The Malgudi Days

By: R.K.Narayan

Malgudi Days is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan published in 1943

by Indian Thought Publications.[1]

The book was republished outside India in 1982 by Penguin Classics.[2] The book
includes 32 stories, all set in the fictional town of Malgudi,[3] located in South India.
Each of the stories portrays a facet of life in Malgudi.[4] The New York
Times described the virtue of the book as "everyone in the book seems to have a
capacity for responding to the quality of his particular hour. It's an art we need to
study and revive."[5]

In 1986, a few of the stories in the book were included in the Malgudi Days television
series and directed by actor and director, Shankar Nag.

In 2004, the project was revived with film-maker Kavitha Lankesh replacing the late
Shankar Nag as director. The new series was telecast from April 26, 2006,
on Doordarshan.[6]

In 2014, Google commemorated Narayan's 108th birthday by featuring a Google

Doodle showing him behind a copy of Malgudi Days.[7]

Chapters
[edit]

 "An Astrologer's Day":

A short story about an astrologer who knows nothing about stars or astrology. He
applied for the job after going on the run, though we are not told why he ran away.
The townspeople believe his predictions because of his study, practice and shrewd
guesswork. One day, a customer bets a large amount of money the astrologer
cannot reveal anything of substance. The astrologer resists the bet until he
recognizes the man (who is called Guru Nayak). After some haggling, the astrologer
tells the man he had been stabbed and left for dead in a well. The impressed
customer pays up (although not the promised sum) and the astrologer warns him not
to travel to this part of the country again. That night, the astrologer's wife asks where
he had been so late, and he confesses he had tried to kill the man years ago.[8]

 "The Missing Mail":

A story about Thanappa, a postman who always talks to the people on his route. He
delivered to a man named Ramanujam from before his daughter was born to the
time she is of marrying age. After the last marriage prospect falls through, Thanappa
recommends a suitor in a faraway town. The meeting goes well and everyone is
rushing to get the wedding done May 20. If it is delayed even one day, the groom's
"training" will delay it three years. After the wedding, Thanappa reveals a postcard to
Ramanujam about the death of a relative, which should have been delivered May 20.
Thanappa did not want to disrupt the wedding, even though hiding the letter should
cost him his job. Ramanujam says he will not issue a complaint.

 "The Doctor's Word":

A story about Dr Raman, who by time and tradition is only called for life-and-death
situations. As such, he believes pleasant lies can't save lives. He is very staunch
about that. Suddenly his best friend, Gopal, falls terribly ill. After treating him, the
doctor privately thinks he has 1:1000 odds of surviving, but his chances are worse
the more he exerts himself. Gopal begs the doctor to tell him if he will make it; if not,
he needs to sign his will then and there. Raman can't bear to tell Gopal the truth, but
can't let him keep straining himself. He tells Gopal he will be fine. The next morning,
Gopal's health is splendid, and the doctor says his survival will puzzle him the rest of
his life.

 "Gateman's Gift":
A story about Govind Singh who served as a gatekeeper and security guard. He only
spoke to the General Manager twice in his 25 years of service, and came to perceive
the GM as a god. After retiring, he took up the hobby of making miniatures and
dioramas using clay, sawdust, and paints. Each time his pension comes, he delivers
his clay work to his old company, always asking what the GM thought of his last one.
The accountant always says he liked it. One day, a registered letter from the GM
comes, and Singh is too afraid to open it, thinking it is something horrible. He goes to
an X-ray technician to see what's inside without opening it, but they tell him he is
unwell. Singh concludes he is mad because he plays with clay, not because of his
response to the letter. He goes through town acting like a complete madman until the
accountant sees him and opens the letter. The GM had thanked him, sent a large
check, and hoped to see more of his work in the future. Singh gives up his clay
hobby, saying it is no work for a sane man.

 "The Blind Dog":

A story about a stray dog who befriends a blind beggar. When the old woman who
cares for the blind man dies, he leashes the dog and begs while walking the streets.
The blind man finds he has greatly increased his income this way becomes greedy.
He constantly kicks the dog and beats him to keep working. When the market sellers
learn he is so rich he's lending money, they cut the leash with scissors and the dog
runs away. After a few weeks of not seeing the blind man or the dog, they see them
again and the dog's leash is a metal chain. The blind man says his dog came back to
him one night. The sellers pity the dog.

