A Living God

Q&A

1) Why was Hamaguchi given the status of ‘A Living God’ ?

In the story A Living God written by Lafcadio Hearn, Hamaguchi was given the status of
'A Living God because the whole village was destroyed within a bit of time in the
earthquake but all the villagers were safe as they were on the high ground and this was
only possible because of Hamaguchi.

2) What is the character of Hamaguchi?

Hamaguchi is an old man who lives in a village by the sea, and one day, an earthquake
hits the village. He's the only person in the village to realize that a tsunami will soon
follow. He understands nature and is willing to take necessary actions in order to save
his fellow villagers.

3) How did Hamaguchi saves the village?

Hamaguchi Saved the villagers by setting “the fire of rice sheaves” when the tsunami
caused by the Ansei Earthquake struck the village. Decided to build a large
embankment and did his utmost to aid disaster victims

4) What was the order given by Hamaguchi to Tada?

The rice stacks was the only way to get people out of the village as quickly as possible.
So, Hamaguchi wanted Tada to set fire to the rice stacks because he knew that it would
make people angry and make them run up the hill to stop the fire .

Very Short Q&A

Q) Who was Hamaguchi? Where did he live?

Hamaguchi was an old man, he was the headman of a coastal village in Japan. He lived in his big
thatched farmhouse.

Q) What stood along the curve of the bay?

Ninety thatched dwellings and a temple, which made up the village, stood along the curve of the bay.

Q) What did Hamaguchi see from the balcony of his house?

Hamaguchi saw the village people doing preparations for a merrymaking in the village. They were going
to celebrate the harvest of a fine rice crop.

Q) What was the preparations all about?

The preparations was all about the celebrations of the harvest of the fine rice crop.

Q) How was the village decorated?

The village was decorated beautifully. The decorations was done using banners that fluttered above the
roof of the street and using strings of paper lanterns between the bamboo poles.

Q) Who was Tada?

Tada was the grandson of Hamaguchi. He was ten years old.

Q) What happened when the earthquake stopped?

When the earthquake stopped, Hamaguchi felt something unusual. He was in fear and was worried for
the village people.

Q) Why did the villagers run towards the beach?

The villagers ran towards the beach to watch the unusual and strange movement of the water in the
sea.

Q) Why did Hamaguchi call his grandson?

Hamaguchi called his grandson to help him in lighting a torch.

Extract Based Q & A

Extract No 1

Q) “The old man could see the banners fluttering above the roofs of the village street”.

1. Who is referred as ‘old man’ in the above statement and where did he live?

Hamaguchi is referred as ‘old man’ in the above statement. He lived in his big thatched farm house
which stood at the edge of small table-land overlooking a bay.

2. How was Hamaguchi addressed by the villagers?

Hamaguchi was addressed by the villagers as ‘Ojisan’.

3. What were the villagers preparing for?

The villagers were preparing for merry-making to celebrate the harvest of the rice crop.

4. Describe the preparations.

The village was decorated beautifully. The decorations was done using banners that fluttered above the
roof of the street and using strings of paper lanterns between the bamboo poles. They were preparing
for dance in the court of the temple.

Extract No 2

Q) “He had nobody with him that evening but his little grandson’’.

1. Who was Hamaguchi’s grandson? How old was he?

Tada was Hamaguchi’s grandson. He was ten years old.

2. Where did the other members of the family go?

The other family members went to the village to participate in the celebrations and enjoy.

3. What difference did Hamaguchi find in the weather?

The wind was blowing gently but there was some sort of heavy heat in the air. Hamaguchi felt, this was
a sign of an upcoming earthquake.

Extract No 3

Q) “Presently, an earthquake came”.

1. What did Hamaguchi think of the earthquake at first?

Hamaguchi thought that the earthquake was not strong enough to frighten anybody.

2. What made him think the earthquake was unusual?

Hamaguchi had already experienced many such incidents in his life. But, this time it felt unusual.
As it was a long, slow, spongy motion.

3. What did Hamaguchi witness after the earthquake?

After the earthquake, Hamaguchi witnessed that the earthquake made the house shake
violently and it had cracks.

4. Why was Hamaguchi in fear?

Hamaguchi was in fear, as he felt something unusual about the earthquake. He became aware
of the changes in the sea as it acted strangely.

Extract No 4
Q) “Within a very little time, the whole village had noticed it too”.

1. What did the villagers notice?

The villagers noticed that the weather acted strangely and felt something unusual in the sea.

2. Why were the villagers amazed?

The villagers were amazed to see the movement of the water in the sea.
3. What did they do seeing the changes in the movement of the water?
They went running towards the beach and even beyond it to watch the water.

Extract No 5
Q) “No such ebb had occurred on that coast as long as any living person could remember”.

1. How was the tidal wave different?

The tidal wave was different from the other waves as unknown spaces of ribbed land and
stretches of weed-hung rocks were left bare.

