Travelling Through the Dark by William Stafford
Short Summary
While driving at night a man finds a dead deer. He stops to push it off the road. He notices that it is pregnant and the unborn baby is still alive. He stops to think, and then he pushes the dead animal into the river.
Paraphrase/Explanation
First Stanza: I was travelling at night by the Wilson River road when I found a dead deer. The road is not very wide, so the best thing to do is push the dead animal off the road into the river. If you try to drive around the deer's body, you might drive off of the road and be killed.
Second Stanza: I got out of the car, leaving the lights on and I went to the deer. It had been killed recently; it was already stiff and nearly cold. I pulled the deer's body to the edge of the road. Its stomach was large and I realised that her side was warm.
Third Stanza: When I touched the deer, I realised she was pregnant. Its baby, inside her, was still alive and was waiting to be born – but it never would be. I stood on the road trying to decide what to do.
Fourth Stanza: The lights of the car shone and the engine was still on. I stood by the warm exhaust. I could hear the wild animals listening.
Fifth Stanza: I thought hard about w hat to do, my thoughts were the only thing that changed direction, and then I pushed the dead deer off the road into the river.
Glossary
deer: large animal with large horns; canyon: deep valley with a river in it; swerve: change direction suddenly; glow: not very bright light; faint light; tail light: red lights at the back of a car; doe: female deer; stumble: walk, and almost fall over; stiffened: became hard-not able to be bent; belly: stomach; brought me the reason: made me understand what had happened; fawn: baby deer; hesitated: stopped and thought; aimed: pointed, directed; hood: front of the car (Brit Eng=bonnet);purred: made a soft sound, murmured; glare: harsh light; exhaust: fumes/smoke that comes out of the back of a car; wilderness: jungle – like area, thick forest, and the animals in it.
Comprehension Questions
- Where was the poet? What time of day is it? What did he find on the road? What does he say is the best thing to do? Explain the line "to swerve might make more dead"? What did the poet do? When the poet touched the dead deer what did he realize? What could the poet hear? What does the poet finally do? What is the significance of the unborn deer? In the line "I thought hard for all of us", what does the poet think about? What is meant by "my only swerving"? How does the poet feel about finding the deer? Why does he hesitate before pushing the dead animal off the road?
Board Questions
- What is the central idea of the poem "Travelling Through the Dark"? (2057)
- Show how the action develops stanza by stanza in the poem "Travelling Through the Dark"? (2060)
- Do you agree with what the narrator did? Why? (2063)
Some Solved Questions
- Explain the title of the poem. Who are all those travelling through the dark?
Ans. The poem is about a travel or mountain trip made by a group of men who are probably nature travelers. It is night time and the car is passing through the mountain road.
- Show how the action develops stanza by stanza.
Ans. The action moves from physical to mental as the poem progresses. In the first stanza, the speaker sees a dead deer on the road and wants to avoid driving around it. Then, we see the speaker stop his car and get out of it. He walks backward to notice a recently killed pregnant doe. He also drags it to the side of the road. After that, the speaker feels for the ill-fated unborn deer and remains undecided as to what action to take. The penultimate stanza describes the car and its activities in the wilderness. And, in the final stanza, the speaker finally pushes the dead deer into the river after much thinking.
- How do the last two lines complete both types of action?
Ans. There are two types of action – physical and mental – in the poem. These two actions come together in the last two lines. The speaker contemplates (thinks deeply) the possible course of action to be taken on behalf of his group members as regards to the dead doe, and finally throws it into the river. Thus, after deep thought he pushes the dead deer.
- Explain the meaning of the word "swerve" in line 4 and line 17. Does the speaker "swerve"?
Ans. Swerve in line 4 means "change direction suddenly" and it has a physical meaning. In line 17 it means "mind movement from one idea, thought to another" and it has a mental meaning. In the first instance neither the speaker nor the car swerves, because if that is done than there would be more casualties on the narrow mountain road besides the dead pregnant doe. In the second instance the poet swerves between the easy course of action (pushing the deer into the river) and the more difficult, but better course of action (trying to save the unborn baby deer). He chooses the easy course.
- Stanza 4 is a break in the narrative. How do you explain its significance in the poem?
Ans. Stanza 4 describes the car, its dim lights, the purring of the engine and the smoke coming out of its exhaust pipe. This description contrasts with the earlier stanzas as he had been describing the occasion of the dead deer knocked down by an unknown passing vehicle and the possible courses of action available to him. The break in the narrative of the poem has an ironic significance as we come to learn that the car is more alive than the deer carrying a live baby inside it. We also see the contrast in that the smoke is "warm" but the doe is stiff and cold. The car seems to be urging the speaker to make quick decision, and hence the physical action of the first three stanzas is replaced by mental action in the fifth stanza that eventually results in the disposal of the dead deer.
