Short stories

A Horse and Two Goats Workbook Answers Treasure Trove

ISC TREASURE TROVE WORKBOOK ANSWERS OF A Horse and Two Goats ---R.K Narayan

Questions 1

a) What is meant by microscopic dot? What is said about Kritam in the extract?
b) What purpose does a map serve in a village?
c) Give a brief description of the village Kritam?
d) Give the meaning of Kritam in Tamil. Where did Muni live in the village?
e) How did the Big House differ from other houses? How does this difference reflect on the theme
of the story?

ANSWERS

a) Microscopic dot means the tiniest dot only visible under the microscope. Kritam was the tiniest
village indicated on the district survey map of India which was moreover needed by the revenue
officials to collect tax than by any of the motorist needed to follow any route.
b) The map shows the route in the village and it also represent the village on the map of india.
c) Kritam was a small village having thirty houses which only one was made of brick and cement
and other were made up of bamboo thatch , straw and mud.
d) In Tamils Kritam means ‘coronet’ or ‘crown’ on the brow of the subcontinent, Apart from one
big the other houses were distributed in four streets. Muni’s was the last house in the fourth
street, beyond which stretched the fields.
e) The village consisted of less than thirty and only one of them was built with brick and cement.It
was painted bright yellow and blue all over with gorgeous carvings of gods and other comically
carved human animal faces on its railing. Other houses were generally made of bamboo thatch,
straw, mud and other unspecified material.

QUESTIONS 2

a) How did Muni care for his sheep and goats? Why did he carry a crook at the end of a bamboo
pole?
 b) In his prosperous days how many sheep and goats did Muni have? What happened to most of
them later?
c) What did Muni’s wife give him for breadfast and midday meal? What does it show about his
economic conditon?
d) Why did Muni tether his two goats to the trunks of the drumstick tree? What claim does he
have over the tree?
e) Compare and contrast Muni’s properous days with his present living conditions. Give two points
of difference between the living conditions of Muni and the foreigner.

ANSWERS

a) Every morning Muni used to drive his flock to the highway where they would graze around. He
used to carry a crook at the end of a bamboo pole to snap foliage from the avenue trees to feed
his flock.
b) In his prosperous days Muni owned a flock of forty sheep and goats. His fortunes declined
gradually, unnoticed. His stock had now come down to two goats.
c) For breakfast Muni’s wife gave him a handful of millet flour boiled in water in a mud pot with
added salt and for his lunch or midday he used to get the same millet cooked into a little ball,
which he could swallow with raw onion.This tells us that Muni’s economic condition was below
poverty line. He was managing a living somehow.
d) Muni fastened the two goats to the trunks of the drumstick tree because he didn’t want to take
any risk with what was left with him, hence he tied them up.A drumstick tree grew in front of
Muni’s house whose owner was unknown but he assumed it to be his, because he lived under
its shadow.
e) Muni 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 remembered the time when he smoked cigarette, chewed
betel leaves and bhang in a huc in the coconut grove with the famous butcher from the town
but today he could hardly fill his stomach.

QUESTIONS 3

a) What was Muni craving for? Why?

b) Why did his wife agree to supply him with what he was craving for? Under what condition would
she oblige him?
c) How did Muni attract the attention of the shopkeeper and win over his goodwill?
d) How could Muni get some raw food items from the shop.
 e) How can you conclude from the extract that Muni is from the poor economic background?
Compare it with Muni’s financial condition as defined earlier in the story?

ANSWERS

a) Muni was craving to chew the drumstick out of sauce because he was tired of eating those
leaves.
b) His wife agreed to supply him with what he was craving for because she was apprehensive that
he might not be alive the next year to demand these things as their condition was so poor. She
could fulfil his condition only if he would provide her with all the stuff required to make it.
c) The shop man did not pay any attention to Muni he would clear his throat, cough and sneeze
until the shop man could not stand his ways and ask him what he needed. Muni would laugh on
being called ‘young man’ and this would completely win the heart of shop man as he liked his
sense of humor.
d) Muni would indulge into humorous talks which were appreciated by the shop man. Probably it
gave him some raw food items.
e) From the extract we can conclude that Muni is from a poor economic background as he was not
having stuff to make their favourite food. This shows that they were poor. Earlier ,Muni was
having flock of forty sheeps and goat but now he’s having only two goats. income also
decreased. His financial condition was poor than before.