2. How did Hamaguchi understand what the sea was going to do?
Hamaguchi remembered the things told to him in his childhood by his grandfather and knew
all the tales of the coast. So, he understood what the sea was going to do.

3. What did Hamaguchi think seeing the tidal wave?

Hamaguchi thought to call the priest of the temple who lived nearby and ask him to ring the
big bell.

4. Why did Hamaguchi call his grandson?

Hamaguchi called his grandson to help him in lighting a torch.

Extract No 6
Q) “The child kindled a torch at once”.

1. Who was the child? What did his grandfather ask him to do?
Tada was the child. His grandfather asked him to light a torch.

2. What did Hamaguchi do with the help of the torch?

Hamaguchi set fire to the rice-stacks one after another with the help of the torch.

3. How did the rice-stacks catch fire?

The rice-stacks caught fire like a tinder, the sea-breeze blew the blaze landward and the
stacks burst into flame.

4. How quickly did he do the work?

He did the work as quickly as his aged limbs could carry him. He did not stop until he
reached the edge of his fields.

Extract No 7
Q) “Ojisan! Why are you doing that?”

1. Who is referred as ‘Ojisan’ in the above statement?

Hamaguchi is referred as ’Ojisan’ in the above statement.
2. Why did Hamaguchi set fire to the rice-stacks?
Hamaguchi sensed the incoming danger. In order to warn them of the danger and
bring them to safety, he set fire to the rice-stacks.

3. Why did Tada think his grandfather had gone mad?

Tada saw his grandfather setting fire to the rice-stacks, one by one. As, he could not
make sense of his actions, he thought his grandfather had gone mad.

4. Why did Tada cry?

Tada was terrified by the action of Hamaguchi. He did not understand the reason
behind it. He kept staring wildly at the blazing rice and then burst into tears.

5. How did Tada respond to the activity of his grandfather?

Tada could not make sense of his grandfather’s activity and thus, burst into tears.
He ran back to his house thinking his grandfather had gone mad.

Extract No 8
Q) “Then he threw down his torch and waited”.

1. When did Hamaguchi throw the torch?

Hamaguchi kept on lighting stack after stack, till he reached the edge of his
fields and then he threw the torch.

2. What did the priest of the temple do seeing the blaze?

The priest, seeing the blaze, rang the big bell of the temple in order to alert the
villagers

3. What happened when the villagers see the fire?

When the villagers saw the fire they began to move together towards the hill.

4. What did the young peasants want to do?

The young peasants wanted to blow out the fire but Hamaguchi stopped him.

5. Why did Hamaguchi stop the peasants from attacking the fire?
Hamaguchi stopped the young peasants in order to gather the villagers. He
could sense the incoming danger. So, he wanted everyone to be safe.

Extract No 9
Q) “I want the whole village here. There is great danger.”

1. Who is the speaker of the above statement? What kind of danger is he

talking about?
Hamaguchi is the speaker of the above statement. The danger which he is
talking about is the approach of the big tidal wave in the sea.
2. The whole village was coming? Mention the sequence in which the people
make their way up the hill?
Firstly, the young men and boys make their way towards the hill. Secondly,
the active women and girls joined them, then most of the older people,
mothers with babies joined the crowd and finally, the old people who were
physically weak make their way up the hill.

3. Why did the villagers looked in sorrowful wonder?

The villagers looked in sorrowful wonder as they did not understand
Hamaguchi’s purpose of setting fire to the rice-stacks. They could only see
the flaming fields and Hamaguchi’s stern face.

4. Do you think, Hamaguchi did the right thing? What would you do, if you
were in his place?
According to my opinion, Hamaguchi was a kind and selfless person. Yes,
he did the right thing. As a headman of the coast village, he had the
responsibility to safeguard his people. So, he sacrificed for his people. If I
would have been in his place, I would have definitely thought of the life of
the people but I would have a better plan to tackle the situation.

Extract No 10
Q) “Grandfather is mad: I am afraid of him!”
1. Who is the speaker of the above statement? Why was he afraid of his
grandfather?
Tada is the speaker of the above statement. He was afraid of his
grandfather as he saw him setting fire to the rice-stacks one by one.

2. What was Hamaguchi’s purpose of doing such an activity?

The purpose of Hamaguchi’s activity was that he wanted to warn the
villagers in order to help them from the danger.

3. Why did he point towards the sea?

Hamaguchi wanted to show the villagers, the reason behind his act.
So, he shouted at the top of his voice and pointed towards the sea.

4. What did the villagers see when they looked eastward?

When the villagers looked eastward, they saw at the edge of the dusky
horizon a long, lean, dim line like the shadow of a coast. The line
thickened and the long darkness was the returning sea, towering like a
cliff.

5. Was Hamaguchi really mad? Give reasons for your answer.

No, Hamaguchi was not really mad. He wanted to save his people from
the danger. He could not find a better way than to fire all his rice
stacks. He had pure intentions of saving his people. Therefore, he
sacrificed for them.