A Horse and Two Goats - by R. K. Narayan

Morning star workbook answer...

A Horse and Two Goats

Extract I

Of the seven hundred villages dotting the map of India……by the iron-hooped wheels of bullock carts.

1. What is meant by microscopic dot? What is said about Kritam in the extract?

Ans. Something very small.
Kritam was probably the tiniest of the seven hundred villages in India as it was a microscopic dot on the survey map.

2. It’s a wrong question.

3. Change the question. Give a brief description of the village Kritam.

Ans. It is ‘probably the tiniest’ of India’s seven hundred villages. It is a village that consists of ‘fewer than thirty houses, only one of them built from brick and cement.’ There are four streets in the village, with a shop for foodstuff and other items in the third street.

4. Give the meaning of Kritam in Tamil. Where did Muni live in the village?

Ans. Kritam in Tamil meant ‘ coronet’ or ‘crown’ on the brow of the Indian subcontinent. Muni lived in the last house in the fourth street in the village, beyond which stretched the fields.

5. How did the Big House differ from other houses?

Ans.The Big House, unlike other houses was built with brick and cement. It was painted yellow and blue all over with carvings of gods. The other houses were of bamboo thatch, straw, mud and other unspecified materials.

Extract II

In his prosperous days Muni had owned a flock…….dry sticks, bundled them, and carried them for fuel at sunset.

1. How did Muni care for his sheep and goats? Why did he carry a cook at the end of a bamboo pole?

Ans.He would take his sheep and goats everyday to the highway to graze around.
He carried a crook at the end of a bamboo pole to collect foliage from the avenue trees to feed his flock.

2. In his prosperous days how many sheep and goats did Muni have? What happened to most of them later?

Ans. In his prosperous days Muni had owned a flock of forty sheep and goats. Gradually, Muni’s fortunes declined and his flock of forty was reduced to only two goats.

3. What did Muni’s wife give him for breakfast and midday meal? What does it show about his economic condition?

Ans.Muni’s wife would give him salted millet flour in boiled water for breakfast. For midday meal, she would give him the same raw onion. This shows their poverty as they could not afford anything else.

4. Why did Muni tether his two goats to the trunks of the drumstick tree? What claim does he have over the tree?

Ans.This was done so that his two goats could graze only within a set radius and not wander off and get lost. Although no one could say precisely who owned the tree, the only claim Muni had was that he lived in its shadow.

5. Compare and contrast Muni’s prosperous days with his present living conditions.

Ans.He once lived a prosperous life and reared a flock of forty, but now he was left wit two goats. Muni wanted to enjoy life, but now he had lost his riches, he had no option but to remember his past with regret. He remembered the time when he smoked cigarette, chewed betel leaves and bhang in a hut in the coconut grove with the famous butcher from the town. Even today, he craved to chew the drumstick out of sauce but failed to obtain the food items prepare it, on credit from the shopkeeper.

Extract III

You have only four teeth in your jaw………..empty day.

1. What was Muni craving for? Why?

Ans. He was tired of eating drumstick leaves alone. He wanted to relish them with sauce for a change.

2. Why did his wife agree to supply him with what he was craving for? Under what condition would she oblige him?

Ans. His wife agreed thinking that next year, Muni might not be alive to ask for anything. She asked him to bring a few food items including a measure of rice or millet.

3. How did Muni attract the attention of the shopkeeper and win over his goodwill?

Ans. To attract the attention of the shopkeeper, Muni kept clearing his throat, coughing and sneezing. Muni responded appropriately at the shop man’s jokes. This helped him win the shop man over.

4. Change the question. How could Mini get some raw food items from the shop?

Ans. Muni would go and sit outside the shop. He would make polite sounds by cleaning his throat, coughing and sneezing until he caught the attention of the shop man. He would humour the shop man by appropriately responding to his jokes and then request the food items he needed.

5. Wrong question.

Extract IV

Muni felt impelled to rise and flee…….. whom do you expect to rob by then?

1. Change the question. Explain what has happened earlier because of which the shopkeeper is reluctant to give on credit.

Ans.Muni had been in the habit of coming to the shop, humouring the shop man and requesting for one or two items of food with the promise of repaying later. This time the shop man was not in good mood so he lost his temper at Muni for daring to ask for credit.

2.Finally, from where did Muni say that he would get money?

Ans.Muni said that his daughter would be sending him money soon for his fiftieth birthday.

3. According to Muni, how old was he? How did he calculate his age?

Ans.According to Muni, he was fifty year old. He calculated his age from the time of great famine.

4. What did the shop man say about Muni’s age? How could he guess that?

Ans.According to the shop man, Muni was seventy years old. Muni might be referring to himself as fifty years old since past few years.

