Unit 1: Glimpses of Green
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1. Adventures in a Banyan Tree (Short Story) - Ruskin Bond
2. The Snake and the Mirror (Short Story) - Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
3. Lines Written in Early Spring (Poem) - William Wordsworth
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1. Read the extract from the story, ‘The Snake and the Mirror’ and answer the questions that follow:
It was a hot summer night about ten o’ clock. I had my meal at the restaurant and returned to my room. I heard a noise from above as I opened the door. The sound was a familiar one. One could say that rats and I shared the room. I took out my box of matches and lighted the kerosene lamp on the table.
The house was not electrified; it was a small rented room. I had just set up medical practice and my earnings were meagre. I had about sixty rupees in my suitcase. Along with some shirts and dhotis, I also possessed one solitary black coat which I was then wearing.
a) What idea do you get about the time and weather from the passage?
b) What familiar sound did the doctor hear when he opened the door?
c) Identify the sentence which tells you about the doctor’s financial status.
d) Why is it said that the doctor shared the room with rats?
e) ‘I had just set up medical practice’. Begin the sentence with ‘medical practice’.
Answers:
a) It was 10 o’ clock on a hot summer night.
b) He heard a familiar noise of the rats that lived in his room.
c) ‘I had just set up medical practice and my earnings were meagre’.
d) When he opened the door he heard the sound of rats that infested his room. That is why it is said that the doctor shared the room with rats.
e) Medical practice had just been set up by me.
2. Read the lines from the poem ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions that follow.
I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.
Through primrose tufts, in that green
bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And’ tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
a) What does the expression ‘I sat reclined’ indicate about the poet’s state of mind?
b) Why does the poet feel sad while reclining in the grove?
c) What trait of nature do we see here?
d) What is the fact’s faith?
e) Suggest an alternative title for the poem.
Answers:
a) Satisfaction
b) He is sad because of the mistake of mankind.
c) We see the beautiful work of nature.
d) The poet’s faith is that the beautiful
flowers enjoy every source of the air they breathe.
e) The Fair Works of Nature.
3. Read the extract from the story ‘Adventures in a Banyan Tree’ and answer the questions that follow.
It was an April afternoon. And the warm breezes of approaching summer had sent everyone, including Grandfather, indoors. I was feeling drowsy myself and was wondering if I should go to the pond behind the house for a swim, when I saw a huge black cobra gliding out of a clump of cactus and making for some cooler part of the garden. At the same time a mongoose (whom I had often seen) emerged from the bushes and went straight for the cobra.
In a clearing beneath the tree, in bright sunshine, they came face to face.
Cobra knew only too well that the grey mongoose, three feet long, was a superb fighter, clever and experienced fighter too. He could move swiftly and strike with the speed of light, and the sacs behind his long, sharp fangs were full of deadly venom.
a) Where did the cobra come from?
b) Where did the mongoose come from?
c) Did the cobra and the mongoose see each other?
d) Write the word from the passage that means ‘ready or likely to attack’.
e) Who was the superb fighter, according to the boy?
Answers:
a) The cobra came from the clump of cactus plants.
b) The mongoose came from the bushes.
c) The cobra and the mongoose saw each other. Each considered the other as an enemy.
d) Aggressive
e) The mongoose
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4. Read the following conversation and answer the questions that follow.
Friend : Did you see the snake the next day?
Doctor : I have never seen it till today.
a) What did the friend ask?
b) What did the doctor reply?
Answers:
a) The friend asked the doctor if he had seen the snake the following day.
b) Doctor replied that he had never seen it till that day.
5. Correct the errors in the sentence given below.
The room had been out cleaned by some thief! But not really, the thief had leaved behind one thing as a final insult.
Answers: cleaned out, left
6. Fill in the blanks choosing the correct option from the brackets.
a) No other bird is as ______ as the crow.
(clever, cleverer, cleverest)
b) The grey mongoose was ____ than the cobra.
(aggressive, more aggressive, most aggressive)
Answers:
a) Clever
b) More aggressive
7. The boy was thrilled at seeing the fight between the cobra and the mongoose. You may also have the same feeling. Narrate the fight scene in your own words.
