Prose -1

The Last Lesson

-Alphonse Daudet

Main Characters:-
●​ [Link]
A dedicated and passionate teacher of French for forty years at the same institution. M.
Hamel is devoted to his work and takes great pride in introducing his students to the French
language and culture. He comes across as a stern enforcer in the classroom, but he also has
a sharp sense of humour that he uses to keep his students interested. His commitment to
the mother tongue is demonstrated when, in spite of the fact that it was now against the
law to teach French in schools, he chooses to conduct his final session in French despite the
enforcement of the German orders. His character embodies the values of patriotism,
courage, and dedication to one’s profession.
●​ Franz
A young boy who lives in a small town in Alsace district of France, which was annexed by
Germany (then Prussia) in the Franco-Prussian war. Franz is a typical young boy who likes to
play with his friends, go fishing in the river, and daydream. Although he is a talented
student who is constantly eager to learn new things, he is not particularly interested in
learning French. Franz is shown to be ignorant of the political tensions between France and
Germany and to be naive. Knowing that the Germans are imposing their language on the
region, he is horrified to find that this will be his final French session. Despite his initial
disinterest, Franz eventually comes to appreciate the beauty and value of his mother tongue
and has a profound feeling of loss as he witnesses its disappearance. He also develops a
liking for the teacher M Hamel who he earlier despised. Now that they will not be taught
French, Franz wants to learn it!

Supporting Characters:-
●​ Wachter
●​ Hauser

Key Points
●​ Linguistic Chauvinism
●​ Loss of Language and Culture
●​ Importance of Native Language
●​ M. Hamel's Last Lesson
●​ Franz's Transformation
●​ Villagers' Presence
●​ Impact of War
●​ Key Literary Devices
●​ The Central Message

Main Points:
●​ In 1870, during the France-Prussian War, Prussia (Germany, Poland, and parts of Austria)
conquered two French districts, Alsace and Lorraine. After the conquest, Berlin ordered the
French districts to stop teaching French in all the schools across the districts and hire new
teachers who could teach German, instead of French.
●​ Franz, as usual, is late for the class and on the way notices Prussian soldiers drilling, people
hanging on the bulletin board to check the updates of the war, and a solemn classroom. He
notices that the area around the school is very silent.
●​ M Hamel, the teacher in a school of the Prussian conquered states informs his students that
this was his last French lesson because of the orders from higher authorities. M Hamel does
not scold Franz that day for being late to the class and for not learning his lessons. Instead,
he starts recalling memories when he used to scold students for doing the same and how all
of them behaved in a manner that they had sufficient time to learn French. He further talks
about French being a beautiful language. M Hamel wears his special suit, the one he carries
on Sunday morning and on special occasions only.
●​ After entering the class, Franz notices that the last benches that were usually empty that
day were filled by the villagers. On hearing about the orders from Berlin, he realized that all
of them were there to applaud M Hamel for his dedicated forty years of faithful service, and
to feel sorry for not taking French classes and not going to school.
●​ That day all of them did their class work and listened to M Hamel with full attention,
dedication, and devotion since they were aware of the fact that they were never going to
learn French again and M Hamel was never going to teach them again.
●​ As the clock struck twelve and noises of Prussian soldiers were audible to them, M Hamel
with a very heavy heart wanted to bid goodbye to his classroom, his students, his French
lessons. But the tears in his eyes and heaviness in his heart choke him and force him to not
say a word.
●​ He takes the chalk in his hand and writes on the blackboard ‘Vive La France’, which means
'Long Live France’. With utter anger and grief, he asked the students to go and said that the
class was dismissed.
Summary
The story is narrated by a French boy, Franz. He is lazy but sensitive and likes to play. He
dislikes studying French and hates his teacher M. Hamel.
After overpowering their districts of Alsace and Lorraine in France, Berlin has ordered that
German language instead of French be taught in the schools there.
It is the last day of their French teacher M. Hamel, who has been there for forty years. He is full
of grief, nostalgia and patriotism. As a mark of respect to his hard work, the village men also attend
his ‘last lesson’. They are sad as they did not learn their mother tongue, French in their childhood.
Franz is shocked to know that it’s his last lesson, as he does not know French. Now, suddenly, he
gets interested in learning it and understands everything taught on that day!
He develops an instant liking for the teacher, M. Hamel and respects him for his sincerity and
hard work.
He feels sad at departing from him and is ashamed for not being able to recite the lesson of
participles.
M. Hamel tells them that they all are at fault for not being eager enough to learn, putting it off
to the next day. He blames himself for not teaching them sincerely.
His patriotism is reflected in his praise for the French language as being the most beautiful and
most logical language in the world. He tells the class to guard their language as being close to one’s
language is the key to escape from the prison of slavery. It will help them in getting free from the
Germans.
They realize the importance of learning their mother tongue and that they have been defeated
by the Germans because of their illiteracy.
Franz feels that it is not possible to take away one’s language from a person as it is natural to
each being, may it be the “coo” to the pigeons or “French” to the Frenchmen.
 Prose - 2
The Lost Spring
“Stories of Stolen Childhood”
-Anees Jung

Main Characters:
●​ Saheb-e-Alam
A young boy who lives in the Seemapuri slum which is on the periphery of Delhi. His family
is one of the squatters who came from Dhaka. According to the writer, Saheb would be in
utter disbelief if he knew that the meaning of his name is ‘lord of the world’ which is ironic
considering the conditions that he lives in. Saheb e Alam, like others who live in Seemapuri,
is a ragpicker. He comes in the morning and disappears by afternoon along with a group of
friends who roam around the streets barefooted. For Saheb e Alam ragpicking is a source of
joy and mystery. This is because he sometimes finds a rupee in the pile of garbage and
once you find that, there is always some hope to find more. He lives in a deprived condition
in seemapuri where even the most basic amenities are unavailable. As a ragpicker Saheb was
his own boss, a free man but, when he took up a job at the tea stall, he sacrificed his
freedom.
●​ Mukesh
A young boy who lives in Firozabad which is the hub of India’s glass blowing industry. The
people of Firozabad are engaged in making bangles and so is Mukesh and his family.
Mukesh lives in a small house which he proudly says is being renovated. It is situated in a
small street which is filled with garbage and tightly packed houses. His family consists of
his grandparents, his elder brother and his wife who is just a few years older than Mukesh.
In a place like Firozabad people have accepted bangle making as their ‘karam’ and poverty,
their fate. Nobody thinks of following a different path and the same is taught to their
children. In such a place, Mukesh was courageous enough to dream of becoming a motor
mechanic. He is determined to make this dream come true no matter what difficulty he
faces. On being asked whether he would become a pilot, Mukesh shows a hint of
embarrassment. His dream of becoming a motor mechanic might have arisen from the cars
passing down the streets of the town but a plane would rarely fly over Firozabad.

