Text Book Solutions All Class

George fails in his duty
The narrator was woken up by his housekeeper, Mrs Poppets, at nine o’clock in the morning. He woke Harris up and both began to accuse each other for not waking each other up. Soon they realised that George who took the responsibility of waking them up at 6.30 in the morning was still asleep. He was snoring. They were angry with him and rushed to him. Harris landed him one with a slipper and Jim shouted in his ear. George woke up. “Get up, you fat-headed chunk!” said Harris, “It’s quarter to ten” . He got up and fell into the bath-tub.

Weather -Forecasts
Montmorency had invited two other dogs and they were whiling away their time by fighting with each other on the doorstep. They calmed them with an umbrella and sat down to take their breakfast. George got hold of the paper and read the ‘weather— forecast’ to them. The writer thought that the ‘weather4orecast’ was a fraud. It was generally wrong. He remembered a lovely day that was ruined by the forecast “Heavy showers with thunderstorms may be expected”. They didn’t go out that day. But it did not rain at all. The next morning they read that it was going to be a warm and ‘fair’ day, but they returned home drenched. The barometer was useless.

Getting ready
The friends carted out their luggage on to the doorstep and waited for a cab. They  seemed to have a good deal of luggage. No cab came by, but the street boys stopped there to look at the luggage. Biggs’ boy was the first to arrive. Biggs, their green grocer, secured the services of the most unprincipled errand-boys that civilization had ever produced. He came to a dead stop in front of their luggage. And then another boy stopped there. Then the young gentleman from the boot-shop stopped there. Soon a small crowd collected there. One party thought that it was a wedding and pointed out Harris as the bridegroom, while the party of elders thought that it was a funeral, and the writer was probably the corpse’s brother. Finally, a cab turned up and they went to the Waterloo station. Nobody knew at Waterloo where the eleven-five train to Kingston started from.

Train journey to Kingston
They gave bribe to the engine driver and begged him to reach Kingston by 11. .5. Thus they reached Kingston by the London and South-Western Railway. They learnt, afterwards, that the train they had come by was really the Exeter Mail and they had spent hours looking for it.

The boat journey begins
Their boat was waiting for them at Kingston just below the bridge. They stored their luggage in it and stepped in. With Harris at the sculls, and the writer at the tiller-lines, and Montmorency in the prow, they shot out on to the waters. it was to be their home for a fortnight.

The food question
Now the friends discussed the food question. George said, “Begin with breakfast. Now for breakfast we shall want a frying pan, a tea-pot and a kettle, and a methylated stove, but no oil”. Harris and Jim agreed. George was practical.

Oil stove
They had taken an oil stove with them once, but would not commit this mistake again. The oil oozed down to the rudder and into the river and spoiled the whole atmosphere. Even the wind brought with it the fragrance of paraffin oil. They took an oath never to take paraffin oil with them.

Smell of the cheeses
George suggested that they should take with them eggs, bacon, cold meat, tea, bread and butter and jam. They would not take cheese because cheese, like oil, gave strong smell. The narrator remembered a friend who had bought a couple of cheese of Liverpool. He asked the narrator to take those cheeses to London. He took them away in a cab. The smell of the cheeses made the horses run at a very fast speed. They were beyond control. But a clever porter put a handkerchief over the horse’s nose in order to control his speed. The narrator then caught a train. In the train, people felt so uncomfortable with the smell that they moved out of the bogey in which he was sitting. His friend was detained in Liverpool longer than he expected. Three days later, his wife called on him. Even she hated the smell of the cheeses. She did not keep it in her room in a hotel. Finally, Tom took them to a sea-side town, and buried them on the beach.

Packing begins
The next day, they got all things together and met in the evening to pack them. They got a big Gladstone for the clothes, and a couple of hampers for the food items, and the cooking utensils. They placed everything in a heap, in the middle of the floor and sat round it. The narrator said that he would pack. He thought that he knew more about it than any other. His two friends readily agreed. He felt annoyed because he did not like others doing nothing.

Wrong packing
However he packed the things. When he was Strapping the bag, Harris said, “Aren’t you going to put the boots in ?“ The narrator got irritated. George’s senseless laughs increased his irritation. The narrator had to unpack the bag and put the boots in when he finally packed. George and Harris Came forward to do the hampers. Jim began to look at them. Firstly they broke a cup, and then Hams squashed a tomato. They became so nervous that they placed light things at the bottom and heavy things on the top. The preserves got smashed. Harris sat on the butter. They wanted buffer but could not find it. At last they found it on Harris’ back.

