1) The Lady or the Tiger?

By Frank R Stockton
The Lady, or the Tiger? is set in a kingdom ruled by a semi-barbaric king who is a fanciful and
unpredictable man. The king has dreamt up a justice system that is based entirely on chance. He
has built a public arena where men accused of a crime must choose one of two doors. Behind one
of the doors is a lady; behind the other is a tiger. If the prisoner chooses the door with the tiger,
he is assumed to be guilty, and he will be eaten in front of the entire kingdom. On the other hand,
if he chooses the door with the lady, he is presumed innocent, and he marries the lady right there
on the spot.
The king has a beautiful daughter, and she falls in love with a courtier, who is far below her in
status. When the king finds out about this relationship, he is enraged. He puts the courtier on trial
and will let his system of punishment decide the youth's fate. He searches his kingdom for the
most ferocious tiger and the most beautiful lady. On the day of the courtier's trial, everyone in
the kingdom gathers in the amphitheater.

When the courtier steps into the amphitheater, he bows to the king but his eyes are on the
princess. He knows the princess's character and knows that she would have gone to great lengths
to know what each door is concealing. The princess also knows the identity of the lady hiding
behind the door: it is a beautiful lady of whom the princess is quite jealous. The courtier and the
princess's eyes meet. He asks her with a glance which door he should choose. The princess
makes a miniature gesture towards the door on the right. The courtier marches forward and
chooses that door without hesitation.
We are not told what was behind the door that the princess chose for her former lover. Did she
choose to send him to death in order to avoid giving him away to another? Or, in order to spare
her lover's life, did she seal her own heartbreak to watch the one she loves marry another? In the
end, the question is posed to the reader: what do you think came out of that door? The lady, or
the tiger? So, the story ends with suspense.

2) Two Gentlemen of Verona by A.J. Cronin

Two Gentlemen Of Verona is the inspirational story of two brothers aged 12 and 13 – the
younger one Jacopo’s nature is childish and lively while the elder one, Nicola’s nature is serious
and mature. The author met them in the town of Verona. A.J.Cronin used the title “The Two
Gentlemen of Verona” in an ironic manner, as at a very young age they faced the hardships of
life, their mother died early in their life, their father was a well-known singer but became a
victim of the early war. Their village suffered due to German occupation. They got homeless as
their home got destroyed, and suffered starvation and the cold winter. The family struggled for
life, they lived in the shelter made of broken building walls and bricks. After the war, they got
back to their sister, and found her suffering from tuberculosis of spine, which was another shock
to these poor kids. As they were the only family of their sister, they had to work and arrange
money for her medical treatment. Despite facing so many problems in their early life, the boys
did not lose hope, the brothers’ positive approach and determination to get their sister cured had
helped the staff treat her well. Despite having a scarcity of jobs in town, they managed to give
their sister the best they could. On the contrary they lived a very poor life, their clothing and
eating habits portrayed it. To earn their living they shined shoes, sold fruit, hawked newspapers,
and even worked as tourist guides. Going through so much in life, they never tried to take
anyone’s sympathy, instead they worked hard. These two young boys have every quality of
being called gentlemen, their positivity and selflessness inspired the narrator. The narrator felt
that such a humble youth gives our society hope for a better tomorrow. In such times of war,
weapons and hatred, still, there is hope for humanity.
The two young gentlemen of Verona face their difficulties head on without a single complaint.
Their love and emotional strength are truly commendable. And the boys’ maturity and sense of
responsibility are also praiseworthy. These boys display exemplary courage amidst extreme
poverty and devastation and the author manages to find real inspiration from their lives.

