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The narrator of the story is a young school going boy named Franz. That morning, he was scared as he was
late for school. Also, as their teacher M. Hamel had announced the previous day that he would test them on
the topic of ‘Participles’ and Franz did not know anything at all, he was more scared of being scolded.
Franz had another option in his mind – to miss school and enjoy the day out in the warm and bright weather.
He describes the scene – there were birds chirping on the trees and the noise of the Prussian soldiers doing
the drill behind the sawmill could also be heard. The scene outside was more attractive than the school but
Franz controlled the temptation and chose to attend school.
As Franz walked past the town hall, he noticed a huge crowd at the notice board. The war with Prussia had
begun two and a half years ago and since then all the bad news like losing the war, occupation of Alsace and
Lorraine by the enemy i.e. Prussia, etc had been communicated to the people through this bulletin board.
Franz kept on walking towards the school and thought in his mind that what news could have been put up at
the board now. As he walked hurriedly towards the school, the blacksmith who was also reading the news
and had come along with his trainee called out to Franz from behind and said that he needn’t go in such a
hurry as there was plenty of time for him to reach school. Franz thought that the blacksmith was making fun
of him as he was already late for school. When Franz reached the garden outside the school, he was out of
breath as he had walked very fast.
Franz describes the usual scene at the school in the mornings – a lot of noise created by the moving of
desks, children repeating their lessons and teachers striking the tables with the rulers could be heard.
That day was unusual as there was no such sound coming out of the school and it seemed that the school was closed as it
used to be on a Sunday morning. Franz had planned that he would take cover under the commotion and reach the class SDC
without being noticed but that did not seem possible. Franz peeped inside his class and saw his classmates seated and M.
Hamel, their teacher walking in the class with the ruler made of iron placed under his arm. Franz feared a beating. He was
ashamed of being late and feared a scolding as he had to enter the classroom in front of everyone. He found it strange as
M. Hamel did not say anything and on the contrary, politely asked him to get to his seat,as the class was about to begin
without him.
Franz hurried to his seat. After some time when he overcame the scare and became comfortable, he noticed that their
teacher had worn his best embroidered that day. The teacher normally wore it on occasions like inspection and prize
distribution days. Franz wondered if that day was a normal day, then what could be the reason for M. Hamel to wear his
special dress.
Franz felt that the atmosphere in the school was unusual and serious. To add to it, the last benches of the class room were
occupied by the senior village men – Hauser, who was wearing his three-cornered hat, the retired mayor, postmaster, etc.
They all looked sad. Hauser had brought his reader which was old and torn. He had opened it, kept it on his knees and
had placed his spectacles on it.
Franz was confused and could not figure out what was happening that day. Just then M. Hamel told them that it was their
last lesson in French as the Prussians in Berlin had ordered that French language would no longer be taught in the schools
of Alsace and Lorraine and that German language be taught instead. The German teacher would arrive the next day and
as this was the last lesson in French, he wanted them to pay attention. Franz was shocked to know that he could not learn
French any longer and now he knew the latest news that had been put up at the bulletin board of the town hall. Franz
regretted for not being serious towards studies and for wasting his time in hunting bird’s eggs and playing in the Saar river.
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Till now Franz considered his books to be an unwanted burden but suddenly, he starts considering them to be his
best friends whom he could never leave. The writer wants to show the change in Franz’s attitude towards study after
hearing the news that he could not learn French any longer. The news that their teacher M Hamel was leaving also
had a similar impact on him. Franz did not want him to go away. He no longer thought the teacher to be short –
tempered and strict. Now Franz knew that M Hamel was wearing his best dress in honour of this last lesson. He also
realized that the village men had come to pay respect and thank M Hamel for his service of forty years in that school.
The village men had come to the class as they were also repenting for not have studied well in their childhood. They
had come to thank their teacher for his forty years of service as a teacher of French. Also, they wanted to show respect
to their country and were sad as their mother tongue – French would no longer be taught to them. The teacher calls
out to Franz as it his turn to recite the topic of participles.
As the news had impacted Franz, he was eager to study and so, he was desperate to show his eagerness. He wanted
to be able to recite the topic in one go and without any mistake and please his teacher. His desperation is reflected in
his willingness to give away all that he had in return for reciting the lesson well. As Franz did not know the lesson, he
got confused and stood quietly. His heart was beating fast as he was ashamed of himself and did not have the
courage to face his teacher. M. Hamel said to Franz that he would not scold him as now he had realized his mistake.
Everyday Franz told himself that he would study the next day and now the opportunity to study had ended and he
knew nothing. M Hamel says that all the people of Alsace were to be blamed as no one was serious towards learning.
He tells the class that the enemies (Prussians) would laugh at them and say that they only show to be Frenchmen as
they can neither speak nor write their own language. He says that Franz should not feel guilty as everyone is at fault.
M. Hamel says that the parents were not interested in getting them educated. They wanted the children to work at a SDC
farm or a mill and earn some money. He says that as a teacher, he was also not interested in teaching them. He would
send them to his home to water the plants. Sometimes, he would declare a holiday and go for fishing. M. Hamel
praises their mother tongue – French language as being the most beautiful, clearest and most logical language in the
world. He tells the class to guard their language as it is the only way to free oneself from the prison of slavery. If a
person knows his mother tongue well, no one can enslave him. Knowing the mother tongue well as a language is a tool
to fight domination.
The teacher took a lesson in grammar. That day Franz was surprised that he understood the lesson with ease. He felt
that he had been attentive, and that M. Hamel also explained the lesson with a lot of patience. Franz felt that the
teacher wanted to give them all the knowledge he had before leaving. After Grammar, they had a lesson in writing. M.
Hamel gave the class new notebooks with “France, Alsace, France, Alsace” beautifully written on them.
Franz felt that here was an air of patriotism in the class. The notebooks were like flags of France that were floating all
around. The entire class was busy writing and the only sound that could be heard was that of the pen writing on the
paper. Once some mosquitoes flew into the class, but no one panicked as everyone was busy writing. The writer
considers the pigeons sitting on the roof of the class to be students as well and says that even the pigeons were busy
scratching the roof with their claws and it seemed that they were also busy writing the task of French language. The
‘coo’ sound of the pigeons could be heard in the class and Franz wondered that would the Prussians force the pigeons
also to change their language and coo in German. The writer wants to say that language comes naturally to a being
and it cannot be forced upon anyone – be it the pigeons or the French men. In between writing, Franz looked at M.
Hamel who sat still and stared at the different things in the classroom in succession as if he wanted to memorize the
appearance of everything before leaving. M. Hamel had been teaching at that same place for the last forty years.
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The only changes were that the desks in the classroom had worn out due to use over the years, the walnut
trees in the garden outside had grown taller, the hopvine on the outer wall of the school building had climbed
up to the roof. Franz feels that the teacher must be heartbroken to be sent away from a place where he had
spent forty years of his life. The noises of his sister packing and moving their luggage could be heard from the
room upstairs as they had to leave the next day.
M. Hamel remained composed and heard the lesson from the entire class. After the writing task, there was a
lesson of history followed by phonetics where they recited the sounds of alphabets. Franz referred to the class
as "babies" because although they were grown up, they were reciting the lesson of phonetics which is usually
done by younger children. So, he calls himself and his class to be ‘babies’.
Hauser had put on his spectacles and holding the primer in both his hands, recited the letters with the class.
He was crying, his voice trembled as he spoke. Franz had mixed feelings – he found it funny to see how an old
man like Hauser was crying and trembling and on the other hand, he also felt emotional like Hauser did.
Franz could never forget this last lesson.
Just then the clock at the church struck twelve and the prayer song begun. At the same moment the sound of
the trumpets played by the Prussian soldiers who were returning from the drill was heard. M. Hamel’s face
became dull and colourless as the time had come for the class to get over. He stood straight and motionless
and Franz says that he had never appeared to be so tall.
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M. Hamel began to speak but could not continue as he was overpowered by his emotions. He took a
piece of chalk and wrote the words “Vive La France” meaning ‘Long Live France’ on the blackboard as
large as he could. Then he stopped writing, bent towards the wall and without speaking anything
signalled the class to leave as the class was over.

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‘Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage’
Every morning, the writer sees a young ragpicker boy who visits the garbage dump near her house
and searches for ‘gold’ in it. The writer says that he searches for ‘gold’ ironically because although
the garbage dump is full of useless, thrown away things, still he shuffles it so minutely as if he will get
something as precious as ‘gold’ from it. The boy’s name is Saheb. His home in Dhaka was in the
middle of lush green fields. They had left it many years ago and he does not remember it anymore.
His mother had told him that there were many storms which destroyed their homes and fields. So,
they left home and shifted to the cities in search of ‘gold’. The writer again says, “looking for gold in
the big city”. Gold here refers to something precious which was not available in their hometown.
Things like shoes, money, bags, etc. for the children and food, clothing, shelter as means of survival
for their parents. The boy searches for such precious things in the garbage dumps. One day the
writer questions Saheb and asks him the reason for shuffling through the garbage. Saheb replies to
the writer that he has nothing else to do other than rag picking. The writer suggests that he should
go to school. She realizes that her advice is meaningless for the poor boy. He replies that there are
no schools in the area where he lives. He also assures her that he will go to school when one is built
near his house. The writer asks him jokingly that if she opened a school would he attend it.
Saheb says that he would join the writer’s school and after a few days, he runs up to her to ask SDC
whether her school is ready. The writer replied that it takes a lot of time to build a school. She felt
ashamed at making a false promise. She had said this as a joke and had never intended to open a
school, so she felt ashamed of herself. Saheb was not hurt because he was used to such false
promises as they existed in large numbers in his empty world. He was surrounded by such false
promises made by everyone around him. His world was empty as no promise made to Saheb was
ever fulfilled.
The writer had known Saheb for a few months when she asked him his name. He replied as if he
was making an announcement that his name was Saheb – E – Alam. The writer thought that the boy
did not know the meaning of his name and if he came to know that his name meant “Lord of the
Universe” he would not be able to believe it. His name was opposite to his life. He went around the
streets with a group of friends. It was like an army of boys who did not wear any footwear. They
appeared in the morning like the morning birds and disappeared at noon. The writer could
recognize all of them as she had been seeing them for the past few months.
The writer asked one of them that why was he not wearing any footwear. The boy simply replied that
his mother did not get them down from the shelf. As they were beyond his reach, he did not wear
them.
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Another boy who was wearing a different shoe in each foot said that even if his mother would have given
him the footwear, he would have thrown it away. He meant that the boy was not wearing footwear because
he did not want to wear one. The writer asked the second boy the reason for wearing a different shoe in
each foot. He did not reply and shuffled his feet as he tried to hide the shoes. A third boy spoke that he was
eager to get a pair of shoes as he had never owned one all his life. The writer takes the example of shoes to
highlight the condition of these boys. They search the garbage dumps looking for such precious things. She
further tells us that as she travelled across the country, she had seen many children walking barefoot in the
cities as well as the villages. They reasoned that they were barefoot not due to lack of money to buy
footwear, but being barefoot was a tradition for them. The writer wondered and concluded that the reason
of it being a tradition was a mere excuse to hide the fact that they were so poor that they could not afford
footwear.
The writer narrates a story told to her by a man from Udipi. (Udipi is a town in Karnataka). When he was a
young boy, he would walk to his school. On the way, he would cross a temple where his father worked as a
priest. He would stop at the temple and pray to God to bless him with a pair of shoes. After thirty years the
writer visited the town and the temple. Now the place was nearly empty. The new priest lived in the
backyard of the temple. Plastic chairs in red and white colour were kept there. A young boy came running.
He was wearing grey coloured school uniform, socks and shoes. He had a school bag hung on his
shoulders. He threw it on the bed and ran away.
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The writer wants to say that the financial position of the priest at the temple had improved over the last
thirty years. Now, he could afford shoes for this children. She was reminded of another boy who got a pair
of shoes. He prayed to the goddess that he may never lose the shoes that he had got. The goddess had
granted his prayer as the boy never lost his footwear. This shows us that the underprivileged value
anything that they get because they have been longing for it. The writer describes the area where these rag
picker boys live. Seemapuri, located on the outskirt of Delhi was very different from the capital of the
country. In 1971 when these rag pickers had migrated from Bangladesh, the area had been a wasteland.
Seemapuri was still a wasteland but now it was not empty as almost ten thousand rag pickers lived there in
structures made of mud, with roofs made of thin sheets of tin or plastic material called tarpaulin. There was
no sewage, drainage or running water facility in Seemapuri. They lived in unhygienic conditions. It was a
piece of wasteland where the garbage of the city was collected. These people had started living there
illegally.
The ragpickers had been living illegally in Seemapuri for the last thirty years. They have occupied the area
without government permission or ownership. The politicians of the area have provided them ration cards
and voter identity cards. They got grocery for their family through these ration cards and in return, they
cast their votes in favour of the politician who had helped them. The writer asked a group of women who
were wearing torn saris that why did they leave their homes in Dhaka. They replied that if they were able to
satisfy the hunger of their families and sleep well at night, they were happier to live in Seemapuri than their
fields in Dhaka which were ruined and gave them no food.
These people travelled in search of food and wherever they found it, they set up temporary homes and
started living there. Their children kept on growing there and gradually, they also started helping their
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parents in seeking means of survival. For those who lived in Seemapuri, the means of survival was rag
picking. As they had been doing it for many years, they became trained at rag picking and did it well. For the
rag pickers the garbage was as precious as gold. These families searched the garbage dumps and got
things which they sold to fund their food. They gathered torn or damaged sheets which were used to cover
the roof of their homes. These did not cover them well but still provided them with some protection. For
the children, the garbage dumps were more than a means of survival. Saheb was happy to say that
sometimes he found a rupee and even a ten – rupee note in the dump. As one often finds even a silver
coin in the garbage dump, he kept on searching hoping to find more. For the children, the garbage dump
was a means of fulfilling their dreams although partially while for their parents, it was a means of aiding
survival by providing the basics – food, clothing and shelter.
One winter morning the writer saw Saheb standing by the fence of a club. He was watching a tennis game
being played by two young men. Saheb liked the game but could not play it. He told the writer that he went
inside the club when it would be closed. He was allowed to take swings by the guard there. The writer saw
that Saheb was also wearing tennis shoes. They did not look appropriate with his dress which was worn out
and had faded. He told the writer in an attempt to justify himself that someone gave him the shoes. She
however figured out that he had got them from a garbage dump. They must have been thrown away by a
boy from a rich family as he did not want to wear them anymore. Probably they had a hole or two in them
due to which he did not want to wear them.
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On the contrary, Saheb was not bothered by this fact and had no problem wearing them as he could not
afford anything better than that. He walked barefoot and to wear a shoe even with a hole was like a
dream for him. Although due to the garbage dump, Saheb’s dream of wearing shoes had been partially
fulfilled but his desire to play tennis would never be fulfilled.
One morning the writer met Saheb who was on his way to the milk booth. He was holding a steel
container. He told her that he had got a job at the nearby tea stall. He would earn eight hundred rupees
a month and get meals too. The writer asked him if he liked the job as she could see that he had lost the
carefree look. As now Saheb was working for someone else and was carrying his master’s container, he
was burdened with responsibility. Earlier, as a rag picker, Saheb would carry his own bag and was his
own master. Now, he was no longer his own master.