 "Fellow Feeling":
A story about Rajam Iyer, a Tamil Brahmin who is travelling on an express train.
Another passenger gets on and starts verbally abusing a third passenger. Rajam
gets involved and the bully complains that Brahmins are secretly eating meat and
driving prices up. The argument escalates until they stand to fight. Rajam stops short
of the first blow and explains that he will rearrange the bully's face so his mouth is
under his left ear, bluffing. As he is about to strike again, the bully sees they are at a
stop and leaps out the window, saying this is his stop. Rajam lies and tells the other
passengers the bully got back on into a different compartment, but they don't believe
him.

 "The Tiger's Claw":

A story about The Talkative Man, a recurring character in several short stories.
Some hunters bring a dead tiger into town, and The Talkative Man tells a story to
some children. When he was a fertilizer salesman, he stayed in a tiny village
overnight in their train station. He left the door cracked because it got too hot to
sleep. A tiger barged in and woke him up in the middle of the night. He barricaded
himself behind a lot of furniture, so the tiger could only reach in one paw. The man
used his knife to cut off three toes before the tiger retreated. Back in the town, the
children ask to see the tiger's paw; sure enough, three toes are missing. The hunters
say some tribesmen like to take tiger cubs and cut off three toes as good luck
charms.

 "Iswaran":
A story about a man named Iswaran who failed his intermediate college exams nine
years in a row. After taking the exams a tenth time, the day scores are reported has
arrived. Instead of viewing his scores, Iswaran goes to the cinema. When other boys
come in to the theater celebrating their own success, Iswaran becomes self-loathing
and is sure he failed again. He decides to drown himself in the river. He writes a
suicide note and leaves it in his jacket on the shore. But wanting to know for sure, he
checks his score. Not only did he pass, but with second-class honors. In his
excitement, he leaps into the river. His body and suicide note are discovered the
next day.

 "Such Perfection":
A story about a sculptor who finishes a statue after five years of labor. It is a statue
of the god Nataraja, and everyone insists its form is perfect; so perfect that if the
people saw it, the glory of the god would consume them. The priest asks the sculptor
to break off its little toe so that it will be safe to view, but the sculptor won't do it. The
priest thus refuses to consecrate it in the temple. The sculptor turns his house into a
temple to have it consecrated there. The god then comes to life and rattles the
region with every kind of natural disaster. The people beg the sculptor to mar the
statue's perfection after so many people died, but he won't. He ran to the overflowed
lake to drown himself as an offering to the god, but on the way, a tree falls on his
house. He returns to see the statue was unharmed except for a severed little toe.
The imperfect statue is consecrated at the temple, and the sculptor gives up his
trade.

 "Father's Help":
A story about Swami, a character from his first novel "Swami and Friends". Swami
oversleeps on Monday and convinces his mother to let him stay home from school.
His father insists he still go to school with a "headache," so Swami lies and says his
teacher Samuel beats children severely for lateness or any small offense. His father
writes a letter for Swami to deliver to the headmaster and sends him to school. The
letter will surely get Samuel fired, maybe even imprisoned. At school, Swami
provokes Samuel to do something deserving of getting fired. But Samuel only canes
his hands a few times, which Swami doesn't even react to. When he tries to deliver
the letter to the headmaster, he is on leave all week. The assistant headmaster could
accept it, but it's Samuel. Swami runs home without delivering the letter. His father
thinks he was lying about the headmaster being on leave and says he deserves
Samuel.

 "The Snake-Song":
A story about the Talkative Man. A group of men leave a concert hall having enjoyed
the performance, but the Talkative Man looked tortured. He says taste has sunk and
tells his story. He studied the bamboo flute with a master musician (who is so
obscure his name is unknown, of course). A beggar interrupts the Talkative Man's
practice at night and asks him for food. He declines the beggar even the right to
come in and listen to him practicing. The beggar curses him, saying this was his last
day of music. Later that night, a massive cobra comes and listens to him play. It gets
agitated when he stops or plays anything other than the snake-song. After playing
the same song all night, he throws himself prostrate and begs the snake to spare
him. When he looks up, it is gone. The Talkative Man says he gave up his flute, but if
he could find the beggar and ask forgiveness, he would take up his flute again.

