A FISHY STORY
Jerome K Jerome
Word Galaxy
( To be done from T.B. only)
1. | Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow. When I have caught………………………at least not in fish. |
a) | What was the young man’s initial plan regarding exaggerating his fishing hauls? Ans. ii) He would add twenty - five percent to his actual catch. b) Complete the analogy. Integrity: dishonesty::virtuous: honesty c) Select the reason why the young man’s plan of adding some percent to his catch did not work well? Ans. iv)He could not add twenty-five percent to the number three. d) The young man’s initial moral concern about lying about his fishing hauls was that he would not add more than twenty-five per cent. e)Give the synonym of the word ‘lie’ Ans. exaggerate
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b) | At this point, …… better view of it. i . What does it refer to in the above extract? Ans. ‘It’ refers to the trout in the glass case.
ii. Why did George climb up on the back of the chair? Ans.George climbed up on the back of the chair to get a better view of the trout in the glass case.
iii. What happened when the chair slipped? Ans. When the chair slipped, George clutched wildly at the trout-case to save himself, and down it came with a crash, George and the chair on top of it.
iv. How did the sight of the fish affect the people in the room? Ans. In “A Fishy Story”, the sight of the trout lying in the room astonished and shocked the people. They stared at it in disbelief and curiosity, as it was unusual to see such a large fish displayed indoors. The presence of the trout made the atmosphere tense and exciting, and everyone in the room became silent and attentive, fully convinced that the fishing story must be true.
v. Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘felt great wonder’. Ans. marvelled |
2. | Answer the following questions in 30-40 words. | |
a) | Describe the neighbourhood of Streatly and Goring? Ans. The neighbourhood of Streatley and Goring is a great fishing centre. The river abounds in pike, roach, dace, gudgeon, and eels and one can sit and fish for them all day. Some people do but they never catch them.
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b) | Why could the narrator not become a great angler? Ans.The author was an extremely neat thrower, had plenty of gumption and quite enough constitutional laziness. However, to become a great angler, he would require more imagination, more power of invention and the ability to tell lies easily.
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c) | What formula did the young man finally used to exaggerate his haul satisfactorily? Ans.The young man began counting each fish that he caught as ten, and to assume ten to begin with. Then, if he really caught one fish, he called it twenty, while two fish would count thirty and so on.
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d) | What story did the old fellow tell the narrator about the big trout? Ans. The old fellow told the author that he had caught the trout just below the bridge with a minnow and it weighed eighteen pounds six ounces. He further added that one didn’t see many fish that size about there then. |
3. | Answer the following questions in 100-120 words. | |
a) | Describe the false tales of catching the trout.
Ans. One day when the author and his friend George were in a parlour, they began chatting with an old fellow there. Then, the old fellow said that the trout weighed eighteen pounds six ounces and he had caught him just below the bridge with a minnow. The local carrier, who had just stopped at the inn, said that it was nearly five years ago that he had caught that trout below the lock and it weighed twenty-six pounds. Five minutes later, a third man came in and described how he had caught it early one morning, bleakly. After he left, a middle-aged individual came in. He told the author and his friend how it had taken him half an hour to land it, broke his rod and weighed thirty-four pounds. Finally, the landlord came and told the real history how he had caught it when he was quite a lad.
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b) | How was the truth behind the huge trout finally discovered?
Ans. The author and his friend George has heard all the false stories and shared them with the landowner. The landowner in turn told them the real history behind the trout. After the landowner left the room, they again turned their gaze upon the fish. The more they looked at it, the more they marvelled at it. It excited George so much that he climbed up on the back of a chair to get a better view of it. And then the chair slipped, and George clutched wildly at the trout-case to save himself, and down it came with a crash, George and the chair on top of it. That trout lay shattered into a thousand fragments. They thought it strange and unaccountable, if it had been a stuffed trout, but it was not. That trout was plaster-of- Paris. Thus, the truth behind the huge trout was finally discovered. |
HOTS
Q.1 Why do you think the young man continued lying about his fishing hauls even after feeling guilty?
Answer:
At first, the young man feels uneasy because he knows lying is wrong. However, when he exaggerates his fishing success, people admire him and praise his skill. This attention makes him feel important and respected. Over time, his desire for fame and approval becomes stronger than his sense of right and wrong. He also starts believing that the lie is harmless because no one seems to be hurt immediately. As a result, he continues lying, even though he knows deep down that it is not honest.
Q.2 What does the fish symbolize in the story?
Answer:
The fish in the story symbolizes the truth. In reality, the fish the young man catches is small and ordinary. But in his stories, the fish grows bigger and more impressive each time he tells it. This shows how a small lie can slowly grow into a big falsehood. The changing size of the fish represents how truth gets distorted when people exaggerate. It also teaches that once a lie is told, it often needs more lies to support it, making the situation worse.
Q.3 Do you think the young man could have avoided trouble by telling the truth earlier? Why or why not?
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