Summary of Somerset Maugham’s The Verger

Introduction

            Somerset Maugham is a famous English writer.  He has written many novels and short stories.  This short story is about a verger, who is an illiterate.  This story shows how an illiterate man can earn more money and wealth, because of his smart thinking.

Introduction of the Verger

Albert Edward is a verger of a small church.  A verger is someone who takes care of the church.  Albert has been working in the church for a long time.  He takes care of the church very well.  He takes great care of his uniform.  The story opens with the end of christening ceremony in the church.  The verger waits for the vicar to move, but the vicar is staying there. 

The Past and the Present Vicar

            The vicar of the church has taken his position in the recent past.  He is new to the church and to the position.  The verger is not comfortable with the new vicar.  He considers the old vicar as someone better than the new one.  The old vicar had never complained him and had always been good to him.  Though the new vicar is good in controlling the child who has come to christening, the verger is not comfortable with him and his manners.

Happenings between the Vicar and the Verger

            The vicar calls the verger to his office.  Two wardens of the church also come to the vicar’s office.  The vicar says that he and the church management are not comfortable with the performance of the verger.  They consider him an illiterate, who cannot read and write.  The two wardens support the vicar.  The verger is helpless.

Verger’s Illiteracy

            The verger accepts the fact that he is an illiterate.  He had joined the church when he was twelve and had not attempted to educate himself since then.  The previous vicar did not mind about his education.  The verger is also able to execute his job in the best way possible, even without proper education.  He assures the new vicar that he can continue to do his job well.

Verger Coming out of the Church

            The vicar and the wardens do not accept his plea.  They almost threaten the verger.  Out of compulsion and repulsion, the verger moves out of the church.  He resigns his job as a verger.  He is confused about the future.  He does not know how to earn his living thereafter.  In utter confusion, he takes an unusual road to his house.  He is hopeless.

Verger a Wealthy Man

            After sometime, he finds that he has taken the wrong route.  He is frustrated and he wants to ease himself.  He approaches a few shops and asks for a cigarette.  No shop sells him a cigarette.  It is then he strikes with an idea of opening cigar shops.  He opens a shop where there are no shops.  His business throngs well.  He sells more cigars and he becomes wealthy.  Later he approaches a few other places where they do not sell cigars and he puts up a new shop there.  He becomes a prospective business man.  He becomes very wealthy.  He hoards more money in the bank.

Conclusion

            The verger deposits all his money in the bank.  One day the bank’s manager invites him for a meeting.  He informs the verger that he has save more than 10 thousand pounds in the bank.  This is a huge money.  The manger asks him to sign a few documents and the verger says that he is uneducated.  This surprises the manager and others.  They question him what he would have done if had not started this business.  The verger says that he would have remained a verger till the end of his life.

Summary of Rabindranath Tagore's The Man from Kabul

Introduction

Tagore is a famous Indian poet, dramatist and short story writer.  He has won Nobel Prize for literature, for his translation of Gitanjali from Bengali to English.  He has written the national anthems for India and Bangladesh.  The Man from Kabul is a short story about a young girl Mini and her friendship with an elderly man from Kabul, the Kabuliwalah.

Mini’s First Meeting with Kabuliwalah

Mini is five years old at the beginning of the short story.  She cannot stop talking.  She shorts questions one after another without bothering about the answer.  One day, when the author is bus writing a story, Mini disturbs him with her presence.  The father asks her to sits quietly, Mini sits by the window and sees the Kabuliwalah, a man from Kabul.

The Kabuliwalah’s real name is Abdur Rahman.  He is a peddler.  He carries a huge bag.  Small kids like Mini think that the Kabuliwalah carries big men in his bag.  Kids are afraid of him.  The author wants Mini to be brave so he calls the Kabuliwalah and does some business with him.  The Kabuliwalah calls Mini and gives her nuts and raisins.  Mini is afraid of him.  She holds her father tight.

Mini and Kabuliwalah Spending Time Together

            As days pass by Mini becomes a friend of Kabuliwalah.  They sit by the door and keep talking.  The talk and laugh at their own jokes.  The Kabuliwalah gives Mini nuts and raisins.  The author gives him little money, which he accepts.  The author goes out and on his return home; he finds the little money that he had given to Kabuliwalah is in Mini’s hand.  The author’s wife scolds Mini for getting money from the Kabuliwalah.  The author safeguards her.

