The Snake and the Mirror

 

Chapter 5 The Snake and the Mirror

Thinking about the Text

I. Discuss in pairs and answer each question below in a short paragraph (30–40 words).

Question 1. “The sound was a familiar one.” What sound did the doctor hear? What did he think it was? How many times did he hear it? (Find the places in the text.) When and why did the sounds stop?

Answer: The doctor heard some familiar noise from above when he opened the door. He thought that it was the sound of rats. He heard it four times.

“I heard a sound from above as I opened the door.”
“Again I heard that sound from above.”
“Again came that noise from above.”
“Suddenly there came a dull thud as if a rubber tube had fallen to the ground…”

The sounds stopped when the snake landed on his shoulder.

Question 2. What two “important” and “earth-shaking” decisions did the doctor take while he was looking into the mirror?

Answer: The two important and earth-shaking decisions that the doctor took while he was looking into the mirror are as follows:
i. He would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome.
ii. He would always keep the attractive smile on his face.

Question 3. “I looked into the mirror and smiled,” says the doctor. A little later he says, “I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself.”

What is the doctor’s opinion about himself when: (i) he first smiles, and (ii) he smiles again? In what way do his thoughts change in between, and why?

Answer: (i) When the doctor smiles first, he finds it an attractive smile, and decides to keep that attractive smile always on his face.
(ii) When he smiles again, he thinks that he is a poor, foolish and stupid doctor as he hasn’t any medicine to treat if the snake struck him.
His thoughts get changed from being a handsome doctor to a foolish and stupid doctor from the fear of the snake.

II. This story about a frightening incident is narrated in a humorous way. What makes it humorous? (Think of the contrasts it presents between dreams and reality. Some of them are listed below.)
(i) The kind of person the doctor is (money, possessions)
(ii) The kind of person he wants to be (appearance, ambition)

Answer: (i) The doctor is such a kind of person who lives in a small rented room. His earnings are meagre, and he has only 60 rupees, some shirts, dhotis and a black coat.
(ii) He wants to look handsome by keeping an attractive smile on his face. He also decides that he would shave daily and grow a thin moustache.

i. The person he wants to marry
ii. The person he actually marries

Answer: (i) He wants to marry a woman doctor who has plenty of money and a good medical practice. He also wants his wife to be fat so that if he made any silly mistake, she would not be able to catch.
(ii) He marries a thin reedy person with the gift of a sprinter.

Question 3. (i) His thoughts when he looks into the mirror
(ii) His thoughts when the snake is coiled around his arm.

Answer: (i) When he looks into the mirror, he thinks that he has an attractive smile. He decides to keep that smile always on his face. He also decides to shave daily and grow a thin moustache as he is a bachelor and a doctor too on the top of it.

(ii) When the snake is coiled around his arm, he remains there on the chair holding his breath. He neither trembles nor cries out of fear. He thinks that he is a poor and stupid doctor as he doesn’t have any medicine also to treat if it struck him.