 "Engine Trouble":
Another story about the Talkative Man. A carnival comes to town, and he wins a road
engine (steam-powered tractor). Not knowing even how to drive or power the road
engine, he simply leaves it in the park. The city starts to fine him for the parking
space at over double his home rent. He arranges to move it, but it crashes in a wall
instead, leaving him to pay for the damages. A swami comes to town, eating glass,
burying himself alive, etc. The swami asks for a road engine for his assistant to run
over his chest, but the city magistrate refuses to allow it. After a massive earthquake,
the road engine lodges in a well owned by the same man whose wall was destroyed.
He thanks the Talkative Man, as the city was going to fine him for the dirty water if it
wasn't sealed. Of course, you can't see the engine lodged in the well anymore, as it
is now sealed with concrete.

 "Forty-Five A Month":
A story about a daughter, Shanta, and her father, Venkat Rao. Shanta is a primary
school student who is eager to go home from school early, as her father has
promised to take her to the cinema. At home, she gets dressed up and waits for her
father. When he doesn't come home by the time he said he would, she tries to find
his office, but gets lost. A servant leads her back home. We flash back to that
morning and follow Venkat Rao's day. He feels guilty that he stays at work until after
his daughter goes to bed, seven days a week. So when Shanta asks to be taken to
the cinema, he promises to take her. That afternoon, he asks his boss for personal
leave or else he resigns. His boss tells him nothing is more urgent than work, so he
goes back to working. Fed up with being bought for forty rupees a month, he writes a
letter of resignation. His boss tells him he got a raise to forty-five rupees a month, so
he tears up his letter. Venkat Rao gets home after his daughter falls asleep and tells
his wife he can't take Shanta out at all since he got a raise.

 "Out of Business"
A story about Rama Rao, a man who had just lost his gramophone business as the
only factory in the region closed down. Rama Rao looks for a local job, to no
success. The family lay off their servants and rent out the house they built to live in a
smaller abode. With no more job prospects, Rama Rao enters a magazine
crossword contest, where everyone who gets every answer right wins 4000 rupees.
After seeing how badly he lost, he lays down on the train tracks to die. After waiting
too long, he finds a crowd at the station and hears that a derailment has delayed all
trains three more hours. Recognizing his good fortune, he goes home and his wife
tells him the renters want to buy their house. He is excited to sell for 4500 rupees
and will use some of the money to go to Madras and get a job there.

 "Attila":
A story about a friendly dog named Attila, after the "Scourge of Europe". After the
neighborhood experienced a number of break-ins, a family buys a dog for security.
He is friendly with everyone and does not stop thieves from taking their garden
flowers, so the family keep him inside at night. One night, a thief named Ranga does
break in to steal jewels. Attila is so excited to meet this new friend that he follows
Ranga into the open street. The family assumes the dog was stolen too, but they see
Attila run to catch him. Ranga gets scared and runs, but trips over the dog, spilling
the jewels he stole. The police arrest Ranga, and Attila is praised for being a master
detective.

 "The Axe"
A story about Velan, who an astrologer predicted would live in a three-story house.
Velan came from the poorest family in his village. At age 18, his father slapped his
face in public, and he left. After a few days of walking and begging, he got a job as a
gardener for an old man. The plot of land was large and they built a three-story
mansion on it, but Velan lived in his hut on the grounds. After being awed by the
mansion's construction, he grips a margosa's stem in his fingers and tells it to grow
up big and worthy of the house or he will pluck it out. It does grow, and his master's
great-grandchildren play under it and hundreds of birds live in its branches. Velan's
master dies and the house trades hands with family members for some years until
wear and tear make the house look haunted and no one will live in it, except Velan
when he is given the keys. Some years later, a man arrives to say the plot has been
bought and will be cleared for small housing. One morning, Velan awakes to the
sound of men chopping the margosa tree with axes. He begs them to stop until he
has gathered his belongings and gone out of earshot.