- What is the tone of the poem: ironical, sympathetic, indifferent?
Ans. The speaker seems to combine various moods in the poem. He shows sympathy towards the unborn baby deer, not he doe. However, he is not indifferent as he makes a decision at the end to roll the deer into the river. I feel the tone is mostly ironical. This is so because the speaker thinks one thing and takes another course of action. We think he will rescue the unborn baby but he doesn't. He could have taken the deer to a nearby animal hospital and rescued the baby, but he doesn't do so. The speaker is, indeed, in two minds. This is the irony of life as we can't do all the good things we are taught and brought up to believe and practice. The speaker takes the ugly course of action – pushing the deer. It is ironical also that we kill innocent animals and not decide clearly what appropriate action to make.
- What is the central idea of the poem?
The poet seems to explore the conflict that goes on in the human mind between ugly virtuous actions, like responsibility, duty, etc one is taught to believe in and practice in day to day life and the difficulty of executing them at crucial times. In this poem the speaker is in an ironical situation as he is made to think deeply to do something to save the unborn deer for which he is not responsible. Sorrowfully, he can do nothing. He is a representative helpless man. He does the unthinkable – pushing the pregnant dead deer off the edge of the road. He also seems to advocate for the protection of innocent animals that are killed by careless driving in the narrow mountain road.
Raj Kumar Gautam, Birat College of Management Studies/Arniko HSS/Merryland College, Biratnagar, rgautam78@yahoo.com. August 18, 2010
Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Paraphrase
Your father's body is a long way under the sea,
His bones are made of sea animals,
His eyes have now become pearls,
No part of him has disappeared,
But they have been changed by the sea into something strange,
Every hour sea creatures ring his funeral bell,
Ding-dong
Listen! Now I can hear them – Ding-dong, bell
Note: This poem occurs in Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, Act I Scene 2. The spirit Ariel sings this song to Ferdinand, Prince of Naples, who mistakenly thinks his father is drowned.
Some poetic devices used in the poem:
1. Onomatopoeia (Gk 'name-making'): The formation and use of words to imitate sounds. For example: dong, crackle, moo, pop, whiz, whoosh, zoom. It is a figure of speech in which the sounds reflect the sense. It is very common in verse and fairly common in prose and is found in many literatures at all times. As a rule it is deliberately used to achieve a special effect, as in these lines from Eliot's Dry Salvages:
When the train starts, and the passengers are settled
To fruit, periodicals and business letters
(And those who saw them off have left the platform)
Their faces relax from grief into relief,
To the sleepy rhythm of a hundred years
The whole passage is subtly onomatopoeic; the rhythm of the second line is beautiful skilful evocation of the clickety-click of wheels on rails.
2. Alliteration (L 'repeating and playing upon the same letter'): A figure of speech in which consonants, especially at the beginning of words, or stressed syllables, are repeated. It is a very old device indeed in English verse and is common in verse generally. Observe this alliteration in Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan: Five miles meandering with the mazy motion. /m/Alliteration is often used in jingles and tongue-twisters. /b/
Betty Botter bought some butter, But, she said, the butter's bitter; If I put it in my batter It will make my batter bitter, But a bit of better butter, That would make my batter better.
3. Assonance: Sometimes called 'vocalic rhyme', it consists of the repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together, to achieve a particular effect of euphony (the quality of having a pleasant sound). Take Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem Lotos-Eaters which is assonantal. Indeed there is a kind of drowsy sonority: /o/
The Lotos blooms below the barren peak:
The Lotos blows by every winding creek:
All day the wind breathes low with mellower tone
Thro' every hollow cave and alley lone,
Round and round the spicy downs the yellow Lotos-dust
Is blown.
Write the summary of the poem in one paragraph.
Your father hasn't died but lies some 30 feet below in the sea. His bones have changed into coral and his eyes into pearl. No body part of his have decayed, but instead transformed into something strange and rich. As befits a king, the sea nymphs who dwell in the sea are keeping constant vigil (watch-nigarani) on the miracle body by ringing his death bell every hour.
Is death meaningful in this poem?
The death described in the lyric is not ordinary; it is the death of Ferdinand, the King of Naples. It is meaningful in the sense that no body part of the king has decayed, but has undergone tremendous rich change: eyes have changed into pearls; bones have become corals. All body parts have become ageless as they have changed into priceless objects that don't decay like ordinary mortal's body parts do. Indeed, Ariel the spirit is trying to ease the pain of Ferdinand who is under the impression that his father has drowned.