***
 “I want to drive a car”
The writer met a boy named Mukesh who aspired to become a motor mechanic She asked him if he knew
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anything about cars. The boy was confident and replied that he would learn to drive a car. His dream was far
away from reality and although the boy was confident, he would succumb to the societal pressures. He lived in
Firozabad which was famous for glass bangles. The writer felt that the boy’s dreams would not materialize and
gradually get influenced by the dusty streets of Firozabad. She wanted to say that as every family in the town of
Firozabad was involved in the glass bangle industry, so would Mukesh do with the passage of time. She tells us
that Firozabad was the main town of India for the glass – blowing industry. The families had been involved in
working at furnaces, welding glass, and making bangles for generations. They made so many bangles that it
seemed that they made bangles for all the women of the world.
Mukesh’s family was also involved in the profession of glass bangle – making. They were not aware of the law.
They did not know that it was unlawful to force children to work in such glass furnaces. The work places were
hot, dark closed rooms without ventilation. The writer felt that if the law would come into force, it would rescue
almost twenty thousand children from these inhuman places where they were forced to work hard during the
daytime. They often ended up losing their eyesight also. Mukesh was happy as he took the writer to his home.
He felt proud as he informed her that it was being renovated. They walked down streets which were full of
garbage and gave foul smell. The streets were lined with slums which were unsteady. The walls were falling
apart, the doors were unsteady, there were no windows and were full of families where people lived along with
animals. They reminded the writer of the prehistoric man who lived just like animals. Mukesh stopped in front of
one such door, hit it hard with his foot and pushed it open.
 The house where Mukesh lived was partially constructed hut. In one corner was a firewood stove made with
dead grass. A vessel with spinach leaves was kept on it. on the ground There were more plates with chopped
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vegetables in them. There was a thin, young woman cooking the evening meal for the family. Her eyes were
full of the smoke emanating from the stove but she was still cheerful and smiled to see the writer. She was the
wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. Although she was not much older than Mukesh, she was a responsible person
and was worthy to get respect from the family as the daughter-in-law of the family. She took care of three men
– her husband, Mukesh and their father. As Mukesh’s father entered the house, the daughter-in-law hid
behind the wall and covered her face behind her veil. It was a tradition for the daughter-in-laws to hide their
face in the presence of the older male members of the family. The elder here was a poor bangle maker. He
had worked hard all his life – first as a tailor, then as a bangle maker. He was still not able to either renovate
the house or send his sons to school. He had just managed to teach him the skill of making bangles.
Mukesh’s grandmother justified her son by saying that he was destined to make bangles as it had been their
family profession. She had seen her husband become blind due to the dust from polishing the glass bangles.
She said that their family had got this art of bangle making from God and so they had to carry on the tradition.
They were born in a particular caste which had to follow the profession of bangle making. All their life they had
just seen these glass bangles. They were everywhere – in the backyard, in the next house, in their yard and
even in the streets of the town. There were huge spiral bunches of bangles in different colours like gold,
green, blue, pink, purple. There were bangles of all the colours of the rainbow. Further, the writer says that
there were bangles in the neglected yards also. They were dumped on handcarts for sale. They were pushed
by men along the streets of Firozabad.
 The writer describes the environment where these bangle makers work. They were small, dark huts. The SDC
children would sit next to a line of oil lamps whose flames were unsteady. They, along with their parents joined
the pieces of coloured glass into circles called bangles. As they spent a lot of time in the dark, their eyes would
not adapt to the bright sunlight. Many of them lost their eyesight before gaining adulthood.
There was a young girl by the name of Savita. She wore a faded pink coloured dress. She was sitting with an
elderly woman and they were joining pieces of glass to make bangles. Her hands moved like a machine just like
the tongs of a machine. The writer wondered if Savita knew that bangles were sacred. They were a good omen
for a woman’s wifehood. She thought that Savita would realize this when she would become a bride. That day
she would cover her head with a red coloured veil, colour her hands with henna and wear red coloured bangles
on her wrist. The elderly woman sitting next to Savita also became a bride many years ago. She was still wearing
the glass bangles but had lost her eyesight now.
The elderly woman complained that she had not eaten even a ser of food. Ser is a unit of measuring quantity.
The woman wants to say that they are so poor that they cannot eat enough food. That is the benefit that she
has received by adopting the profession of bangle-making. The woman’s husband has a flowing beard. He says
that he does not know anything other than bangle – making. All that he has been able to accomplish is to make
a house for his family to live in.
The writer wonders that probably the old man has achieved something which many other people have not
been able to achieve. At least he has been able to secure a shelter for his family.
 This problem was prevalent in all the homes which carried on the profession. They did not know anything else other
than bangle-making and it did not even provide them enough to eat. The young men who had entered the SDC
traditional profession also had the same complaint. With the passing time there was no improvement in their
condition. As they had been doing hard work for countless number of years, they did not have any ability to do
something else or to dream of it.
The writer suggests them to form a cooperative. She talked to a group of young men to get out of the clutches of the
cruel middlemen who had trapped their elders. The men said that if they dared to do something like that, they
would be dragged and beaten up by the police and sent to jail. Their acts would be termed to be unlawful. The writer
felt that as they had no leader, they could not think of doing things differently. They all were so tired – the men and
their fathers. The men complained that it was a continuous process. Their poor condition led to lack of concern for
their problems. This made them greedy and led to injustice. The writer envisioned that there were two separate
worlds – one was of such families who were stuck in poverty and the pressure of doing the traditional profession
according to the caste in which they were born. The other world is a never-ending cycle of moneylenders,
middlemen, policemen, law keepers, government officials and politicians. Both of these worlds had forced the young
boys to follow the family traditions. The young boys get into the profession and become a part of the vicious cycle
even before they realize it. If they did anything else, it meant that they were challenging these two worlds.
The boys had not been reared up to be bold so that they could dare to go against the system. The writer was happy
to sense that Mukesh had the spark in him. He repeated that he would be a motor mechanic. He wanted to go to a
garage and learn the job. The writer asked that as the garage was at a distance from his home, Mukesh insisted that
he would walk up to it. She asked him if he dreamt of flying planes. The boy became silent and refused. He did not
know about them as he did not know about planes. Not many planes flew over Firozabad. As he had only seen cars
moving around in Firozabad, his dreams were restricted up to them.
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The writer narrates his experience. He was ten or eleven years old when he had joined the
Y.M.C.A. swimming pool to learn swimming. He did not go to the Yakima river to swim as it
was considered dangerous. This shows that he had a prior fear of water.
William’s mother would warn him not to go near the Yakima river and would discuss the
various incidents of drowning. He felt that the pool at Y.M.C.A. was safer. The shallow area of
the pool was only two to three feet deep while the deep area was nine feet in depth. The
slope from the shallow area to the deep area was not steep. He also got a pair of water wings
to prevent drowning. He did not like to wear the swimming costume which exposed his thin
legs but as he was keen to swim, he gave up his self-respect and wore it.
William says that he had always disliked water and recounts an older experience when he was
three or four years old. He went to the beach in California with his father. They stood as a
wave leapt towards them. William stuck to his father to save himself, but the strong wave
threw him down and he was covered in water. He was scared as he could not breathe. His
father laughed and tried to make him feel comfortable, but the little child was scared when he
realized that the waves were so powerful.
When William joined the swimming pool at the Y.M.C.A., the fear of water resurfaced in his SDC
mind. He gathered confidence by watching other boys swim and tried to copy them. He had
done this twice or thrice at different occasions and had started gaining confidence when the
incident happened. He had a narrow escape from death.
When William reached the pool, no one was there and so he sat on the edge waiting for other
boys to arrive. He was afraid to swim all alone in the pool. As the swimming pool was empty,
William could see the bottom also. It had white coloured tiles on it and looked white and
clean like a bath tub.
It had not been long since William had been sitting by the pool when a boy arrived. He was
around eighteen years of age, had a well – built body with rippling muscles. He seemed to be
a bully. He asked William if he wanted to be thrown into the pool.
The boy picked William and threw him into the deep end of the swimming pool. William
landed on the surface of the pool in the same position as he had been sitting in. His mouth
was open and as he did not know swimming, he swallowed water as he sank into the pool. He
was frightened, but he used his intelligence and on his way down the pool, planned to push
himself up when he reached the bottom. He thought that he would make a big jump to the
surface, lie on his back and swim to the edge of the pool.
William took a long time to reach the bottom of the pool. It seemed that the depth was ninety feet SDC
instead of nine feet. He could not hold his breath and felt as if his lungs would burst. When his feet
touched the bottom of the pool, he gathered all his strength and jumped upwards. He had thought that
the next moment, he would come out of the pool, but the opposite happened. His movement upwards
was slow and when he opened his eyes, he saw water all around which was yellowish in colour. William
got scared and tried to grab something – a rope which would help him reach the edge of the pool, but
he got nothing other than water. William was at a loss of breath and tried to scream for help, but no
sound came out of his mouth. His nose and eyes came out of the water, but his mouth remained in it.
William waved his hands at the surface of the water for help, but he swallowed water and choked
himself. He tried to pull his legs up, but they were very heavy and lifeless. He felt that something was
pulling him towards the depth of the pool. He screamed but his voice did not go out of the water. Once
again, William started going down towards the bottom of the pool.
William tried to save himself from drowning in the pool and tried to grab something, but as there was
water all around, he could not do so. He compares his situation to a person who sees a nightmare and
fights against the dreadful dream but is unable to ward it off. William was breathless. He felt pain in his
lungs and his head felt a sensation of beating. He was getting unconscious, but he could recollect the
plan to save himself – as his feet touched the bottom, he would take a leap and jump up to the surface
in a jiffy. Then he would lie on his back, hit the strokes with his limbs and reach to the edge of the pool
to safety.
William sank into the pool and the journey downwards seemed endless. He opened his eyes. There SDC
was water all around. It had a yellowish glow and he could not see through it. This terrorized William.
He says that his feeling can not be explained but it can only be understood by those who have
experienced a similar situation. He was screaming in the water, he was unable to move due to the fear.
His screams also froze. Only his heart beat and the beating in his head indicated that he was alive.
In between the phase of terror, William recollected the plan that he had to take a jump as he touched
the bottom of the pool. As he felt the tiles of the bottom of the pool, his feet used all the strength he
had, and he jumped up.
The effort went in vain. He was still submerged in the water. He looked around for help, for any rope,
ladder or water wing with the help of which he could rescue himself. He could only see water all
around him. It was as if a chunk of yellow water had grabbed him. The terror grew intense. It was like
an electric shock that ran through the whole body. He trembled with fright. He could neither move his
limbs nor call out for help.
Something strange happened, and William saw light. His eyes came out of the water. His nose was
almost out of it. Then he started going downwards into the pool for the third time. He tried to breathe
but gulped water instead. The light went out as he drowned again. Then he stopped making efforts to
save himself. William relaxed, his legs became lifeless and his brain experienced a black – out. The fear
ended, he did not panic. He became quite and experienced peace. He was not afraid of drowning any
more. He felt sleepy, was tired to jump up, felt nice to be carried in his mother’s arms as he felt sleepy.
William became unconscious as he drifted away towards death. When he gained SDC
consciousness, he was lying on his stomach, beside the pool and was vomiting. He heard
someone scolding the boy who had pushed him into the pool. The voice said that William had
almost died, and the boy replied that he was fooling with him. The voice asked the boy to carry
William to the locker room.
After many hours, William walked home. He felt weak and shivered. He kept on crying as he lay
on the bed. He was unable to eat food. The fear kept on haunting him for many days. The
incident made him physically upset. The slightest work made him feel that his knees were
unable to bear his weight. He would feel like vomiting. He did not go to the swimming pool as
he feared the water. He remained away from water.
After some years, William came to know of a waterfall and wanted to go in it. Whenever he went
for swimming in different rivers like the Tieton, Bumping river, Warm lake of the Goat Rocks, the
fear of water returned. It would grab him completely, disable his limbs and grab his heart. The
fear of water remained with William as he grew up. On the boating trips to different lakes in the
Maine region, New Hampshire, Deschutes, Metolius, Columbia, Bumping lake – where he fished
different varieties of fish, namely – salmon, bass and trout, the fear followed him. His fishing
trips were destroyed as he did not enjoy boating and swimming due to the fear.
 SDC
William tried to ward of the fear but was unable to get rid of it. Finally, in the month of October,
he hired an instructor to teach him swimming. He would practise for an hour each day, five days
a week. William describes the learning process. The instructor put a belt around William’s waist.
The belt was attached to a thick rope. The rope went through an overhead pulley and was held
by the instructor. It ensured that in case William drowned, the instructor would pull him out.
William swam across the length of the pool for several weeks. Whenever the instructor loosened
the rope, he went down into the water and the fear would return. It would immobilize his legs. It
was after three months of practise that William got comfortable. Then the instructor taught him
to breathe in the water. He taught him to put his face under the water and exhale his breathe.
He was taught to raise his nose out of the water and inhale. William practiced several times.
Gradually, he got rid of the panic that would grab him when he put his head under the water.
In the third phase of the learning process, the instructor taught William to kick the water’s
surface with his legs. He did this for many weeks. Initially, his legs did not move but gradually,
they relaxed and finally, William could order them to kick in the desired way.
Finally, the instructor made a swimmer out of William in phases. When William had perfected
each phase, he compiled them. In the month of April, the instructor told William that now he
could swim. He asked him to dive into the pool and swim the length of the pool in a particular
style called the crawl stroke.
William had not overcome the fear yet and wondered if the terror would grab him when he would be SDC
alone in the water. He tried to swim alone in the pool. The terror returned in small phases but now, as he
knew how to swim, he faced the terror with confidence. He swam another length of the pool.
William swam like this till the month of July but was not satisfied. He wanted to be sure that all of the fear
had left him. So, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire, dived into it from Triggs island and swam
for two miles, up to Stamp Act island. He swam in different styles – crawl, breast stroke, side stroke and
back stroke. The terror returned only once when he was in the middle of the lake. When he put his head
under water, he saw water all around and the fear returned. This time, William laughed at the terror and
said to it that it could not harm him. He saw that the terror vanished, and he resumed swimming.
William still had some doubt about the fear. So, he hurried towards the western direction. He went up the
Tieton, reached Conrad meadows, walked up the Conrad creek trail to Meade glacier. He camped at the
meadow by the Warm lake. The next morning, he wore the swimming costume and dived into the lake. He
swam across it to the other end and returned just like the famous American Doug Corpron used to do.
William shouted with joy as he had overcome his fear. His voice resounded as the mountain peak named
Gilbert peak reverberated it. He had overcome the fear.
The experience had a great importance in William’s life. He realized that death was peaceful and only the
fear of death was fearful. He recollects the words of one of the Presidents of America – Roosevelt.
Roosevelt had said that all we have to fear is fear itself. As William had experienced death and the fear of
death, his desire to live grew immensely. He felt released from fear and was free to walk up the trails and
climb up the mountains fearlessly.
SDC
 SDC
Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with
pain