 "Lawley Road"
Another story about the Talkative Man. Just after India's independence, there was a
flurry of patriotism. The municipality renamed streets from English things to Indian
names. There was a statue of a Sir Frederick Lawley in town, and when the street
bearing his name was changed, the municipality voted to remove the statue. The
people also researched Lawley and found he had been a British tyrant over the
Indians. When the city failed to find anyone to remove it within budget, the Talkative
Man is offered the chance to take it for himself. He does and lodges it halfway inside
his house with great difficulty. When he writes in the news how he got the statue,
historical societies across India are outraged, as there are two Sir Lawleys, and the
statue celebrated a kind man who founded Malgudi and even died to save Indians.
The public protests the removal of the statue, but now neither the city nor the
Talkative Man have funds to move it again. An election is coming, and if the statue
problem is not returned to the city, the whole council will be voted out. The Chairman
of Malgudi buys the Talkative Man's house with his private fund.

 "Trail of the Green Blazer"

 "The Martyr's Corner"
 "Wife's Holiday"
 "A Shadow"
 "A Willing Slave"
 "Leela's Friend"
 "Mother and Son"
 "Naga"
 "Selvi"
 "Second Opinion"
 "Cat Within"
 "The Edge"
 "God and the Cobbler"
 "Hungry Child"
 "Emden"
Summary of The Room On the
Roof By Ruskin Bond
The Story of “Room on the Roof” follows a boy named Rusty, a 17
years old boy with no parents who live in Dehradun, Uttarakhand
with his English guardians. Ruskin don’t want to live with his
English guardian anymore because of their strictness towards him.

THE ROOM ON THE ROOF BY RUSKIN BOND

Summary of The Room on the Roof By Ruskin

Bond
The “Room on the roof” is a first novel of famous Indian author
Ruskin Bond and he wrote it when he was just 17 years old. The
novel was originally published in 1956 and it has won John
Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. The story of novel center around
Rusty, a 17 years old Anglo Indian orphaned boy who lives with
his guardian named Mr. John Harrison and Mrs. Harrison. The
Second important character of novel is Mr. John Harrison, very
strict English man who don’t like Indian at all and want Rusty to
stay away from Indian because he want him to be a complete
Englishman. The third important character of novel is Kishan, a
neighbor of Rusty who learned daily English from him.

The Story of novel starts with Rusty, a 17 years old boy with no
parents who lives in Dehradun, Uttarakhand with his guardian
named Mr John Harrison. His guardians are very strict who don’t
like Indian at all and they does not allow Rusty to live or play with
Indian because they want him to be a complete English man.
Rusty do not like living with his guardian because of their strict
behavior towards him for Indian and he longs for liberation. One
day in morning during light rain when Rusty was returning home
he meets a boy named Somi and Ranbir who helps him by giving
him lift through bicycle and they go on to become Rusty’s best
friends.

When Mr. and Mrs. Harrison were not in home Rusty decides to go
in market with his best friends Somi and Ranbir and after enjoying
with his best friends when Rusty return back to home he find out
that his guardian has came back early and he gets punishment for
going in market. The next day he goes to play Holi with his best
friends Somi and Ranbir and one more time when he came back
he get punishment for playing with his friends but this time Rusty
gets angry and in anger he starts fighting with Mr. John Harrison,
and when Mr. Harrison wife comes he runs away from their home.

Rusty spend first time in his life whole night outside the home
crying and waiting for his best friend Somi who will come in
morning to take him in his home because he don’t want to go
back at his guardian home. In morning Somi comes and takes him
in his home and help Rusty in getting a job as English teacher in
Mr. and Mrs. Kapoor home.

Mr. and Mrs. Meena Kapoor hired him as English teacher for their
son named Kishan and they gave him room on the roof in their
home to live freely. Mr. Kapoor is a alcoholic man who is 20 years
older than his wife, Meena and don’t care for her at all. Rusty
starts attracting towards Mrs. Kapoor because of her beauty and
on the other hand Mrs. Meena Kapoor also seem attracted towards
him as she feel uncared by her spouse. One day Mr. and Mrs.
Meena Kapoor goes in Delhi for their personal work and after few
days Rusty gets a horrific news that Mr. & Mrs. Meena Kapoor had
an car accident in which Mrs. Meena died.