Example of Onomatopoeia:
Ding-dong: the sound of the bell when it is hit slowly. This sounding of the bell is significant in the poem because it signifies the death of an eminent person. The nasal sound /ÅŠ/ creates an atmosphere of lingering seriousness and the explosive sound /d/ informs us of the inescapable nature of death. 'Ding' suggests a mild treble sound while 'dong' implies a harder sound. The alternation of thin, crisp sound 'ding' along with the unpleasant loud sound 'dong' has a climactic effect, and thereby heightens the death of the ill-fated king.
Examples of Assonance: 'five…..lies' (line 1); 'pearls…..were' (line 3)'nymphs….ring' (line 7)
Examples of Alliteration: 'full fathom five thy father lies': the /f/ sound produces a feel of the flow of the sea. In the like manner, in 'suffer a sea change' the /s/ sound has a sonorous impact. In still another alliterative line, 'hark! Now I hear them' the glottal /h/ sound has a hint of warning and caution.
All the above-mentioned poetic devices go on to make this poem very lyrical i.e. they enhance the musical quality of the song.
Raj Kumar Gautam, Lecturer, English Department: Birat College of Management/Arniko HSS/Merryland College, rgautam78@yahoo.com. August 18, 2010
A Story by Dylan Thomas
Summary
This is a story told by a young boy. It presents the adult's world from a child's perspective (point of view: dristikod). The boy is living with his uncle (Mr. Thomas) and his aunt. In the first part of the story the boy describes his uncle and aunt using a lot of comparisons (especially similes and metaphors). The uncle is a very big man, but the house is small. The uncle drops a lot of food on his clothes when he eats. He is very loud and has red hair. He has a small shop at the front of his house. The boy's aunt is small and quiet. He compares her to a mouse and a cat (because she walks quietly). The aunt spends a lot of time cleaning the small house. In the story the aunt becomes angry at her husband because he is going on an outing with his friends. She is angry because on the outing her husband will drink a lot of alcohol.
In the next part of the story the boy describes some of the other men who are going on the outing. For example there is Bob the Fiddle who stole the money to pay for the past outing so that he could buy alcohol. There is Mr. Franklyn who is keeping the money for this year's outing. Will Sentry is following Mr. Franklyn everywhere to make sure this year's money is not stolen.
Finally the boy describes the outing. He has to go on the outing because his aunt has left and there is no one at home to take care of him. The men take a bus (charabanc) and stop at every public house (bars where alcohol is served and are open only at certain times) and drink alcohol. The boy has to wait outside because children are not allowed into bars. The men go swimming in a river near Porthcawl, but they do not actually arrive at Porthcawl. In the evening they cook dinner with a kerosene stove in a field.
Comprehensive Summary
This story told by a boy presents the adult world as understood by a young boy. The story is the story of his uncle – Uncle Thomas – who means to go outing to Porthcawl, but never made it there.
The boy was staying with his uncle and his aunt. His uncle was big and loud and red haired; he almost filled the small house of his as an old buffalo would. His aunt, on the other hand, was small and quiet. She would move from one room to another, like a cat on its soft paws, tending (care for or look after) to various household items like the china dogs, the buffalo, and the mousetraps. She would occasionally squeak like a mouse when in the hayloft (noun a loft over a stable used for storing hay or straw).
The uncle sat like a giant steam-run dismantled ship behind the counter of the tiny shop at the front of the house breathing like a brass band; in the kitchen he ate his big meal in a noisy manner. When he ate the house appeared to grow smaller. His check waistcoat appeared to be a meadow after having dropped various food items on it. The aunt used to beat him every Saturday after he got drunk. But not before he had placed her on a chair. He was usually beaten with a china dog. On Sundays, the uncle used to sing songs after going high on alcohol.
One evening when the boy was reading an advertisement for sheepdip (medicine for lice and animal bugs) some of his uncle's friends, Mr. Benjamin Franklyn, Mr. Weazley, Noah Bowen, and Will Sentry entered the shop. The boy felt their presence inside the house like all of them being in a drawer that smelled of cheese and turps, and twist tobacco and sweet biscuits and snuff and waistcoat. They talked about their annual outing. Mr. Benjamin had accumulated the money for the charabanc and twenty cases of pale ale. Benjamin was followed after by Will Sentry, who was keeping track of the money. Franklyn is disgusted as he feels he is not as trustless as Bob, who had been a treasurer in earlier outings and had embezzled some amount of money to buy himself some drinks. Then they played cards in the shop.