            The Kabuliwalah asks Mini about when she would go to her father-in-law’s house.  Mini asks the same question to him.  Father-in-law’s house is a local idiom that means a police station.  The Kabuliwalah replies that he would thrash his father-in-law.

            The Kabuliwalah never forgets to meet Mini.  If he does not come in the morning, he would come in the evening.  One day the police beat the Kabuliwalah in the road.  The author goes out and enquires the reason.  They say that the Kabuliwalah was arrested because of the murderous assault of another person.  When he was dragged in the road, Mini asks him whether he is going to his father-in-law’s house and the Kabuliwalah accepts it with a smile.

Last Meeting of Mini and Kabuliwalah

            Days pass by Mini and everyone forget about Abdur.  Mini grows into a young girl.  She is to be married off.  The author’s house is in a festive mood and it is all lit up.   Mini is to be married that night.  Abdur Rahman comes home.  The author is surprised by his return.  He brings some presents to Mini.  The author offers money to him, which is not accepted.  The Kabuliwalah wishes to meet Mini.  The author first says no, but he recollects his own daughter in Kabul, whom he has not met for a long time.  This moves the author and Mini appears before them as a bride.  The Kabuliwalah teases her that she is going to her father-in-law’s house and Mini blushes.  Mini gets into the house.  The author offers a currency-note to the Kabuliwalah and he asks him to go to Afghanistan and meet his daughter.

Conclusion/Character of the Kabuliwalah

            The Kabuliwalah is introduced as a strange person.  He seems to be a threat to Mini.  The author introduces him as a peddler.  Later we come to know that the Kabuliwalah is a kindhearted father.  Mini is afraid of the Kabuliwalah.  Small kids think the he would carry them away in his bag.  On the course of the narrative, we see him as her friend.  Though Mini’s mother often cautions her husband about Mini’s friendship with Kabuliwalah, the author does not suspect him.  We, the readers, feel sad when the police arrests Kabuliwalah, as he prepares himself to go to Kabul.  After experiencing his term in jail, the Kabuliwalah comes to meet Mini and he maintains the same innocence.  He asks Mini the same old question of father-in-law’s house.  He is a kindhearted father and more of a human being.

Summary of Guy De Maupassant's The Diamond Necklace

Introduction

            Guy De Maupassant was a French writer.  He has written many short stories.  Most of his stories display the paradoxical nature and existence of the rich and the poor.  The Diamond Necklace is one such story.  This story talks about a poor girl and her mad thought of not being rich, which culminates in suffering.

The Poor girl

            Mathilde is a poor girl.  She is very beautiful in her looks and appearance.  She longs to become rich but she is married to a poor clerk in the Ministry of Education, Loisel.  Mathilde longs to become rich but she could never be.  She always complains about her life and about her social stature. 

The Invitation

One evening her husband comes with an invitation from the ministry of education.  He was excited because many VIPs come to the function.  Mathilde is sad because she does not have proper clothes for the occasion.  She asks for four hundred francs to buy a good dress.  This is amount Loisel was saving for him to buy a gun.  He gives the money to her and she buys a costly dress.   Later she asks for jewels.  He asks her to wear flowers but she is not satisfied.  Loisel asks her to get some jewels from Madam Forestier, which could be returned later.  She gets a diamond necklace from her.

The Party

They both go to the party.  Mathilde is very happy.  She looks pretty and beautiful.  Everyone in the party looks at her with an awe.  She dances gracefully with almost everymen in the show.  Everymen are also eager to dance with her.  It gets late and they return home in a cab.  After reaching home she finds her necklace missing.  She says that she might have missed the necklace in the cab.  They both get frustrated.  Loisel goes in search of the necklace but in vain.  They lodge a complain with the police.  They decide to give the jewel to Forestier after a week.

Efforts to Repay the Loan

They wait for a week and they could not trace the lost jewel.  They both decide to replace the jewel by buying a new one.  They both go the jewel shop and finds an identical necklace.  It costs 40,000 francs and the shop keeper promises to part with it for 36,000 francs.  They get loan from various sources and they buy the necklace and give to Forestier.  They move their residence to a cheaper place.  Mathilde does all the house hold jobs by herself.  She goes out to buy her provisions.  Loisel works extra hour and there is not peace in their house.  After a long time they pay the loans to all people.

The Unexpected Ending

After paying the loans Mathilde happens to meet Forestier.  She cannot but wish to convey the story behind  the necklace.  She approaches her and says that they had replaced the lost necklace with a new one.  She also says about their sufferings.  Forestier was shocked to know this and she informs Mathilde that the jewel she lent to Mathilde was an imitation and not original.