Literary Devices Used

Assonance: Here we see the use of vowel sound that is ‘o’.(To Cochin last Friday
morning)
Assonance: Use of vowel sound ‘o’,’a’, ‘e’ (doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like
that of a corpse)
Simile: The colour of the mother’s face has been compared to that of a corpse –
ashen. use of ‘like’ (her face ashen like that of a corpse)
 SDC
The poet starts off with telling that once she visited her Word Meanings
Cochin- Kochi (also known as Cochin) is a
parent’s house. It was a Friday when she was driving to city in southwest India's coastal Kerala
the airport to return to Cochin and her mother was state.
Doze- a short, light sleep
sitting beside her at the back of the car. Ashen- (of a person's face) very pale with
The poet looked at her mother and saw that her shock, fear, or illness; resembling ashes
Corpse- dead body especially of a human
mother was sleeping and her mouth was open. She being
further explains that the colour of her mother's face
Questions
was like that of ash. (This means that there was some Q1) Where was the poet off to?
smoky appearance on her face). She looked like a dead a. Pune
b. Chennai
body. c. Cochin
d. Pondicherry

Q2) The poet describes her mother's face

to be like that of a ____ .
a. Tree
b. Kid
c. Snail
d. Corpse
 SDC
that she was as old as she
looked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan,
pale

Literary Devices Used

Consonance: use of the sound ‘s’ and ‘t’
Imagery: when the poet say trees sprinting, merry children spilling

The poet realized that her mother had grown old. She
felt pain for her. But soon she tried to get rid of this
sad thought by diverting her thoughts towards the
trees outside. The young trees although stationary
seemed to be running very fast as though they were
sprinting. She also saw children running out of their
houses, into the playground. All these things were full
of life and energy, contrary to her old and weak
mother who sat next to her.
The poet continues that when she reached the airport,
she finished with the security check and stood a few
yards away from her mother. She noticed her mother’s
SDC
Word Meanings
Sprinting- the competitive athletic sport of
running distances of 400 metres or less
Spinning- make turns around in a circle
over and over again
Yards- a unit of linear measure equal to 3
feet
Wan- giving the impression of illness or
exhaustion
Pale- light in colour or shade; containing
little colour or pigment
Questions
Q1) What thought did the poet put away?
a. Her mother getting old
b. Her mother not knowing how to drive
c. Her father not coming with her
d. Her car breaking down on the road

ageing face which looked dull, weak and pale - Q2) What did the poet see on the way to
signifying that she was getting old. the airport?
a. Monuments
b. Schools and hospitals
c. Trees and children
d. Graveyards
 SDC
as a late winter’s moon and felt that
old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon,
Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
smile......

Literary Devices Used

Repetition: use of ‘smile’
Rhyme scheme – The poem does not follow any rhyme or rhythm. It has been
written in free verse.
Simile: Mother’s face is compared to the late winter’s moon – both are dull and
lifeless. use of ‘as’ (as a late winter’s moon).
 SDC
The poet compares her mother to a late winter’s moon Word Meanings
Familiar- well known from long or close
as the moon in winters is not shiny and even her association
mother’s face had also lost her youth and shine. As her Ache- suffer from a continuous dull pain

mother was getting older and weak. The poet feels the Questions
Q1) The poet compares her mother to a
fear of separation just as she used to feel during her
_____?
childhood. As a child, she could not bear the pain of a. Last drop of rain
b. First flower of spring
separating from her mother. But now as her mother c. Late winter's moon
has grown old and is about to die, the poet feels that d. Late summer's sun

may be this is the last time that she is seeing her Q2) What did the poet call her mother?
mother. She tries to hide her fear. She then says that a. Ma
b. Amma
she would soon see her mother again. She says so c. Mummy
because she doesn’t want to lose her mother. d. Aai
SDC
 SDC
Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The
paperseeming boy,
with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.