QUESTIONS 4

a) Explain what has happened earlier because of which the shopkeeper is reluctant to give things
on credit?
b) Finally, from where did Muni say that he would get money? Was he saying the truth? Give
reason to support your answer?
c) According to Muni, how old was he? How did he calculate his age?
d) What did the shopman say about Muni’s age? How could he guess that?
e) What did Muni say just before he left the shop?

ANSWERS

a) 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.
 b) Muni said that he will get the money from his daughter that she will be sending for him on his
50th birthday. No, he was telling lie as in later part of the story we came to know that he has no
child, and also that he was not 50 years old.

c) Muni assumed his age to be fifty. He always calculated his agc from thc time of the great famine,
but who could calculate such things accurately nowadays with so many famines occurring.

d) According to the shopman, Muni was 70 years old. Muni might be referring himself as 50 years
old man since the last few years from the time of great famine.

e) Muni had told the shop man that his daughter had sent word that she would be sending him
money for his fiftieth birthday.

QUESTIONS 5

a) Who is referred to as scoundrel? Why was Muni annoyed vvith the scoundrel?
b) Why doesn’t Muni argue against what she says! How can you conclude that he trusts her as far
as his welfare is concerned!
c) How would Muni’s wife get money to buy foodstuff?
d) When Muni was passing through the village what was the and onlookers attitude to each other?
Why?
e) Why did Muni’s wife refuse to give him any food? What does it reveal about Muni’s Wife?

ANSWERS

a) The shop man has been referred to as ‘scoundrel’. Muni was annoyed with him because he did
not meet his due to which he could not eat the drumsticks with sauce.

b) Muni doesn’t argue with his wife because he knows her temper which was undependable in the
morning but improved by evening time. He trusted her as far as his welfare •was concerned
because he knew that if he did not irritate her and obeyed her she would somehow arrange
some food for him by evening.
 c) Muni’s wife was sure to out and work-grind corn in the Big House, sweep or scrub somewhere
and earn enough to buy foodstuff for their dinner.

d) While Muni pased through the village he bowed his head in thoughts and did not wish to to
anyone. A couple Of his friends lounging in the temple corridor hailed him, but he ignored their
call. His condition was such that he wished to be on his own as he was disturbed in his thoughts
as usual.

e) Muni’s wife refuses to give him any food because she had nothing in her store to prepare the
food. This reveals that Muni’s wife was a hardworking woman, whom poverty had not worn
down. She was so honest that she was not delighted on seeing the hundred rupees note but
accused Muni of stealing it.

QUESTIONS 6

a) Which statue is referred to in the extract? Describe the statue of the horse.
b) How did the statue of the warrior look? How did the image makers depict him as a man of
strength.
c) Why didn’t Muni, the villagers or the vandals notice the splendour of the statue of the horse?
d) Why didn’t Muni go back home early?
e) Briefly give the difference in the financial status of Muni and the visiting American. State how
does it reflect on the theme of clash between ‘materialism and spiritualism’.

ANSWERS

a) The statue of horse is referred to in the extract.The horse was nearly life-size, moulded out of
clay, baked, burnt, and brightly coloured, and reared its head proudly, prancing its forelegs in
the air and flourishing its tail in a loop.

b) The horse stood a warrior with scythe-like mustachios, bulging eyes, and aquiline nose. The
horse itself was said to have been as white as a dhobi-washed sheet, and had on its back a cover
of pure brocade of red and black lace, matching the multi coloured sash around the waist of the
warrior. His warrior like look made him depict as a man of strength.
 c) Neither Muni, nor the villagers or the vandals noticed the splendour of the statue of the horse
because no one noticed its existence. This statue had been closer to the population of the village
at one time, when the spot bordered the village.

d) Muni didn’t go back home early because if he went too early his wife would have no food for
him. He also needed to give her time to cool off her temper and feel sympathetic and then she
would borrow or beg and manage to get some food.

e) 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.

QUESTIONS 7

a) Describe the arrival of the red faced foreigner.

b) Who was the foreigner? What did the foreigner say looking at the clay horse?
c) State the feelings of Muni after meeting the foreigner. Why did he have such feelings?
d) Looking at the clothes of the foreigner what did Muni think? How did the foreigner put him at
ease?
e) Having exhausted his English vocabulary, what did Muni say in Tamil?