​
Key Points
●​ Child Labor and Exploitation
 ●​ Seemapuri Ragpickers
●​ Firozabad Bangle Makers
●​ Loss of Dreams
●​ Forces Perpetuating Poverty
●​ Hope and Resilience
●​ Call for Change

​ Main Points
●​ The author meets a young boy, Saheb-e-Alam who lives in Seemapuri. Seemapuri is the
locality of refugees from Dhaka, who have shifted here in search of daily bread and butter.
The community of Seemapuri people is into the profession of ragpicking.
●​ Saheb says that rag-picking is their source of daily income. They sometimes come across a
10 rupee note in the garbage, and thus consider their garbage bag as ‘gold’.
●​ Along with his friends, Saheb roams around the streets of Seemapuri and neighboring cities
in search of gold in their garbage bags. But, all of them walk barefoot. On asking why they
were not wearing slippers, the group of boys gave various reasons such as they didn’t have
one, or their mother did not keep them off the shelf. The author here tries to reflect on the
condition of the kids that they don’t even have a pair of shoes to wear. One of the boys from
the group says that he has never owned a pair of shoes in his entire lifetime, while the one
who was wearing two different shoes replies that someone gave them to him.
●​ The author describes Seemapuri in the chapter. She says, “In structures of mud, with roofs of
tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water, live 10,000 ragpickers”.
●​ For the elders of Seemapuri, ragpicking is a way of survival. On the other hand, for children,
it is wrapped in wonder, since they might end up finding some extra bucks.
●​ Saheb likes to play tennis but given the difference of class in two sections of our society, he
can’t do so. During the night, when no one is around, Saheb sneaks in to play the game and
the watchman allows him to do so for some time. By this stanza, you can understand that
since the watchman belongs to the same community and can understand his feelings, he lets
him play on the tennis court for some time.
●​ Then, Saheb starts working at a tea shop. He said that he gets 800 rupees in a month and all
his meals. He has to carry the canister of milk which he feels is heavier than his plastic bag,
since he was his own master when he used to do rag picking but now he works for someone
else.
●​ Another story in the chapter is from Firozabad, a city that indulges in the art of
bangle-making.
●​ Mukesh, a young boy from the city, wants to be a motor mechanic. This makes him different
and brave from the rest of the people since he has dreamt of doing something completely
out of the box, rather than his family and town.
 ●​ In Firozabad, children work in glass furnaces to produce bangles of different shapes and
sizes, unaware of the fact that it is illegal for children to work at such a young age,
especially in these dangerous locations.
●​ The author then describes the area and house where Mukesh resides. “We walk down
stinking lanes choked with garbage, past homes that remain hovels with crumbling walls,
wobbly doors, no windows, crowded with families of humans and animals coexisting in a
primeval state”. The house is described in such a manner, “bangs a wobbly iron door with his
foot, and pushes it open. We enter a half-built shack. In one part of it, thatched with dead
grass, is a firewood stove over which sits a large vessel of sizzling spinach leaves. On the
ground, in large aluminum platters, are more chopped vegetables”.
●​ The story then talks about Indian customs prevalent in every house in India, despite the
race, class, and community of people. The lines from the text that describe it are, “Not much
older in years, she has begun to command respect as the bahu, the daughter-in-law of the
house, already in charge of three men — her husband, Mukesh, and their father. When the
older man enters, she gently withdraws behind the broken wall and brings her veil closer to
her face. As custom demands, daughters-in-law must veil their faces before male elders”.
●​ Then the author talks about two different worlds where one family is caught under the web
of poetry while the other one consists of the vicious circle of middlemen, sahukar,
policemen, and politicians.
●​ On being asked if he wants to fly an airplane someday, he answers ‘No’ with a look of
embarrassment on his face. This shows that he is very practical about his dream since he
understands the difference between driving a car and flying an airplane. He understands
that he needs a good education to be able to fly an airplane.

Summary
“Sometime I find a rupee in the garbage”
The narrator talks about a boy named Saheb. He is a ragpicker whom the narrator sees every
morning. She talks to him and finds out that he came from Dhaka long back when, according to his
mother, his house was swept away by storms. That was the reason why his family had come here to
earn a living. The narrator asks him to join a school, but he replies that there is no school in his
neighbourhood. The narrator promises him that she will start a school, and he is welcome there.
Saheb’s face lights up. A few days later, Saheb comes up to the narrator, asking her if her school is
ready. The narrator realises that promises like these are made to children like Saheb all the time,
and they are never kept.
The narrator goes on to talk about how children in extreme poverty live and what the
conditions surrounding them are like. She talks about how children walk barefoot on the streets,
and the excuse given for this is that it’s a tradition to walk barefoot. She thinks that more than
tradition, it might be an excuse to justify a continuous state of poverty. She remembers another
incident where a man from Udipi told her that he used to pray for a pair of shoes at a temple in his
childhood. Thirty years later, when the narrator visited the temple and the town, she could see a
little boy walking in his shoes. Their prayers were answered.
To give us a background of Saheb, the narrator talks about Seemapuri – a place near Delhi
where the ragpickers who came from Bangladesh in 1971 settled down. They have not been given any
identities or permits. Only ration cards are given to them that help them eat food and vote for
politicians. They are deprived of any other rights. Over the years, ragpicking has become an art for
them. To a child like Saheb, finding a rupee or a ten rupee note is a big achievement. One day, she
sees Saheb wearing a pair of tennis shoes. One of them had a hole in it, and it did not seem to
bother him because it was a dream come true for a child who had always walked barefoot.
Later, the narrator sees Saheb with a steel canister in his hand. She learns that he has started
working at a tea stall recently and is paid 800 rupees in addition to daily meals. When asked if he
was happy with his new job, Saheb looked downcast. He was working under someone, and his
freedom was taken away from him. He no longer had a carefree attitude, and the steel canister
seemed heavier than the plastic bag that he used to carry for ragpicking.