5. What did Muni say just before he left the shop?

Ans.Muni had told the shop man that his daughter had sent word that she would be sending him money for his fiftieth birthday.

Extract V

He told his wife, “ That scoundrel……..it’ll do you good.

1. Who is referred to as scoundrel? Why was Muni annoyed with the scoundrel?

Ans.The shop man is referred to as scoundrel. Muni was annoyed because the shop man mocked at his habit of mentioning his birthday time and again to procure things on credit.

2. Why doesn’t Muni argue against what she says? How can you conclude that he trusts her as far as his welfare is concerned?

Ans.Muni did not argue because he knew that if he obeyed his wife she would somehow conjure up some food for him in the evening. Muni trusted her as far as his welfare was concerned. He knew by taking up occasional jobs in the big house, she would earn some money to keep dinner ready for him in the evening.

3. How would Muni’s wife get money to buy foodstuff?

Ans.She would go out and work-grind corn in the Big House, sweep or scrub somewhere, to earn enough money to buy foodstuff.

4. When Muni was passing through the village what was his and onlookers attitude to each other? Why?

Ans.When Muni was passing through the village, he avoided looking at anyone. He even ignored the call of his friends.

5. Change the question. What was Mini thinking as he led his goats to the highway?

Ans.Muni was worried about his wife as he was seventy years old and might die soon. He also was pondering about the absence of progeny.

Extract VI

Muni sat at the foot of the statue………feed long enough.

1. Describe the statue of the horse.

Ans.The statue was life-sized made of burnt brightly coloured clay. It stood with its head held high and its forelegs in the air.

2. How did the statue of the warrior look? How did the image makers depict him as a man of strength.

Ans.The warrior beside the statue is depicted as a man of strength through his description as a warrior with ‘scythe-like mustachios, bulging eyes, and aquiline nose.”

3. Why didn’t Muni, the villagers or the vandals notice the splendour of the statue of the horse?

Ans.Nobody from the village noticed its existence. Even Muni, who spent all his days at the foot of the statue, never bothered to look up.

4. Why didn’t Muni go back home early?

Ans.Muni didn’t go back home early because he wanted to give his wife time to cool off her temper and feel sympathetic enough to arrange some food for him.

5. Briefly give the difference between Muni and the visiting American.

Ans.Muni was an old man residing in the Kritam village. He once lived a prosperous life and reared a flock of forty, but now he was left with two goats. Muni wanted to enjoy life, but now he had lost his riches, he had no option but to remember his past with regret. He was a man who lived more in the past, than in the present.

The red faced man represents a typically wealthy American. He is polite and courteous as he offered Muni a cigarette and though he did not understand Muni, he listened to him attentively. He was a typical American tourist who wished to take back home the statue as a souvenir.

Extract VII

Today, while he observed……another car comes.

1. Describe the arrival of the red-faced foreigner.

Ans.The red faced foreigner entered the story in a strange yellow vehicle. He stopped it, got down and went around it, poked under the vehicle because his car ran out of gas.

2. What did the foreigner say looking at the clay horse?

Ans.He looked up at the clay horse and cried, “ Marvellous.”

3. State the feelings of Muni after meeting the foreigner. Why did he have such feelings?

Ans.As soon as Muni met the foreigner his first impulse was to run away but his age did not allow him. He assumed the foreigner to be a policeman or a soldier enquiring about the rumoured murder.

4. Looking at the clothes of the foreigner what did Muni think? How did the foreigner put him at ease?

Ans.The foreigner was wearing khaki clothes. it made Muni think that he was a policeman or a soldier. To put Muni at ease, the other man pressed his palms together, smiled, and said, “ Namaste!”

5. Having exhausted his English vocabulary, what did Muni say in Tamil?

Ans.Muni said that his name was Muni and the goats belonged to him. The village was full of slanderers who would claim what was not theirs.

Extract VIII

1. Who was the foreigner? What was his background?

Ans.The foreigner was a tourist in India. He was a rich American businessman who dealt in coffee.

2. What is referred to as the courtesies of the seasons? Why did Muni answer ‘Yes, no”?

Ans.The foreigner’s polite behaviour on meeting Muni for the first time. As a courtesy he offered Muni a cigarette. Muni, being a Tamil speaking man could not understand the foreigner, and used the only English words he knew, i.e., “yes,no.”

3. Change the question .State earlier experience of Muni of smoking a cigarette. When the foreigner flicked the light open and offered a light to Muni what were the latter’s feelings?

AnsMuni remembered the cigarette the shop man had given him on credit. He recalled how good it had tasted. When the foreigner flicked the light open Muni was confused about how to act so he blew on the light and put it out.

4. What were the consequences of smoking an American cigarette on Muni?

Ans.Muni started coughing. It pained him yet he felt it was extremely pleasant.