Literary Devices Used

Simile: children are compared with rootless weed (like rootless weed)
Metaphor: boy is compared with paper as he is thin (paper seeming boy)
Repetition: use of far to stress on the distance
 The poem describes an elementary school class room in a slum. These slum Word Meanings
SDC
children look very pathetic. Their faces are pale and reflect sadness. They are ‘like Gusty- blowing strongly
rootless weeds’ as they lack proper nutrition. Moreover, they are unwanted Pallor- an unhealthy pale appearance
plants which grow on their own without being cared for, totally neglected. The tall Stunted- having been prevented from
girl has a ‘weighed – down head’ as she is burdened with the load of poverty. In growing or developing properly
fact she is so subdued and suppressed that her head had bowed down with the Gnarled- knobbly, rough, and twisted,
burden of her misfortunes. The ‘paper thin’ – extremely thin boy has ‘rat’s eyes’ especially with age
Heir- a person who inherits and continues
because the poor undernourished boy is deprived of all the basic amenities of
the work of a predecessor
life. He is timid like a rat and full of anxiety, he searches for food and security. This
Questions
unfortunate boy suffers from malnutrition and his growth is also ‘stunted’ not
Q1) What is the boy an 'unlucky heir' of?
properly developed. He has also inherited from his father ‘twisted bones’ – bent a. Disease/Disability
and distorted bones. He has inherited the poverty, disease and despair from his b. Poverty
parents. His body is also deformed because of the twisted bones which he has c. Slums
inherited. He appears to be as sick as his parents. There is a sweet tender looking d. Property
student who sits at the back of the class. This boy is different from the others as
‘his eyes live’ in a dream – he is dreaming and probably thinking about a better Q2) The ___ girl had her head weighted
future. He is lost in his own world, therefore, not sad like the others. This boy down.
thinks of the ‘squirrel’s game’ (metaphor). He wants to enjoy and play freely like a. Sleepy
b. Happy
the squirrel in the garden outside. The squirrel climbs trees and hides in their
c. Small
holes. The boy also dreams to be free but he cannot as he must sit in the dull and
d. Tall
dreary classroom. In the boys imagination ‘tree room’ – the hollow in a tree, is full
of fun, curiosity and mystery. This is in contrast to the gloomy classroom.
 SDC
On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,
Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities. Belled,
flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map Awarding the
world its world. And yet, for these Children, these
windows, not this map, their world, Where all their
future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

Literary Devices Used

Metaphor: Walls are described to be dull as sour cream (sour cream walls)
The future of the kids is described as limited (Narrow Street sealed with a lead sky)
Assonance: repetition of vowel sound ‘e’ (Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley)
Allusion: Reference to well-known person or place ( Shakespeare’s head, Tyrolese valley)
Repetition: ‘far’ repeated
 The classroom is not well maintained. The pale cream walls which were painted long
Word Meanings
SDC
ago with the help of donations, make the place look more miserable and sad. Probably
Dome- a rounded vault forming the roof of
there is a portrait of Shakespeare on the wall. This is ironical as it is put up in a place
a building or structure, typically with a
where there is no serious teaching. ‘Cloudless dawn’ and ‘civilized dome’ suggest the
circular base
monotonous life in the slum. These slums are surrounded by the civilized city and the
Belled- provide with a bell or bells
children cannot experience the beauty of the sky at dawn and are unaware of it. All
Tyrolese Valley- pertaining to the Tyrol,
around them are concrete structures of the cities. The life in the slum contrasts with
an Austrian Alpine province
the cloudless sky at dawn and concrete structures which override the cities. There is Lead- heavily polluted environment and air
also a picture of a beautiful valley full of sweet fragrant flowers and these children of Capes- headland or a promontory of large
the slum will never be able to experience this beauty. They are deprived of this beauty size extending into a body of water, usually
as they are condemned to live in the slums amidst garbage. The ‘open-handed map’ in the sea
the classroom contrasts with their world. The world given to us by god is full of all the
Questions
bounties whereas the world of these slum children is full of poverty and hunger. The
Q1) Which of these is NOT present in the
world which they see is not the real world. Their world is confined to the narrow, dusty
classroom?
streets of the slum. The map in the classroom gives them hopes and aspirations and
a. Shakespeare's portrait
motivates them to explore the world but they will never be able to see that world. b. World map
These children can get the glimpse of the outside world from the windows and it is far c. India's map
beyond their reach. They are far away from nature. These slum children have a bleak d. Paintings of flowers
and foggy future in store for them. ‘Their future is painted with a fog’ – it is blurred by
hopelessness. There is no hope for the slum children. Instead of the normal blue sky Q2) What does 'lead sky' symbolise?
they live under the ‘lead sky’ – dark and dull, polluted – shows there is no hope for a. Mountain region
them. The atmosphere hints at their monotonous life and the slum children remain b. Heavy pollution and industrialisation
confined throughout their lives confined to the filth and dirt of the narrow slum streets. c. Beginning of monsoon
They are away from the glory of natural beauty of the rivers, mountains, stars etc. d. Cloudy weather
 SDC
Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal—
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.

Literary Devices Used

Metaphor: Their homes are very small like holes (cramped holes)
Simile- their repaired spectacles (like bottle bits on stones)
Alliteration: Use of ‘f’ sound (From fog)
 The children of the slum are fighting the battle of life unarmed. They are troubled by
Word Meanings
SDC
disease and despair. For them Shakespeare is ‘wicked’ and ‘map’ a bad example’. The
literary excellence of Shakespeare and the scenic beauty portrayed in the map cannot Wicked- evil or morally wrong
relieve them from their despair. For these slum children, literary excellence is a far- Slyly- in a cunning and deceitful or
fetched thing and hence seems wicked. The map on the wall gives them false aspirations manipulative manner
as it makes them aware of the beautiful world given by god. The world of these children is Cramped- uncomfortably small or
confined to the narrow streets of the slums. Therefore, map is ‘a bad example’. They feel restricted
cheated in being deprived of the thrilling sensations of the sun, the ships, and the Slag- stony waste matter separated from
emotions of love. The ‘ship’, ‘sun’ and ‘love’ symbolize joy and happiness which these metals during the refining of ore
children are deprived of. Their only experience is that of hunger and poverty. To reach Blot- mark or stain (something)
out to the world beyond, these children are sometimes tempted to adopt wrong means Doom- death, destruction, or some other
even stealing to fulfill their dreams. These slum children live in cramped holes, striving terrible fate
and struggling for survival in the small, dirty rooms from ‘fog to endless night’ – from foggy Questions
mornings till long endless nights, trying to meet both ends. The slum children live on ‘slag Q1) Why is the map a 'bad example'?
heaps’ – piles of waste material. Their world is full of dirt and garbage. These children are a. Shows the world
very weak and undernourished. They look like skeletons as their bones peep through b. Would tempt children to steal
their thin skin. c. Is dirty and torn
They wear ‘spectacles of steel with mended glass’ – discarded spectacles by the rich, d. Gives incorrect information
mended (repaired) and worn. Their life is like ‘bottle bits on stones – shattered and
broken like bits of bottle on a stone. They are deprived of even the basic amenities of life. Q2) The children in the slum are _____ .
Their world is comprised of the foggy slums where they live nightmares. Slums are the a. Undernourished
reality for these children, their home, where they spend their life. The maps displayed in b. Happy
their classroom are no reality for them. They cannot locate their slum in that map. It is c. Rich
urgently required to give these slum inhabitants means and opportunities to lead a d. Clever
dignified and civilized life.
 SDC
Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

Literary Devices Used

Metaphor: books and nature are expressed in form of white and
green leaves (the white-green leaves open)
Anaphora: Use of repeated words in two consecutive lines (Run
azure. And Run naked)
 The elementary school in the slum exists for name sake. The infrastructure is poor Word Meanings
SDC
with hardly any serious teaching. The school springs in activity only when a governor, Catacombs- an underground cemetery
a school inspector or a visitor comes on a round of the school. The administrative consisting of a subterranean gallery with
machinery of the school also gears up at that time. Then the map becomes their recesses for tombs, as constructed by the
window from where they can see the world beyond their slums. Since they are ancient Romans
confined to the slums, these sights and glimpses are shut upon them as they are Azure- bright blue in colour like a
deprived of all opportunities and means. Their lives are shut up in the cemeteries of cloudless sky
Questions
these slums where they slither and slog to make both ends meet. The poet hopes
Q1) Which of these is NOT mentioned in
that these children will break free from their morbid life, from the chains of the
the poem'?
slums. He appeals to those in power to liberate these children from the miserable a. Governor
slums and enable them to breathe in the fresh, beautiful and healthy environment b. Watchmen
away from the foggy slums. They should be able to bask in the open green fields and c. Inspector
let them run free on the golden sands. Their world should not be confined to the d. Visitor
horrendous and gory slums. The poet visualizes freedom for these children. He
wants a carefree life where they get economic and social justice, where they have Q2) The poet does not want the slum
the right to be happy. These slum children should be able to enjoy the fundamental children to get new and better
right of education otherwise their lives will be miserable. They should be able to opportunities.
learn not from the books alone but also from the world, the nature around them. a. True
The poet ends on a note of positivity and wants opportunities to be available to b. False
these children. The people who strive for knowledge are the ones who create
history. The ones who are let free are the ones who will create history. People who Q3) The poem highlights the plight of rich
outshine others, who glow like the sun, who break free from the constraints of their children living in suburban cities.
a. True
restricted life are the ones who create history.
b. False
SDC
 SDC
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.

For once on the face of the Earth

let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

Literary Devices Used

Assonance: Use of vowel sound ‘o’ and ‘e’ (Now we will count to twelve, not move our
arms so much)
Anaphora: Two consecutive lines starting with the word (‘Let’s not speak in any
language, let’s stop for one second)
Alliteration: the repetition of a consonant sound at the start of 2 or more closely
placed words. (‘we will’ – ‘w’ sound is repeated)
 SDC
The poet here requests everyone to count till twelve in Word Meanings
Still- not moving or making a sound
their own mind and to stop for a while. May be this Face of the Earth- in the whole world
‘twelve’ referred by the poet is the twelve hours in the
clock or the twelve months in a year. He wants Questions
Q1) The poet requests everyone to count
everyone to stop and calm down. The poet urges till ____ .
everyone not to speak any language. As we all know a. 24
b. 50
that there are different languages spoken in different c. 12
parts of the earth which sometimes become a barrier d. 100

in our way for peace. So, he asks people not to speak. Q2) The poet urges everyone to not
Not only this, but he also wants us to stop moving our speak any ___ .
a. Language
arms. By using the word ‘arms’ he means the weapons b. Word
which are used by different countries to raise a war c. Song
d. Sentence
against each other. So basically the poet is demanding
peace from all of us.
 SDC
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea

would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.

Literary Devices Used

Alliteration– ‘we would’ – ‘w’ sound is repeated, ‘sudden strangeness’ – ‘s’ sound is
repeated, ‘his hurt hands’ – ‘h’ sound is repeated
 SDC
Poet says that it would be a rare situation when there will be no Word Meanings
engines working. Here he wants to stay that if everything comes Exotic- originating in or characteristic of a
distant foreign country
to standstill, it will be a very different moment. If all the engines
Rush- a sudden quick movement towards
like the vehicles and machines stop, then there will be a sudden, something, typically by a number of people
strange situation as the world will experience a sudden Strangeness- the state or fact of being
strange
calmness. People will not be in a rush to achieve material things
Questions
one after another. Further, the poet says that the fisherman will Q1) Complete the sentence: "It would be
also stop and not harm whales in the sea. This means that the an ___ moment."
a. Exciting
poet is urging everyone not to harm the animals. Here he gives b. Eager
the example of whales which are being hunted for the purpose c. Exotic
of food or trade. He also wants people to calm down so that they d. Endearing

can stop and see what they have achieved or lost. For this, he Q2) How does the fisherman at the sea
gives the example of the man who gathers salt, whose hands are harm whales?
hurt. Here he wants everyone to stop for a while in order to see a. By feeding them plastic
b. By singing them songs
and feel their achievements and how much they have lost for the c. By entering their habitat
sake of attaining such materialistic things. d. By hunting them
 Those who prepare green wars, What I want should not be SDC
wars with gas, wars with fire, confused with total inactivity.
victory with no survivors, Life is what it is about;
would put on clean clothes I want no truck with death.
and walk about with their If we were not so single-minded
brothers about keeping our lives moving,
in the shade, doing nothing. and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with
death.