‘I Want to Drive a Car’

This excerpt is about the fate of bangle makers in Firozabad. The author portrays the kind of
poverty that looms over the houses and streets of bangle makers in this town. Mukesh, a young boy
from Firozabad takes the narrator to his house, where she discovers the grim conditions under
which the people work — around furnaces with high temperatures without proper air or light. They
do not know that it is illegal for children to be working under these kinds of conditions.
The narrator observes that bangle-making is done by people belonging to a particular caste
specialising in it. The art has been passed down from parents to their children for generations. Even
after the whole family worked at the bangle factory, they remained poor. Mukesh’s family was not
able to build a proper house yet. The same is the fate of other people living in this area. The sorrow
and desperation of being unable to feed themselves even three proper meals daily reduced their
courage to fight against the situation.
When asked why they cannot form a cooperative to improve their living conditions, they said
they fear being beaten and hauled away by the police for doing something illegal. Their fathers and
forefathers were trapped by middlemen. The younger generations are still paying the price for that.
The bangle makers are downtrodden due to the poverty and stigma of their caste. The narrator
points out the presence of a vicious circle here: The involvement of sahukars, policemen and
middlemen who do not let these people rise up in society.
Therefore no one dares to break away from this line of the profession, from this tragic world of
poverty and suppression. Mukesh dreams of being a motor mechanic, and the narrator sees a flash
of rebellion in his eyes. She asked him if he would like to be a pilot someday. Mukesh seemed
embarrassed and replied that he was happy dreaming about being a motor mechanic. Flying a plane
was a dream beyond his reach.
 Prose - 3
Deep Water
-William Douglas

​ Main Characters:
●​ William Douglas
He had a severe phobia of water. He was a young boy when he had an awful experience. At
the age of five, he was pushed into the deep end and he almost drowned in a swimming
pool. He was a shy, reserved individual who lacked confidence. Because of his fear, he was
afraid of being teased, mocked, and denigrated by his classmates. His fear of the water
often gets in the way of his confidence. He could not fulfill his desire of swimming in fresh
water lakes. He made the decision to get over his phobia of water, and with the help of a
swimming instructor, he started taking swimming classes. He practiced continuously until he
mastered swimming because he was dedicated to his objective and was motivated to achieve
it. Finally, he defeated the fear and realized that it only existed in his mind. The victory
made him live a better and fulfilling life.
●​ Mr. Ross, the swimming instructor
He is a kind and understanding individual. He is a passionate swimming coach who is
knowledgeable and experienced. His students feel comfortable around him since he is
approachable, kind, and calm. He has a great sense of humor that adds to the fun of learning
to swim. He is aware of how crucial it is to be patient and kind when interacting with phobia
sufferers. By supporting William, complimenting him for his accomplishments, and paying
close attention to him, he helps William in overcoming his fear. Along with teaching him how
to swim, he also conveys him the important life lessons like the value of conquering one’s
anxieties, the benefits of hard effort and perseverance, and the joy of accomplishing one’s
goals.

Key Points:
●​ Childhood Trauma
●​ Fear of Water
●​ Confronting the Fear
●​ Overcoming the Fear
●​ Theme of Fear
●​ Realization about Fear
●​ Personal and reflective style
 Main Points:
●​ When Douglas was 10 or 11 years old, he decided to learn how to swim. The Yakima river at
his place was quite treacherous and thus he opted for the YMCA Swimming pool to grab the
opportunity.
●​ He explains that his aversion towards water began when he was three years old and had
gone to California beach with his parents, for surfing. While doing the activity, he was
knocked down by the waves and buried in water which instilled the fear of water in his
mind.
●​ As he began learning to swim at the YMCA pool, it brought back the memories of childhood
thus leaving him under-confident. But eventually, that changed and he was starting to get
at ease with water.
●​ One day he went to the pool and found out that no one was there. As he was observing the
white tiles of the swimming pool, a bruiser boy in his teens, came and ducked him inside the
water. Douglas landed in the sitting position.
●​ The boy threw him at the end of the swimming pool which was 9 feet deep. As he went
down, he prepared himself to jump up to the surface as soon as he touched the ground.
Unfortunately, that could not happen.
●​ In the next few paragraphs, he describes the next three attempts of jumping up to the
surface in detail.
●​ The first attempt was described in this manner. “Those nine feet were more like ninety, and
before I touched bottom my lungs were ready to burst. But when my feet hit bottom I
summoned all my strength and made what I thought was a great spring upwards. I imagined
I would bob to the surface like a cork. Instead, I came up slowly. I opened my eyes and saw
nothing but water — water that had a dirty yellow tinge to it. I grew panicky. I reached up as
if to grab a rope and my hands clutched only at water. I was suffocating. I tried to yell but
no sound came out. Then my eyes and nose came out of the water — but not my mouth”.
●​ The second attempt took place in this manner. “But the jump made no difference. The water
was still around me. I looked for ropes, ladders, and water wings. Nothing but water. A mass
of yellow water held me. Stark terror took an even deeper hold on me, like a great charge of
electricity. I shook and trembled with fright. My arms wouldn’t move. My legs wouldn't. I
tried to call for help, to call my mother. Nothing happened”.
●​ He remembers his mother at this moment since her mother is the symbol of comfort and
peace. At that moment, he wanted peace, he was looking for something that could get him
some comfort, that could help him and bring him back to the water. This line explains the
human tendency to remember someone so special at a moment of need, like a mother.
Someone you have full faith and trust in, someone you can rely on, someone who gives you
peace, someone who brings you comfort. And mother is the amalgamation of all of the
above.
●​ The third attempt has been described by Douglas with these words, “I sucked for air and got
water. The yellowish light was going out. Then all effort ceased. I relaxed. Even my legs felt
 limp, and a blackness swept over my brain. It wiped out fear; it wiped out terror. There was
no more panic. It was quiet and peaceful. Nothing to be afraid of. This is nice... to be drowsy...
to go to sleep... no need to jump... too tired to jump... It’s nice to be carried gently... to float
along in space... tender arms around me... tender arms like Mother’s... now I must go to
sleep... I crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell”.
●​ He was feeling sleepy and around his mother’s arms which are again a reflection of peace
and comfort. These lines describe the amount of stress, pain, and fear he was going through.
He felt like he had crossed the oblivion, which means that he had taken the final abode.
●​ Someone got him from the swimming pool and saved his life, but the nightmares of the
incident kept haunting him for years. The fear deprived him of fishing, boating, swimming,
and having fun around the water.
●​ Then he decided to learn to swim and conquer his fear. After a few months, he learned to
swim and challenged himself to swim across various locations and when alone.
●​ He describes his achievement through beautiful lines, “Trying to scare me, eh? Well, here’s to
you! Look!” And off I’d go for another length of the pool”, “Well, Mr. Terror, what do you
think you can do to me?”