Montmorency’s misdeeds
Montmorency was in it all, of course. He put his leg into the jam and he pretended that the lemons were rats, and got into the hamper and killed three of them before Harris could land him with a frying pan. The packing was done at 12.50 at midnight. They were ready to sleep. Harris was to sleep with them and they went upstairs. They asked George to wake them up at 6.30. But George was asleep at that time. They placed the bath tub where he could tumble into it on getting out in the morning and went to bed themselves.

The things for the trip
The next evening, the friends met to discuss and chalk out their plans. Harris said that the first thing to settle was what to take with them. He asked the narrator (Jim) to get a piece of paper and write down, grocery catalogue. Then Harris seemed eager everything on himself back of other people.

Uncle Podger
Harris reminded the narrator (Jim) of his poor Uncle Podger. There was a lot of commotion in the house when Uncle Podger undertook to do a job. He involved all the members of the family when he was hanging a picture on the wall. He would lift up the picture and drop it, and it would come out of the frame, and he would try to save the glass and cut his finger, and then he would look for his handkerchief. He could not find it because it was in the pocket of his coat and he was sifting on it. And then he would shout, “oh, you can give it up, I have found it myself now.” Then he would ask for the hammer. When all the members did not find it, he would again shout at them.  After several mishaps, he would be able to hang the picture on the wall at midnight. The wall would be in shambles. He would, then, come down after hanging the picture and survey the mess that he had created and say proudly, “Why, some people would have had a man in to do a little thing like that”. Jim thought that Harris would be exactly like Uncle Podger when he grew up.

Travelling light
The first list that the friends made had to be discarded because it was too long. George suggested that they should make a list of those things that they couldn’t do without. Jim remarked that George sometimes came out with sensible Suggestion. He then commented that many people loaded their boats with unnecessary and useless things. He opined that the boat of life should be light. A person should take along with him only those things which were needed. He should take with him one or two friends, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog and a pipe or two, enough food and sufficient clothes and drinks. He would find the boat easier to pull.

Individual tastes
George was to prepare the list and he said that they would carry a boat cover instead of a tent. Both George and Harris proclaimed that they loved an early morning swim. Jim did not like to get up early in the morning and thus hated an early morning swim. Harris said that it always gave him an appetite. George did not want him to have a swim because in that case, he would eat more.
Jim persuaded George to let Harris have a bath. George, then, told them that two suits of flannel would be enough. They would wash them on the river. Jim and Harris came to know later on that George was an imposter and he knew nothing about washing and clothes.

Planning the trip
After taking the decision of having a boat trip along the river, the friends began to plan it. They planned to start from Kingston on Saturday and George would join them at Chertsey in the afternoon, when his bank closed. They debated about the stay at night. George and the narrator wished to ‘camp out’ at night. The narrator insisted on it. He became poetical about the sun setting in the evening, and the birds becoming silent. He went into a nostalgic mood and described how they would tie their boat in a corner and pitch their tent and eat a small meal. They would Listen to the song of the flowing river. They would lie down under the starry sky. His description of the natural scenery showed that civilization was taking man away from the lap of nature.

Harris’ objection
The poetic mood of the narrator was interrupted by Harris who asked, “How about when it rained ?“ Harris used to weep whenever he ate raw Onions. Harris was fond of drinks. For him that place was the best where he could get a drink. But he was right in his opinion that it was unpleasant to Camp out in rainy weather. It was tedious and hopeless to attempt to make wood fire. So they would have to light a stove to cook food. The bread’ be soaked in rain water. The pie, the jam, the butter and salt would become rich with rainwater.

Problems in a rain
You would wake up from your sleep because you felt that an elephant was sitting on your chest. You would feel that the world had come to an end because you heard faint cries coming from under your bed. Then suddenly you realised that the tent had fallen down. In the morning all the three Mends would be speechless owing to severe cold that they caught in the night. They would quarrel with one another and shout at one another.