Literary Devices Used

Alliteration: ‘wars with’ – ‘w’ sound is repeated, ‘clean clothes’ – ‘c’ sound is repeated
Assonance: use of vowel ‘o’ (victory with no survivors, would put on clean clothes and walk about
with their brothers)
Repetition: use of ‘war’
Alliteration: we were, so single-minded
The poet asks everyone to stop those activities which are damaging the environment. Word Meanings SDC
Today all human beings are making money by damaging the environment with their Green wars- biological warfare
activities such as mining, deforestation, letting the chemical waste into rivers, etc. The Victory with no survivors-
poet asks us not to do so. He also requests people not to involve in wars as there is destruction after wars
Truck with death- no association with
no benefit of achieving such victory in which no one is left alive. He says so because
death
wars and environmental damage will lead to no life on earth. Rather, he wants people
Interrupt- stop the continuous
to adopt a new approach towards life and mankind. He says that you should treat progress of (an activity or process)
your enemy like brothers and promote peace and harmony in the world. Threaten- state one's intention to take
Now the poet wants to clarify to his readers that when he asks them to stop from hostile action against (someone) in
saying or doing anything, he doesn’t want anyone to become a non-active person. retribution for something done or not
Non-active is a person who remains idle and doesn’t do anything. Here, he simply done
Questions
means that we should stop and see the consequences of our deeds. The poet Q1) What are the different types of
doesn’t want to see people being killed due to their greed for money and the wars that the poet mentions?
expansion of territories. Further, he says that people are continuously working to a. Green wars
achieve their tasks without even thinking about their results. They are in fear of death b. Wars with gas
and therefore, want to achieve most of the things before their death. Here he urges c. Both (a) and (b)
them to stop for a while and take some moment to relish what they have achieved till d. None of the above
now. Everyone here is living a life in which he wants to achieve various things one
Q2) What does 'total inactivity' mean?
after another. But now the poet says it is the time to stop and see what has been
a. Death
achieved and should be enjoyed. This will help us skip the sadness which has become
b. Nausea
so prominent in our lives. The sadness of not enjoying what we have achieved and c. Danger
the greed to achieve what next is on the list to be achieved. d. None of the above
 SDC
Perhaps the Earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

Now I’ll count up to twelve

and you keep quiet and I will go.

