Arpit Porwal

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Deep Water
Chapter – 3 | Flamingo
William Douglas

The present excerpt, Deep

Water written by William
Douglas is taken from his book
Of Men and Mountains. 'Deep
Water shows how scared of
water Douglas had been as a
boy.
His first such experience was on the sea beach. He was
with his father when a powerful wave swept over him.
Though the wave receded, it left Douglas petrified. He
aimed to learn swimming.
For this, he chose the Y.M.C.A. pool. It was safe. Its
depth at the end was only two feet.
However, the further end was nine feet deep.
One day, a strong young man picked Douglas
and tossed him into the deepest part of the
pool.
Douglas sank to the bottom. However, he
jumped and came up gradually Fear had
seized him.
He was nearly drowned. His efforts to save himself went
in vain. No one came to his rescue.
He tried to breathe but swallowed water. Death was at his
doorstep. However, he experienced complete freedom
from the fear of death.
On reaching the school, the changes he noticed were:
• Instead of noisy classrooms everything was as quiet as
Sunday morning.
• All students were already in the classroom.
• Mr. Hamel, the French teacher did not scold him and
told him very kindly to take his seat
•He lay in complete peace. There was no sensation
or fear of death. But someone saved him. The
horrific experience, however, shook Douglas badly,
Its memories haunted him.
•He felt ill. He could not go canoeing or fishing. The
sight of water rattled him. Then he decided to
overcome his fear.
He found an instructor who trained him as a swimmer bit by bit.
He was able to overcome his fear completely and swim for miles.
The experience of fear and of its conquest made him live
intensely.
Now he realizes the reason why teacher is dressed in his
Sunday best and villagers sitting at the back to pay tribute to M.
Hamel for his 40 years of sincere service and also to express
their solidarity with France.
M. Hamel realizes that all three, the children, the parents and he
himself are to be blamed for losing respect and regard for the
mother tongue.
He enjoyed every moment of his living after he had
conquered his fear.
 Thank-You
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