5. Describe Muni’s fears and anxieties when he was given the card by the visitor.

Ans.Muni feared that the business card was an arrest warrant and he moved back.

Extract IX

Out of this heritage……I know nothing.

1. What did Muni speak in a fearful tone in the extract?

Ans.A mutilated dead body had been found thrown under a tamarind tree at the border between Kritam and Kuppam a few weeks ago. Mini feared that the khaki-clad foreigner was a policeman enquiring about the murder. The man spoke to Muni and offered him a cigarette. Muni realised he could not run and spoke in a fearful tone to talk his way out of trouble.

2. The foreigner said, “ I am sure you know when this horse was made. “ When was the horse made?

Ans.The horse was made long before Muni was born i.e., it was made sometime when Muni’s grandfather’s grandfather was a young boy.

3. Explain why Muni spoke of a murder with the foreigner.

Ans.Muni mistook the foreigner’s khaki dress and thought the foreigner was a policeman who was investigating the case of a ’mutilated body thrown under a tamarind tree a few weeks before.”

4. State how the title of the story, ‘A Horse and Two Goats’ is relevant.

Ans.It is an apt title. Though the hero of the story is Muni who drives the story forward, the major part of the story is a dialogue between the American and Muni concerning the house statue. From the beginning of the story it is observed that Muni is left with two goats. It is only when the goats are being taken to graze near the highway, that Muni’s chance encounter with the American takes place. Muni who is sitting on the pedestal of the statue is assumed to be its owner by the American. Muni, on the other hand does not understand what the foreigner says. When the American gives Muni a hundred rupee note as the price for the statue, Muni gets confused. He assumes it to be the price of his two goats.

5. How is the clash of cultures brought about in the story?

Ans.On one hand, Muni is the representative of typical Indian native; who is poor, rural and uneducated. He doesn’t know English and is striving to make a living. On the other hand, we have the Amercan who knows no Tamil but expects Mini to understand English. He is wealthy, urban and educated and is only interested in a business deal with Muni.

Extract X

“ I never went to a school…….officers know it.

1. What has the foreigner just said about Tamil and Muni’s sales talk?

Ans.The foreigner said that Tamil to him ‘sounds wonderful’ and he got a kick out of every word Muni uttered. The foreigner assumed Muni to be engaging in sales talk and told him that he already appreciated the article and was ready for a better sales talk.

2. What is Pongal? What does Muni do on Pongal in his village?

Ans.Pongal is a four-day havest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu. Duging Pongal Muni and father would cut the harvest. Muni would then go out and play with others at the tank.

3. State what Muni hints at the caste and class distinction between the rich and the poor in Kritam.

Ans.Muni had no formal education. He grew up as a member of a lower caste when only the Brahmins, the highest caste, could attend school. he has not travelled beyond his village and he likes to watch trucks and buses go by on highway a few miles away so that he can have ‘a sense of belonging to a larger world.’

He has some knowledge of the two major religious texts the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which he has learned by acting in plays and by listening to preachers at the temple.

4. Wrong question. What is the Parangi language referred in the extract? Who are the people who know the language?

Ans.Parangi language reffered to in the extract is English. Learned people and officers in Muni’s country know Parangi language. But children in the foreigner’s country know it.

5. State briefly the position of women in villages as seen in the story, A Horse and Two Goats?

Ans.Child marriage was prevalent as in the case of Muni and his wife. Women were honoured as seen as nurturers but they needed a man to support them. Muni knew his wife would garner the raw materials and prepare his drumstick gravy. He was worried what would happen to her after his death.

Extract XI

“ Muni, now assured that the subject………and trample down all bad men.

1. Which dead body is referred to in the extract? Why was Muni afraid of the dead body earlier?

Ans.Muni mistook the foreigner’s khaki dress and thought the foreigner was a policeman who was investigating the case of a ’mutilated body thrown under a tamarind tree a few weeks before.”

2. What is Kali Yuga? What is said to happen in Kali Yuga?

Ans.Kali Yuga is the last of the four stages the world goes through as part of the cycle of the ages.

At the end of kali yuga, this world and all other worlds will be destroyed, and the Redeemer will come in the shape of a horse called kalki and save all good people while evil ones will perish.

3. Wrong question. How does the language barrier in the conversation between the American and Muni provide humour?

Ans.Their different languages do not let them understand each other. They converse, though in reality, they are both speaking on entirely unrelated subjects. The foreigner is concerned about the price of the statue, Muni when through gestures realises that he is being asked for the statue, rumbles on about its religious value, and how it has stood for generations. The foreigner, owing to the language barrier, assumes Muni as a salesman and offers him a hundred rupee note in exchange for the statue. Since Muni could not understand English, he assumes that the money offered is the exchange price for his goats.