Kishan and Rusty were shocked after hearing the news of Meena’s
death and they feel very sad and heart broken for their lost. Mrs.
Meena Kapoor’s death make Rusty orphaned again and now he
live alone in his room on the roof. Rusty decides to go England by
taking help from British Embassy and before going England he
goes to meet his friend Kishan who is living in Haridwar with his
aunt. When he went to Haridwar to meet Kishan he learns that Mr.
Kapoor has married another woman and Kishan don’t live with
them anymore. When Rusty meet Kishan he learns that he has
chosen a life of crime and became a thief. Rusty advises him to
quit a life of crime and thief because he don’t want to see him in
prison, he told him to start a new life in Dehradun. The next
morning Rusty and Kishan leaves for Dehradun to start a new life
together.
A Summary and Analysis of O.
Henry’s ‘The Gift of the Magi’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Gift of the Magi’ is a short story by the US short-

story writer O. Henry, whose real name was William
Sydney Porter (1862-1910). His stories are
characterised by their irony, their chatty narrative
style, their occasional sentimentality, and by their
surprise twist endings.
0 seconds of 17 secondsVolume 0%

All of these things became something of a signature

feature, and ‘The Gift of the Magi’ embodies them all
to some extent. But what does this Christmas story
mean?

You can read ‘The Gift of the Magi’ here before

proceeding to our summary and analysis of O.
Henry’s story below.

We discuss some of the key themes of ‘The Gift of the

Magi’ in a separate post.

‘The Gift of the Magi’: plot summary

It is Christmas Eve. Jim and Della are a married

couple living in a modest furnished flat in New York.
They have little money. The story opens with Della
upset because she has just one dollar and eighty-
seven cents to spend on a Christmas present for her
husband.

The narrator tells us the married couple each have a

possession in which they take great pride. For Jim, it’s
a gold watch that had been his father’s and, before
that, his grandfather’s. Della’s prized possession is
her beautiful hair.

Della goes to a woman who deals in hair goods. This

woman agrees to buy Della’s hair for twenty dollars.
With the newly acquired money, Della goes to buy a
platinum fob chain for Jim’s gold watch. This costs her
twenty-one dollars, leaving her just eighty-seven
cents in the whole world. When she gets home, she
sets about curling what’s left of her hair so it looks
presentable.
When Jim gets home, he is surprised by his wife’s
actions, but when she explains why she had her hair
cut off, he embraces her and gives her the present he
has bought her: two jewelled tortoiseshell combs she
has long admired in a shop window. The combs are
useless to her until her hair grows out again, but at
least she can give Jim his present …

But in a last twist, Jim tells Della that he sold his gold
watch to pay for the expensive combs he bought for
her. So now, she has two combs but no hair to use
them on, and he has a platinum fob chain for a gold
watch he no longer owns.

‘The Gift of the Magi’: analysis

Many of O. Henry’s short stories – the majority of

which stretch to only five or six pages – are marked
by their ironic twists, and ‘The Gift of the Magi’ is a
good example of this typical feature of his work.

In their attempts to buy each other their dream

Christmas gift, young Jim and Della end up sacrificing
the very things that their presents are designed to
complement: the combs for Della’s (sold) hair, and
the chain for Jim’s (sold) watch. As the narrator
observes in the final paragraph:

The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully

wise men – who brought gifts to the Babe in the
manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas
presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise
ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in
case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to
you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in
a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the
greatest treasures of their house.

But O. Henry is not inviting us to laugh at their folly,

but to celebrate their sacrifice. Indeed, what
motivated them was not foolishness but wisdom, as
the narrator remarks in the story’s closing words:

But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be

said that of all who give gifts these two were the
wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they
are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the
magi.

So there are, in a sense, two surprise twists at the

end of ‘The Gift of the Magi’: the trademark plot twist
which characterises most of O. Henry’s short stories,
and the narratorial ‘twist’ in which he overturns our
initial response – which might be to laugh good-
naturedly at the unhappy turn of events which have
just been narrated – and makes a moral point that Jim
and Della behaved out of wisdom, even though they
ended up with ‘useless’ presents from each other.

This is all well and good, but it’s worth noting that the
narrator doesn’t gloss why he believes that Jim and
Della were ‘wisest’ of all gift-givers. Of course, ‘wise’
here is suggested by the Magi, the Zoroastrian
astrologers who, in the Gospel of Matthew, visited the
infant Jesus and brought him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh: hence the title of the story.

But what makes Jim and Della wise? And why doesn’t
O. Henry tell us? Is it because he wanted us to make
up our own minds, or did he assume that the answer
was fairly self-explanatory?
The latter seems more likely. For surely the ‘moral’ of
‘The Gift of the Magi’, given its Christmas setting and
the fact that Jim and Della clearly love each other and
treat each other well despite having no money to
afford the finer things in life, is that love is more
important than possessions. And when it comes to
Christmas and buying gifts for our loved ones, it really
is the thought that counts.