Literary Devices Used

Antitheses: a contrast or opposite (when everything seems dead and later

proves to be alive)
 Word Meanings SDC
In these lines, the poet suggests to human beings that we should learn Perhaps- used to express uncertainty or
possibility
a lesson from Earth. During the winters everything freezes and
Alive- (of a person, animal, or plant) living,
becomes lifeless. But when the season changes and its the onset of the not dead
spring season, everything present in nature such as the trees, birds, Questions
Q1) The poet suggests that we can learn
rivers, etc gets life. So here, the poet, by giving the example of nature, something from the ___ .
wants to say that all human beings should stop and try to judge their a. Moon
deeds. They can try and make their life better with calmness, peace. b. Earth
Finally, he ends up by saying that now he will count up to twelve so that c. Sun
d. Stars
we all may become quiet. Here ‘quiet’ means to calm down ourselves
and move towards the path of peace and harmony. After saying this he Q2) What does the poet ask us to do in
says ‘I will go’. He says so as he has conveyed his message to the people the end?
and wants them to be left alone to think about it and work in the a. Keep quiet
direction of peace. b. Sing a song
c. Eat a snack
d. None of the above
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The story begins with the mention of a third level at the Grand Central Station (which only has two levels
in real). The protagonist himself is aware that even the Presidents of New York Central and the New
York, New Haven and Hartford railroads would express great confidence in the existence of only two
levels but he himself has been to the third level. Considering the entire scenario, Charley, the
protagonist had a word with his psychiatrist friend. He explained that Charley was experiencing a
˜waking dream wish fulfillment or in other words, hallucination. According to the psychiatrist, Charley
was unhappy (the fact her wife did not like). Upon explaining further, it became clear that it is the
burden of all the modern problems that is pushing him to experience the apparent perception of
something not present. He tends to escape the reality. Charley agreed with what his psychiatrist friend
had to say but he still found it a bit odd to have been to the third level of the Grand Central Station.
Charley begins to believe in the possibility that he has been experiencing all this to escape the harsh
realities of the modern world. His friends agreed to it as well. Even his stamp collecting is a sort of
asylum he resorts to in order to feel protected. On the other hand, he starts thinking otherwise. His
grandfather started his stamp collection but in those days, they had not seen the consequences of war
and there was peace, harmony and security. His grandfather must have not been insecure. The
collection, moreover was amazing, with blocks of four of practically every U. S. issue. Even President
Roosevelt collected stamps.
He starts explaining what exactly happened and begins with how he chose to take the Subway to his SDC
apartment instead of the usual bus after a late night shift. He did this in order to save time. He describes
himself as an ordinary man of 31 dressed in a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat with a fancy band. It
was so ordinary that he could see other similar men at the station. He explains how he was in his
normal state of mind not wanting to escape from anywhere. All he wanted was to be with his wife Louisa
at that hour. He still doesn’t understand why this happened with him.
Charley comes to the part of the incident where he entered the Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue
and took the stairs to the first level where one boarded trains like the Twentieth Century. Then he went
down another floor to reach the second level from where the suburban trains leave. From there he
entered an arched doorway and got lost. It was nothing unusual for him because even if he had come to
that station a thousand times, there were occasions he bumped into new corridors and doorways. Once
he entered the wrong lobby and reached Roosevelt Hotel and another time in an office building which
was three blocks away.
He wondered that Grand Central was expanding at a very fast rate just like a tree and with its roots. HeÂ
it is no big deal that they even have a secret tunnel under the city to the Times Square or maybe the
Central Park. He feels it might be because Grand Central is a place of exit for innumerable people, he
also managed to escape reality because of the same reason. Although he never shared it with his
psychiatrist.
The unusual corridor he had entered into began angling left and slanting downward which he felt odd about SDC
but nevertheless, he kept on walking. There was no one except him and the voice of his feet echoed. He
finally heard the sound of people talking from a distance, then he took a left and walked down the stairs
again only to reach the third level of the Grand Central. He thought he had somehow made his way back to
the second level but as he noticed, the room was smaller, there were fewer ticket windows and train gates,
and the information booth in the centre was wood and old looking. The man in the booth was also different
and the station was dim-lit for there were open-flame gaslights.
Charley could see brass spittoons everywhere when suddenly a glimpse of light caught his eye and he saw a
man pulling his gold watch from the vest. He was dressed in an old-fashioned style. Suddenly, he noticed
that everyone was dressed like the nineteenth century. It was basically the time before deadly wars. So many
beards and fancy mustaches all around, something that the protagonist had never seen before. He even saw
a very small Currier & Ives locomotive which made him sure about which time he is in.
To validate his suspicion, he went over to the newspaper boy who was selling The World, a newspaper which
was discontinued years ago. There were some headlines about the then President Cleveland. The date on
the front page was also June 11, 1894. He was now sure.
Immediately, he went to the ticket window to get the tickets for Galesburg, Illinois for him and his wife. It was
a wonderful town with a lot of greenery. He was well aware that from here one could buy tickets that would
take them anywhere in the United States. He describes how things were in 1984 before the two World Wars
took place. Evenings were twice as long as they are now and men and women living in peace and serenity.
As the clerk calculated the fare, he looked at Charley's fancy hatband. Charley just had enough for oneSDC
sided journey. Just as he took out money, the clerk informed that this is not the acceptable legal tender
and by any chance if he tried to be smart, he won't be able to get away with it. He glanced at his cash
drawer and realised that currency used back then was different and almost double the size. He ran out
because he didn't want to go to jail.
The day ended after he came out. The next day he went to withdraw his entire savings and got them
converted into old money by paying some amount of premium. It cost him much and even worried his
psychiatrist friend but he still went with it. Back then, eggs cost thirteen cents a dozen. But unfortunately
he could never find the way to the third level corridor again despite hard efforts. His wife Louisa was pretty
worried when she got to know about it all. After a while, he went back to finding distractions with the help
of stamps. Somehow, Sam, the psychiatrist disappeared out of the blue. Charley suspected that he had
gone to Galesburg. He finds himself in the time space of 1894.
One night Charley came across a first-day cover. It is an envelope (with a stamp on it) that stamp collectors
mail to themselves on the first day of its sale to mark the date. They're just blank inside and are not meant
to be opened. That night he found by surprise one of his grandfather's old first day covers. Someone had
mailed it to his father at his home at Galesburg, as he saw from the address on the envelope. The post
mark showed that it had been there since July 18, 1894. The stamp had a picture of President Garfieled on
it. It was a six cent, dull brown colour stamp. His grandfather had put put it in his stamp collection and the
Charley now discovered it. The paper inside and a letter written in it. The letter read as:
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The letter talked about how the writer wished his third level story was true until he actually started
believing it to be true. He had found the third level and had been there for two weeks. He describes the
place he was at that time. He asks Charley and Louis to never stop searching for the third level and come
back.
The letter had been signed off as Sam. Charlie found out from the coin store that he used to visit that Sam
had bought old currency worth eight hundred dollars., which was to be utilised in a hay, feed and grain
business, which what he always wished to do. He could not go back to his old business certainly not in
Galesburg, Illinois. Sam was Charley's psychologist.
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The writer introduces the main character of the story –Dr.Sadao Hoki. Dr.Sadao’s house was situated on the coast of Japan.
He had been living there since his childhood. The house had a low height and was made of stone. It was set upon the rocky
beach which had a boundary line made with pine trees that were tilted towards one side. When Dr.Sadao was a child, he
would climb up the pine trees. On his visits to the South Seas, He would see men do so in order to get coconuts from the
trees. He would accompany his father to the islands of the South Seas often. His father would point towards the islands
and would say that those were the stepping stones towards the future of Japan. Dr.Sadao would question him childishly
that where would they reach from those islands. His father would reply that it was not known as it depended on the future.
The future had no limits. It depended on mankind how it shaped its future.
Sadao retained all the things that his father would tell him as a child. His father never played or joked with him. They
shared a mature relation and his father underwent a lot of hardships to bring him up. Sadao knew that his father was
concerned about his education. He was sent to America at the age of twenty – two to study surgery and medicine. He
returned at the age of thirty. Before dying Sadao’s father saw Sadao become famous not only as a surgeon but also as a
scientist. Sadao was on his way to discover a treatment for wounds which would make them absolutely clean. So, he was
not sent abroad with the armed forces as a doctor. Also, he was retained in Japan because the old General was suffering
from an ailment which needed to be operated upon in case of an emergency.
The writer describes the scene outside Dr.Sadao’s house. As the days were unusually warm and the sea waves were cold, the
nights becamefoggy. Dr.Sadao saw the boundary of a nearby island became invisible gradually, as it got covered in the
mist. Slowly, the mist was coming closer to him. Soon there would be mist all around his house. At that time, he would go
back into the house, to his wife, Hana who was waiting for him along with their two children.
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Before Sadao could go inside, the door opened and his wife looked out for him. She was wearing a dark – blue colured gown over
her dress. She lovingly crossed her arm with his, smiled at him, remained silent and stood by him. They had met in America. Sadao
knew that his father would marry him to a Japanese girl only and so, he ensured this before falling in love with her. Sadao
considered himself to be lucky to have accidentally met her at aa American Professor’s house. He wondered that had he not met her,
he would not have got a wife all his life. He thought that the professor and his wife were kind as they were keen to help foreign
students. He was glad that they had accepted this kindness and went to their house because it was there that he had met Hana.
Sadao would often tell Hana that it was a mere coincidence that he went to the professor’s house that night as the rooms in his
house were small, the food was not good and the professor’s wife was very talkative. If he had not gone there that night, he would
not have met Hana. At that time, Hana was a new student. Sadao had thought that he would love her if at all it would be possible
for him.
Sadao and Hana loved each other even after having two children – after many years of marriage. They had not married in a haste
in America rather they returned to Japan, sought permission from their parents and then got married in a traditional Japanese
ceremony. They had discussed all the details before the wedding. They were happy with each other. Hana rested her cheek against
Sadao’s arm with affection.
That moment they saw a figure appear out of the mist. It appeared black in colour due to the mist in the air. The outline of a man’s
body was visible in the mist. He walked unsteadily with his arms above the head. It was an indication that he was a prisoner. The
man walked a few steps and then disappeared in the mist. Upon seeing the figure, Hana reacted by asking that who was that. She
took her arm out of Sadao’s arm and both of them bent forward over the railing of the veranda to have a closer look at the man.
They saw him again. He was crawling on his hands and knees. Then he fell on his face and kept on lying there. Probably he had
fainted.
As the area had villages full of fishermen, Sadao said that probably it was a fisherman who had been washed off his boat. He ran to
help him, Hana followed him. The loose sleeves of her haori flew as she ran. This part of the coast was not inhabited as it had
dangerous rocks on it. As the rocks were pointed, the man could be badly injured although he had managed to come through them.
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As the Japanese couple saw the man, they realized that he was badly injured. The sand on which he lay had blood stains on one side
which indicated that he was wounded. Sadao said that the man was wounded. He approached the man who lay motionless with his
face buried in the sand. An old cap hung on his head. It was soaked with the sea water. His dress was also wet and torn. Sadao
turned the man’s head. As they saw the face, Hana spoke confidentially that he was a white i.e. an American.
The injured man was an American. As his cap fell off, they saw his wet, yellow – coloured hair which had not been cut for a long
time. He was young, his face had such marks which indicated that he had been tortured. He had a rough, unkept yellow – coloured
beard. As he had fainted, he did not know of the presence of Sadao and Hana.
Sadao was reminded that the man was wounded as he had seen blood stains on the sand. As he was a doctor, he moved his trained
fingers around the man’s back to search for the wound. He felt blood oozing out of a wound in the lower part of his back. It was a
gun shot. The man had been injured a few days ago. He had not got any medical help to treat the wound as he had himself used
some black – coloured powdery substance on it. The sharp rocks on the shore had pierced it and so, it was bleeding. Hana was
concerned that the man was injured and said in a low voice that he was bleeding. The mist had intensified now. The three of them
could not be spotted by anyone. Moreover, the fishermen and the ragpickers did not visit the place at that time of the day.
Sadao answered to himself and said that the best thing was to put the man back into the sea. As the bleeding stopped, he stood up
and removed the dust from his hands. Hana supported his opinion but looked intently at the man as he lay still. Sadao said that if
they gave him shelter, they would be arrested for sheltering an enemy. If they handed him over to the Japanese army as a prisoner,
then he would die in the prison. As he thought that both the options were not favourable, so the best option was to put him back
into the sea. Hana added that the kindest act for them was to put him back into the sea. Both of them did not move ahead to do so,
rather they stared at the motionless figure with dislike. They disliked him because he was an enemy – an American. Hana was
inquisitive as she asked about the man’s identity. Sadao replied that he appeared to be an American. He picked up the torn cap and
read the words written on it which were slightly visible. He said that the man was a sailor from an American warship and read out
the words – “U.S. Navy” written on the cap. They concluded that the man had been taken into captivity during the war.
Sadao and Hana discussed that the man had tried to escape from the prison and had been shot in the back. They were not able to
gather the courage to throw him into the sea. Hana called upon Sadao with firmness. She asked him if he was ready to put him into theSDC
sea. Sadao told her that he was able to do so and asked that did Hana have the courage for it. Hana replied in the negative and added
that if he could not do it by himself, then she had to help him.
Sadao was reluctant in throwing the man into the sea. He reasoned that if the man was well, he would hand him over to the police
without any hesitation. He added that he was not concerned about the man and considered him to be an enemy as he was an American.
He commented that the injured man was a common man as his face looked as if he was a foolish person. He wanted to say that he was
not bothered about the injured man but his only concern was that he was wounded.
Hana said that if he could not throw him into the sea, then the second option was to carry him home. Sadao was concerned that the
servants would object as they would shelter an enemy.
Hana said that they would tell them that they intended to hand him over to the police once he recovered. She told him that they must do
that. She added that they must consider their children’s future and Sadao’s position. If they did not hand over a prisoner of war to the
police, they would be in danger. Sadao replied that certainly he would do so and he did not think of doing anything else. Sadao and
Hana lifted the injured man into the house. He was very light. The writer compares his weight to that of a hen that has not been fed for a
long time and its body loses flesh and reduces into mere feathers and skeleton. The man’s arms were hanging and the duo carried him
up the steps into the side door of the house. The door opened into a passage and they went down the passage towards an empty
bedroom.
The bedroom belonged to Sadao’s father and had not been used after his death. The injured man was laid on the thick mat on the floor.
The writer describes the room – everything in the room was Japanese as Sadao’s father disliked foreign things. Hana went to the
cupboard in the wall and took a soft quilt. She resisted putting it on the injured man. The quilt was made of silk, had a flowery print on it
and the lining was made of pure white silk.
She was sad and spoke slowly that the man was very dirty. Sadao said that the man had to be washed. Sadao asked Hana to get hot
water so that he could wash the man. Hana did not want that Sadao should touch the man. She said that they would ask the servant to
wash the injured man. She would call Yumi to leave attending the children for a few minutes and wash him.
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Sadao thought for a moment and then agreed with Hana. He asked her to call Yumi while he would call the other servants. Before he