Summary of Robert Frost's Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

On the surface, this poem is simplicity itself. The speaker is stopping by some woods on a snowy evening. He or she takes in the lovely scene in near-silence, is tempted to stay longer, but acknowledges the pull of obligations and the considerable distance yet to be traveled before he or she can rest for the night.

In the first stanza, the traveler appears worried that he is committing an offense by looking upon woods owned by another man. Nevertheless, he steals a look, for the other man "will not see me stopping here."

The second stanza says that the location is remote (without nearby farmhouses), that the weather has been cold enough to freeze a lake, and that the evening is the darkest of the year.  However, the horse probably thinks it odd that his master has stopped between the woods and lake on a dark evening, the speaker says. This observation suggests that the darkness is external only, for the speaker is using the word darkest to explain the horse's reaction. 

Sounds are important in the thrid stanza—namely, the sounds of the bells, the wind, and the snowflakes. All of the sounds are gentle, contrasting with the cacophony of everyday life in a town.

The traveler would like to stay awhile and perhaps even enter the woods to absorb their ambience and ponder the mystery of life and nature. However, he has obligations and responsibilities. Therefore, he decides to move on. But the poem does not say whether he in fact moves on. One presumes that he does.  The last two lines make a strong claim to be the most celebrated instance of repetition in English poetry.

The poem consists of four (almost) identically constructed stanzas.  This is a poem to be marveled at.  Frost claimed that he wrote it in a single nighttime sitting; it just came to him.

Summary of John Milton's On His Blindness

Introduction

John Milton is a famous English poet.  He is the one and only epic poet in English.  Paradise Lost is his famous epic.  Most of his poems are religious in its themes.  On His Blindness is a sonnet.  A sonnet a poem with 14 lines.  This poem is divided into two – first 8 lines and the next 6 lines.  The first 8 lines talks about Milton’s pain on becoming blind.  The final 6 lines talks about Milton’s faith in God.

Milton’s Complaint

Milton became completely blind in 1652. Milton gets rather impatient at the thought of his blindness. He is blind in the middle age. Blindness prevents him from using his poetic talent by writing something great to glorify God. He has a keen desire to serve God by using his poetic talent, because he knows that God wants man to use his God-given power or he may be punished. In an impatient mood, Milton doubts if God would be just in demanding work from a blind man like him.

Milton’s Reconciliation

Milton’s attitude of doubt passes off in a moment. His inner conscience rises up with its faith in God’s justice. He realizes that God does not need man’s work by way of service to him; nor does he care whether man uses His gifts. He is the King of kings; His dominion is over the universe. He has thousands of angels doing His biddings at all times flying over land and sea. He has thousands of others who stand by His throne and sing His praise. The latter too are as good as beloved as the active angels. So, patient submission to His will is the best service to Him.

Kushwant Singh's Mano Majra

Introduction

Kushwant Singh is a famous Indian writer.  Mano Majra is the first chapter of his famous novel Train to Pakistan.  This chapter describes the village and its people.

Description of Mano Majra

The village Mano Majra is situated in between Delhi and Lahore, at the banks of river Sutlej.  It is half a mile away from the village because the river floods during rainy season and it comes into the village.  There are three brick buildings in Mano Majra.  One is the house of Lala Ram Lal, the only Hindu in Mano Majra.  Lala Ram Lal is a moneylender.  The two brick buildings are a mosque and Sikh temple respectively.  Apart from these religions there is a pseudo Christian in the village.  In spite of their religion, all the villagers go the stone bench and offer prayers.

Description of Railway Station

The railway station at Mano Majra is a busy place.  The train passing the station takes the single track that runs over the river Sutlej; therefore, many trains stop at Mano Majra station.  There are many wagons around the station, to load the goods train.  There are many sellers in the station.  The stationmaster of Mano Majra sells tickets, collects them, sends and receives messages, and waves the flag.  A person who changes the track and takes the light signal during night assists him.

Morning mail train

Trains play a vital role in the life of Mano Majra.  Early in the morning, the morning mail train crosses Mano Majra.  It blows two whistles on which the Mullah of the mosque wakes up and sings the Morning Prayer.  On hearing the mullah’s prayer, the priest of the Sikh temple wakes up and cleans the temple and starts chanting a prayer.  The whole of the village wakes up after sometime.