4.Describe the living room in America of the foreigner as stated by him.

Ans.The living room of the foreigner has a large bookcase filled with volumes of books. There are books piled up too.

5. How would the horse be accommodated in the foreigner’s house?

Ans.The foreigner assures Muni that he would keep the statue with utmost care in his living room in his house in the USA.

Extract XII

Muni was still hovering…….trade is coffee.

1. Who speaks these words? In what context does he speak them?

Ans.The foreigner. Muni was reflecting on the end of the world and asked the foreigner if he had any idea when Kali Yuga would end.

2. What does Muni say about the coffee hotel in the locality? Why does he say about the coffee hotel?

Ans.Muni had heard from passers-by that there were ‘kapi-hotels’ opened at the Friday Markets in the next town along the highway. Muni only recognized the word ‘coffee’ in the foreigner’s conversation. He thought that the foreigner wanted to drink coffee.

3. What has Muni said about the end of the world?

Ans.At the end of the world the Redeemer would come on the horse statue which would grow bigger and be called Kalki. There would be floods in which Kalki would carry good people to safety and the evil would perish.

4. Explain what kind of businessman was the foreigner.

Ans.The foreigner claimed that he was a modest businessman dealing in coffee. However, he bragged about having the best home. He was a shrewd businessman-he realised he had bragged too much about his house. He took out a hundred rupee note and started bargaining over the price of the statue.

5. How does the foreigner plan to transport the horse to America?

Ans.The foreigner planned to cancel his air ticket and travel by ship with the horse in his cabin.

Extract XIII

1. Muni asked the red man, “ How many children do you have? The red man replied, “ I said a hundred. “ What was each one talking about? Explain the humour in this conversation.

Ans.Muni was asking the red man about his children, if any. The red man did not understand Muni. He assumed that Muni was the owner of the statue, so he offered him hundred rupees for it.

The humour here arises out of each ones inability to understand the other. They seemed to be conversing, but in reality, they are talking about entirely unrelated subjects.

2. Give two examples to show that Muni was curious about the red man.

Ans.Muni asks how many children does the man have.

He even asks how many of them are boys and how many girls.

3. Looking at the hundred rupees note, how did Muni react? What did he think was the purpose of giving him that money?

Ans.Muni peered closely at the hundred rupees note. He was amazed as he had never seen it before. Muni thought that the red man wanted him to exchange the note for change. Muni laughed at this idea.

4. How did Muni describe the village headman?

Ans.The village headman was a moneylender who disguised himself in rags just to mislead the public. According to Muni, in reality, the headman had so much money that he could even have changed a lakh of rupees in gold sovereigns.

5. Why did the red man show some interest in Muni’s goats? Briefly describe the intentions of Muni for rearing the goats. Why couldn’t his plan be carried out?

Ans.The foreigner showed interest in Muni’s goats merely out of courtesy. Muni had reared the goats in the hope of selling them some day and, with the profit, opening a small shop on that very spot.

Extract XIV

Muni hurried homeward…….carried them off in his motor car!

1. What food did Muni normally take? Explain why he is expecting miracle food at his occasion.

Ans.Muni would eat salted millet cooked into a little ball along with a raw onion. He was expecting a miracle food because he craved to chew drumsticks out of sauce the same morning. He knew that if he obeyed his wife she would somehow conjure food for him by evening.

2. How did Muni’s wife react when she saw the cash?

Ans.Muni’s wife was furious on seeing the hundred rupees note and accused Muni of stealing it.

3. As soon as Muni completed his speech what did Muni’s wife conclude from the scene?

Ans.Muni and his wife heard bleating outside. On opening the door, she saw the two goats and thus concluded Muni has stolen the money.

4. How can you conclude that Muni was annoyed by seeing the goats?

Ans.Muni’s annoyance was revealed when he questioned the goats, “Where is that man? Don’t you know you are his? Why did you come back?

5. How does the story end? What has appealed to you in the story?

The story ends with a misunderstanding between Muni and his wife. The latter accuses him of stealing since the goats follow Mini back home. R K Narayan is known for using ironic humour in his stories. It is in no way insulting but is enjoyable. It lets the readers laugh at the characters and their situation gently. There are various situations in the story which creates comic effect.

Muni craves to ‘chew the drumstick out of sauce’, to which his wife replies, “ You have only four teeth in your jaw, but your craving is for big things.”

When the shopkeeper doesn’t pay any attention to Muni sitting below the platform of the shop, Muni keeps coughing and sneezing to attract his attention.

In a humorous way, Muni’s poverty is commented upon when shopkeeper says to Muni, “ You also forget that you mentioned a birthday five weeks ago when you wanted Castor oil for your holy bath.

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