The boy was sitting on the platform half way up the tree. When he looked down one day, he saw a cobra and a mongoose being face to face beneath the tree. Soon the two animals started a fight. The cobra struck the mongoose, but the mongoose jumped to one side and escaped. He darted and bit the cobra on the back. The cobra struck again and missed. The mongoose jumped aside and bit the cobra. There was a third round of striking and biting. By this time the cobra became tired. The mongoose walked to it and caught it by the snout. The cobra writhed in pain and coiled about the mongoose. But it was of no use. The cobra stopped struggling. Then the mongoose gripped it round the hood and dragged it into the bushes.
8. The doctor in ‘The Snake and the Mirror’ decided to write a letter describing everything to his mother in his village. Prepare a likely letter.
Dale Clinic,
Park View Road.
12-12-2021
Vaikom
Dear Mom,
How about you and father? Hope you both are doing fine.
I want to tell you an incident that had happened here. Yesterday I came to my room very late. After the dinner I was siting on my chair. Suddenly I heard some noise in the ceiling. I thought it was the rats, as usual. But after sometime something fell down from the roof, like a rubber tube. To my astonishment, I found a snake. It was a cold blooded cobra. It coiled around my arm. I didn’t know what to do. I was shocked and I couldn’t move. It spread its hood and stared at me. Suddenly it looked at the mirror and moved towards it. Somehow I escaped from there and ran to my friend’s house. I don’t know how I spent those time. I met death face to face.
Pray for me Mom. Convey my regards to father. Take care.
With love
Sd/-
Abhilash
9. A single banyan tree creates such beauty and harmony. How will it be if we have such beauty everywhere? What should we do for the conservation of nature? Prepare a write-up.
Conservation of Nature
Nature is our mother. It is our mother who takes care of us. In the same way it is Mother Nature who looks after all her children on the earth. Who are her children? All the plants, animals and small organisms are her children. She has created all of them in order to live on the earth happily. Mother Nature has stored various things in nature such as light, air, water, soil, minerals and other things for her children. She loves all her children equally. Humans think that the resources in nature are for them only. It is not right. Natural resources are meant for all living beings. So we have no right to exploit them too much. All living beings - small and large - are inheritors of the earth.
So it is our duty to ensure their safety and well-being. So let’s protect all life forms and natural resources, and thus protect Mother Nature.
10.Attempt the character sketch of the Doctor in the short story ‘The Snake and the Mirror’.
The short story ‘The Snake and the Mirror’ was written by the famous Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. A homeopath (doctor) is the main character in this short story.
In this story we come across a homeopath, who was shifted to his new house. He is a great admirer of his own beauty. He took the earth - shaking decision that he would shave daily and fix a smile on his face for enhancing his beauty. When a snake coiled around his left arm, he became scared and stood like a statue. He prayed to God at that moment. His action and conversation display a sense of humour throughout the story. When the snake moved from his arm to the table, he became a man of flesh and ran to his friend’s house. His dialogue when thieves stole his belongings from his home ‘They can use my vest after washing them ‘ is really a humorous one.
11.Prepare a set of questions asked by a newspaper reporter to the boy about the incident that happened under the banyan tree. (at least 5 questions)
a) Who saw the incident first?
b) What were you doing then?
c) Did you try to make them go away from there?
d) Can you explain the incident in detail?
e) What is your attitude towards the mongoose now? Will you allow it to live here in the garden?
12.In the story ‘The Snake and the Mirror’, the snake didn’t harm the homeopath. The homeopath in turn didn’t hurt it. Keeping Basheer’s vision on nature and its beings, comment on this story.
In nature all living beings should live in harmony. If we harm anyone it may have undesirable consequences. In the story ‘The Snake and the Mirror’ by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer the snake didn’t harm the homeopath. Though it fell down on the doctor’s left arm and coiled around, by chance it happened to look at the mirror and unwound itself from his arm and slowly slithered into his lap. From there it crept onto the table and moved towards the mirror. The homeopath in turn didn’t hurt it anyway. Unless we provoke any creature definitely it won’t harm us. So we should consider nature and its beings as our own fellow beings. They are also the inheritors of the earth.
13.Prepare a newspaper report about the unusual incident that was happened under the banyan tree.