The passenger train

By 10.30 in the morning, a passenger train from Delhi to Lahore crosses Mano Majra.  During the time it passes the men are in the fields, the women are busy doing their daily works, the children are busy grazing their cattle.  The bullocks are busy, the sparrows are flying and the dogs are sleeping in the street.

The Noon Train

At noon when the express train cross, the men in the fields has their lunch, the children start to swim in the pond, the women in house pick lice and talk about many things.

The Evening Passenger

At evening, the passenger train comes from Lahore to Delhi.  When it crosses, all the people come back to their homes.  They put their cattle at the respective places.  The women in the house are found busy preparing meals for dinner.

The Night Train

During night, a train passes Mano Majra.  During that time, the Mullah of the temple sings a prayer and the Sikh priest follows him.  The villagers will fall asleep on hearing the sound of train.

Summary of J. C. Hill's Good Manners

         

Introduction

J. C. Hill is a famous English writer.  J. C. Hill’s Good Manners is an extract from his famous book An Introduction to Citizenship.  This essay talks about the manners one should have in the society.

The story of the young man

The author opens the essay with a story of a young man.  The young man would be very proud of himself.  He would be selfish.  He never minds about others.  Once a disease attacked him and then it was difficult for him to walk and stand in the bus.  Only at that time, he saw others, who were unmindful of him.  He was cured and later he started helping others.  Through this story, the author wishes to say that we should care for people around us, which is a good manner.  He asks us not to laugh at the old people who find it hard to cross the road.  He says that our laughter will turn back to us soon, as it happened with the young man.

Speaking in company

He asks us to be cautious while speaking with others.  If we are talking with another person, we should give him a chance to speak too.  If they do not speak, it means that they do not want us to talk too.  Then we are asked to be listener cautious too.  If we speak of some subject, we should be aware of the fact that the listener might have a different idea about what we are talking.  The author gives different meanings for the word socialism for different people.

Understanding ourselves

The author advises us to understand ourselves before teasing or talking ill about others.  He gives several examples for this.  If an old woman asks a boy with scout uniform whether he is a scout boy then the boy should explain himself.  He should not scold her for being silly.  He also says that none of understand ourselves.  He gives an experiment as an example.  The experiment conducted in a college in which the students were shown a bull picture.  Some students said that the bull’s tongue was out of its mouth, but it was not so.  The author says that every one of us are not aware of ourselves and we should take care of what we argue and speak.

Conclusion

The author concludes the essay by saying that there is not single truth in the world.  What might be true to us might be false for someone else.  So he asks us to cultivate the good manners of understanding other people and not hurting them.

Summary of R. K. Narayan’s Better Late

Introduction

R.K. Narayan is one of the pioneers of Indian writing in English.  He has written many novels and short stories.  All his stories are simple in its subject and in language.  Better Late is a prose, which talks about punctuality in Indian context.  R.K. Narayan prefers to do things a bit late than being punctual.

Student’s Explanation for Late Coming

            The author opens essay by quoting an incident: a student comes to the class regularly late.  When the teacher asks for the reason, the student replies as ‘better late than never’.  The teacher accepts the reason because the student has not dropped his education altogether. 

Writer’s Opinion on Delay and Unpunctuality

            The speaker accepts a little delay and unpunctuality in daily life.  Circumstances lead to such delays.  Punctuality is expecting too much from others.  Expectations always deceive us.  According to the author most things can survive a little delay.

Indian Punctuality

            In Indian context punctuality is something that is never to be expected.  If we tend to expect punctuality then even a carpenter would give shock to us.  If we ask a carpenter to do a work for us and he would promise to do the work the next day, we should not be particular about the timing.  We should give him about 15 days or more for the work to be carried out.  He would not forget his promise but he must have said the same to others.  He would some day or the other finish the work because he needs money.

Time in Contracts and Agreements

            The author strongly believes that wisdom comes late.  When we talk to a person or face a situation, we would think of better ideas or dialogue after a long time.  So the author thinks that it is better to postpone certain things for better results.  When the author was in a critical situation he would delay making a decision so that he may not suffer due to wrong decisions.  He gives joint families as an example, wherein it is easy to postpone things by saying that we have to consult with someone in the family and that someone will never be available.  This happens in business when we say that we have to consult our partner.

Wrist Watch

The author gives a man who is time conscious.  He is time conscious because he is wearing a costly wristwatch.  He often stares at his watch and complain people who are not punctual.  A watch in our context must be a mere ornament and not a guiding factor.  Women’s watch are said to be ideal, because the dial in it is small and they would not let the time clearly and easily.  They permit a little delay in doing things.