Montmorency, the dog
So they took the decision that they would sleep out for five nights in a hotel or a pub when it rained. Even Montmorency, the dog, hailed this decision. He looked like a fox-terrier having a gentle look in his eyes. When the narrator had owned the dog he had thought that he would not live long. But after paying for a dozen chickens that he had killed, and rescuing him from a hundred and fourteen street fights, listening to the angry neighbour whose cat he had killed, the narrator changed his opinion about the dog. The only thing that was yet to be decided was what to take along with them. Harris came with a suggestion that he knew a place where they would get excellent Irish whisky. George said that he felt thirsty. The debate was adjourned to the following night . all the three put on their hats.

Three friends
George, Harris and the narrator were friends. All the three considered themselves to be seriously ill. They felt seedy. They met to discuss how to deal with their problems. George and Harris thought they suffered from fits of giddiness. 

But the narrator was sure that he suffered from the ailment of liver. He was certain about his ailment because he had recently been reading a patent liver-pill circular. He had been in the habit of imagining, after reading patent medicine advertisements, that he had the same symptoms of the ailment as described in them.

Visit to the British Museum 
One day, the narrator went to the British Museum. There he consulted a medical dictionary and went through every disease alphabetically. After reading it, he was convinced that he suffered from every disease mentioned in the dictionary. 

He thought that the only disease that he did not suffer from was the disease of the housemaid’s knee (arthritis) though he suffered from ‘gout’ in the extreme form. He thought that the students of the medical colleges would not have to ‘walk the hospitals’ if they had him as a patient. He was a hospital himself.

The doctor’s advice
He went to the doctor who was his friend. He his pulse, looked at his tongue and examined thoroughly. The doctor, then, prescribed medicines . He went to the chemist to get the medicines. 

The chemist refused to give him the prescribed medicines by saying that he was only a chemist The narrator read the prescription. The medicines prescribed were “one pound beefsteak, with one pint bitter beer every six hours, a ten-mile walk every morning and sleep at 11 sharp every night.”

Plan for a boat-trip
The narrator, then, said that he suffered from a weak liver even as a boy. The disease never left him even for a day. The family considered it laziness and cured it by giving him clumps on the side of his head. The friends described to each other their maladies. They came to the conclusion that the remedy for their maladies was ‘rest’ and a holiday. 

They should seek out some old—world spot far away from the crowd. They discussed a sea trip but the narrator was strongly opposed to it. He gave a graphic detail of what happened to his brother-in-law and a friend who went to sea-trips. 

George seemed to be the only person who liked sea-trips and he boasted about it He, finally, put forward a suggestion : “Let’s go up the river a boat trip” . They all agreed with this suggestion. The only one who did not accept this suggestion was Montmorency — the dog. But his objection was ruled out.

Answer the following questions in detail:

Q1. Describe the three men’s reaction when they saw. “The pride of the Thames.”

Ans. The three friends went to hire a boat where the boy showed them one and called it ‘The pride of the Thames’. It was supposed to be a good sailing boat but it looked as an old fashioned chunk of wood. The writer described it as if it had been recently dug out of somewhere and dug carelessly getting damaged in the process. He, on first seeing thought it to be a Roman relic of a coffin and later addressing the lad he called it his (the lad’s) mother’s washing tub. Seeing it they reacted desperately and asked if it was a fossil of a pre-Ademits whale.

Q2. What made the writer and Harris decide to give up gambling?

Ans. After supper they played penny nap for about an hour and a half, by the end of which time George had won four pence as he is always lucky at cards. Harris and the writer lost exactly two pence each. Then they gave up gambling as Harris said it breeds an unhealthy excitement when carried too far. George offered to go on and give them their revenge, but Harris and the writer decided not to gamble any further against fate.

Q3. Describe how they felt about having dinner at Pangbourne.

Ans. The Three friends decided to abandon the boat and to return to their homes two days before their holiday was to end. George told them that there was a train that leaves Pangbourne soon after five which would land them in town in a comfortable time to get a chop and then go to Alhambra, provided they had not made up their minds to contract their certain deaths in this ‘bally old coffin’ (the boat) They reached Pangbourne at seven and drove straight to the restaurant. They had a hearty supper and drank a toast to ‘Three Men Well out of A Boat’. They had been living on cold meat, cake and bread and jam for about ten days. Now they enjoyed the delicious dinner at the restaurant and left.

Q4. Narrate the beauty of the river as described by the writer.