An Unimaginable Fight
Dehradun: A fierce fight took place in the courtyard of the house of a boy named Ruskin. It was between a cobra and a mongoose, who have been considered to be enemies for ages. The boy said that he was the only human being who witnessed the fight. But he added that a myna and a jungle crow were also there to see the fight. He reported that the fight was so frightening. The myna and the jungle crow tried to help the mongoose, but the jungle crow was killed by the cobra. Finally the mongoose defeated the cobra. When the boy described the incident to his grandfather, he allowed the mongoose to live in their garden. Now it is like a member of the family.
14.The doctor in the story ‘The Snake and the Mirror’ usually presents things in a humorous manner. Analyse the humorous elements in the story and prepare a write-up describing how humour adds to the beauty of the story.
Although the story ‘The Snake and the Mirror’ by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer is the narration of a serious incident, it is not devoid of the element of humour. This humour is generated by ways of contrasts employed by the writer.
There is a visible disparity between the lifestyle of the doctor and his high opinion of himself. Even with a meagre income and poor living conditions, he considers himself as an eligible bachelor. He is extremely proud of his looks and profession. The special attention that he lays on his looks, on his moustache, hair and smile in order to look handsome brings in the element of humour in the story.
Again, his desire to marry a fat and wealthy lady doctor who cannot run after him when he commits some silly mistake stands in contrast with the thin and agile lady, with the gift of a sprinter whom he finally marries. Further, the doctor pokes fun at himself when he tells us that the thief did not take away his dirty vest because he had a sense of cleanliness. His remark about the snake that perhaps it was making some decision about growing a moustache or using eyeshadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its head is also very witty and humorous. Thus, even a serious incident is made interesting by the doctor’s witty treatment of a very dangerous situation.
15.Prepare a conversation between the boy and the Grandfather about the fight between the cobra and the mongoose.
Boy : Grandpa! I saw a horrible incident now.
Grandfather : What was it son? You seem to be so frightened.
Boy : Of course. It was a terrible fight between a mongoose and a cobra.
Grandfather : Where did you see them? Where were you then?
Boy : I saw them under the banyan tree. I was on the tree then.
Grandfather : Ok. What happened then?
Boy : The fight continued for a long time and finally the mongoose killed the cobra. But a sad thing happened. A jungle crow who tried to help the mongoose died in the attack.
Grandfather : It is all natural, son. Let’s allow the mongoose to live in our garden so that it will not allow any snakes to enter our compound.
Unit 2: The Frames
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Project Tiger (Memoir) - Satyajit Ray
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1. Read the excerpt from ‘Project Tiger’ and answer the questions that follow.
Mr. Thorat’s men had fixed a five foot iron rod to the ground, about thirty feet from the area where the tiger was supposed to take a walk. They took a thin, long wire and fixed one end to the collar made of tiger-skin that the tiger was already wearing. The other end was tied firmly to the visible portion of the iron rod. The door of one of the cages was unfastened and Mr. Thorat called out to the tiger. It responded almost at once and sprang out of its cage to land on the open space outside. What followed was totally unexpected. One look at Mr. Thorat’s startled and helpless face told us that he was as taken aback as the rest of us. Instead of walking sedately in a dignified manner; the tiger started prancing around with tremendous enthusiasm. It leapt, it jumped, it rolled about, dragging its poor trainer who was desperately clutching the wire tied to the tiger’s collar in a futile attempt to bring it under control. We stood around foolishly, watching a new and strange kind of circus which we were getting to see for free!
The camera was still standing on its three legs, staring into the wood, but the tiger was showing no sign of making its way there.
a) How did the film crew expect the tiger to behave? How did it really behave?
b) Why did they use a collar made of tiger skin to fix the wire?
c) What did Mr. Thorat’s startled and helpless face reveal?
d) Identify an expression which reveals Satyajit Ray’s sense of humour.
e) Pick out from the passage two words/phrases similar in meaning to ‘shocked’.
Answers: a) The film crew expected the
tiger to pay no attention to them and walk about. But it came out roaring. It rushed to the crowd. So the frightened crowd melted away.
b) If they were to tie a wire round the tiger’s neck, it would flatten the hair on the neck of the tiger. So they used a collar instead.
c) It revealed the fact that he was as taken aback as the others.
d) ‘We stood around foolishly, watching a new and strange kind of circus which we were getting to see for free!’
e) startled, taken aback
2. Express the idea in the second sentence below using ‘had better’.
(i) There may be roadblock. (ii) I suggest you start early.