Summary
The story has been taken from the author’s autobiography- ‘Of Men and Mountains’.​
In this piece, he tells about his fear of water and how he conquered it by determination and
willpower.
As a child, when he was 3 or 4 years old, he would go to the beach in California with his father.
He would get scared by the might of the huge waves which swept over him and it instilled fear in
his subconscious mind.
A few years later, in his eagerness to learn swimming, he joined a swimming pool where an
incident further increased his terror. He was pushed into the pool by another boy and experienced
death closely.
Many years after that incident, he stayed away from water but the desire to go fishing and
swimming in nature was strong enough to motivate him to overcome his fear.
He learned swimming with the help of an instructor who ensured that William knew swimming
well enough to be able to swim in huge lakes and waterfalls also.​
Still, when he would swim, the fear from his childhood experiences, embedded in his
subconscious mind would grip him over and over again. He wanted to conquer that fear.
He faced it sarcastically, thinking that now, as he knew how to swim, what harm could it do to
him. He challenged his fear in the face of it and finally, it would vanish.​
It was a baseless fear instilled in his subconscious mind. This experience was valuable for him.
He had experienced terror and death. He overcame it and finally conquered it.​
William realized that death is peaceful and it is the fear of death that is terrorizing. His will to
live life grew intensely as he had overcome his fear and started living fearlessly.
 Prose - 3
The Rattrap
-Selma Lagerlof

Main Characters:
●​ Peddler:
He was a beggar who led a nomadic way of life. He was quite imaginative. He wore rags, had
sunken cheeks, and his eyes gleamed from hunger. He roamed around the town selling wire
rattraps that he made himself. He obtained this wire either through begging or by stealing.
He possessed certain human flaws, such as the need to steal and beg to meet his basic
necessities. He spent his evenings wherever he could find shelter because he had nowhere to
stay during the day. He believes that the entire universe resembles a giant rat trap. It
merely exists in order to attract others with bait. He believes that all wealth, happiness,
food, clothing, and shelter are merely traps. The rattrap shuts on the person who touches
the bait if and when he does.

●​ Ironmaster:

He was the owner of Ramsjo Ironworks. He thought the man selling rattraps was an old
friend from the army. He lacked the ability to make accurate conclusions about others. He
was a kind and gentle man. He welcomed the street vendor to his home to look after him. He
gets furious when he realizes that he had mistaken the stranger to be an old friend. He not
only invited the peddler to spend the night at his house, but also provided him with a dinner
of porridge. It was on his daughter’s insistence that he let the stranger remain at their
house for Christmas festivities. He was a loving caring father who could see things from his
daughter’s perspective.

●​ Edla Willmanson:

The ironmaster’s daughter is characterised as being “not at all attractive, but humble and
extremely shy. Even after it is established that the peddler is not Captain von Stahle, she is
incredibly kind, convincing him to come to her house and then persuading her father to let
him stay for Christmas Eve. Edla is more smart and observant than her father, as seen by
the fact that she can identify the peddler’s fear and the likelihood that he has done a crime
that he is evading right away. She is the most admirable character in the story and her
kindness and charity bring about a change in the peddler’s heart.
 Key Points:
●​ Theme of Temptation and Redemption
●​ The Peddler's Pessimistic View
●​ The Crofter's Hospitality
●​ The Ironmaster and Edla
●​ Edla's Influence
●​ Universal Message

​ Main Points:
●​ There is a man who sells rattrap for his survival. He makes those rattraps on his own by
stealing the materials he can manage to collect through petty thievery and begging.
●​ He had a line of thought about his rattrap and the world, “he was struck by the idea that
the whole world about him — the whole world with its lands and seas, its cities and villages
— was nothing but a big rattrap. It had never existed for any other purpose than to set baits
for people. It offered riches and joys, shelter and food, heat and clothing, exactly as the
rattrap offered cheese and pork, and as soon as anyone let himself be tempted to touch the
bait, it closed in on him, and then everything came to an end”.
●​ One day as he was walking down the road he came across a little cottage. He knocked on the
door and asked for shelter. An old man opened the door who was alone in the house and
happily let the peddler in. He also offered him supper, and tobacco, and played cards with
him, after which they went to sleep.
●​ The old man used to work at Ramjso Ironworks until his retirement, post which his daily
bread and butter came from his cow. He said that last week he earned thirty kronor by
selling milk and went to the window to fetch a pouch where the money was kept.
●​ The next day the old man went on to sell the milk and the peddler went on his own way.
Later, he came back, smashed a window pane, took the pouch, and stole thirty kronor.
●​ Scared of what he did just now, he chose to walk through the woods due to the fear of theft.
On entering the woods, he realized that he had been lost and could not find a way to get out
of it. Not in more than a second he realized that he had fallen into the trap he used to talk
and think about. For those thirty Kronros, he would now be stuck in the forest.
●​ After leaving all the hopes of getting out of the forests as he was lying on the ground, he
heard the sound of thumping. He followed the direction of the sound and came across
Ramjso Ironworks. He asked for a place to stay and was offered one by the workers.
 ●​ Later, the owner of the Ramjso Ironworks came on a round. On seeing the vagabond lying
near the furnace, he confused him with an old acquaintance and asked him to come home.
The rattrap seller thought that given the condition he was in, the acquaintance might be
given a few kronors, so he acted like the old acquaintance but refused to go home.
●​ Mr Ironmaster left after the peddler did not agree to go home with him. After half an hour,
he heard the voice of a carriage. The ironmaster had sent his daughter to fetch the peddler,
thinking that she might be able to persuade him.
●​ Edla Willmansson, the daughter of the ironmaster, was so sweet with her words and
gestures that the peddler could not say no to her. Then, all of them went home.
●​ On reaching home, the vagabond was offered new clothes and asked to freshen up. After
getting cleaned up, the ironmaster realized that the rattrap seller was not an old
acquaintance and asked him to leave. The peddler agreed and told him about his rattrap
theory, to which the ironmaster laughed and threatened to call the police.
●​ Edla asked the peddler to stay for Christmas since he had been promised so. All of them
spent the next two days and Christmas happily. After Christmas, when it was time for the
rattrap seller to leave, Edla told him to keep the clothes and consider those as his Christmas
present. The peddler was utterly shocked by the kind gestures of the lady.
●​ The next morning, Ironmaster and his daughter were off to church for their service, while
the rattrap seller was still sleeping. While returning from the church, the ironmaster was
frightened since he had heard in the church that a rattrap seller had stolen money from an
old man’s house who lived down the street.
●​ As they reach home, the ironmaster asks his servants regarding the rattrap seller, to which
they reply that he had gone long before and has left a note for Edla.
●​ The note that the thirty kronors and a sweet message for the lady. The note reads,
“Honoured and noble Miss, “Since you have been so nice to me all day long as if I was a
captain, I want to be nice to you, in return, as if I was a real captain — for I do not want you
to be embarrassed at this Christmas season by a thief; but you can give back the money to
the old man on the roadside, who has the money pouch hanging on the window frame as
bait for poor wanderers. “The rattrap is a Christmas present from a rat who would have been
caught in this world’s rattrap if he had not been raised to captain because in that way he
got the power to clear himself. “Written with friendship and high regard, “Captain von
Stahle.”