Committees in Government

            Most times the government postpone certain threats and troubles by forming committees.  Committees will spend more time in eating and by doing many odd things rather being constructive.  They delay their work to an extent that the urgency or the need of currency will be forgotten and people will be busy with some other work.

Conclusion

            This is a personal essay, which reflects R.K. Narayan’s ideas about punctuality.

Summary of Stephen Leacock’s How T Be A Doctor

Introduction

            Stephen Leacock is a Canadian essayist and short story writer.  All his writings are humorous  in nature.  He is a satirist, who makes fun of human nature.  In this essay he makes fun of educated doctors and science.  He compares and contrasts modern science with old age wisdom.  He questions about the pathetic condition of patients.

Progress of Science

            Stephen Leacock is proud while discussing the progress of science.  He feels as if he invented electricity and vacuum cleaner.  He says that the progress in the field of medicine makes our heart expand with pride.  Hundred years ago, there were no diseases like bacilli, ptomaine poisoning, diphtheria, appendicitis, rabies, psoriasis and parotits.  Today, they all have become common household names.  Leacock satirically thanks the advancements in the field of medicine for this.

Harmful Diseases and Substances Before Many Years

            Before 100 years, fever was cured by letting of the blood.  Before 70 years, sedative drugs were given for fever.  Before 30 years, low diet and application of ice was given for fever.  Today, no such simple medication is followed to eradicate fever.  During olden days, people carried potatoes in their pockets to kill rheumatism.  Now no such thing happens.  Advancement in medical science has led to complications.  Epilepsy was also cured easily during olden days.

Modern Doctors

            Leacock discusses about the time taken by a person to become a qualified practioner.  During olden days, it takes two winters to complete a medical course.  During summer, the learners would do some other work.  However, in modern days a learner takes more than eight years to be a practioner.  It makes the person lazy.

Doctors Handling the Patients

            Modern doctor’s business could be acquired in two weeks, says Leacock.  When a patient consults the doctor, the doctor hits him at his back and sends a hook under the heart of the patient to know whether if pains or not.  The doctor gives a blow on his stomach, which makes the patient fall.  The doctor would read the morning newspaper and ask the patient to be quiet and go to bed.  The patient will get well quietly, if not he will die quietly.  They never question the doctor.

Advice On Diet

            A doctor’s advice on diet to his patient, varies according to his mood.  It the doctor is hungry, he will ask the patient to eat anything he likes.  If the doctor has eaten well, then he would suggest his patient not to eat anything.  The same is the case with the intake of drinks.  The patients are pathetic in the hands of the doctors.

Conclusion

            Even after knowing all these hardships, all of us, including Leacock, would like to rush to a hospital to save our lives.

Summary of Rabindranath Tagore's The Paper Boat

Introduction

Rabindranath Tagore is an Indian poet.  He has won Nobel Prize for literature for his English translation Gitanjali from Bengali.  He has written the Indian national anthem.  He has also written the national anthem of Bangladesh.  The Paper Boat is a short poem.  It talks about Tagore’s childhood days.  It shows a child’s perception of nature and world.

Reminiscences of Childhood

            Tagore writes this poem in the month of July.  July is a month of rain and shower.    Tagore recollects a particular day of July during his childhood.   He flashes back to that particular day.  Tagore, as a lad, plays alone.  He floats a paper boat in a small stream, which might have been a cause of rain.  Tagore is alone, yet he is happy with his paper boat.

            All on sudden thick clouds gather in the sky, the wind gushes heavily and there is heavy down pour of rain.  The still water is disturbed by the rain.  Mud mixes with the water and there are rills in the muddy water.  These disturb the smooth run of the Tagore’s paper boat and his mind set.

            The rain upsets Tagore’s boat and his peace of mind.  Tagore, as a lad, concludes that the rain had come on purpose.  Its motive was to spoil his happiness.  Tagore considers that the rain was angry with him.

            After thinking of his childish past, Tagore settles with his present.  He, at present, is blaming his fate for playing many tricks with him.  He regrets for scolding the rain when he was young.  At the same time, he is also laughing at his innocence about rain and nature, when he was young.

Conclusion

            Tagore’s The Paper Boat is a small prose poem.  Almost all his poems are prosaic.  This poem is small in its size and thought.  Tagore explores his mind as a child and relishes his own innocence after becoming an adult.  The poem depicts the worlds of innocence and knowledge.