ANSWERS

a) The red-faced foreigner arrived in a yellow vehicle which he was driving. He got down and went
round it, stooping, looking and poking under the vehicle; then he straightened himself up,
looked at the dashboard and then stared in Muni’s direction and approached him.

b) The foreigner was a tourist in India. He was polite and courteous as he offered Muni a cigarette
and though he did not understood Muni,he listened to him attentively. He came India because
 he wanted to know different and difficult lives of the people.The foreigner looked up at the clay
horse and cried, ‘Marvellous’.

c) On meeting the foreigner Muni felt he should get up and run away and curse his age but he
could not readily put his limbs into action. He had such feelings because he thought that the
foreigner was after him or had come to shoot him.

d) Looking at the clothes of the foreigner Muni thought him to be a policeman or a soldier. Finally
Muni felc at ease when the foreigner pressed him palms together, Smiled and said ‘Namaste!
How do you do?”

e) Having exhausted in English vocabulary, Muni said in Tamil: “My name is Muni. These two goats
are mine, and no one can gainsay it—though our village is full of Slanderers these days who will
not hesitate to say that what belongs to a man doesn’t belong to him.”

QUESTIONS 8

a) Who was the foreigner? What was his background?

b) What is referred to as the courtesies of the season? Why did Muni answer, “Yes, no”?
c) State Muni’s earlier experience of smoking a cigaretter? When the foreigner flicked the light
open and offered it to Muni what were the latter’s feelings?
d) What were the consequences of smoking an American cigarette on Muni?
e) Describe Muni’s fears and anxieties when he was given the card by the visitor. What does it
reveal about Muni’s character?

ANSWERS

a) The foreigner was from Connecticut. He is dressed in the khaki clothing worn by American
tourists in the tropics. He had come to India along with his wife to experience other civilizations.
His wife was staying in Srinagar and he was doing the rounds and would join her later.
 b) The foreigner lit a cigarette and offered Muni the same. This has been referred as the’courtesies
of the season’. When Muni was asked whether he smoked he said both yes and no because that
was all he knew from the English vocabulary and hardly knew what to say in reply.

c) Muni had not been offered a smoke from anyone for years. He had always wanted to smoke a
cigarette and only once the shop man had given him on credit and he remembered how good it
had tasted. The American flicked the lighter open and offered a light to Muni. Muni felt so
confused about how to act that he blew on it and put it out. The other presented it again and lit
his cigarette. Muni drew a deep puff and started coughing. It was distressing but extremely
pleasant, Now Muni was in stock of the situation and understood that the other man was not an
inquisitor of any kind.

D) Muni’s head was reeling from the effect of one of those strong American cigarettes made with
roasted tobacco.

d) The man took out a wallet from his hip pocket and presented his card. Muni shrank away from
the card as he presumed that the man was trying to present a warrant and arrest him. At that
time he could only think of playing safe by warding off any kind of trouble by talks.

QUESTIONS 9

a) did Muni speak in a fearful tone in such a way?

b)Which case is Muni referring to in the extract? What did he say that he did not know anything about
the case and only God knew about it? Which character trait is revealed from his talk?

c)Explain why Muni spoke of a murder with the foreigner.

d) how the title of the story, ‘A Horse and Two Goats’ is relevant.

e)How is the clash of cultures brought about in the story?How is it used in the development of the plot
of the story?

ANSWER
 a) Muni spoke in such a way because he thought that the man had produced some sort of warrant
to arrest him and he felt that he could avoid the situation only by talks and thus started talking
in an uninterrupted manner.
b) A mutilated dead body had been found thrown under a tamarind tree at the border between
Kritam and Kuppam a few weeks ago. Muni was referring to this murder case in the extract. He
thought American was a policeman and came for inquiry so he told that he knows nothing about
the case and only God knows the truth. From this, we can tell that he is a religious man.
c) Muni spoke about the murder with the foreigner because he was under the impression that he
was there to inquire about the details of the murder. Muni had his own preconceived notions
and therefore he was responding according to them.
d) 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.
e) On one hand, Muni is the representative of typical Indian native; who is poor, rural and
uneducated. He doesn’t know English and is striving to make a living. On the other hand, we
have the Amercan who knows no Tamil but expects Mini to understand English. He is wealthy,
urban and educated and is only interested in a business deal with Muni.

QUESTIONS 10

a) What has the foreigner just said about Tamil and Muni’s sales talk?
b) What is Pongal? What does Muni do on Pongal in his village?
c) State what Muni hint in the extract about at the caste and class distinction between the rich and
the poor in Kritam.
d) After the extract, how does Muni show himself as a gossip-monger.
e) State briefly the position of women in villages as seen in the story. A Horse and two Goats.

