C.

W VILLA FOR SALE Q & A

(a) Why does Jeanne want to buy a villa?
(b) Why is Gaston not interested in buying the villa in the beginning?
(c) Mrs. A1 Smith makes many statements about the French. Pick out any two and
explain them.
(d) Juliette says “ now I have only one thought that is to get the wretched place off
my hands. I would sacrifice it at any price.” Does she stick to her words? Why/ Why
not?
(e) Who is better in business—Juliette or Gaston? Why?
(f) Do you like/dislike Gaston? Give your reasons.
Answer:
(a) Jeanne wants to buy a villa for her old parents.

(b) Gaston is not interested in buying the villa in the beginning. He is very clear that
his wife Jeanne is not buying the villa for themselves. She wants to put her father
and mother in it. Her parents would take possession of it every year from April to
September. They would also bring all her sister’s children with them. Therefore, he
starts finding fault with the villa and its excessive price.

(c) Mrs. A1 Smith makes many statements about the French. She asks Gaston to
consult his wife before making a deal. Gaston replies that he need not consult her.
Mrs. A1 Smith considers Gaston an ‘exception’. She comments, “Frenchmen usually
have to consult about ten people before they get a move on.” Her next comment is
that “the French think about the past all the time while Americans always think about
the future. She also mocks at the funny way of the Frenchmen while doing business
deals.

(d) Juliette tells her maid that she wants “of get the wretched place off’ her hands.
She is ready to sacrifice it at any price. But she doesn’t stick to her words. She
demands two hundred and fifty thousand francs. Gaston finds it “decidedly
excessive”. Then she tells him that she can’t let it go for less than two hundred
thousand francs. She is interested in making a bargain. She accepts two hundred
thousand francs when the final deal is made.

(e) Gaston is definitely better in business. Juliette is also a hard bargainer. She
pretends that she is going to sell the wretched place at any price. But she makes a
bargain at two hundred thousand francs. She thinks that she is outsmarting Gaston.
But Gaston proves more than her. He outsmarts both—Juliette and Mrs. A1 Smith.
He buys the house in two hundred thousand and sells it for three thousands francs to
Mrs. A1 Smith. In the bargain he saves a cool hundred thousand francs.

(f) It is rather difficult to dislike Gaston. He is a man of this world with the vices and
virtues of a worldly-wise businessman. He is not interested in buying the villa : He
knows that his wife is simply trying to put up her father and mother in it. What is
more, all the children of his wife’s sister will live with them. However, he changes his
stand in the end. He realises that he can earn one hundred thousand francs by
outwitting both Mrs. A1 Smith and Juliette.