On Sunday morning, Mr. Franklyn and Will Sentry entered the uncle's house as the boy and his uncle were eating sardines. They had the list of every member who had paid in full. Uncle Thomas approved of the list of the outing-goers after having checked it (read p. 50 for details). The two of them go out. No sooner had they gone than the aunt stood in front of the dresser, with a china dog threatening uncle to go over to her mother's house if he chose outing over her. The uncle after considerable contemplation (soch) chose the outing. She hit the uncle on the head with the china dog she was holding in her hand after he had lifted her on the chair. For the rest of the week she was quiet and quick.
On Saturday morning breakfast time the boy's uncle saw his wife's familiar note that she wrote every year. He wanted to take the boy with him. He knew he would be opposed to by his friends for having taken his nephew but he nevertheless takes him along. The boy stopped outside and they objected to his uncle as presumed. The boy's share of money wasn't deposited. They forgot the boy when they talked about others. The charabanc had hardly moved out of the village on the beautiful August morning when they had to return to take on Old O. Jones, a regular outing-goer. After Jones got on, Mr. Weazley wanted to go home to take his(false) teeth, but his friends didn't see its necessity.
The charabanc pulled up (stopped) outside the Mountain Sheep, where the members, who were welcomed by the landowner with pouncing eyes, rushed out bleating like young sheep into the bar. The boy was made to look after the charabanc so that nobody stole it. Under age boys were not allowed inside bars; it still is a rule in the West. The boy had nothing to do for 45 minutes, which seemed to go by like a very slow cloud, except to look at the lake-eyed cows. On the contrary, his uncle and his friends were dead drunk and were breaking glasses. A French onion-seller bicycled down the road and stopped at the charabanc door, where the boy greeted him before following him down the passage and looked in the bar. He could hardly recognize the members of the outing. They were all red with alcohol and asking questions about their fellow friends and their whereabouts. Bob the Fiddle seemed to lead the drunken session: some were arguing; some were shouting. When Mr. Weazley came to the boy, he moved out and threw stone at the cows. The uncle came out and everyone followed him. They had drunk the bar dry. Mr. Weazley had won a string of onions which the French onion man had raffled in the bar. The charabanc moved out of Mountain Sheep in the direction of other public houses: The Blue Wall, the Sour Grapes, the Shepherd's Arms, the Bells of Aberdovey: The boy had nothing to do but remember the names where the outing stopped and kept an eye on the charabanc. Every time a public house appeared, it used to be Mr. Weazley who would stop the car for a drink on the pretext (baahana) of bad air ("stop the bus, I'm dying of breathe") in the charabanc.
Closing time of public houses meant nothing to the members of the outing. Even when the bar was closed, they would drink behind the locked doors as they did at Druid's Tap. They even tempered the policeman and made him sing to their beer choral - Asleep in the Deep. Noah would whisper: "Sssh! the pub is shut."
The charabanc finally came to a river where they had a merry time. Uncle Thomas sang "Porthcawl!" and Mr. Franklyn tried the Polka dance on the slippery stones, falling twice in the process. All gathered there agreed that the river was better than Porthcawl.
It was dusk and all the thirty members of the outing were wet and drunk. They were oblivious (not aware) to what was happening around them. They cared little about reaching Porthcawl. In fact Will Sentry said "Who goes there?" to a wild duck flying. They, eventually, stop at Hermit's Nest for rum to keep out the cold. A drunken talk goes on between Enoch Davies and a stranger.
On the way home there was moonlight. Old O. Jones began to cook his supper on a primus stove in the middle of the charabanc, but Mr. Weazley, ever so much the prime instigator, (bring about or initiate) stopped the bus on the excuse that he was dying of breath. All climbed down to the moonlit field carrying out the remaining cases of ale, the primus stove of Old Jones. They sat down in the field and drank and sang while Old O. Jones cooked sausage and mash. The boy began to sleep against his uncle's large waistcoat. Will Sentry exclaimed, "Who goes there?" to the passing moon.
Board Questions (Long questions haven't been asked from this text)
What is the reason for which Will Sentry always followed Mr. Franklyn? (2058)
Mr. Franklyn was made the treasurer of the Outing Committee because Bob the Fiddle, who had worked in the same position, had bought drinks for himself with the money that was collected for the outing. In other words, the fund was misappropriated. Will Sentry feared a similar episode could happen again. So, he was always on the heels of Mr. Franklyn. Mr. Franklyn even went to the extent of resigning from his responsibility if Will Sentry continued to be nosy about his duties.
