NCERT Solution for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 5 The Snake and the Mirror

Thinking about the Text

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

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:-  When the doctor opened the door, he heard a sound from above.

He thought the sound was made by rats.

“Again I heard the sound from above,” he said after hearing it four times, including the sound he heard when he opened the door.

‘Suddenly there came a dull thud as if a rubber tube has fallen’. When the snake appeared in front of the doctor, the noises stopped.

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

Answer:- The doctor took the following two ‘important’ and ‘earth shaking’ decisions:

(a) He would shave everyday and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome.

(b) He would always keep that lovely attractive smile on his face.

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) The doctor thought his smile was really lovely when he first smiled.

(ii) When he smiled again, he thought to himself, “I’m a poor and stupid doctor.”

Between the two situations, his thinking shifted from being an attractive doctor to being a foolish doctor. Because of the snake, his thoughts changed as he was quite near to death.

Question:- 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.)

1. (i) The kind of person the doctor is (money, possessions)

Answer:- The doctor is a low-income person. He doesn’t have a lot of money. His house is without electricity. It’s a little leased apartment with a lot of rats in it. In his bag, he has roughly sixty rupees. He owns only one black coat, in addition to few shirts and dhotis.

 (ii) The kind of person he wants to be (appearance, ambition)

Answer:- (ii) He wants to look handsome, so he decides that he would shave daily and grow a thin moustache.  He, too, desires to earn lots of money.

2. (i) The person he wants to marry

Answer:- He intends to marry a woman doctor who has plenty of money. He wishes to have a fat wife she won’t be able to chase him down and catch him if he makes a mistake.

 (ii) The person he actually marries

Answer:- The woman he actually marries is thin, reedy person with the gift of a sprinter.

3. (i) His thoughts when he looks into the mirror

Answer:-(i) When he looks into the mirror, he feels that he has a very attractive smile. He thought he should look handsome. So he decides to shave every day. He seems joyful when he looks into the mirror.

 (ii) His thoughts when the snake is coiled around his arm

Answer:- He sat there, holding his breath, as the snake coiled around his left arm above the elbow. He stopped moving. He was very terrified of snakes.