But there’s a little more to ‘The Gift of the Magi’ than

this rather hackneyed old adage, which would reduce
the story to a sentimental and rather twee fable
about ‘giving being better than receiving’ and ‘love
being more important than money’. Both of these
statements are relevant to the story, but what is also
relevant is the element of sacrifice the two characters
make, and their reaction to learning the implications
of this.

So Jim is happy to part with a gold watch that has

been passed down the male line for three
generations, while Della is happy to lose her hair
(which would, despite her protestations, take many
months to grow back fully) in order to purchase the
gift the other one most desires. But with the story’s
twist, they learn that their personal sacrifices –
committed for their love of the other one – have been
in vain.

But they are happy about this, not because of the

gesture of buying the gift but the great cost that it
has incurred for the other. Love, O. Henry seems to
say, is about giving up that which you most treasure
in order to show your beloved – whom you should
love even more – the extent of your devotion.
In other words, what is remarkable about ‘The Gift of
the Magi’ is that its moral seems to be not just ‘giving
is better than receiving’ but ‘giving and losing is all
that matters’, since what they receive is of no
practical use to them.

Uncle Podger Hangs a Picture

You never saw such a commotion up and down a house, in all your life, as when my Uncle Podger
undertook to do a job. A picture would have come home from the frame-maker's, and be standing in
the dining-room, waiting to be put up; and Aunt Podger would ask what was to be done with it, and
Uncle Podger would say:

"Oh, you leave that to me. Don't you, any of you, worry yourselves about that. I'll do all that."

And then he would take off his coat, and begin. He would send the girl out for sixpenny worth of
nails, and then one of the boys after her to tell her what size to get; and, from that, he would
gradually work down, and start the whole house.

"Now you go and get me my hammer, Will," he would shout; "and you bring me the rule, Tom; and I
shall want the step-ladder, and I had better have a kitchen-chair, too; and, Jim! You run round to Mr.
Goggles, and tell him, 'Pa's kind regards, and hopes his leg's better; and will he lend him his spirit-
level?' And don't you go, Maria, because I shall want somebody to hold me the light; and when the
girl comes back, she must go out again for a bit of picture-cord; and Tom!—where's Tom?—Tom,
you come here; I shall want you to hand me up the picture."

And then he would lift up the picture, and drop it, and it would come out of the frame, and he would
try to save the glass, and cut himself; and then he would spring round the room, looking for his
handkerchief. He could not find his handkerchief, because it was in the pocket of the coat he had
taken off, and he did not know where he had put the coat, and all the house had to leave off looking
for his tools, and start looking for his coat; while he would dance round and hinder them.

"Doesn't anybody in the whole house know where my coat is? I never came across such a set in all
my life—upon my word I didn't. Six of you! —and you can't find a coat that I put down not five
minutes ago! Well, of all the—"

Then he'd get up, and find that he had been sitting on it, and would call out:

"Oh, you can give it up! I've found it myself now. Might just as well ask the cat to find anything as
expect you people to find it."

And, when half an hour had been spent in tying up his finger, and a new glass had been got, and the
tools, and the ladder, and the chair, and the candle had been brought, he would have another go,
the whole family, including the girl and the charwoman, standing round in a semi-circle, ready to
help. Two people would have to hold the chair, and a third would help him up on it, and hold him
there, and a fourth would hand him a nail, and a fifth would pass him up the hammer, and he would
take hold of the nail, and drop it.

"There!" he would say, in an injured tone, "now the nail's gone."

And we would all have to go down on our knees and grovel for it, while he would stand on the chair,
and grunt, and want to know if he was to be kept there all the evening.

The nail would be found at last, but by that time he would have lost the hammer.

"Where's the hammer? What did I do with the hammer? Great heavens! Seven of you, gaping round
there, and you don't know what I did with the hammer!"

We would find the hammer for him, and then he would have lost sight of the mark he had made on
the wall, where the nail was to go in, and each of us had to get up on the chair, beside him, and see
if we could find it; and we would each discover it in a different place, and he would call us all fools,
one after another, and tell us to get down. And he would take the rule, and re-measure, and find
that he wanted half thirty-one and three-eighths inches from the corner, and would try to do it in his
head, and go mad.

