that he is being asked for the statue, rumbles on about its
religious value, and how it has stood for generations. The foreigner, owing to the language barrier,
assumes Muni as a salesman and offers him a hundred rupee note in exchange for the statue. Since
Muni could not understand English, he assumes that the money offered is the exchange price for his
goats.
4. Describe the living room in America of the foreigner as stated by him.
The living room of the foreigner has a large bookcase filled with volumes of books. There are books piled
up too
5. How would the horse be accommodated in the foreigner’s house?
The foreigner assures Muni that he would keep the statue with utmost care in his living room in his
house in the USA.
Extract XII
2. What does Muni say about the coffee hotel in the locality? Why does he say about the coffee hotel?
Muni had heard from passers-by that there were ‘kapi-hotels’ opened at the Friday Markets in the next
town along the highway. Muni only recognized the word ‘coffee’ in the foreigner’s conversation. He
thought that the foreigner wanted to drink coffee.
3. What has Muni said about the end of the world?
At the end of the world the Redeemer would come on the horse statue which would grow bigger and be
called Kalki. There would be floods in which Kalki would carry good people to safety and the evil would
perish.
5. How does the foreigner plan to transport the horse to America?
The foreigner planned to cancel his air ticket and travel by ship with the horse in his cabin.
1. Muni asked the red man, “ How many children do you have? The red man replied, “ I said a
hundred. “ What was each one talking about? Explain the humour in this conversation.
Muni was asking the red man about his children, if any. The red man did not understand Muni. He
assumed that Muni was the owner of the statue, so he offered him hundred rupees for it.
The humour here arises out of each ones inability to understand the other. They seemed to be
conversing, but in reality, they are talking about entirely unrelated subjects.
2. Give two examples to show that Muni was curious about the red man.
Muni asks how many children does the man have.
He even asks how many of them are boys and how many girls.
3. Looking at the hundred rupees note, how did Muni react? What did he think was the purpose of
giving him that money?
Muni peered closely at the hundred rupees note. He was amazed as he had never seen it before. Muni
thought that the red man wanted him to exchange the note for change. Muni laughed at this idea.
5. Why did the red man show some interest in Muni’s goats? Briefly describe the intentions of Muni
for rearing the goats. Why couldn’t his plan be carried out?
The foreigner showed interest in Muni’s goats merely out of courtesy. Muni had reared the goats in the
hope of selling them some day and, with the profit, opening a small shop on that very spot.
Extract XIV
1. What food did Muni normally take? Explain why he is expecting miracle food at his occasion.
Muni would eat salted millet cooked into a little ball along with a raw onion. He was expecting a miracle
food because he craved to chew drumsticks out of sauce the same morning. He knew that if he obeyed
his wife she would somehow conjure food for him by evening.
2. How did Muni’s wife react when she saw the cash?
Muni’s wife was furious on seeing the hundred rupees note and accused Muni of stealing it.
3. As soon as Muni completed his speech what did Muni’s wife conclude from the scene?
Muni and his wife heard bleating outside. On opening the door, she saw the two goats and thus
concluded Muni has stolen the money.
4. How can you conclude that Muni was annoyed by seeing the goats?
Muni’s annoyance was revealed when he questioned the goats, “Where is that man? Don’t you know
you are his? Why did you come back?
5. How does the story end? What has appealed to you in the story?
The story ends with a misunderstanding between Muni and his wife. The latter accuses him of stealing
since the goats follow Mini back home. R K Narayan is known for using ironic humour in his stories. It is
in no way insulting but is enjoyable. It lets the readers laugh at the characters and their situation gently.
There are various situations in the story which creates comic effect.
Muni craves to ‘chew the drumstick out of sauce’, to which his wife replies, “ You have only four teeth
in your jaw, but your craving is for big things.”
When the shopkeeper doesn’t pay any attention to Muni sitting below the platform of the shop, Muni
keeps coughing and sneezing to attract his attention.
In a humorous way, Muni’s poverty is commented upon when shopkeeper says to Muni, “ You also
forget that you mentioned a birthday five weeks ago when you wanted Castor oil for your holy bath.