ANSWERS

a) The foreigner was very fascinated and stimulated with the Tarnil Muni spoke. He wished he
could record whatever he was saying, He felt wonderful hearing him. He said Muni that he
needn’t waste his energy in sales talk as the foreigner assumed that whatever he was saying was
in favour of the horse statue so that it could be sold at good price.
 b) Pongal is a harvest festival in the southern India, It is the time when harvest is cut. After working
hard from the sowing time to the harvest time, when Pongal came and he had cut the harvest,
his father allowed him to go out and play with others at the tank.

c) Muni said that he never went to school because in those times only Brahmin went to school. He
was neither a Brahmin nor wealthy to get education therefore did not know the Parangi
language which only learned men and officers knew. Through this information Muni hints at the
caste and class distinction between the rich and the poor in Ktitam.

d) When the foreigner offered Muni another cigarette he became relaxed and decided to stay on if
the fellow was going to be so good and keep up his cigarette supply. As Muni became assured
that the subject was horse and not the dead body he started giving more information about the
statue justifying himself as a gossip-monger.

e) Through the story we hardly get to know about the position of women in the story because
there is only one female character in the story. But from the aura of the village we can
understand that the women were confined to their households and had to work equally hard to
make their ends meet.

QUESTIONS 11

a) Which dead body is referred to in the extract? Why was Muni afraid of the dead body earlier?
b) What is Kali Yuga? What is said to happen in Kali Yuga?
c) How does the language barrier in the conversation between the American and Muni provide
humour in the story?
d) Describe the living room of the foreigner in America as stated by him?
e) How does Muni describe the horse? How would the horse be accommodated in the forigner’s
house?

ANSWERS
 a) 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.”

b) Kali Yuga is the last of the four stages the world goes through as part of the cycle of the ages.At
the end of kali yuga, this world and all other worlds will be destroyed, and the Redeemer will
come in the shape of a horse called kalki and save all good people while evil ones will perish.

c)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.

D) The living room of the foreigner has a large bookcase filled with volumes of books. There are books
piled up too.

f) Muni describes the horse as a warrior. The foreigner assures Muni that he would keep the
statue with utmost care in his living room in his house in the USA.

QUESTIONS 12

a) Who speaks these words? In what context does he speak them?

b) What does Muni say about the coffee hotel in the locality? Why does he say so about the coffee
hotel?
c) What has Muni said about the end of the world?
d) Explain what kind of a businessman was foreigner.
e) How does the foreigner plan to transport the horse to America?

ANSWERS
 a) The foreigner. Muni was reflecting on the end of the world and asked the foreigner if he had any
idea when Kali Yuga would end.

b) 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.

c) 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.

d) The foreigner claimed that he was a modest businessman dealing in coffee. However, he
bragged about having the best home. He was a shrewd businessman-he realised he had bragged
too much about his house. He took out a hundred rupee note and started bargaining over the
price of the statue.

e) The foreigner planned to cancel his air ticket and travel by ship with the horse in his cabin.

QUESTIONS 13

a) 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.
b) Give two examples to show that Muni was curious about the red man.
c) Looking at the hundred rupees fiote, how did Muni react? What did he think was the purpose of
giving him that money?
d) How did Muni describe the village headman?
e) 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?

ANSWERS
a)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.

b)Muni asks how many children does the man have.

He even asks how many of them are boys and how many girls.

c) 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.

d) The village headman was a moneylender who disguised himself in rags just to mislead the
public. According to Muni, in reality, the headman had so much money that he could even have
changed a lakh of rupees in gold sovereigns.

e) 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.

QUESTIONS 14

a) What food did Muni normally take? Explain why he is expecting miracle food at this occasion.
b) How did Muni’s wife react when she saw the cash?
c) As soon as Muni completed his speech what did Muni’s wife conclude from the scene?
d) How can you conclude that Muni was annoyed on seeing the goats?
e) How does the story end? What has appealed to you in the story?

ANSWERS
 a) 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.

b) Muni’s wife was furious on seeing the hundred rupees note and accused Muni of stealing it.

c) Muni and his wife heard bleating outside. On opening the door, she saw the two goats and thus
concluded Muni has stolen the money.

d) 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?

e) 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.