3) The Verger by William Somerset Maugham

The Verger is a tale about a simple man , Albert Edward Foreman. He has been a verger in St.
Peter’s Neville Square Church, doing his duties with great enjoyment and dedication. His routine
work is disturbed with the arrival of new vicar in the church. He wants everything to be perfect
and when he comes to know that Foreman is an illiterate he immediately takes action. The vicar
feels that things like ability to read and write reflect the good character of St. Peter’s.
Foreman’s impeccable record doesn’t help him to retain his job. The vicar is ready to offer
Foreman three month grace period to become a literate. But he refuses the proposal saying that
he cannot learn to read and write at this age.
The vicar announces that the parish has decided to quit him from the service because Foreman is
not literate. For Foreman, this decision of the priest is a great blow he has never anticipated.
After his appointment sixteen years ago as a verger he had thought that the appointment was for
life. But suddenly he becomes unemployed after a long service of sixteen years. He doesn’t want
to demean himself by accepting any domestic services other than the divine church service.
When Foreman leaves the church he is very much upset and deeply distressed. He walks along
the long road deeply thinking about his next move. He has got a meagre amount of money but
not enough to meet all his family requirements without doing anything. He is a non-smoker but
when he feels distressed and tired, he enjoys a cigarette. He feels like having a cigarette which
would comfort him. He cannot find a cigarette shop in the long street. It sounds strange to him.
He thinks that a tobacco shop in such a place would be profitable. His plan comes to execution
the very next day. He rents a suitable shop and starts his tobacco business. It goes well. He
makes profit and within ten years he opens ten branches throughout London. He becomes a great
businessman and bank balance rises up to thirty thousand pounds.
One-day the manager of the bank advises him to invest his amount in some safe securities.
Albert says that he does not want to take risk and want his money safe in the bank. Moreover he
does not know how and in which securities he can invest. The manager replies that he is there to
look after his investment and the only thing he has to do is put his signature. The manager says
that he can read the document and then put his signature on that. Albert confesses that he is an
illiterate.
The manager is astonished at his confession. Without knowing how to read or write Albert has
amassed a huge sum. What he could have done if he were a literate and educated. But Albert
humbly answers him that if he knows to read and write he would be a verger at St. Peter’s
Neville Square and nothing more.
 4) The Auspicious Vision by Rabindranath Tagore
The Auspicious Vision begins on the bank of a river. A wealthy man is on a duck hunting
expedition accompanied by servants. He spots a beautiful young woman, just adolescent on the
banks of the river. She is holding some ducklings in her arm. He tells her not to worry he won't
shoot them (during those times marriages were mostly arranged and girls once 13 or so were
considered of marriageable age.). The girl runs off without speaking to him. He tells his men to
find what family she is from as he wants to marry her. He goes to visit her father and the father,
happy to have a rich son in law, readily agrees to give his daughter in marriage. As is the
custom, the groom will not see her until what is called in Bengali wedding tradition, "The
Auspicious Moment". At that moment the groom gets a surprise that at first angers him. The
bride is not the girl he saw. Then he realizes the father in law was never told who the girl was so
he simply married him to another daughter. There is a further surprise to come and I will leave
that untold. I liked this almost fable like story a great deal.
Kanti is fully aware of the mistake he has made in marrying Sudha. Having mistaken her for
another girl. However there is a sense that Kanti will still be happy and blessed with good
fortune.
Kanti is also an interesting character as he had no interest in getting married after he lost his first
wife. However on seeing the beauty of the servant girl Kanti was again interested in the prospect
of marriage. This may be important as Tagore may be empowering woman or at least defining
what many men find appealing within a woman - their looks. This seems to be the only criteria.

5) The child by Premchand

‘The child’ is a story which is narrated by the narrator who is a generous, rich man. Gangu was
one of the servant who served his master. Gangu was a Brahmin. He was different from many
other servants in the household. He was away from all the vices. Of course he showed no
characteristics of an ideal Brahmin. Once he went to the narrator in private. He hesitated to
speak. The narrator showed that he was too busy and ordered him to speck quickly. The narrator
thought that he must have came to either ask for money or to complain about another servant.
But the narrator was surprised when Gangu declared that he wanted to leave the job because he
was going to marry. Gomati Devi who had been driven away twice by her two past husbands.
She lived in the same mohalla and she was respected by name. All believed her to be low in
character. But Gangu’s opinion was different. The narrator tried to stop but Gangu said that it
was not fault. Nobody understood her. Finally he left the job. The narrator thought that very soon
Gomatidevi and Gangu will get separated but they lived happily.
But once Gomati run away. The narrator was happy thinking that he proved true. Gangu was
upset but still had faith in her. After one month when the narrator returned from nainital, Gangu
came to him again. He had a new born baby in his hand. He was extremely happy. He searched
and found Gomati out. She had runaway because she was going to be the mother and Gangu was
not father of that child. But Gangu was very generous. The narrator tried hard to provoke him
against Gomati but he was firm in his love. He accepted the child as a gift from the god.
Finally, seeing Gangu’s feeling and generosity, the narrator was touched and offered his blessing
to the baby. We are impressed by the courage and sincerely of Gangu here. He proved to be a
noble human being.