And we would all try to do it in our heads, and all arrive at different results, and sneer at one
another. And in the general row, the original number would be forgotten, and Uncle Podger would
have to measure it again.

He would use a bit of string this time, and at the critical moment, when the old fool was leaning over
the chair at an angle of forty-five, and trying to reach a point three inches beyond what was possible
for him to reach, the string would slip, and down he would slide on to the piano, a really fine musical
effect being produced by the suddenness with which his head and body struck all the notes at the
same time.
And Aunt Maria would say that she would not allow the children to stand round and hear such
language.

At last, Uncle Podger would get the spot fixed again, and put the point of the nail on it with his left
hand, and take the hammer in his right hand. And, with the first blow, he would smash his thumb,
and drop the hammer, with a yell, on somebody's toes.

Aunt Maria would mildly observe that, next time Uncle Podger was going to hammer a nail into the
wall, she hoped he'd let her know in time, so that she could make arrangements to go and spend a
week with her mother while it was being done.

"Oh! You women, you make such a fuss over everything," Uncle Podger would reply, picking himself
up. "Why, I like doing a little job of this sort."

And then he would have another try, and, at the second blow, the nail would go clean through the
plaster, and half the hammer after it, and Uncle Podger be precipitated against the wall with force
nearly sufficient to flatten his nose.

Then we had to find the rule and the string again, and a new hole was made; and, about midnight,
the picture would be up—very crooked and insecure, the wall for yards round looking as if it had
been smoothed down with a rake and everybody dead beat and wretched—except Uncle Podger.

"There you are," he would say, stepping heavily off the chair on to the charwoman's corns, and
surveying the mess he had made with evident pride. "Why, some people would have had a man in to
do a little thing like that!"

From 'Three Men in a Boat', Jerome K. Jerome

Summary of the Story Uncle Podger Hangs a Picture

"Uncle Podger Hangs a Picture" is a humorous short story written by Jerome K. Jerome. The story
revolves around Uncle Podger's attempts to hang a picture on the wall of his living room. The task
seems to be simple, but Uncle Podger makes a big fuss about it, seeking help from everyone in the
household.

He takes off his coat and begins his work. He sends the girl to buy nails and a boy after her to tell her
what size. Then he orders to bring him hammer, ruler, stepladder, kitchen chair and spirit level from
Mr. Goggles. He assigns Maria to bring picture-cord and then show the candle and assigns Tom to
hand him picture but at the very moment the picture falls. Uncle Podger tries to catch it but the glass
comes out from the picture and cuts his hand and then the glass is smashed upon the floor. He
shouts at children to give him his handkerchief but it is not found because it was in the pocket of his
coat on which he was sitting.

The new glass is brought but this time, he was unable to see the mark he had made. In an attempt to
make measurement, he falls upon the piano.

Uncle Podger involves everyone in the task, including his wife, his son, his daughter, and even the
charwoman. Each of them tries to help him in their own way, but their efforts end up making the
task more complicated. Uncle Podger himself becomes increasingly frantic, running around and
giving orders to everyone.
Eventually, the picture is hung on the wall, but not without some hilarious mishaps. It was still
crooked and lopsided. Uncle Podger declares that he did it all himself, taking credit for the
contributions of everyone else.

The story is a humorous portrayal of the human tendency to make a simple task more complicated
than it needs to be. It also highlights the importance of teamwork and communication, as Uncle
Podger's lack of these qualities causes chaos and confusion. The story has a lighthearted tone and is
a good example of Jerome K. Jerome's comedic writing style.

Multiple Choice Questions:-

1. Why does Uncle Podger insist on hanging the picture himself?

A. He doesn't trust anyone else to do it right

B. He enjoys the challenge

C. He doesn't want to pay a professional

D. He thinks it will impress his guests

Answer: A. He doesn't trust anyone else to do it right

2. What happens when the picture falls?

A. The picture comes out of the frame.

B. Uncle podger tries to save the glass by catching it.

C. Uncle Podger cuts his finger.

D. All the above A, B, and C

Answer: D. All the above A, B, and C

3. Why did Uncle Podger not find his handkerchief when his finger was cut?

A. The handkerchief was with Aunt Podger.

B. The handkerchief was in the pocket of his coat.

C. He was sitting on the coat.

D. B and C both.

Answer: D. B and C both.