Summary:
The Rattrap is a story about a rattrap seller who leads a very poor life as his earnings are very low.
He has to resort to thievery and begging to make both ends meet. He is alone in this whole world
and leads a miserable life. So he starts knitting up various kinds of thoughts. One of these thoughts
is of supposing the whole world as a big rattrap. His views are that the world offers us various
types of baits in the form of comforts of life. This in return traps us into the rattrap of the world
and leads us to various types of miseries.
Every night, the peddler had to search for shelter as he had no home. One evening he was offered
shelter by an old crofter. The next morning he stole the crofter’s money which he had earned by
selling his cow’s milk. To safeguard himself, the peddler chose the path through the forest which
was secluded, but soon found himself trapped in the forest as he wasn’t able to find the way out of
the dense forest. Later on, he finds a way to a forge and takes shelter there. Something unusual
happens. The ironmaster mistakes him as an old friend and invites him to his house. The poor
peddler rejects the offer due to the fear of being caught. Soon he is invited by the ironmaster‘s
daughter. The next morning he is somehow stopped by the ironmaster’s daughter for Christmas Eve
even after being caught that he was a peddler and not Captain Stalhe.
The next day after Christmas, when the ironmaster and his daughter visit the church, they come to
know that the man is a thief who had stolen money from the old crofter. The iron master and his
daughter repent for sheltering a thief and wonder at what all things he would have stolen by that
time. Here comes a twist as instead of stealing, the peddler gifts the ironmaster’s daughter a
rattrap. She finds a letter of thanks and the stolen money inside the rattrap. The peddler thanks
Edla for her kindness and requests her to return the stolen money to the crofter. This story gives us
the message that goodness in a human being can be awakened at any time with your own good
deeds.
 Prose - 5
Indigo
-Louis Fischer

​ Main Points
●​ Mahatma Gandhi:

The “Indigo” chapter recognizes Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership in achieving justice for
oppressed people through convincing argumentation and negotiation. Gandhiji is portrayed
as a man of moral convictions who supported non-violent protests and nonviolent
demonstrations. He is shown as someone who was willing to go to great lengths to achieve
his goals and stood up for what he believed in. Gandhiji had a strong magnetic presence and
persuasive powers. He had the ability to attract individuals from every level of society and
turn them into allies in the freedom movement. It also emphasises his understanding of
legal procedure and regard for the law. One gets to know about his humble lifestyle and
rejection of materialism and luxury. He is a knowledgeable, kind, and determined person who
is prepared to make significant sacrifices for the benefit of his nation and its people.

●​ Rajkumar Shukla:

He was a poor, emaciated sharecropper in his mid-30s who had fallen victim to British
landlords. Despite his illiteracy, he was adamant about upsetting the British landlords’
unfairness. He is portrayed as a persistent, determined individual who is not easily deterred
by challenges. He has few words but strong opinions. He uses simple expressions, yet his
tone of voice as well as his actions show his sincerity and determination. In order to get
Gandhiji’s assistance in fighting the British landlords, he went to meet him. He stayed by
Gandhiji’s side until he gave him a time to visit Champaran. In the Champaran episode, Raj
Kumar Shukla had a significant part to perform.

Key Points:
●​ Champaran's Indigo Sharecroppers
●​ Gandhi's Intervention
●​ Resistance and Civil Disobedience
●​ Legal Battles and Negotiations
●​ Social Reforms
 ●​ Historical Context
●​ Symbolizes the depth of the issues faced by the farmers

Main Points:
●​ When Mahatma Gandhi was at an annual convention in Lucknow in 1917, he came across a
peasant among the present 2301 delegates, who asked him to come to Champaran with him,
and the people of the district needed him. The peasant was ‘Rajkumar Shukla’.
●​ Rajkumar Shukla was an ordinary peasant from Bohar who wanted to fight against the
unfair landlord system imposed by the Britishers on all the peasants of Bihar. Someone had
told him that Gandhi could help him regarding the same and he should contact him.
●​ Gandhi told him how busy he was with other people across India but Rajkumar did not lose
hope and kept following Gandhi wherever he went. Looking at the dedication and willpower
of Shukla, Gandhi was quite impressed and asked him to meet him in Calcutta, from where
they would travel to Champaran.
●​ After Gandhi’s commitments were taken care of, both of them boarded a train for Patna.
Shukla took Gandhi to the residence of a lawyer whose name was Rajendra Prasad. He was
the man who later became the president of the INC and India, but they could not meet him
that day since he was out of town.
●​ Gandhi decided to collect complete information about the incidents related to Indigo and
decided to go to Muzzafarpur. He sent a telegram to J.B. Kriplani, a professor at the Arts
College of Muzzafarpur. On 15th of April 1917, he reached the place.
●​ The lawyers of Muzzafarpur told Gandhi about their cases and fees since they represented
peasants in a court of law. On hearing the fees amount, Gandhi scolded them for charging
high fees to the poor peasants and came to the conclusion that going to the court would do
them little good and peasants have to be freed from fear.
●​ Gandhi found that the problem was that most of the arable land in the Champaran district
was divided into large estates owned by Englishmen and worked by Indian tenants. The chief
commercial crop was indigo. The landlords compelled all tenants to plant three twentieth or
15 percent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. This
was done by a long-term contract. The landlords learned that Germany had developed
synthetic indigo. They, thereupon, obtained agreements from the sharecroppers to pay them
compensation for being released from the 15 percent arrangement. Meanwhile, the
information about synthetic indigo reached the illiterate peasants who had signed, and they
wanted their money back.

