3.

4 The Longest Journey

1. ‘It’s a just the same every night.’ What is just the same every
night?
Ans: The last one to bed has to switch off the light. So every
night, there is a race (a great hurry) to undress and get into bed
before others can do it.
2. ‘There is a race.’ What for?
Ans: It is to undress and to get into bed before others can do it.
3. What happens if one wins? What, if one loses?
Ans: One who wins has not to switch off the light. He can get to
his bed before darkness comes. The one who loses had to switch
off the light and reach his bed in darkness.
4. Who is the loser in this poem and why?
Ans: The child – poet is the loser because he is the last to undress
and he has to switch off the light before going to bed.
5. How does the child – poet feel when the light has been
switched off?
Ans: The child – poet feels very scared. He feels the journey from
the light switch to his bed is the longest journey in the world.
6. ‘I’m not scared.’ Who says this? How many times? Why?
Ans: The child – poet says these words four times. He does this
to keep up his courage and to reassure himself that he is not
scared.
7. ‘Such a terrible shame.’ What is the matter of shame?
Ans: The child- poet has to reassure himself again and again that
he is not scared yet he can hardly take a step in the dark. The
way from the light switch to his bed seems to him to be the
longest journey in the world. He considers it a matter of shame
that it is always the same with him.
8. Explain the meaning of: ‘From the light switch to my bed, it’s
the longest journey in the world.’
Ans: When our heart is full of joys, time flies quickly and even a
long period of time seems to have passed in a flash. But when
our heart is heavy due to some fear or worry, time seems to hang
heavy on us, and even a small moment seems to linger endlessly.
Here a child tells us how terribly he feels frightened in a dark
room. After switching off the light, he has to reach his bed in the
dark. It is only a few steps to the bed, but the child’s heart is so
filled with fear that from the light switch to his bed it appears to
him to be the longest journey in the world.

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