Class XI English

Book : Snapshots
The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse
Notes

INTRODUCTION:
This story is about two poor Armenian boys. They belong to Garoghlanian tribe which is known for
its honesty. The two cousins Mourad and Aram, have an intense longing for horse riding. But they
can‟t afford to buy a horse. So going against the family reputation, Mourad steals the white horse of
John Byro. Aram is shocked because it is a stolen horse. But he discounts the charge of stealing and
goes for a ride. One day, he hears John Byro telling uncle Khosrove about his missing horse. He
gives the news to Mourad. Next morning, the horse is returned to its actual place.

CHARACTERS:
 Aram (the narrator) - a nine year old Armenian boy belonging to Garoghlanian tribe.
 Mourad - an Armenian boy of 13 belonging to Garoghlanian tribe, cousin of Aram.
 Uncle Khosrove - Aram‟s uncle, a crazy person with a powerful head.
 John Byro - a farmer
 Narrator‟s mother

DETAILED SUMMARY:

 Aram and Mourad were two poor boys who belonged to the Armenian Garoghlanian
family. The tribe was known for its honesty since the eleventh century.
 One early morning when Aram was asleep and was enjoying pleasant dreams, his
cousin Mourad showed up to his window with a beautiful white horse.
 Aram could not believe it and thought it to be a dream.
 But since there was a little light outside, he knew this for sure that the horse was real.
 As they were poverty-stricken, he couldn‟t believe that the horse was their own.
 He tried to figure out if the horse had been stolen by his cousin.
 Mourad had come to invite him for a ride-along.
 He asked him to make it quick before everyone in the world woke up.
 Aram wore his clothes and jumped out of the window and sat behind Mourad on the
horse.
 They rode on the old countryside of the area where they lived-Walnut Avenue.
 After some time, Mourad asked him to get off as he wanted to ride the horse alone.
 Aram asked him if he could also ride the horse alone just like him to which Mourad
said that they would see as it was for his own safety.
 He got to know that Mourad had stolen the horse a month ago and was riding it every
morning.
 When Aram got his chance of a ride, the horse took him to the vineyard and threw
him off and ran away.
 After searching for thirty minutes, Mourad finally managed to find the horse and they
hid him in a deserted vineyard that had some oats and alfalfa.
 Mourad had a way with everything, especially horses.
 He knew how to handle every type of animal and also humans.
  Every morning for two weeks, they would take the horse for a ride and then hide it
again.
 One day, John Byro came to Aram‟s house to talk to his uncle Khosrove who was an
irritated and loud man who shouted at almost everything.
 Byro told him about his missing horse whom he bought for sixty dollars.
 For one month, he couldn‟t find it and he walked for ten miles to come to their house.
 Khosrove roared at him and told him, „it‟s no harm, pay no attention to it‟.
 Byro became irritated by his attitude and he went away.
 Aram went to Mourad and told him about the missing horse of Byro and asked him
not to return the horse until he had learned to ride it.
 Mourad told him that it would take one year for him to learn to ride the horse.
 He further angrily added that they could not be thieves as their tribe was known for
honesty and said that they would return the horse after six months.
 One day on their way back to hide the horse to the hidden spot, they met John Byro
who was going back to the town.
 He talked to them and carefully examined the horse.
 He admitted that the horse looked exactly like the one he had but since he knew their
parents and the honesty of their family, he didn‟t believe that they had his missing
horse.
 He assumed that it was a twin horse.
 Mourad managed to let Byro assume that it was not his horse and they went away.
 The next morning, both of them took the horse back to Byro‟s vineyard and put it in
the barn.
 The dogs followed them all along quietly and they left the place.
 The same afternoon, John Byro came back to narrator‟s house to tell his mother about
his horse who had come back. He was happy and astonished to see the horse‟s better
temper and it was stronger than ever.
 Uncle Khosrove again roared, „Quiet, man, quiet. Your horse has been returned.
Pay no attention to it.‟

VOCABULARY:

1. Magnificence – grandeur/splendour
2. Daybreak – dawn
3. Tapping – hitting gently
4. Stuck out – projected
5. Armenian – the language spoken by the people of Armenia
6. Make it quick – hurry up
7. Longings – desires
8. Poverty-stricken – extremely poor
9. Bellies – stomach
10. Consequently – as a result
11. Pious stillness – holy silence
12. Humour – the element of laughter
13. Leapt up – jumped
14. Orchards – fruit garden
 15. Ditches – deep pits
16. Trot – walk in a steady manner
17. Crazy streak – eccentric touch
18. Descendant – offspring
19. Enormous – huge
20. Furious – full of anger
21. Irritable – easily angered
22. Impatient – restless/rash
23. Trimmed – being set and cut
24. Capricious – whimsical
25. Vagrant – wandering
26. Have a way with – know how to control
27. Vazire – the name given to the horse
28. Snorted – let out breath with force from the nostrils
29. Awful – terrible
30. Dawned on me – became clear to me
31. Barn – place for storing grain
32. Deserted – lonely
33. Alfalfa – a kind of grass
34. Parlour – sitting room
35. Surrey – light four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage
36. Spit on – give no importance
37. Stalked out – walked out with proud steps
38. Slamming – closing noisily
39. Repair – give first aid to
40. Ran into – met unexpectedly
41. Studied – examined
42. Suspicious – full of mistrust

CHARACTERS:

ARAM – He is the narrator of the story. The ten year old Armenian boy and Mourad‟s cousin had
always been conscientious of his tribe‟s reputation for integrity. Fascinated with horses since he was
a child, he knew in his heart that Mourad had stolen the horse but justified the action by claiming
that it wasn‟t stealing unless Mourad sold the horse for monetary gain. He was jealous of the bond
that Mourad shared with the horse and hoped to have the same connect with the horse someday. He
found a way to keep the horse even when he discovered that John Byro was the owner. Since the
readers see the story unfold from a child‟s perspective, an innocence, an honesty and unbiased
quality is added to the narration.
MOURAD – Mourad was Aram‟s thirteen-year-old cousin. He was considered crazy and a direct
descendent of uncle Khosrove. He seemed to have a special „way‟ with animals and even with
humans. He could make them feel calm and safe. He looked after the horse in such a manner that
John Byro found it better tempered and healthy on its return. He chose not to tell Aram that he had
stolen the horse to save Aram from trouble too. Mourad was a free spirited child of nature who
enjoyed “being alive”. He did have a conscience and hence, decided to return the horse when
reminded of his family‟s honourable reputation.

UNCLE KHOSROVE – According to Aram, uncle Khosrove, the huge man with a large moustache
and a volatile temper, seemed similar to Mourad in spirit. Having left Armenia perforce, Khosrove
felt as if his true home and a part of his identity had been stripped away. This led to frustrated anger
and a lack of belonging to the new land of Central Valley, California, where the Armenians had
settled. Thus, he was commonly observed to roar, “It is no matter. Pay no attention to it.” Nothing
was quite as important to him anymore and nothing quite as tragic.

JOHN BYRO – John Byro was an Assyrian farmer and a friend of the Garoghlanian family. Aram
discovered that Byro was the owner of the white horse when he came to their house and told Aram‟s
mother that his horse had been stolen. Byro relied on the horse for transportation; without it, he had
to walk ten miles with a sore leg to get to Aram‟s house. In the end, he chose to believe his “heart”
over his “eyes” and did not accuse Aram and Mourad of stealing, though he noticed their horse‟s
striking resemblance to his stolen one. His faith in the boys prompted them to return the horse to
him.

MORAL:
The moral of William Saroyan‟s “The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse” is that compassion in
the face of conflict yields both- room for growth and fair compromise. John Byro knows that
Mourad and Aram have stolen his missing white horse… a fact which is confirmed when he comes
across the two boys as they are stabling the creature after their morning ride. Rather than acting out
of vengeance and seeking punishment for the thieves, Byro asserts, “A suspicious man would
believe his eyes instead of his heart.”
In other words, there is something important about believing in the goodness of the human spirit and
seeing the best in others. Byro seems to implicitly understand that the boys must have a good
reason….for taking his property away from him; surely one would not steal unless out of genuine
need. This gentle approach to catching the boys “in the act” results in his horse being returned the
very next morning. Much to his delight, he discovers that his horse has been trained quite well and
has grown stronger and more even-tempered in the time that it was missing. Due to his generous and
forgiving spirit, Byro has actually gained something positive out of being the victim of a crime. This
is truly a “win-win” approach to life.