Summary
Louis Fischer met Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram. Gandhi told him how he initiated the
departure of the British from India. He recalled that in 1917 at the request of Rajkumar Shukla, a
sharecropper from Champaran, he visited the place. Gandhi had gone to Lucknow to attend the
annual meeting of the Indian National Congress in the year 1916. Shukla told him that he had come
from Champaran to seek his help in order to safeguard the interests of the sharecroppers. Gandhi
told him that he was busy so Shukla accompanied him to various places till he consented to visit
Champaran. His firm decision impressed Gandhiji and he promised him that he would visit Calcutta
at a particular date and then Shukla could come and take him along to Champaran. Shukla met him
at Calcutta and they took a train to Patna. Gandhi went to lawyer Rajendra Prasad’s house and they
waited for him. In order to grab complete knowledge of the situation, he reached Muzzafarpur on
15th April 1917. He was welcomed by Prof. J.B Kriplani and his students. Gandhi was surprised to see
the immense support for an advocate of home rule like him. He also met some lawyers who were
already handling cases of sharecroppers. As per the contract, 15 percent of the peasant’s
landholding was to be reserved for the cultivation of indigo, the crop of which was given to the
landlord as rent. This system was very oppressive. Gandhi wanted to help the sharecroppers. So he
visited the British landlord association but he was not given any information because he was an
outsider. He then went to the commissioner of the Tirhut division who threatened Gandhi and asked
him to leave Tirhut. Instead of returning, he went to Motihari. Here he started gathering complete
information about the indigo contract. He was accompanied by many lawyers. One day as he was on
his way to meet a peasant, who was maltreated by the indigo planters, he was stopped by the police
superintendent’s messenger who served him a notice asking him to leave. Gandhi received the notice
but disobeyed the order. A case was filed against him. Many lawyers came to advise him but when
he stressed, they all joined his struggle and even consented to go to jail in order to help the poor
peasants. On the day of trial, a large crowd gathered near the court. It became impossible to handle
them. Gandhi helped the officers to control the crowd. Gandhi gave his statement that he was not a
lawbreaker but he disobeyed so that he could help the peasants. He was granted bail and later on,
the case against him was dropped. Gandhi and his associates started gathering all sorts of
information related to the indigo contract and its misuse. Later, a commission was set up to look
into the matter. After the inquiry was conducted, the planters were found guilty and were asked to
pay back to the peasants. Expecting refusal, they offered to pay only 25 percent of the amount.
Gandhi accepted this too because he wanted to free the sharecroppers from the binding of the
indigo contract. He opened six schools in Champaran villages and volunteers like Mahadev Desai,
Narhari Parikh, and his son, Devdas taught them. Kasturbai, the wife of Gandhi, used to teach
personal hygiene. Later on, with the help of a volunteer doctor, he provided medical facilities to the
natives of Champaran, thus making their life a bit better. A peacemaker, Andrews wanted to
volunteer at Champaran ashram. But Gandhi refused as he wanted Indians to learn the lesson of
self-reliance so that they would not depend on others. Gandhi told the writer that it was
Champaran’s incident that made him think that he did not need the Britisher’s advice while he was
in his own country.
 Poem - 1
My Mother at Sixty-six
-Kamala Das

​ Main Points:
●​ Kamala Das

Kamla Das has described her feeling of love and attachment towards her ageing mother.
Once the poet went to visit her mother, she was on her way back to the airport to return to
Cochin. She looked at her mother who was seated beside her in the car as she had dozed off
to sleep and her ageing face – was smoky in colour like ash. Her mouth was open and she
resembled a dead body. The poet realized that her mother was old. She felt pain and
sympathy for her. In order to come out of the gloom, the poet shifted her glance and looked
out of the car’s window. There she saw young trees pass by, little children were running out
of their houses into the playgrounds. They symbolised energy, life and happiness contrary
to the ageing face of her mother. It reminded her of her childhood when her mother had
been young whereas now she is encircled with the fear of losing her and that has made her
insecure. The poet is feeling the pain of separation, leaving her mother and going as she
fears losing her mother forever as she could die of old age. But she keeps a brave front, she
hides her tears and smiles.

●​ The poetess’s mother:

The reader sees the mother through the eyes of the poet. It is obvious that the mother has
been a caring and loving parent to evoke such strong feelings of affection in the daughter.
The poet describes her now as being ashen faced like a corpse, or dull like the cold winter’s
moon to imply that her mother is at the tail end of her life. She contrasts her with the
young trees and the energetic children she sees from the car window. It is apparent to the
poet that her mother is now pale and weak, standing at the brink of death. Yet, she prays
for her well-being and hopes to see her again. The mother-daughter bond is strong and
points towards how well the mother had brought up her children.

Key Points:
●​ Ageing and Mortality
●​ Fear of Loss and Separation
●​ Contrast between Youth and Age
 ●​ Emotional Resilience
●​ Family Bonds
●​ Hope and Reunion

Summary
This is a touching poem written by Indian poet Kamla Das who wrote under the pen name of
‘Madhavikutty’. In this poem, she describes her feeling of love and attachment towards her ageing
mother.
Once the poet went to visit her mother. She was on her way back to the airport to return to Cochin.
She looked at her mother who was seated beside her in the car. Her mother had dozed off to sleep
and her ageing face – was smoky in colour like ash. Her mouth was open and she resembled a dead
body. The poet realized that her mother was old. She felt pain and sympathy for her. Her mother
needed love, affection and care.
In order to come out of the gloom, the poet shifted her glance and looked out of the car’s window.
There she saw young trees pass by. Little children were running out of their houses into the
playgrounds. These things were contrary to the ageing face of her mother. They symbolised energy,
life and happiness.
As they reached the airport and the poet was about to leave for the aeroplane, she glanced at her
mother one more time. Her mother appeared weak and pale just like the moon in the winter season
which seems to have lost all its strength. The poet felt the pain and fear of losing her mother. She
was reminded of her childhood when she used to fear losing her mother. As a child she could not
bear to be separated from her mother even for a few moments. Now the loss would be permanent as
her mother was about to die and she would lose her forever.
The poet did not express her feelings. She smiled and said “see you soon, Amma” because she
wanted her mother to live and they could meet again.
 Poem - 2
Keeping Quiet
-Pablo Neruda

​ Theme
​ The power of silence & thought as a means of comprehending & engaging with the world.

Key Points:
Introspection& Self-Reflection; Peace& Unity; Rejection of Violence and Destructive Actions;
Contrast with Inactivity; Nature's Cycle as a Model; Call for Global Unity; Figurative
Language

Summary
“Keeping Quiet” is a peace poem written by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. The poet asks humanity
to count numbers from one to twelve – twelve being the number of hours shown in a clock or the
number of zodiac signs. He requests everyone not to speak because languages create barriers
between people. The moment when everyone stops moving their body will be very special and
different as we have never experienced such a moment before.​
The poet says that in this period of inactivity the fishermen would not harm the whales, the
salt gatherers will not hurt their hands, those who are busy destroying the nature will adopt a new
approach towards life, The men who are preparing for wars and victory based on deaths of innocent
people will join their enemy and stand in unity with them, doing nothing. No one will harm himself
or any other person. Everyone will unite and ponder upon his acts and realize the results of his
deeds.​
The poet clarifies his idea and says further that he does not want people to stand idle. He wants
that there should be no war because he does not want to see trucks laden with dead bodies of the
soldiers. He is promoting Universal brotherhood and peace.​
The poet says that everyone is working continuously, to achieve one’s goals. People are
threatened by death and the fear forces them to work endlessly so that they can achieve
everything quickly. In this mad rush, they do not realize the repercussions of their acts. He wants us
to pause and come out of the mad rush. He wants us to be happy about our achievements and
celebrate them. He wants us to overcome the fear of death and to relax for a while. We should know
the results of our deeds and celebrate our achievements.
When the people will remain quiet for a while, they will realize the purpose of their lives. Just
like all the creations of nature undergo a rebirth with the change of seasons, similarly, keeping
quiet will be a rebirth for the human soul. It will give a new meaning to our life. Again, the poet says
that he will count till twelve and asks everyone to remain quiet while he leaves.
 Chapter - 1
The Third Level
(Vistas)
-Jack Finney