Answer: You had better start early.
3. Given below is a conversation between a doctor and his patient.
Identify the modal verbs in it.
Patient : Doctor, can I bathe in cold water?
Doctor : You may do so after two days.
Patient : Do I need to continue all the medicines?
Doctor : Of course. You must take them for one more week.
Answers: can, may, Do, must
4. Fill in the blanks with suitable words given in the brackets.
[customary, petrified,
ferocious, robust]
a) In Chaplin’s film ‘The Circus’, the lion in the cage does not seem to be that______.
b) It is ______to take a screen test before casting an actor for a role.
Answers:
a) ferocious
b) customary
5. Imagine that Ray writes a letter to the Chairman of Animal Welfare Board of India informing him the date of the shoot and assuring him that the rules will be strictly adhered to. Draft the letter.
Satyajit Ray
1/1 Bishop Lefroy Road
Kolkata
15 December 2021
The Chairman
Animal Welfare Board of India
New Delhi
Dear sir,
Subject : Asking permission to use trained animals in a film.
I am planning to shoot a film titled ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’. In this film a tiger is required. The manager of Bharat Circus has agreed to provide us with a tiger along with its master. As the director of this film, I hereby ensure you that we will use the animal according to the norms of prevention of cruelty to animals act. I humbly request you to grand us permission to use the tiger in our film.
Yours faithfully
Sd/-
Satyajit Ray
6. The Film Club of your school has decided to conduct a film festival on Ray’s films. Prepare the notice for the film festival. NOTICE
FILM FESTIVAL
Dear friends,
The Film Club has decided to organise Satyajit Ray film festival on 5th December, 2021 from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm in our school. Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansar are some of the films to be screened. The famous film director Fazil will inaugurate the festival.
All are welcome.
Film Club Secretary
Sd/-
Nov. 27, 2021 Anu
7. Imagine that you are a news reporter and you were present at the location where Satyajit Ray had shot the scene with the tiger. Prepare the likely news report.
ACTOR TIGER SHOCKED ONLOOKERS
Boral, Kolkata, 20 December 2021: People were frightened by a tiger during film shooting. The famous film director Satyajit Ray was on the work of his new film ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’. Two tigers from Bharat Circus, along with their ringmaster were brought for the shoot. People were asked to keep a distance of seventy feet, but they didn’t pay attention to that. When the door of the cage was opened, the tiger came out with a loud roar. People ran for their lives. Nobody was injured. After a few seconds the tiger calmed down and the shooting continued. The director later informed that the shooting was successful.
8.Supply the missing words in the passage given below and rewrite it.
He opened the door __(a)__ the cage. The instant the door was opened __(b)__ a clang, the tiger emerged with a loud roar, and charged straight __(c)__ the villagers gathered __(d)__ the
camera.
[ with, on, behind, at, of]
Answers: (a) of (b) with (c) at (d) behind
9. Satyajit Ray faced a lot of difficulties while shooting his film. Narrate the incidents in your own words.
Film-making-a Sweat
Watching a good movie gives us pleasure. We can pay for the ticket and enjoy the film and make our own comments. But do we know how much the maker of the film has sweated to give us the pleasure we enjoy?
Satyajit Ray, the great film-maker made a film in which he included a tiger. He describes in detail the difficulties he had to bear in order to use this animal actor. At first he had to get a tiger. He decided to borrow a tiger from the circus. The manager of the circus was willing. He gave the services of the ring master also.
The role the tiger had to play was to come out of a bamboo grove, pace gently for a while, look at the camera and go back.
The tiger was brought in a lorry. A wire was tied to the collar around the neck of the tiger. The other end of the wire was tied to an iron rod fixed in the ground.
It was time for shooting. The tiger was called out. Instead of coming out quietly, the tiger pounced about. The trainer could not bring it under control. The tiger did not make any movement which Ray wanted it to make. But some shots were taken. But they were not good. So they had to shoot the scenes again. It was done in a village called Boral. All the arrangements were made as before.
The trainer opened the cage. The tiger jumped out with a roar, and the onlookers ran away for their life. But then the tiger became calm and acted as they needed. The shots were taken and they were good.
Ray showed bravery in including the tiger in his film. He knew that it would not be easy. But he wanted to succeed. He faced many difficulties but he got over them with patience.
