English I Year

Story 2
The Five Boons of Life
Mark Twain

I. Answer the following questions in about 100 words each:

a) The young man feels that the five boons…

Refer to the answer in the textbook on Page 89.

b) Every time the youth chooses a gift, the fairy expresses her
dissatisfaction with her gestures. Comment.
Answer: The fairy in the story represents a supernatural being
who understands the consequences of poor choices. At first,
when she offers the five gifts to the young man, she asks him to
be very cautious and choose wisely. He chooses Pleasure first and
is soon disappointed. When he chooses Love, the fairy’s eyes are
filled with tears as it is not the right choice, but the man does not
realise it. Next, when the man chooses Fame, the fairy sighs and
goes away as she knows the man will soon be miserable and put
to shame. Still, the man doesn’t notice her reaction. Later, he
chooses Riches, but he is left unhappy and poor in no time. When
he finally realises that Pleasure, Love, Fame and Riches are
temporary disguises for Pain, Grief, Shame and Poverty, he is
weary and longs for rest. The fairy agrees with him but she is
unable to give him the gift of Death. Instead, he has to suffer in
his old age.

c) “The years have taught you wisdom… surely it must be so,”

remarks the fairy. Is she right? Explain.
Answer: From the five boons the fairy offered, the man chose
Pleasure first. It left him disappointed after a while. The second
gift he chose was Love. But after a few years, it left him unhappy
and desolate and he cursed Love. When the fairy came to him a
third time, she expected him to have turned wiser and learnt his
lesson after the bitter experiences he had had with Pleasure and
Love. She told him again to choose wisely as only one gift was
worthy from the three that were left. But the fairy was not right
in assuming that he had grown wiser with the passing of time.
The man once again made the wrong choice by choosing Fame.

d) What are the thoughts in the mind of the youth when he chooses
wealth? What is the result?
Answer: The man chooses Wealth after being disappointed with
the earlier gifts of Pleasure, Love and Fame. He describes wealth
as power. He decides to squander it and lead a lavish life. He
intends to make his enemies burn with envy. He declares that he
will enjoy all luxuries, all joys, all enchantments of the spirit and
all comforts for the body. He even feels that he will buy respect
with his wealth. The man also regrets not choosing wealth earlier
and enjoying every advantage money can buy. However, in three
short years, he loses his wealth and ends up a gaunt, hollow-eyed
poverty-stricken man, clothed in rags. He curses all the gifts he
had chosen as mockeries and gilded lies.