Ans. The writer explains to us the beauty of the river with changing moods. When it was sunny, he describes– the river-with the sunlight flashing from its dancing wavelets, gilding gold the grey-green beech-trunks, glinting through the dark, cool wood paths, chasing shadows over the shallows, flinging diamonds from the mill-wheels, throwing kisses to the lilies and making the air soft with glory seems to be a golden fairy stream. But when it begins to rain he calls it chill and weary with the ceaseless rain-drops falling on its brown and sluggish waters, with a sound as of a woman weeping low in some dark chamber; while the woods, all dark and silent stand like ghosts.

Q5. Why can’t the writer honestly say, “we had a merry evening”?

Ans. The writer and his friends did not feel happy as the rain poured down with quiet persistency. Everything in the boat was damp and clammy. Supper was not a success. Cold veal pie is apt to cloy when one does not feel hungry. The writer wanted white bait and a cutlet, Harris babbled of soles and white-sauce, and passed the remains of his pie to Montmorency, who apparently felt insulted of the offer, went ant sat over at the other end of the boat by himself. Thus the writer felt troublesome due to bad weather and continuous rain and so they could not enjoy a happy evening.

Q6. State your opinion about the decision of the three men to finish rest of the journey by train.

Ans. In our opinion the three friends made the right decision to finish their boat journey and to return home by train. It rained continuously, all the goods, food and clothes were wet. It could have resulted in their falling ill seriously. It was inconvenient, depressing and foolish to keep on boating in such a bad weather. They did not tell the boatman that they were running away because of the rain, rather they instructed him to stay ready at nine next morning. They left the boat and all it contained in his charge and told him if something unforeseen happens, they would write to him stating they would return or not.

Answer the following questions in detail:   Q1. What happened to the boat when they were posing for a photograph?

Ans. When George and the writer were posing for their photographs, their boat had got fixed with its nose under the wood work of the lock while the incoming water was rising all around it and tilting it up. In another moment they should have been over. Very quickly they seized on oar and a vigorous blow against the side of the lock with the buttend released the boat, and sent them sprawling on their backs.

Q2. How did the photograph actually turn out?

Ans. Their photographs did not turn out well. As both of them were lying on their backs in boat and their legs stuck straight upwards at the moment, only their legs were visible in their photographs. If the man should have set his wretched machine in motion at the precise moment, their photographs would have been in order.

Q3. Why is the bit of river between Iffley and Oxford difficult to manage?

Ans. Between Iffley and oxford, is the most difficult bit of the river. It is very difficult to understand this bit of water unless you are born on it. The writer tells us that he has been over it several times, but he found himself unable to understand it. first the current drives you on the right bank and then on to the left, then it takes you out into the middle turns you round three times and carries you up stream again and ends by trying to smash you up against a college barge. As a consequence, the writer got in the way of other boats and other boats in theirs and thus a lot of bad language occurred.

Q4. What different views had the writer formed about “Barley Mow.”?

Ans. The writer suggests if somebody has to spend a night on land at Clifton, Barley Mow is the best place for him to stay at. It is the quaintest and most old-world inn up the river. It stands on the right of the bridge, quite away from the village. Its low-pitched gables, thatched roof and latticed windows give it quite a story-book appearance while inside it is even still more once-upon-a-timeyfied. But it would not be a good place for the heroine of a modern novel to stay at. The heroine of a modern novel is always “divinely tall”, and she is ever “drawing herself up to her full height.” At the “Barley Mow” she would bump her head against the ceiling while doing so. Thus the writer has different views for different people for staying there.

Q5. “The air of the river is demoralising”. Comment on the remark of the writer.

Ans. The writer is unaware of the reason why everybody is always so exceptionally irritable on the river. A little mishap that you would hardly notice on dry land, drive you nearly mad with anger, when it occures on the water. When Harris or George makes an ass of himself on dry land, the writer smiles indulgently, but when they behave in a chuckle-head way on the river, he uses the most blood-curdling language for them. When another boat gets in his way, he feels as he wants to take oar and kill all the people in it. The mildest tempered people on land, become violent and blood-thirsty when in a boat. The writer means that the atmosphere of a river, due to bad language of everybody on sail, has a demoralising effect upon one’s temper.

Q1. Sketch the character of Mr. W. Lee.

Ans. The writer describes that in Helen’s Church, at Abingdon, it is recorded that W. Lee, who died in 1637, “had in his life-time issue from his loins two hundred lacking but three.” If you work this out you will find that Mr. W. Lee’s family consisted of one hundred and ninety-seven members. Mr. Lee had been five times Mayor of Abingdon. Undoubtedly he was a benefactor to his generation. The writer considers that there are not many of his kind about in this overcrowded nineteenth century.

