UNIT -II

THE PRICE OF FLOWERS- PRABHAT KUMAR MUKHOPADHYAY

Prapath Kumar Mukhopadhyay is a Bengali short story writer. His short stories are collected
in more than a dozen volumes. In “The Price of Flowers” Mukhopadhyay has portrayed the life of a
poor English family. The story has been translated into English by Lila Rai.

One Saturday in London when Mr. Gupta was having his lunch at a restaurant, he heard a girl
asking about him. The girl was thirteen or fourteen years old. Her clothes betrayed her poverty. Her
eyes were large and had a sad expression.

The next Saturday, Mr. Gupta met the girl at the same restaurant and talked to her. He learnt
that her only guardian was her elder brother. She lived with her old widowed mother in Lambath.
They had not received a letter from him for a long time. Her mother was very worried because
people told her that India was full of tigers and snakes and fevers. She was afraid something had
happened to him. Her mother wanted to ask an Indian about these things. The girl wanted Mr.
Gupta to see her mother. He accepted to visit her mother.

Maggie’s original name was Alice Margaret Clifford. They reached her house and met her
mother in the kitchen. Mrs. Clifford asked Mr. Gupta about her doubts. She told that her son was in
Punjab and he was a soldier and asked what kind of place was Punjab. Mrs. Clifford showed him a
photograph of her son. It had been taken before he left. His name was Francis or Frank. Maggie
brought out a book of pictures. He had sent her for her birthday. There were many pictures of Simla
and the surrounding mountain country. On the inside page was written, “To Maggie on her Birthday
from her loving brother Frank”.

Mrs. Clifford said that when Frank sent the magic ring, he wrote that if you gaze into it,
thinking about a distant person you will be able to see him and what he is doing. Maggie and her
mother had concentrated upon it again and again but cannot see anything. So, she requested him to
gaze into it. He realised that superstition is not confined to India. He did not have the heart to tell
the mother and daughter that the ring was brass with a piece of ordinary glass struck into it. He did
not want to shatter their faith. Then Maggie brought out an old music case bound in black leather.
He selected ‘The Blue Bells of Scotland’. Maggie played and he hummed the tune to himself.

Three months passed. He visited Maggie and her mother several times at their home and took
Maggie to see the zoo once. She was delighted to ride the elephant ‘Indian Rajah’ like all the other
boys and girls.

But no news had come from her brother. Urged by Mrs. Clifford he went to India House one
day and made inquiries. He was told the regiment to which Frank belonged was fighting on the
Northwest Frontier. Mrs. Clifford became worried when she heard it. One day he received a post
card from Maggie requesting him to come to see.

Mr. Gupta went to Maggie’s house and inquired about her mother. Maggie asked Mr. Gupta to
see the ring and find the status of her brother. As she spoke, tears rolled from her eyes. Mr. Gupta
approached the mother’s bed. The ring was in his hand. Wishing her a good morning he said that her
son was fine. Mrs. Clifford recovered.

Mr. Gupta wished to go to Lambeth to say goodbye to Maggie and her mother as he was to
leave London. He learnt that the family was in mourning. Frank had been killed in the fighting on the
frontier. He felt ashamed to face Mrs. Clifford. So, he wrote a letter to them, announcing his
departure and biding them good-bye.

The morning of his last day in London dawned. As he was taking breakfast, Maggie came to
see him. She met Mr. Gupta and gave him a shilling and asked him to buy flowers and lay them on
her brother’s grave for her. Mr. Gupta accepted to do. Then she left.

THE OPEN WINDOW – SAKI

Saki is the pen-name of Hector Hugh Munro. He has started his career as a journalist and
become a famous short story writer. “The Open Window” is very interesting to read.

Framton Nuttel was a youngman suffering from nervous problem. He was advised to spend
some days in the country side. His sister gave him some letters of introduction to the people. With
one of the letters, Nuttel made a formal visit to the house of Mrs. Sappleton. When he entered the
house, Mrs. Sappleton was in the upstairs. He met Vera, niece of
Mrs. Sappleton. Vera was a self-possessed young girl of fifteen. From the conversation between
them, Vera understood Nuttel knew nothing about her aunt. So, she decided to fool Nuttel.

There was a large french window kept open on to the lawn. Vera fabricated a story. She said
that Mrs. Sappleton’s husband and her two brothers with a dog went out for snipe-shooting three
years ago. They never came back. Mrs. Sappleton did not recover from the shock. She expected
them to come back at anytime. So, she kept the french window open.

Mrs. Sappleton entered the room pouring out apologies for being late. She said that her
husband and her two brothers would return from shooting through the window. Nuttel was horrified
to hear that. He told her about his ailments and the advice of the doctors. All on a sudden, Mrs.
Sappleton cried that they had come. Nuttel looked at Vera. Vera pretended to be afraid. Nuttel saw
in the twilight three figures walking across the lawn towards the french window. A dog came close
at their heels. Nuttel bolted out through the front gate.

Mrs. Sappleton wondered why Nuttel dashed out without a word of good-bye. Vera gave an
imagined explanation to Mrs. Sappleton that Nuttel was afraid of dogs. Once he had to spend a night
at the newly dug grave on the banks of the Ganges to escape from a pack of dogs.

Thus, the story ends with a pleasant surprise.

THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE – OSCAR WILDE

Oscar Wilde has contributed much to the English short stories. In “The Model Millionaire”,
his characterization of Hughie Erskine is remarkable.

Hughie Ershine was a charming fellow. He had many accomplishments. But he did not know
how to make money. He had tried everything. He tried his luck in the stock exchange for six months.
Then he became a tea merchant and then a seller of bright sherry. He became nothing. He was a
delightful youngman with a perfect profile and no profession.

To make matters worse, Hughie was in love with Laura, the daughter of a retired colonel. He
didn’t know that romance was the privilege of the rich not the profession of the unemployed. The
colonel asked him to come with ten thousand pounds. One morning Hughie went to the studio of his
friend, Alan Trevor. Trevor was painting the life size picture of a beggar man. The beggar himself was
standing in a corner of the studio. His cloak was torn and boots were patched. He leant on a rough
stick with one hand. He held out his other hand for alms. Hughie told his friend that it was an
amazing model. Trevor went out to meet the frame maker. Hughie overflowed with sympathy for
the beggar. He went near the beggar and gave him a sovereign. The beggar thanked him with a
smile.

That night Hughie met Trevor in a club. Trevor told him that he had told the beggar about
the ten thousand pounds. Hughie felt sad that his friend had talked about his love affair to the
beggar. Then Trevor revealed the fact that the beggar model was not a real beggar but one of the
richest men in Europe, Baron Hausberg. Hughie was shocked to hear it. He sank into his arm chair.
He felt ashamed that he had given a sovereign to the Baron.

The next morning an old gentleman sent by Baron came to meet Hughie. He gave a sealed
cover to Hughie. On the cover it was written “a wedding present to Hughie and Laura Merton from
an old beggar”. There was a cheque inside for ten thousand pounds. Hughie married Laura. Baron
made a speech at the wedding breakfast. Trevor remarked that millionaire models are rare enough,
but model millionaire is rarer still. Thus, the story has a lasting impression.