3.

2 The Barber Talks

1. The Reporter had gone to the Barber’s for a shave. Then why did
he want to slip away?
Ans: The Reporter found all the chairs full of customers. He thought
he would have to wait long for his turn. Therefore, he wanted to slip
away.
2. How did the barber stop the reporter from going away?
Ans: The barber saw that the Reporter wanted to slip away. In order
to stop him from leaving, he said, “You’re next.” At this, the Reporter
sank back into the chair.
3. Who did the barber say he was called to shave and where?
Ans: The barber said he was called to shave a dead man at 706, Pearl
Street.
4. How did the barber come to know that he had visited the wrong
house?
Ans: The barber came to know of it when he read a report of it in the
newspaper the next day.
5. A doctor was called in to treat a man who had taken poison. What
did this doctor do and why?
Ans: The doctor got into the wrong house where a man had died.
Actually, he had been called to the neighbouring house where a man
had taken poison. Without asking any questions, this doctor got out
his stomach pump, stuck it into the dead mans throat and started
pumping out the ‘poison’. Strangely, the dead man opened his eyes
and got up.
6. Why did the family doctor get into a fight with the other doctor?
Ans: The family doctor had declared the man dead. But when the
other doctor pumped out all the medicine, the dead man opened his
eyes and got up. The family doctor felt deeply humiliated. He got into
a fight with the other doctor.
 HOTS
1. Do you think that the barber was telling the true story?
How can you say that?
Ans: I don’t think the barber was telling a true story. His story is well- knit
and skillfully narrated, but it is not convincing. First, it is not convincing
that he is all the time alone while he is shaving ‘the dead person’. The
man who gives his fees seems to be totally indifferent to the death of the
tenant. One wonders why there is no other person present over the
man’s death. Secondly, it is not convincing that the other doctor starts
pumping out the poison without asking the family anything about what
had happened to the man he is going to treat. The way the two doctors
start fighting and fall down the stairs is more amusing than convincing.
However, the story told by the barber is quite interesting and amusing.
2. What do you think the characteristics of a good story should be?
Does the barber’s story have all these characteristics?
Ans: In a good story, the events are linked by cause and effect. The story
has a beginning, middle and end. It involves at least two characters and
some events.
The beginning introduces the characters, especially the main character
and his problem.
The middle depicts the development of action wherein the main
character faces difficulties from other characters or from some
challenging situation.
The end shows the triumph or the defeat of the main character. The end
of a good story should be satisfying to the reader. Much of the action
might take place inside the character’s mind, but there should be a solid
result at the end. By the end of the story, the main character should
have experienced an internal change, and learnt from his experience.

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