10. The chairman of the Animal Welfare Board received a complaint regarding the shooting with the tiger. He contacted Ray on telephone to know more about it. What could be the telephonic conversation between the two?
Chairman : Is it Mr. Satyajit Ray?
Ray : Yes, may I know who is this?
Chairman : I am the chairman of Animal Welfare Board. I‘ve got a complaint about you, Mr. Ray.
Ray : Could you tell me what it is about?
Chairman : Are you taking a film with a tiger in it?
Ray : Yes, sir. It is from the circus.
Chairman : Have you got permission to use it out doors?
Ray : The circus manager has got a license. Moreover, I have got permission from the Director of the Board to use the animal temporarily for a few hours.
Chairman : OK. Please forward a copy of that order at the earliest.
Ray : Thank you sir. I shall let you have it by messenger.
Chairman : OK. Mr. Ray.
Unit 3: Lore of Values
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1. The Best Investment I Ever Made (Anecdote) - A.J. Cronin
2. The Ballad of Father Gilligan (Poem) - William Butler Yeats
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1. Read the following lines from the poem ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ and answer the questions that follow.
The sick man’s wife opened the door,
‘Father! you come again!’
‘And is the poor man dead?’ he cried
‘He died an hour ago.’
The old priest Peter Gilligan
In grief swayed to and fro.
‘When you were gone, he turned and died,
As merry as a bird.’
The old priest Peter Gilligan
He knelt him at that word.
‘He who hath made the night of stars
For souls who tire and bleed,
Sent one of this great angels down,
To help me in my need.
a. Why is the sick man’s wife surprised to see Father Gilligan?
b. Why was the priest overcome with grief at the words of the widow?
c. ‘He knelt him at that word’, why?
d. How did God save Father Gilligan from damnation?
Answers:
a. Her husband had received the last communion from the priest and he had passed away happily. But the priest had come again. So she was surprised.
b. The priest was so heartbroken for failing in his religious responsibility to provide the last communion to the sick man.
c. The widow’s words made Father Gilligan realise that God had sent an angel to the sick man in his form. He knelt down knowing how merciful God was to him.
d. God sent one of his messenger angels to the earth to offer the last communion to the dying man.
2. Read the excerpt from ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ and answer the questions that follow. Each question carries one score.
‘Excuse me, Doctor, I Wonder if I might introduce myself’. He spoke almost breathlessly, offering me the visiting card he held in his hand and studying my face to see if the name meant anything to me. Then, as it plainly did not, he went on with the same awkwardness. ‘If you could spare a few minutes...my wife and I would like to have a word with you.’
A moment later I was occupying the vacant chair beside them. Haltingly he told me that this had been their first visit to America. It was not entirely a holiday trip. They had been making a tour of the New England states,inspecting many of the summer recreational camps for young people there. Afterwards,they had visited settlement houses in New York and other cities to study the methods employed in dealing with cases of backward, maladjusted and delinquent youth.
a. Pick out from the passage the expression that shows the nervousness of the man.
b. What did the man request the narrator?
c. Why did the man visit the New England states?
d. What was the purpose of the man’s visit to settlement houses in New York?
e. Find out the word from the passage that means ‘having emotional problems’.
f. Pick out the verb phrase from the following sentence.
‘They had been making a tour of the New England states’.
Answers:
a. He spoke almost breathlessly.
b. The man requested the narrator to spare a few minutes with him.
c. The man visited the New England states for inspecting the summer recreational camps for young people there.
d. The man wanted to study the methods in dealing with cases of backward, maladjusted and delinquent youth.
e. Haltingly.
f. had been making
3. Fill in the blanks with suitable answers from the brackets.
(energetic,weary, an expression of sorrow, god bless you)
i) The old priest was ________
ii) Mavron means _________
Answers:
i) weary
ii) an expression of sorrow
4. I like tea better than coffee.
Rewrite the above sentence using ‘would rather’ and ‘would prefer’
Answer: I would rather have tea than coffee. I would prefer tea to coffee.
5. Re-write the following sentence using ‘No sooner did’.
No sooner had we heard the sound than we rushed to the spot.
No sooner did _____________________.
Answer: No sooner did we hear the sound than we rushed to the spot.