Q2. Explain human nature on being photographed.

Ans. Through the incident of a photographer taking photographs of the people in their boats and launches, we come to know about vanity of human nature. The people in the boats were trying to put up a pose that suited them best in their photographs. George and the writer also did the same. They became so involved that they forgot where they were or where their boat was. Even they narrowly escaped after a violent blow when their boat’s nose had got fixed under wood work of the lock. When the photographs finally came up nobody was ready to buy them, for nothing was visible in them except the four feet of George and the writer who were lying on their backs with some wild expressions on their faces.

Q3. Give examples to illustrate that even the mildest tempered people become irritated when sailing in a boat.

Ans. The writer gives us several examples why everybody while sailing about on a river becomes irritable. Even a little mishap that we otherwise ignore on dry land, drive us crazy on a river. The writer himself feels irritated when George or Harris makes a fool of himself while sailing their boat and he uses blood-curdling language where as he smiles indulgently when they do so on earth. When another boat comes in their way he wants to pick up an oar and kill all the people on it. Even the mildest tempered people on land, becomes violent and blood-thirsty when in a boat. The writer is reminded of a young, sweet by nature and gentle lady who once did boating with him. It was quite awful to hear her while boating. When some unfortunate sculled got in her way, she exclaimed, “oh, drat the man! why don’t he look where he’s going?” and “oh, bother the silly old thing!” Thus the air of the river had a demoralising effect upon one’s temper to use such absurd language.

Answer the following questions in detail:

Q1. What does the writer say about fishing in the river Thames?

Ans. The writer described that the neighbourhood of streatley and Goring was a great fishing centre. One could do excellent fishing there. The river abounded in different kinds of fish such as pike, roach, dace, gudgeon and eel. One could fish there all the day. Some people stayed there for a month, others even for a year but they never caught them. The writer also tried to become a good fisherman but he was advised by some old fishermen to give it up as he lacked imagination to become a Thames angler. They said it is quite necessary to have an ability to tell lies easily with a blush to become a good fisherman. The writer lacked this quality.

Q2. Where had the old man caught the fish and how much did it weigh in his story?

Ans. One day George and the writer visited a parlour where they saw a dusty old glass case, fixed very high up above the chimney-piece, containing a trout. It was a monstrous fish. When an old man saw them looking at the fish, he told them that it was eighteen pounds and six ounces in weight and that he had caught it sixteen years ago from below the bridge over the river Thames.

Q3. How many people claimed to have caught the fish? Describe the stories told by them.

Ans. The old man told them that he had caught that fish sixteen years ago and went away. After that a series of people came in the parlour and they all claimed to have caught that fish (in the glass case) and each time the size became bigger. Local carrier, the third man, a stolid solemn working middle-aged individual and finally the landlord, all claimed that they have caught that fish. The local carrier told them that he had caught it nearly five years ago and it weighed twenty-six pounds. The third man told them that it was the most remarkable thing to catch it and that they were right to say it was he who caught it. It took him half an hour to land it and it had broken his rod. He took it home and weighed thirty-four pounds. Finally the land lord told them that he caught it when he was a boy and was saved from a whacking for being a truant at school, by this fish.

Q4. Why do you think these five people had the courage to tell such a lie?

Ans. All these five people were fishermen who lived around streatley and Goring. They were expert at telling lies and their ability to catch fish is a lie as well. The entire fishing fraternity has a powerful imagination. They are able to invent and tell story with utter conviction and an air of absolute truthfulness. The place was full of fish but mostly nobody caught fish. As the place was famous as a fishing place and people came there to fish so they never doubted their ability to catch fish. When they heard others telling stories of handsome catches, they exaggerated their own haul and thus they were encouraged to tell such lies.

Q5. How and what truth did the friends discover about the trout?

Ans. When the landlord went out of the room, George kept on gazing at the trout with surprise. He was so excited that he climbed up on the back of a chair to have a close look at it. But the chair slipped and he clung to the trout-case and tried to save himself. The trout came down with a crash and shattered into thousand pieces as it was made of plaster of Paris. Thus the truth was discovered.

Q1. Sketch the character of the narrator as a fisherman.