could go out, he saw the injured man’s face. It was so pale that he stopped, bent forward and felt his heartbeat to see if he was alive.
The heartbeat was very faint but it was there. Then Sadao placed his hand on the man’s heart to feel it. It was also beating. Sadao
concluded thus, that the injured man was alive.
Sadao commented that if the man was not operated upon, he would die. He added that even if he was operated upon and saved, he
would die at the hands of the Japanese army. So, either ways he would die. Hana screamed with fear and asked Sadao not to save the
man, she feared that if he lived, they would be in danger.
Sadao questioned that what would be the implications if the man died. He looked down towards the injured man and wondered that
he had a lot of energy which had kept him alive through such torture. He countered his thought with the fact that the man was very
young – he seemed to be twenty five years of age and at that age, people do have a lot of energy. Hana asked him that did he mean
the man could die during the operation. Sadao confirmed her question.
Hana was pondering over this possibility and as she was taking time to reply, Sadao left. He said that something had to be done with
the injured man irrespective of the result. The first thing was to wash him. As he walked out of the room, Hana followed him. She did
not want to remain in the room, alone with the white skinned man. Since she had left America, he was the first white man she had
seen. She had no contact with the Americans whom she had met as they were her enemies. This injured man was also an enemy and
was a threat to them. Hana turned to the children’s room and called out to Yumi. As the children heard her voice, she went inside,
smiled at them and played with her three – month old son. As she held the baby who had soft black hair, she motioned with her
mouth to Yumi asking her to come.
Yumi replied that the baby was ready for sleep and that she must put it to sleep before accompanying her. Hana held the baby and
went to the bedroom next to the nursery with Yumi. Yumi spread the sleeping quilts on the floor and laid the baby between them.
Hana led the way as they walked fast towards the kitchen. The two servants in the kitchen were scared after hearing their master’s
words regarding the injured man. The old gardener who also worked as a servant was pondering over the news and pulling the hair
from his upper lip.
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The old gardener spoke bluntly to Hana. He said that Sadao must not treat the injured white man. He reasoned that the man was destined
to die. Firstly, he had been wounded by a gun shot and secondly, the rocks of the sea wounded him further. If Sadao healed the wounds
given by the gun and the sea, then the gun and the sea would treat them as enemies and seek revenge. The gun represents the Japanese
army and the sea represents the country of Japan. If they treated the enemy, they would be punished by Japan. Hana politely said to the
gardener that she would pass his message to Sadao. She was frightened though not superstitious like the old man. She thought that
helping an enemy could never be good for them. Still, she asked Yumi to get hot water into the room where the injured man was kept.
Hana went inside first and moved the partition to one side. Sadao was not there. Yumi followed her and kept the wooden bucket on the
floor. As she saw the white man, her thick lips folded and the expressions on her face indicated her determination. She said firmly that she
had never washed an American man and that she would never wash one who was as dirty as that injured man. Hana reacted to Yumi’s
refusal. She screamed at her that she was supposed to follow her master’s orders. Yumi resisted strongly. Her dull face had a dangerous
look of protest which scared Hana. She was worried that if the servants reported something different from what had happened, they could
land into trouble.
Hana changed her expressions to respect and said, “very well”. She explained to Yumi that they intended to bring the unconscious man into
his senses and then, they would hand him over as a prisoner. Yumi said that she was not concerned about their plans. She added that she
was a poor person and it was none of her business to know about their plans.
Hana said to Yumi that then she should return to her work. Yumi left the room at once. Hana was again left alone with the white man. She
would have been afraid to remain there all alone but her anger on Yumi’s firm determination made her stay in the room. Hana said with
anger that Yumi was a stupid person. She said that it was just an injured man.
Hana was so full of anger at the refusal by the maid, Yumi that without thinking, she opened the blanket in which the man was injured. His
chest was bare. Hana took a small clean towel, dipped it in the steaming hot water and washed his face. The man’s skin was rough due to
being exposed to the sun, but it had a good texture and he must have been very fair as a child. Hana kept on cleaning the man’s upper
body as she had these thoughts. She did not like the man as he was not a child anymore. She did not have the courage to turn him over
and thought of Sadao. Hr anger was decreasing and she started becoming restless. She stood up and wiped her hands with the wrong
towel. As she did not want the man to freeze due to the cold weather, she put the quilt on him.
He had been on the door when she called him. He opened the door. Hana saw that Sadao was carrying his surgeon’s emergency bag and
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was wearing his surgeon’s coat. He was prepared to operate upon the injured man. Sadao replied that he had decided to operate him. He
turned his back to Hana as he did not want her to object to his decision. Sadao started his work. He opened a sterilized towel on the floor
of the tokonoma alcove and placed his surgical instruments on it.
Hana obeyed Sadao and went out to get the towels. She was curious as Sadao was operating upon the injured man. She thought that the
blood from his wounds could stain the fine mats which covered the floor of the room. So, she got some rough mats from the backyard
which were used by the gardener to cover the delicate shrubs from the cold weather. By the time Hana reached the room she saw that
blood had flowed through the bandage on the man’s wound and had stained the mat beneath him. Her effort was futile.
On seeing the stained mat, Hana cried that the mat had been spoiled. Sadao agreed that the mat had been ruined in such a manner which
indicated that he was not bothered by it. Sadao ordered Hana to help him turn the man over. She obeyed him and then Sadao started
washing his back.
Hana told Sadao that Yumi had refused to wash the injured man. Sadao asked her that did she wash him. He did not stop cleaning him.
He made fast small movements of his hands as he cleaned him carefully. Sadao was engrossed in work and did not seem to hear Hana.
Hana wondered that Sadao was not bothered who the injured man was. He was only concerned in performing his work well. Sadao told
Hana that she would have to inject the injured man with a substance that induces insensitivity to pain. Hana replied that she had never
done that earlier. Sadao said in a haste that it was very easy. Sadao was removing the packing and now the blood started flowing faster.
He looked at the wound with the help of the bright surgeon’s light fixed on his forehead. He announced that the bullet was inside the man’s
body. He wondered that how deep the wound made by the rock was. He said that if the wound was not very deep, then he could get the
bullet out. He added that the bleeding was not from the surface of the skin which meant that the wound was deep and the man had
already lost a lot of blood.
When Hana saw Sadao inspecting the wound, she could not see the sight and so, she coughed. Sadao looked at her and saw that her face
was yellowish in colour like the colour of sulphur. Sadao reacted and ordered Hana not to faint. He did not stop his work and continued
inspecting the wound. Sadao said that if he stopped, the injured man would certainly die. Hana put both her hands on her mouth, jumped
up and ran out of the room. Sadao heard her vomiting in the garden but he continued with his work.
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As Sadao needed Hana’s help to operate the man, he thought that it would be better for her to empty her stomach so that she would not
feel uneasy time and again. He was reminded that Hana was seeing an operation for the first time and it was not a pleasant thing to see.
Sadao was irritated and impatient as his wife was under stress and he was not able to help her due to the man who lay under his knife. He
was just like a dead person. Sadao thought that there was no reason for him to make efforts to save the man because there was no
reason for him to live. Sadao became merciless and started working fast. The injured man moaned in his state of unconsciousness but
Sadao kept on working without paying attention to the man’s pain. Sadao said to the injured man that he was free to cry in pain. Sadao
was not concerned that the man was in pain. He did not want to operate him and did not have any reason for doing so.
Hana entered the room and asked Sadao for the anaesthetic which she had to administer to the injured man. Her voice was clear which
shows that now she was prepared to help him. Sadao moved his chin to guide her to the bottle of anaesthetic. He added that it was good
that she came as the man had started to gain consciousness and it was important to sedate him. Hana held the bottle and some cotton in
her hands. She asked what she was supposed to do. He told her to put some anaesthetic on the cotton and to place the cotton near the
man’s nostril. He did not stop his delicate work and added that she should remove the cotton when the man started to breathe badly.
Hana sat in a squat and went close to the face of the sleeping American man. She felt sad and sympathetic towards him as she saw his
thin face and twisted lips. She knew that he was suffering. She wondered whether the stories that she had heard about the torture meted
out to the prisoners were true. The stories were like rumours which spread when people told them to others. On the other hand, in the
printed media like the newspapers, it was mentioned that the Japanese army was welcomed wherever it went, and people praised it for
their freedom. Hana recalled an officer of the Japanese army, General Takima who was cruel to his wife and would beat her. No one talked
about it anymore as he had won the war in Manchuria. Hana thought that if a man could be cruel towards his wife then he could also be
cruel to the prisoners in his captivity. She hoped anxiously that this young man had not been tortured. It was at this moment that she
observed deep red scars on his neck, just under the ear.
Hana mentioned the scars to Sadao and asked about them. Sadao did not answer. At that moment, the tip of his instrument hit
something hard (the bullet). It was very close to the kidney. Sadao was not thinking of anything else. He was happy to have finally found
the bullet. He moved his fingers inside the wound.
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Sadao was familiar with the tiniest part of the human body. His professor of anatomy in America had told them that if a surgeon ignored the
knowledge of any part of the body, it was the first misdeed that he had committed. To operate upon a body without detailed knowledge of it
as much as the person who makes it has would amount to committing murder of that body. Sadao’s professor would repeat these words in
his class often. Sadao spoke to the injured man. He said that the bullet had just missed his kidney. When Sadao would get engrossed in the
operation, he would start talking to the patient. He addressed thet patient as ‘my friend’. He called the injured man also ‘my friend’. He forgot
that this man was not a friend but an enemy. Sadao was quick. He made a few surgical cuts on the body and removed the bullet. The man
trembled in pain but remained unconscious. He spoke a few words in English which were an expression of the pain that he was experiencing.
The injured man choked and said “guts,” “They got my guts”. He meant that he was brave and courageous and the Japanese army would have
a tough time while punishing him. Upon hearing him Hana cried out to Sadao. Sadao hushed her to keep quiet. The man became so quiet
that Sadao held his wrist to check his heartbeat. He was checking if the man was still alive. His pulse was there although it was very weak.
Sadao thought that it was enough for a person who had a desire to live. There was still hope that the man would survive.
Sadao stopped Hana from administering anaesthetic. He turned quickly and chose a small bottle from the medicines. He filled a syringe with
the medicine and pushed the vaccine into the man’s left arm. Sadao placed the needle down and held the man’s wrist. The pulse shivered
once or twice and then improved.
Sadao took a deep breathe as he told Hana that the injured man would live. He woke up, his blue coloured eyes were full of fright as he
realized were he was. Hana felt sorry for him. She served him food as the servants refused to enter the room where he was kept. When Hana
met the injured man for the first time she saw that the man was gathering strength and he was full of fear.
Hana said softly to the injured man that he should not be afraid. He was astonished that she could speak English. Hana replied that she had
lived in America for a long time. The man wanted to speak further but was not able to speak. Hana fed him gently with a spoon made of
porcelain. The man did not want to eat but still he ate. As Hana fed the man, she said that soon he would become strong. She said so despite
the fact that she disliked him. The man did not reply to her.
Sadao visited the man on the third day after the operation. The young boy was sitting but his face was pale and weak due to the effort that he
made while sitting. Sadao screamed at him and ordered him to lie down He said that the man would die if he stressed himself. Sadao forced
him down and inspected the wound that he had operated upon. He scolded the man that he could die if he tried to exert himself.
The boy asked Sadao that what would he do with him now. It seemed that the boy was hardly seventeen years old. He asked Sadao SDC
that would he hand him over to the Japanese army. Sadao did not reply instantly. He completed examining the boy and then put the
silk quilt on him.
Sadao said that he himself did not know what he should do with the boy. He added that he was supposed to hand him over to the
police. He also disclosed that he knew that the boy was a prisoner of war. As Sadao saw that the boy was about to speak, he raised
his hand to indicate him not to do so. Sadao asked him not to speak and not to tell his name also unless he asked him to do so.
Sadao and the boy exchanged glances and then the boy closed his eyes and turned his face towards the wall. He said okay in a low
voice as he felt bitter by Sadao’s words. Outside the door Hana was waiting for Sadao. He saw that she was in some sort of a trouble.
Hana said to Sadao that Yumi told her that the servants would not stay with them if the American man lived there any longer. She also
said that Sadao and Hana had been in America for such a long time that they had forgotten their country’s priority. Yumi and the
servants thought that Hana and Sadao liked Americans. Sadao reacted harshly and said that this was not true. He said that Americans
were their enemies. He had been trained in such a way that he could not let a man die and would help to save him in whichever way
he could. That was what Sadao had done. Hana said that the servants could not understand Sadao’s predicament.
Sadao agreed with this. Both of them had nothing more to say. The chores of the house continued but the servants were vigilant.
They were polite but unfriendly towards their masters.
One morning, the old gardener said that it was obvious what their master should have done. The old gardener had worked with
flowers all his life and specialized in moss. He had been employed by Sadao’s father. The gardener had made one of the best moss
gardens in Japan for Sadao’s father. He would sweep the bright green coloured carpet of the moss clean so that the sharp leaves of
pine tree could not spoil the soft velvety surface. He plucked a flower bud from the bush as he said that his master’s son i.e. Sadao
knew very well what he was supposed to do. He added that when the man was almost dead, he should have left him to bleed to
death. The cook said disrespectfully that their master was so proud of his skill at saving lives that he did not bother whose life he was
saving. She cut the neck of a hen skilfully and held the bird as it shivered. She let the blood of the hen flow into the wisteria plant. The
old gardener had instructed her that blood was the best fertilizer for the plants and he did not allow her to waste a single drop of it.
Yumi was worried about the fate of Sadao and Hana’s children. She wondered that when they grew up they would be labelled as SDC
the children of a traitor. As Sadao was helping an American, all the people of Japan would consider him to be an enemy of Japan, a
traitor of his country.
As Hana stood in the verandah arranging the flowers, the servants discussed the matter in her presence as they wanted her to
know their views about the matter. Hana also felt that the servants were right, but she had some feelings for the injured man
which she could also not analyse. She did not like the Prisoner neither was she attached towards him. The day before the injured
man told her that his name was Tom. Hana did not like him at that moment also. She had reacted by bowing her head mildly. She
saw that her reaction hurt the injured man, but she did not want to reduce this hurt that she had caused to him because the
injured man was a great trouble to her. His presence was a threat to Hana and Sadao.
Sadao was performing his role perfectly. He would examine the wound every day. One morning the last stitches were removed
from the injured man’s body and he would be as well as ever in the next 15 days. In the meantime, Sadao went to his office and
wrote a letter to the chief of the police to report the entire matter to him. Sadao started his report and he wrote that on the 21st
of February an escaped prisoner was washed up on the shore in front of his house. Sadao had just typed this much of the report.
He opened the drawer of his desk and kept this unfinished report in it.
On the seventh day after that two things happened. The servants of the house left in the morning. They had tied their belongings
in huge pieces of cloth. When Hana got up in the morning, she saw that the work had not been done – the house was dirty, and
the food had not been cooked. She realized that the servants were up to something. She was shocked and horrified when she
came to know that the servants were leaving. Hana did not show her feelings to the servants, instead she remained calm and
maintained her grace as the lady of the house. She paid the servants and thanked them for their services. As the servants had
been working there for many years, they were crying but Hana did not cry. The cook and the gardener were very old employees.
They had been employed by Sadao’s father and had served Sadao since his childhood. Yumi was crying because she would miss