6. life by the timely intervention of the doctor, the sergeant and the landlady. They could not believe that the young man tried to commit suicide for a paltry sum. Later the doctor and the sergeant had a conversation about it. Write the likely conversation.
Doctor : What a foolish boy is he? Spoil life for a tiny amount! I can’t believe.
Sergeant : I too. From his words I understand that his companionship spoiled him.
Doctor : Exactly. Anyway he is almost OK now.
Sergeant : for my part I will not report this incident.
Doctor : Thank you very much for your kindness. The landlady is very generous. She offered him free accommodation for one month. We have to take care of him for some more days.
Sergeant : We have to win him with love.
Doctor : Yes.
7. Write a paragraph on the appropriateness of the title ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’.
The word ‘investment’ in the story doesn’t have the meaning of gain of an investment. But it can be the gain of a new society or generation. The word ‘investment’ generally means money and return in terms of money. Here the narrator gives a different idea of investment which becomes a great deal of help to people who are living in the darkness of the city. The author describes his investment ‘the best’ because the young man whom he saved became the best social worker of the society.
8. Prepare a profile of W.B. Yeats from the hints given below.
Name : W.B. Yeats
Born : 13, June 1865
Nationality : Irish
Famous as : The most foremost figures of 20th century
literature.
Notable works : The Tower (1928), The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1929)
Prize : Nobel Prize for Literature for his ‘Inspired Poetry’
Died : 28 January, 1939
William Butler Yeats
The illustrious Irish poet William Butler Yeats was born on 13, June 1865. He was famous as the foremost figures of the 20th century literature. His notable works include ‘The Tower’ in 1928 and ‘The Winding Stair and Other Poems’ in 1929. He was awarded The Nobel Prize for Literature for his ‘Inspired Poetry’. He passed away on 28, January 1939.
9. Attempt an appreciation of the poem ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’.
The celebrated ballad ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’ was written by the famous Irish poet William Butler Yeats. In this poem we can see a priest named Gilligan who was tired of continuous service night and day. The poet narrates an incident that saved father Gilligan from damnation.
Father Gilligan, an old priest, who was sad because all his parishioners were under the threat of an epidemic. One evening a man came to the priest and he informed that his friend was dying. Father told him that he would visit him soon. But he fell asleep and so could not go. Next morning father woke from his sleep. He rode to the dead man’s house. Repentance came to father for not performing his duty. The dead man’s wife told him that her husband died as merry as a bird after the father had gone. On hearing that, father Gilligan understood that God had sent one of his Angels to perform his duty and saved him from damnation. Father knelt and prayed to God for being kind and merciful to him.
The ballad is rich in various sensuous images. The figures of speech used by the poet are excellent. A series of rhyming words enrich the poem. The poem follows the rhyme scheme abcb.
This is absolutely a fabulous ballad. It is an eye - opener for those who do not believe in God. The wonderful tune of the ballad makes reading interesting.
10. Attempt a narrative of the story ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’.
[Hints: narrator’s voyage - a passenger watched the narrator - Mr. John wanted to talk to the narrator - narrator did not recognise Mr. John - At last he recognised him - narrator described the incidents - the life led by the couple - the best investment he ever made]
Answer:
It was the second day of the voyage. Suddenly the narrator became aware that one of the passengers was watching him closely. On the third day of the voyage, Mrs. John urged her husband to talk to the narrator. So Mr. John went to the narrator and gave him his visiting card. Mr. John told the narrator that he wanted to talk to Mr. John. Mr. John told the narrator the purpose of his visit to America. He said that he was the director of a charitable organisation. The narrator was impressed by their way of life. Mr. John asked the narrator if he had recognised him. The narrator replied that he had not. Then Mr. John told him something in his ear. Slowly the incident that happened twenty-five years back came to his mind. He recognised Mr. John.
Now, the narrator is describing the incident - where he saw Mr. John and then, the latter was almost dead as the result of a suicide attempt. The narrator, being a doctor, saved his life. Mr. John had stolen a small sum of money from the office he had been working. The narrator gave him the money and asked him to put it back in the office. This incident touched the heart of Mr. John. He transformed into a new individual. He is now a lawyer. Moreover he is now in the service of saving the adolescents who are victims of bad living conditions. He is now leading a beautiful life, rendering very valuable service to humanity. So the narrator says that the money that he spent for saving the young man was the best investment he had ever made.