Main Characters:
●​ Charlie

Charlie was a nervous person. His hobby was collecting stamps. He was a young man, yet he
was afraid to live in a violent society. He desired to visit a peaceful and idyllic place. Charley
is an optimist who constantly sees the positive aspects of situations. He regularly expresses
his desire to escape the ordinary reality of his daily existence and is also a dreamer. His
fascination with time travel has led him to think that the Third Level of Grand Central
Station serves as a gateway to the past. Charley is an adventurous person who welcomes a
challenge. Sam is reluctant at first, but Charley persuades him to go with him to explore the
Third Level.

●​ Louisa
She is a practical, level-headed, and rational person. Louisa helps her husband stay
grounded by reminding him of his responsibilities in the outside world. She is also
portrayed as being a loving and understanding wife to her anxious husband. Louisa first has
doubts about the Third Level and believes it is just a figment of her husband’s imagination.
She hears him out, makes an effort to comprehend his anxieties, and implores him to get
help from a professional. She is kind to him and encourages him as he makes baby strides
towards recovery.

●​ Sam

He was a psychiatrist. He was Charley’s friend as well. Sam is a practical and sensible
individual who enjoys his life. He retains his composure and is resistant to Charley’s
imaginative ideas. However, out of curiosity and a desire to disprove Charley, Sam ultimately
decides to go with him.
He spoke with several psychic patients every day, who shared their problems and fears with
him. Sam’s life has become burdened as a result of this. He also began looking for a sojourn.
After hearing about the suffering of those with mental illnesses, he yearned to leave the
 miserable life he had come to lead. Sam prevents himself from enjoying the full potential of
life by his reluctance to take chances and investigate new ideas.

Key Points:
●​ Escapism
●​ The Third Level:
●​ Charlie's Internal Conflict
●​ The Significance of Galesburg
●​ The Letter from Sam
●​ Ambiguity

Main Points:
●​ On visiting the third level of the Grand Central Station, Charley meets his psychiatrist friend
who tells him that he is in search of some peace(a wish he is making unconsciously). He told
him that he was unhappy.
●​ The psychiatrist explains to him and his wife Louisa that he is unhappy because of the life
people are living in today’s day and age.
●​ The conversation continues and he realizes that he is looking for some escape from the
chaotic life he is living. His collection of stamps is also a temporary refuge from reality.
●​ The author then says that during the time of his grandfather, the collection of stamps was a
hobby since people did not need any temporary refuge from reality back then because of
the peaceful life.
●​ One day when he was returning home late from work, he decided to take the subway at the
Grand Central Station instead of the bus since it was faster and he was restless about being
at home.
●​ Then he explains what had happened to him at the Grand Central Station. Check the points
below to easily memorize the incidents that took place:
●​ He passed a dozen men who looked just like him
●​ When he walked down another flight to the second level, where the suburban trains leave
from, ducked into an arched doorway heading for the subway, the trains got lost
●​ He was bumping into new doorways and stairs and corridors
●​ Once he got into a tunnel about a mile long and came out in the lobby of the Roosevelt
Hotel
●​ Another time he came up in an office building on Forty-sixth Street, three blocks away
●​ He saw the station was growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like
roots
 ●​ The corridor began angling left and slanting downward
●​ The tunnel turned sharp left he went down a short flight of stairs and came out on the third
level at Grand Central Station
●​ There were fewer ticket windows and train gates, and the information booth in the center
was wood and old
●​ The man in the booth wore a green eyeshade and long black sleeve protectors. The lights
were dim and sort of flickering, they were open-flame gaslights.
●​ He wore a derby hat, a black four-button suit with tiny lapels, and had a big, black,
handlebar mustache- A representation of men from eighties
●​ He saw a boy holding a newspaper called The World that had not been published for years
●​ Then he describes what Galesburg, Illinois looked like and how badly he wants to visit the
place with his wife, Louisa
●​ On giving the money while buying tickets to Galesburg, the man at the ticket booth told him
that this wasn’t the currency.
●​ The next day, he took out three hundred dollars from his bank and converted them into
old-style money that filled the markets of 1894.
●​ But, he could not reach the third level that day.
●​ He narrated the entire incident to his wife, Louisa and she suggested him to stop looking for
it.
●​ He shifted his focus to collecting stamps with Louisa.
●​ Charley had realized that his friend Sam Weiner had disappeared and he had gone to
Galesburg.
●​ He figured this out because one day when he was going through his collection of stamps, he
came across a letter he had never seen before. But it was written way back in 1894 to his
grandfather.
●​ When he opened the letter and read it, he realized it was written by his friend Sam and
there was a sign attached below which also belonged to Sam.
●​ The story ends with the author revealing that Sam was his psychiatrist friend.

Summary:
The story revolves around a 31 year old man named Charley, who experienced something weird. One
day after work coming from the Subway, he reached the third level of the Grand Central station
(which doesn’t actually exist). He reminisces about the entire experience with his psychiatrist friend
Sam. Charley thought he experienced time travel and had reached somewhere in the
eighteen-nineties, a time before the world saw two of its deadliest wars. As soon as he realised
what time he was in, he immediately decided to buy two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois; one for
himself and the other for his wife. Unfortunately, the currency used in that century was different.
Thus, the next day he withdrew all his savings and got them converted even if it meant bearing
losses. He went looking for the third level but failed to find it. It worried his wife and the
psychiatrist Sam who told him that he is hallucinating in order to take refuge from reality and
miseries of the modern world which is full of worry. Charley thus resorts to his stamp collection in
order to distract himself when suddenly one day he finds a letter from his friend Sam who had
gone missing recently. Sam wrote that he always wanted to believe in the idea of third level and
now that he is there himself, he encourages Charley and Louisa to never stop looking for it.
 Chapter - 2
Tiger King
(Vistas)
-Kalki

