CLASS: IX

Ch-5 The Snake and the Mirror (Beehive)

(Extra Q+A and Notes)

INTRODUCTION

The story “ The Snake and the Mirror” recounts a homeopathic doctor’s
encounter with a snake. However, the interesting part of the story is that the
snake spares him and gets attracted towards a mirror. Earlier, the doctor too used
to indulge in self- admiration whenever he looked into that mirror. This complex
but humorous story is actually about the self- realisation of the doctor.

THEME

The humorous story revolves round the theme of human fears and how they
affect people. The narrator is a homeopath doctor who is struggling with his
poverty and sluggish (moving or working more slowly than normal in a way that
seems lazy). He is vain about his looks with or without his moustache , beard and
has the ambition of looking more and more handsome. He also hopes to marry
and lead a happy life. A sudden arrival of a snake on the scene turns him pale with
fear but somehow he manages to keep his calm. Meanwhile, attracted by the
mirror, the snake decides to ignore him. The narrator takes this opportunity to
make good his escape. The snake appears to be almost as vain as the doctor
himself. An added theme in the story is how crises make people turn to God for
help.

MESSAGE

The story conveys the message that one should never be proud of one’s beauty,
strength or achievements. The fear of death makes a person realize how pointless
the worldly achievements are. It is faith in God and modesty in thoughts which
make a person strong. The doctor in the story is cured of his arrogance after a
close brush with death.
 EXTRA SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q.1. Describe the homeopath doctor's house. What did he have in his house? What
did it show about him?
Or
Was the doctor rich? Prove with reference to the story.
Ans. The doctor was not rich. He had just started his practice. He lived in a small rented
which had no electricity. It had a table on which stood a large mirror, a chair and a box. He
had some shirts, dhotis, a black coat and only about sixty rupees in his box, with him.

Q2. What did the doctor term as 'a final insult'? How was it an insult?
Ans. A thief had taken all of the doctor's belongings and left the doctor's dirty vest
behind. The doctor termed it as 'a final insult' as even a thief had a sense of cleanliness
while he did not.

Q3. What tempted the doctor? Why does he say, he felt tempted?
Ans. A mirror placed in the room, on the table where he was sitting and which was just
in front of him, tempted him to look into it. According to him, he used to be a great
admirer of beauty and believed in making himself look handsome and so he looked
into the mirror.
Q4. Why did the doctor emphasize on his being 'a bachelor and a doctor too' ?
Or
The doctor repeats his being an unmarried doctor again and again? Why? What does it show
about him?
Ans. The doctor emphasized the fact that he was a bachelor and a doctor to justify his decision to
look more handsome because he wanted to get married. It also shows that he was proud of his
status and profession.

EXTRA LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. The doctor, is frightened but does not lose his cool when he encounters the snake. Do you think
it helped him to escape death?
Ans. The doctor is dead frightened with the snake, coiled around his left arm, its hood facing his face,
just four inches away. Had he panicked, he would have reacted by running or shouting out of fright,
causing the snake to strike. But though frightened, he remained calm and still, aware that the snake
might strike at his slightest movement. His mind remained active all the while. He used his presence of
mind to divert his thoughts from the danger confronting him, by remembering God, and what the
snake was thinking, looking at its reflection in the mirror, and so on.
He was lucky, that the snake turned its head and looked at his reflection in the mirror, uncoiled itself
from his left arm, and moved on to the table. The doctor, with his keen presence of mind, still
holding his breath, quietly got up from the chair and moved away from the room, into the veranda
and then ran as fast as he could. By remaining calm one can properly assess any situation, by
remaining focused and using one's presence of mind. Thus, these qualities helped him to escape
from the jaws of death.

Q2. The doctor has an inflated opinion of himself at the beginning but later in the story it
changes. Why and How?
Ans. Initially, the doctor has an inflated opinion of himself. He looks into the mirror, admires his
reflection and thinks if he grows a thin moustache, and wears a smile, he would look more
handsome. His looks and his status as a doctor would impress women and he might then be able to
marry a rich, woman doctor. But when he encounters a snake, which coils itself around his left arm,
with its hood facing him, just four inches away, he is scared. Face to face with death, he
remembers God. It is a humbling experience for him. He feels he is a poor, and stupid doctor.
Pride makes one blind to one's faults but when humbled by a power or being superior than one's
pride takes a hit and he becomes aware of his shortcomings. The doctor too realised his folly of
not keeping a medicine for a snake bite in his room. He also becomes aware of his
poverty, staying in a rented accommodation, exposed to rats and snakes.