4. How many people were helping Uncle Podger to hang the picture?

A. Seven

B. Six

C. Five

D. Four

Answer: A. Seven

5. What is Uncle Podger's occupation?

A. He is a painter

B. He is a decorator

C. He is a builder

Answer: D. It is not specified in the story

6. Where did Uncle Podger fall while he was leaning to measure the mark to hang the picture?

A. He fell upon the bed.

B. He fell upon the piano.

C. He fell upon the nails.

D. He fell upon the hammer.

Answer: B. He fell upon the piano

7. What is the main conflict of the story?

A. The picture won't hang straight

B. The picture is too heavy for the wall

C. Uncle Podger won't let anyone else help him

D. The picture falls off the wall

Answer: C. Uncle Podger won't let anyone else help him

8. What is the moral of the story?

A. Pride goes before a fall

B. Money can't buy happiness

C. You can't always do everything yourself

D. Practice makes perfect

Answer: C. You can't always do everything yourself

9. What is the tone of the story?

A. Serious

B. Humorous

C. Sarcastic

D. Angry

Answer: B. Humorous

10. What does the picture look like when it is finally hung?

A. Crooked and lopsided

B. Perfectly straight and level

C. Upside down

D. It is not described in the story.

Answer: A. Crooked and lopsided

Short Questions and Answers

1. Who is Uncle Podger?

Answer: Uncle Podger is a character in the short story "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome.
He is famous for his ability to create chaos while attempting to complete even the simplest tasks.

2. What is Uncle Podger's task in the story?

Answer: Uncle Podger's task in the story is to hang a picture on the wall.

3. What is Uncle Podger's attitude towards the task of hanging the picture?

Answer: Uncle Podger is very confident and boastful about his ability to hang a picture. He believes it
is a simple task and makes it seem like anyone could do it.

4. What happens when Uncle Podger tries to hang the picture?

Answer: Uncle Podger's attempts to hang the picture end up being very chaotic and frustrating. He
keeps forgetting important tools, misplacing items, and making mistakes.

5. Who helps Uncle Podger hang the picture?

Answer: Uncle Podger's family members, including his wife, sons, daughters and charwoman, a total
of seven people help him hang the picture.

6. What is the theme of the story?

Answer: The theme of the story is the folly of overconfidence. Uncle Podger is overly confident in his
ability to hang a picture, and his arrogance leads to chaos and frustration.

7. What is the significance of the picture Uncle Podger is hanging?

Answer: The picture Uncle Podger is hanging is not very significant to the story. What picture it is, is
not mentioned in the story.

8. What is Uncle Podger's reaction when the picture is finally hung?

Answer: Uncle Podger is very pleased with himself when the picture is finally hung. He boasts about
his achievement and takes credit for the hard work of his family members.

9. How do Uncle Podger's family members feel about the experience of helping him hang the
picture?

Answer: Uncle Podger's family members feel frustrated and annoyed with the experience of helping
him hang the picture. They find his overconfidence and lack of organization to be very irritating.

10. What is the tone of the story?

Answer: The tone of the story is humorous and satirical. The author is poking fun at Uncle Podger's
overconfidence and the chaos that ensues when he tries to hang a picture.
About the author Jerome Klapka Jerome

Jerome K. Jerome was a renowned English writer, playwright, and humorist who lived from 1859 to
1927. He was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England, and spent his childhood in poverty after his
father died when he was just a toddler. Despite these challenges, Jerome became an accomplished
author, best known for his humorous novels and plays.

Jerome began his career in literature as a journalist and editor for various newspapers, including The
Idler and The Speaker. He gained widespread popularity for his comic novel "Three Men in a Boat
(To Say Nothing of the Dog)," published in 1889. The book, based on Jerome's own boating
experiences on the Thames, was a huge success and has since become a classic of English literature.

Jerome went on to write many more novels, plays, and essays, including "Idle Thoughts of an Idle
Fellow" and "Three Men on the Bummel." His writing style was characterized by its wit, satire, and
observations on everyday life. Today, Jerome is considered one of the great humorists of the
Victorian era, and his works continue to be enjoyed by readers around the world.