Question Answer

Q1. What traits of the Garoghlanian family are highlighted in the story?

Ans. The Garoghlanian family, though poor, were famous for their honesty even when they were
wealthy. They were proud of their family first, honest next and after that they believed in
right and wrong. None of them would take advantage of anybody in the world. They would
not steal. No member of the Garoghlanian family could be a thief.

Q2. What conflicting thoughts passed through the narrator‟s mind on seeing Mourad on a
beautiful white horse?
Ans. The narrator was surprised to see Mourad on a white horse. The horse was magnificent
to look at, gave out a lovely smell and its breathing was quite exciting. He knew that his
cousin Mourad couldn‟t have bought the horse. Since he couldn‟t have bought it, he must
have stolen it. However, family pride came in the way. He refused to believe that he had
stolen it.

Q3. How did the narrator convince himself to enjoy a horse ride with his cousin Mourad?

Ans. The narrator thought that stealing a horse for a ride was not the same thing as stealing
something else, such as money. Since he and Mourad were quite crazy about horses, it
wasn‟t stealing. He convinced himself with the thought that it would become stealing
only when they offered to sell it.

Q4. Why does the narrator say „A man can be the father of his son‟s flesh, but that does not
mean that he is also the father of his spirit‟?

Ans. The narrator mentions that every family has a crazy streak in it somewhere and his cousin
Mourad was considered the natural descendant of the crazy streak in their tribe, a man by
the name Khosrove. Uncle Khosrove was so furious in temper, so irritable, so impatient that
he stopped anyone from talking by roaring, „It is no harm, pay no attention to it.‟ The
narrator further adds that Mourad‟s father was Zorab who was practical and nothing else.
But Mourad was his son only in flesh, in spirit, he was similar to uncle Khosrove. The
distribution of the various kinds of spirit of their tribe had been from the beginning
capricious and vagrant.

Q5. Give a brief account of Mourad‟s joy ride.

Ans. Mourad kicked his heels into the horse and shouted, “Vazire run!” The horse stood on its
hind legs, snorted and ran forward at full speed. Mourad raced the horse across a field of
dry grass to an irrigation ditch. He crossed the ditch on the horse. When he returned five
minutes later, he was dripping wet.

Q6. Why did farmer John Byro stalk out of the narrator‟s house, slamming the screen door?

Ans. Farmer John Byro visited the narrator‟s house. He was homesick, sad and lonely. His horse had
been stolen for over a month. Instead of showing any sympathy or concern for his loss, uncle
Khosrove repeated his catchword, “It‟s no harm, pay no attention to it.” When John Byro
talked about the cost of horse, uncle Khosrove commented – “I spit on money.” This was too
much for John Byro to bear and so he left the house in disgust.

Q7. What did John Byro observe after studying the horse the two boys had with them?

Ans. The farmer studied the horse eagerly and asked its name. Mourad said that they called it
„My Heart‟. John Byro appreciated it as a lovely name for a lovely horse. He was ready to
swear that it was the horse that was stolen from his place many weeks ago. The farmer
 looked into the mouth of the horse and said that he was ready to swear that it was his horse
if he hadn‟t known their parents. The fame of their family for honesty was well known to
him. So, he concluded that the horse was the twin of his horse.

Q8. What induced the boys to return the horse to its owner?

Ans. The boys were not afraid of anyone or anything. Hence, the return of the horse was not
directed by fear. The boys also did not feel the pangs of repentance or remorse at their
action of stealing a horse solely for the purpose of riding it. The narrator makes it clear
when he asserts that stealing a horse for a ride was not the same thing as stealing something
else, such as money. For them, it wasn‟t stealing at all as he and Mourad were so crazy
about horses. In their opinion, it would become stealing only when they offered to sell the
horse, which they would never do. Mourad had the horse for over a month when farmer
John Byro visited the narrator‟s house. They retained it for two weeks more. Mourad
outrightly rejected the narrator‟s suggestion of keeping the horse any longer. He decided
that the horse must go back to its true owner. The meeting with John Byro proved
conclusive. He praised their family for honesty. He trusted the boys as he knew their
parents. Hence, in order to uphold the family tradition and reputation, the boys returned the
horse to its rightful owner.