the children. She was so sad that she ran up to Hana after she had left.
 SDC
Yumi said to Hana that if the baby missed her at night she could call her. She further added that she was going to her own house and Hana
knew where her house was. Hana smiled and thanked her for the offer but to herself she said that in case the baby cried she would not call
for Yumi.
The next morning Hana prepared the breakfast and Sadao helped her by looking after the children. Neither of them talked regarding the
servants but after Hana served the morning food to the Prisoner of War she came back to Sadao probably to talk something. Hana was very
worried, and she questioned that why they were not very clear about what they ought to do. She added that even their servants were very
clear as compared to them. She said that why were they behaving differently from other Japanese people. Hana wanted to say that as
Americans were their Enemies they should not have treated that Prisoner Of War and they should have let him die just like any other Japanese
would have done.
Sadao did not reply to Hana but after some time he went into the room where the Prisoner of War was resting and spoke very fast. He said
that that day the man could get up and stand on his feet. Sadao wanted him to stand only for 5 minutes at a time. Further he added that the
next day he could try to stand for double the time that is 10 minutes. Sadao also said that it would be good for everyone that the man
regained strength as soon as possible. Sadao hinted that they wanted to get rid of the American as early because he had become a cause of
trouble for them.
Sadao saw that his words brought a hint of terror and scare on the face of the young boy. His face was still very pale and colourless because
he was very weak. The boy spoke in a low voice and said “Okay”. It appeared that he wanted to speak something more but he just said that he
wanted to thank Sadao for saving his life.
Sadao was very expressionless when he said that the boy did not need to thank him yet. As he spoke this he saw that the hint of scare again
appeared in the boy’s eyes. The writer compares the boy’s terrorized eyes to that of a scared animal. The injury marks on the neck of the boy
turned the bright red in colour for a while. Sadao thought that what has caused those injury marks, but he did not ask the boy about them.
That day the second incident happened in the afternoon. Hana was busy with the household work as the servants had left. All of a sudden,
she had to perform all the work which she was not used to. She was very tired. She saw that a messenger wearing official uniform had come
to the house. As she saw him her hands went week and she was unable to breathe.
 SDC
This was because she felt that the servants must have told the authorities that they were sheltering an enemy. Hana ran up to Sadao
and she was struggling to breathe. She was unable to speak. By that time the Messenger also followed her through the garden and he
stood in front of Sadao. Hana was helpless, and she pointed her finger towards the Messenger. Sadao was reading a book and when
he saw Hana, he looked up. He was sitting in his office which had a partition in it. The part of the office beyond the partition opened
into the garden and was full of shady sunshine. As Sadao had to accompany the Messenger, he went to Hana to say goodbye. Hana
was in the kitchen but she was not doing anything. The children had gone to sleep, and Hana was taking rest. She was more tired due
to the scare on seeing the messenger than she was from doing the household work. Hana said to Sadao that she had thought that
the messenger had come to arrest him. Sadao looked carefully at Hana’s anxious eyes. He was very sad and distressed, and he said
that he must get rid of the man for her sake. He added that he had to get rid of the man by any means.
Sadao narrated the entire story to the general. The general who was very weak said that he understood Sadao’s position because he
had also studied in America at the Princeton University but there were only a few Japanese who had studied in America. Sadao replied
to the general that he did not care for the American man but as he had operated upon him successfully. The general interrupted him
and said, “yes, yes”. He felt that Sadao was a necessary part of his life. As Sadao had been successful at operating on the man, the
general felt that Sadao was very skilled. The general asked that did Sadao think that the general had any chance of surviving another
heart attack as the one he had that day. Sadao replied that in his opinion the general could not survive more than one such heart
attack.
The general said that then in that case he could not allow anything to happen to Sadao. He wanted to say that he needed Sadao and
so, he would protect him. The general’s long, weak yellowish face became expressionless because he was thinking about Sadao being
arrested. He became serious, closed his eyes at the thought of Sadao being arrested and said that Sadao could not be arrested.
Further, he added that if Sadao was sentenced to death and he needed an operation the next day, then who would operate upon
him. So, the general wanted to say that he needed Sadao and so he would protect him and he would not let anything happen to him.
Sadao suggested to the general that there were many other surgeons in Japan.
The general replied that he did not trust anyone else other than Sadao. He added that the best surgeons had been trained by theSDC
Germans and for them the operation would be successful even if the general died. He did not care for their point of view. The
general added that the Japanese could not combine the harsh nature of the Germans with the emotional nature of the Americans.
So the general wanted to say that they did not have such persons who could combine the harsh nature of a German and the
emotional nature of an American. He said that if they would have been able to do that then Sadao could be harsh and could turn
the prisoner to the Japanese and at the same time, be emotional and not murder the general during the operation. With this the
general laughed. The writer says that the general had a strange sense of humour. He was very witty. Then he asked Sadao that
being Japanese could he not combine these two foreign elements. So, the foreign elements to which the general is referring is the
harsh nature of a German and the emotional nature of an American. Sadao smiled at the general’s question and said that he was
not quite sure about it but for his betterment, he was willing to try it out.
Suddenly, the general felt weak and emotional as he was reminded of the problems he had faced throughout his life while fulfilling
his duties and responsibilities in various wars won by Japan. The general was irritated and said that the happening of the injured
man reaching his house was an unfortunate one. Sadao agreed with him.
The general said that the best solution was to kill the man quietly. He added that he would not be killed by Sadao but by his hired
killers. He would send two killers to Sadao’s house that night or any night. Sadao did not need to know about it. As the weather was
warm those days, he wanted Sadao to act naturally and keep the door of the outer partition of the man’s room open. As it opened
into the garden, it would give easy access to the killers while the man was asleep. Sadao agreed that the idea seemed natural. He
added that they did leave the door of the outer partition open at night.
The general was over with the talk and so, he yawned to show disinterest. He added that was a good thing. He commented that the
killers were experts – they did not make any noise and killed the person in such a way that he bled inside. There would be no traces
of blood on his body. He would even ask them to remove the dead body if Sadao wanted. Sadao thought about Hana and said
that that would be very good.
Sadao went back home and on the way he kept on thinking of the plan that he had made along with the general. He thought that in SDC
this way, he would not be involved in the death of that American man. He planned that he would not tell Hana anything about this
plan. Hana would not like the idea of the hired Killers coming to their house but such persons were essential in a place like Japan. It
was the only way for the rulers to deal with their opponents. Sadao did not let any thought enter his mind as he went into the room
where the American man lay asleep. He was surprised to see the man out of his bed. He was getting ready to go out into the garden.
Sadao was shocked as he asked him that who had permitted him to stand and walk. Tom was happy and said that he was not in a
habit of taking permission before doing anything. He said that he felt good again, just the muscles on the sides of his body were stiff
and rigid. Sadao was surprised to hear that. He forgot all work and said that he had warned the man not to stand and walk. He lifted
the man’s shirt and inspected the scar. He said that massage could heal it if it would not be healed by exercise. The man said that the
scar would not trouble him. His young, bearded face was weak. He thanked Sadao and said that if he had not reached Sadao that
day, then he would have died. Tom added that he was sure of that. As he held the chair tightly with his thin hands, the knuckled turned
white in colour. This indicated that he was still weak and had not recovered fully. Tom added that if all the Japanese people would have
been like Sadao, then the war would not have happened. Sadao said that maybe that could be true. He added that the man should go
to sleep.
Sadao was restless all through the night as he felt that the hired killers were there to kill the man. He imagined hearing the sound of
footsteps, branches being broken, stones moving as men walked on them and imagined that he heard such a noise which indicated
that some men were carrying the American’s dead body. All this anxiety kept him awake. In the morning Sadao made an excuse to go
into the American man’s room first. He had planned that if the man was gone then he would tell Hana that the general had ordered
for him to be removed from there. When he opened the door, he saw the man who had lots of yellowish coloured hair was asleep. He
could hear the sound of his breathing. Sadao closed the door of the room.Sadao said to Hana that the man was asleep. He added that
now he was well and did not need to sleep like that.
Hana again asked Sadao that what should they do with the man. Sadao shook his head and promised her that he would decide it in
one or two days. Sadao thought that perhaps the killers would come the next night.
The night was windy. He heard the sounds made by the branches as they bent due to the wind and the partitions made whistling sound SDC
as the wind passed through them. Hana woke and asked that should they close the partition door of the man’s room. Sadao refused
and said that the man was capable to do that himself. But the next morning the American was still there. Sadao was hopeful that they
might come on the third night. Instead of the wind, there was rain that night. The garden was full of noises as the water dripped down
the roof and tiny rivulets flowed through the garden. Sadao slept a little and jumped as he heard a loud noise. Hana heard the loud
crash and asked what it was. The baby also woke up and started crying. Hana wanted to go and check on it but Sadao stopped her.
Hana screamed at him and asked what the matter was. Sadao spoke slowly and asked her not to go. He was scared and his scare
affected Hana too. She stood without breathing and waited. There was silence and both of them crawled back into the bed with the
baby lying on the bed in between them. In the morning, Sadao went into the guest room and saw the man was there. He was happy
and had taken his bath and had started moving around. He had borrowed a razor from Sadao the previous day and had shaved his
beard. The colour of his cheeks was slightly pinkish which indicated that he was recovering and regaining good health. The man
announced happily that he was well.
Sadao wrapped his traditional Japanese gown around his tired body. He was tired because the curiosity had kept him awake for two
consecutive nights. He decided that he could not pass one more night in such a way. He was not bothered about the man’s life but he
could not bear the stress and anxiety any longer.
Sadao said to the man that he was well now. He lowered his voice and said that he was strong enough to sail a boat. Sadao planned
that if he arranged a boat, stock it with food and extra clothing, the man would be able to row it to the nearby island. As the island was
so close to the coast, it had not been guarded. It was not inhabited as it sunk into the sea during the storms. As it was not the season of
storms at that time, the man could live on the island until he spotted a Korean fishing boat pass by. The Korean fishing boats passed
near the island as the sea was very deep there. The young man stared Sadao as he understood his words. He asked that was it
necessary for him to do so. Sadao pleaded that he must understand that the fact that the man was living at his house was known to
everyone. The young man agreed with him and said “okay”. He moved his head to indicate his acceptance.
Sadao left and did not meet the young man until evening. During the day, he made arrangements for him. As it became dark, SadaoSDC
pulled out a big boat to the shore. He placed food and bottled water in it that he had bought secretly during the day. He kept two
quilts in it. He had purchased them from the pawnshop. As there was a high tide in the sea, he tied the boat to a pole. It was a dark,
moonless night and Sadao worked without a torch. He did not want to be spotted by anyone.
When Sadao came home, he pretended as though he had returned from work so that Hana did not guess anything. Hana served him
the evening meal and said that Yumi had visited them that day as she missed the baby a lot. Although Yumi was modern, she did not
eat with Sadao. Sadao said that as soon as the American man left, the servants would return.
That night before going to bed, Sadao visited the man. He checked his body temperature, the wound, his heart and heartbeat. The
heartbeat was unsteady due to excitement as he was about to leave their home. The man’s lips were pressed together and his eyes were
red in colour which seemed to be burning with fire. The scars on his neck were still red as they had not healed yet.
The young man said to Sadao that he was saving his life once again. Sadao said that it was not like that. He was sending him because
he could not keep him any longer. Sadao was reluctant in giving him a torch as he felt that if the man used it unwisely, he could be
spotted and land into trouble. Finally, he gave him his own torch, the one that he used when he had to attend to patients at night.
Sadao instructed the man. He said that if his stock of food finished before he found a Korean fishing boat, he could signal him with
two flashes of the torch at dusk time. He asked him to be careful not to signal when it was dark because light was more visible in the
dark as compared to dusk. He added that the man could find fish in the sea near the island but he had to eat it raw. He was not
supposed to cook it because fire would be spotted by the guards and put him in danger. The man drew a breath on hearing the
instructions and said “okay.”
The man wore the traditional Japanese dress that Sadao gave him to wear. Finally, Sadao wrapped a black cloth around his head to
hide his golden coloured hair. The American man shook hands with Sadao as he walked away towards the boat. He used the torch
twice to find his way, but the guards would not doubt that. Sadao waited till he saw the torch light once more as the man boarded the
boat. Sadao closed the door of the partition and slept well that night as he had finally got rid of the man.
A week ago, the general had been operated upon in an emergency in which Sadao took part. Sadao informed him that SDC
the man escaped. The general was weak as he was recovering from the operation. For twelve hours after the operation,
his condition was critical and Sadao was not sure that he would survive. They had operated upon his gall bladder. The
general was an old man. After the operation, gradually, he started eating food and breathed deeply. Sadao did not
have the courage to ask him what happened to the professional killers that he had promised to send to kill the
American man. Sadao knew that the killers did not turn up ever. At Sadao’s home things returned to normal. The
servants returned, Yumi used Sulphur to disinfect the room used by the American man. The servants did not speak
anything. The gardener was annoyed because he had got late to plant the chrysanthemum flowers due to this incident.
After one-week Sadao felt that the general was well enugh that he could discuss the man with him. Sadao said that the
man had escaped. Sadao coughed up which indicated that Sadao had not told him everything as he did not want to
disturb him. The general was reminded of his promise to send the professional killers and he opened his eyes suddenly
when he heard about the American man. Sadao replied that he had promised him. The general was surprised and said
that as he was suffering due to bad health, he had forgotten all about the promise that he had made.
The general felt sorry that he had been careless. He added that it was neither that he did not love Japan nor that he was
shirking from his duty. He looked at Sadao with curiosity as he sought support from him. He wondered that Sadao
understood his problem.
Sadao said that he understood the general’s position well. He understood that the general was in his control and as a
result, Sadao was safe. Sadao said that he could swear upon the general’s loyalty towards Japan and his enthusiasm to
fight the enemy. The general was relaxed and said that Sadao was a good man. He closed his eyes and said that Sadao
would be rewarded for his goodness.
 SDC
Sadao got his reward when at dusk, he looked towards the island and saw no trace of torch light. This meant that
the American man had found a Korean fishing boat and had gone with it safely back home. Sadao did not doubt
this as he had instructed the man to wait for a Korean fishing boat.
Sadao stood in the veranda and recollected the past events. He looked at the sea from where the man had come that
night. He had flashbacks of all the Americans he had met in his life – the dull professor at whose house he had met
Hana, his silly, talkative wife who was very kind. He remembered his teacher of anatomy who had taught them to cut
open the body with a knife. Then he remembered the fat, untidy landlady. Being a Japanese, he had found an
accommodation in America with great difficulty. He hated living there knowing that the Japanese were superior to the
Americans and still being treated like inferiors. Sadao disliked the dirty old woman who finally agreed to let him live
in her home which was in a bad condition. Sadao tried to be thankful to her because she had taken care of him
when he was struck by influenza during the last year of his stay in America. It was difficult for Sadao to be thankful
to her as he hated her even though she was kind to him. Sadao hated her so much that her kindness also did not
make him like her. Finally, Sadao remembered the weak face of the American prisoner – it was white in colour and
was terrible.
Sadao felt that it was strange that he could not kill his enemy.

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