Ans. The writer is a great story teller. He tells us various humorous stories related to fishing fraternity. In this chapter he tells us how expert the fishermen are at telling whopping lies about their prowess in catching big fish. In fact the writer laughs at their powerful imagination, the ability to invent, to tell a story with utter conviction and an air of absolute truthfulness. The writer himself wants to become a good fisherman. But some old hands tell him that a good imagination and ability to tell a lie with a blush are necessary to become a good fisherman. But the writer admits that he lacked these qualities. Thus he comes out as a great observer of human nature and an admirer of natural beauty.

Q2. Imagining yourself to be present in the parlour along with George and the writer, make a diary entry about the stories told by different people.

Ans. 
20th June, 2014                                                                                  
Wednesday
9.20pm

Once I happened to be at a country parlour at Streatley. There was a large glass-case containing a trout up above the chimney-piece which attracted me as well as everyone in the room. Two strangers were eager to know about the giant trout. An old gentleman who was smoking a pipe told them that he had caught it sixteen years ago and that it weighed more than eighteen pounds and went out. After that a series of people came and each claimed he had caught it. finally the landlord came and told then the real story. He claimed he had caught it years ago when he was a boy. He had bunked school and this trout had saved him from whacking. As he went out, George tried to have a close look of it. He climbed up a chair but slipped and while and while trying to save himself clung to the glass case. He fell down on the ground along with the case. The trout lay shattered into a thousand fragments as it was made of plaster of Paris.

Q1. What is the historical importance of Reading?

Ans. The town of Reading was itself a famous old place since the dim days of King Ethelred, when the Danes anchored their warships in the Kennet and started from Reading to destroy all the land of Wessex. Here Ethelred and his brother Alfred fought and defeated them, Ethelred doing the praying and Alfred the fighting.  Afterwards Reading became a handy place to run down to. When matters became unpleasant in London, Parliament generally rushed off to Reading. During the parliamentary struggle Reading was besieged by the Earl of Essex and after a quarter of century the Prince of Orange defeated King James’s troops there. Henry first lies buried in Reading. John Gaunt was married to the Lady Blanche here.

Q2. Narrate the story of the woman in your own words.

Ans. George noticed something black floating on the water. It was the dead body of a woman. Later the writer knew about her and described that she was deceived by her lover or she deceived herself. She had sinned and had a child. Her family and friends had closed their doors against her. She worked hard for twelve hours and earned twelve shilling a week. But she could not maintain herself and her baby on this petty amount. No one helped her and so she was forced to abandon her child and leave the town. Unable to bear the pain and poverty she committed suicide by drowning herself into the river.

Q3. Describe the beauty of Streatley and Goring as described by the writer.

Ans. Streatley on the right bank and Goring on the left bank of the river were both charming places to stay at for a few days. The beautiful stretches down to Pangbourne attract everybody for a sunny sail or for a moonlight\ row and the country round about is full of natural beauty. Attracted by the beauty. Three friends left the boat at the bridge and went up into Streatley and lunched at the Bull. Streatley is an ancient place dating back to British and sexton times. Goring is not so pretty as Streatley but it is passing fair enough in its way and it is nearer to the railway.

Q4. The writer calls the woman as a “sinner” in both living and dying. Why does he think that way? Do you also agree with him? Why or Why not?

Ans. Actually the writer does not condemn the woman as a sinner because it is not his personal view rather he brings out the views of a society as a whole. He is simply stating the age old custom of propriety, moral code, sin and the consequences as prevalent in a society where young unwed mothers are looked down upon as a sinner, where religion condemns both immorality and the sin of taking their own lives. It has generally been the custom to condemn such practices by society and religion. It is indeed a sad story. It is not the story of one age, one people, one society or of one religion. It is the same in every age, every society and every religion. The writer views the event through the eyes of the society and religion.

Q5. The writer condemns the “wretched small boats.” Is there something humorous in it? How had he described his boat earlier in connection with the steam launch? Explain what it tells you about him.