Main Characters:
●​ Tiger King

The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, had many titles and
sub-names. However, he was popular as the Tiger King. When he was born, the astrologers
had predicted his death which would be caused by a tiger. But the baby had some
miraculous quality in him. He was only ten days old, when he challenged the prediction of
the astrologers and asked them the manner of his death. The Chief astrologers foretold that
he was born in the hour of the Bull. The Bull and the Tiger are enemies. Therefore his death
would come from the Tiger.
The Crown Prince was brought up in an English environment. He grew up a tall, sturdy, brave
and strong man. He became the king of his state at the age of twenty. He was determined to
fulfill his pledge. So he issued a proclamation not to kill the tigers except by himself. Being a
man of firm determination and self-respect, he denied permission to the British officer to
hunt a tiger. In return, he had to pay a high price to retain his throne. In a duration of ten
years, he killed seventy tigers and his forests became extinct. Then he married a princess
whose father had a large forest cover full of tigers. There he killed more and reached
ninety-nine tigers but the hundredth one merely fainted due to the shock of the bullet. His
hunters came there and killed it. Thus the tiger king thought that he had fulfilled his vow.
Thus it can be said that he was a brave, courageous king but lacked worldly wisdom.

●​ Durai
Durai was a high ranking British officer. He was fond of hunting tigers but his wish was
declined by the king. He then requested for getting a photograph with a tiger killed by
maharaja and this request of his was also rejected

●​ Duraisani

The ‘Duraisani’ was the wife of a high-ranking British officer who visited Pratibandapuram.
She had a lot of influence on her husband. The Tiger King used her to avoid his kingdom
being confiscated by the British officer in response to being refused to do tiger hunting in
his kingdom. The Tiger King sent fifty diamond rings as bribe to Duraisani expecting her to
 keep one or two out of them and send the rest back. However, the ‘Duraisani’ turned out to
be very greedy; she kept all the fifty rings and sent a ‘thank you’ note to the king.

●​ Chief Astrologer
The Chief Astrologer is an important character in the story as he is the one who predicts the
Tiger King’s fate. He is also superstitious and believes in the power of astrology and
prophecy. He vows to burn his books and cut off his tuft in case his prediction turns out to
be wrong.

​ Key Points:
●​ The Prophecy
●​ The Obsession
●​ The Hunt
●​ Ignoring Consequences
●​ The Irony
●​ Satire

​ Main Points:
●​ The story is about the king of Pratibandapuram, The Tiger King. It is an epic tale which
discovers how the tiger king made it to his final abode.
●​ During his birth, when astrologers were foretelling his fortune, words came out of a ten days
old child.
●​ Then the astrologer predicted, “The prince was born in the hour of the Bull. The Bull and the
Tiger are enemies, therefore, death comes from the Tiger’.
●​ These lines from the text describe Tiger King’s early childhood “The boy drank the milk of an
English cow, was brought up by an English nanny, tutored in English by an Englishman, saw
nothing but English films — exactly as the crown princes of all the other Indian states did”.
●​ At the age of twenty, he was handed over the responsibility of his kingdom. But everyone
remembered the predictions of the astrologer and he started on a tiger killing spree saying
that there is no harm in killing tigers in self-defence.
●​ The astrologer arrived again and told the maharaja that he would die from the 100th tiger.
●​ Then, the Maharaja vowed he would attend to all other matters only after killing a hundred
tigers.
 ●​ One day a British officer came to hunt tigers in the state. Maharaja ordered diamond rings
for his wife and sent them to her, thinking she would manipulate her husband and convince
him to not kill tigers in Pratibandapuram, after receiving gifts. The same happened.
●​ The Maharaja vowed he would attend to all other matters only after killing a hundred tigers.
●​ Then the tiger population in the state started to go extinct. So, he decided to marry a
woman of royal caliber with a good tiger population in his state.
●​ Maharaja Jung Jung Bahadur killed five or six tigers each time he visited his father-in-law.
With this, he killed 99 tigers.
●​ By that time, the tiger population in his father in law’s state also became extinct. But he got
a report that a few sheep on the hillside were disappearing.
●​ The Maharaja announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village and set out
on the hunt at once.
●​ When he wasn’t able to locate the tiger, he ordered the dewanto to double the land tax.
●​ The Maharaja threatened the dewan that he would be expelled from his job if he could not
find the last tiger.
●​ The dewan came to know that there was a tiger in a house which was brought from Madras.
Dewan and his wife shoved the tiger in their car and brought it to the Maharaja.
●​ The tiger king shot the 100th tiger, carefully ordered his servants to bring the last tiger in
the grand procession and hastened away in his car.
●​ After the maharaja had gone away, servants came to know that the tiger had fainted as the
bullet shot past him and he was still alive. From the fear of their master, they killed the
tiger and took the body in the grand procession.
●​ A few days later the Maharaja’s son’s third birthday was celebrated.
●​ He spotted a wooden tiger in a toyshop and decided it was the perfect gift for his son’s
birthday.
●​ When both son and father were playing with the wooden tiger, one of the tiny silver on the
wooden tiger pierced the maharaja’s right hand.
●​ The next day, infection flared in the Maharaja’s right hand. In four days, it developed into a
suppurating sore that spread all over the arm.
●​ Even after consulting doctors from Madras and giving their all, the tiger king could not be
saved and hence he lost his life because of the 100th tiger.

Summary
The Tiger King is the story of king Jung Jung Bahadur of Pratibandapuram, a brave warrior whose
death had been predicted when he was born. The chief astrologer had predicted as the royal child
was born in the hour of the bull, the tiger being its enemy, death would come to the child by a tiger.
The brave prince asked all tigers to beware of him. He came to be known as ‘tiger king’.
The prince became king at the age of twenty and considering killing a cow in self defense to be
lawful, went on a tiger killing spree. He was warned of danger from the hundredth tiger that he
encountered. As all the tigers in his kingdom had been killed by him but still he had to kill more, he
married into a state having a high population of tigers.
When his killings reached ninety nine, he desperately sought the next hunt. Fearing the king’s
harshness, the minister planted an old tiger in the forest for him to kill. The king fired at it but the
tiger escaped the bullet miraculously. The royal hunters feared the king and so did not inform him;
rather they killed the beast themselves.
The king was satisfied that he had evaded death and now celebrated his son’s third birthday. He got
a wooden toy tiger as a gift for the prince. Although it was poorly done, the shopkeeper, fearing
punishment under the rules of emergency, charged a high price. As both the king and his son were
playing with the tiger, one of the thin pieces of wood that were erupting out of the wooden
tiger-like feathers pierced the king’s right hand.
The wound became infectious, spread through his arm and as he was being operated upon, he died.
So, ironically, the hundredth tiger killed the king and eventually took its revenge.