Ans. The description of boats and launches is full of humour. The way the writer gives an account of the small boats on two occasions is quite contradictory. At first he upholds the dignity of small boats and condemns the fast moving, snobbish steam launches while later he considers small boats as nuisance calling them ‘wretched small boats’ that continually got in their way. The reason is quite simple. In the first instance the three friends had been slogging and labouring, sculling their boat and they resented the fast moving steam launches as the people on them had not to labour. They just stood on the deck smoking their pipes and ordering small boats out of their way. In the second instance their boat was being towed by a steam launch. Now they enjoyed moving rapidly on the water effortlessly. They felt the small boats were hurdles troubling them by coming in their way. The description how he feels and becomes irritated shows that he is concerned about his own self, his boat and their journey and not about the boats or steam launches.

Answer the following questions in detail:

Q1. Describe the encounter with Joskins.

Ans. The writer has described an event that took place when George was sixteen. George and eight other gentlemen of about the same age had an idea of hiring a boat at Kew and pulling it to Richmond and back. Joskins, a shock-headed youth among them who had once or twice taken out a boat on the Serpentine, told them that it was jolly fun, boating. They hired an eight-oared racing outrigger. They took off their coats and prepared to take their seats. A particularly nervous boy was appointed cox and he was told by Joskins how to steer. Joskins himself took stroke. When they started they received a violent blow in the small of the back from the buttend of number five’s scull, his own seat disappeared from under him and he fell on board, number two also was lying on his back at the bottom of the boat with his legs in the air. They passed under Kew Bridge at the rate of eight miles an hour. George, on recovering his seat, tried to help him but his oar disappeared under the boat. The cox threw both rudder lines over board and began to weep. It was a disastrous experience for them. They were saved by an old fisherman.

Q2. Describe any one incident at punting given in the Chapter.

Ans. Once the writer went for punting with a boy. The boy was over confident who was walking up and down the punt working his pole carelessly. He took one stop more than was necessary and walked off the punt altogether with the pole firmly fixed in the mud with him clinging to it while the punt drifted away. The writer was left alone in the punt without any pole and drifted midstream unable to stop himself or steer to safety. Then he was helped by two old fishermen who lent him a pole as they met him midstream in their fishing punt.

Q3. What happened to the writer when he went sailing with a young boy called Hector? How did it prove to be costly adventure?

Ans. They hired a boat from a man who advised them “to take in a reef and luff sharp” when they get round the bend. They did not understand what it meant. When they were on a wide stretch of waler, out of sight of the town, they felt it was the time to begin that operation. Hector went on pulling while the writer unrolled the sail. It seemed a complicated job. They didn’t know which was the top end. They finally got the sail up, upside down. It did not work. Hector advised the writer to wet the sail. At last they got the sail up the two of them together. Why the boat did not upset was an enigma. They had to cling to the gunwale as the boat sped and so they managed to keep inside the boat. The boat travelled upstream for about a mile at a speed he had never sailed, and don’t want to sail again. At last a mud bank saved them. The boat stuck, they cut off the sail and tried the sculls with broke down. After three house they were saved by an old fisherman.

Q1. What do you learn about the writer’s character as revealed by himself in this chapter?

Ans. The writer reveals quite a lot about his own character. He claims that he loves work, work fascinates him. He insists that he does more work than he should do. He says that you cannot give him too much work as it is his passion to accumulate work. He boasts that he is careful of his work. He has been keeping his work in his possession for years, he just keeps the work and does not do it and has not done if for years. He says he does not want more than his share of work. All this gives us quite an insight of his character. He is a great story teller, works magic with words, has a deep insight of human nature, evaluates Harris and George by saying that they eat and sleep most of the time. He also points to the cunningness of old and witty fishermen. He peeps into the boyish nature of youngsters.

Q2. Give examples to illustrate that experience wins over youth and inexperience.

Ans. That experience always wins over youth and inexperience– is a proved fact from the two stories given in this chapter. The first example is that of a young boy who goes for punting. At first he does quite well, becomes confident and then careless. He walks up and down the punt, works his pole with carelessness that looked quite fascinating, he took a step more than was necessary and walked off the punt altogether. The pole fixed firmly in the mud and he was left clinging to it while the punt drifted away. The writer went on drifting alone midstream as he had no pole to stop it. Two fishermen fishing in a punt saw him and helped him by landing him a pole. The second example is that of the writer when he goes for sailing with a young boy called Hector. On a wide stretch of water they put up their sails. Being inexperienced they put up the sail upside down. Their boat picked speed violently. They had to cling to the gunwale and somehow managed to keep inside the boat. Fortunately they were saved by a mud bank. The boat stopped and they cut down the sails. An old experienced fisherman saved their lives.