How does the boy, the narrator, look at his uncle and his aunt? (2059)
The narrator was very small and much nicer when he was a young boy. As a young boy, he found his uncle big, loud and red haired man, who filled his little house like an old buffalo. Thomas appeared to be a sweaty giant who breathed like a brass band and ate a lot never keeping his large waistcoat as clean as his wife would have liked it to be. The boy seems to be a bit negative about his aunt. He addresses her as his uncle's wife rather than addressing her as aunt or auntie. He compares her to a cat as she used to whisk about the rooms on padded paws, cleaning and maintaining household items. Occasionally, she would utter high-pitched sounds like a mouse would do. The aunt wouldn't allow him and his uncle to play draughts on Sunday. He clearly remembers her posture the day when the uncle had finalized the list of would-be outing-goers. She had stood in front of the dresser, with a china dog in her hand threatening to go home to her mother if he went outing. All said the boy provides a humorous presentation of the contrasting personalities of his uncle and aunt, a loving couple most time of the year except the annual outing.
Describe the relation between Thomas (the boy's uncle) and his wife. (2060/62/63)
Uncle Thomas was a big, noisy, hulk of a man who ran a shop at the front of his house. He had a voracious appetite too. His wife, on the other hand, was small and quiet like a cat. She would squeak about occasionally like a mouse. The two of them, in spite of having different characters, seem to enjoy a good conjugal (married; bibhahit jiwan) life most of the time other than during the annual outing season, when Uncle Thomas would desert her for a bout of uninhibited (expressing oneself or acting without restraint) drinking stupor (a state of near unconsciousness or insensibility) with his old community friends as they travel on a charabanc to reach Porthcawl. At home, Uncle Thomas is mostly drunk on Saturdays and Sundays so he allows her to beat him on his head with a china dog. He knows he has erred so he would lift her up, under his arm onto a chair in the kitchen. He is not seen to foul-mouth or abuse her. The opposite is almost true! The aunt has, in fact, broken many china cups on Uncle Thomas's head. During Uncle Thomas's annual outing, she would go to her mother's house. However, she would leave a note asking him to eat some eggs she had left in the pantry and to take his shoes off before he went to bed. This account proves that she loved him. She was more of a strict housemaker, who was bothered about neatness, which Uncle Thomas lagged clearly. She wouldn't allow Uncle Thomas to play draughts on Sundays too. This could mainly be for religious sake as Sunday is considered a holy day. Overall, the two shared a comfortable relationship. (You can, alternatively, create a hostile relationship between the two).
The plan was to go to Porthcawl for the outing. Did they ever reach there? Why? (2064)
The plan to reach Porthcawl never actually happened when Uncle Thomas and his thirty friends included went on the annual outing. They always started with the honest intention of reaching there but because they all loved ale and beer and because there were plenty of public houses selling them, they stopped in almost all public houses. At the Mountain Sheep, where they began their gypsy drinking session, they drank for 45 minutes getting themselves so dead drunk that drinking didn't stop at other public houses on the way. They even drank behind locked bars. Mr. Weazley would cough and stop the bus as he complained he was dying of breath. And they would all go back. The members on the charabanc would sing and talk of reaching Porthcawl but they didn't reach there. When it was dusk they settled for rum at Hermit's Nest to keep themselves warm. Finally, they got out of the charabanc for one last drink session. They sat in a circle in the open, moon-filled field and drank the remaining cases of beer. They continued to sing and enjoy the evening in the field. Thus, they never made it to Porthcawl.
Give a description of the outing as Thomas would describe it. (2066)
I am Thomas. I and twenty-nine other friends of mine had decided to go to Porthcawl for the outing. We started on Saturday morning. My strict wife warned me that she would stay with her mother if I went to Porthcawl with my friends. I chose Porthcawl. I chose the outing. On the morning of the outing, I found a note she had written and left for me. I found nothing new in it. I took my nephew along with me in spite of the opposition I would receive. As the charabanc stopped by at our place their voices of opposition rang the air but I cared little. Any way, the opposition died as other things took prominence. We had hardly got out of the village, when somebody said that Old O Jones had been left out behind. We drove back and ushered O Jones in. Mr. Weazley had wanted us to return to his house to get his false teeth but we didn't see its urgency and need.
The charabanc stopped at The Mountain Sheep. All my friends rushed out like eager sheep to the bar. But, I kept my nephew back to look after the charabanc before I entered the bar. There we spent 45 minutes swilling all the available ale. We came out of it and drove on. We got down at each public house, even locked ones as Mr. Weazley asked the driver to stop to avoid dying of breath. We also had fun in the river as we sang and danced and talked of reaching Porthcawl. When it was dusk, we stopped at Hermit's Nest for rum to keep out the cold. On the way home, Old Jones prepared supper on the charabanc but Mr. Weazley had better plan. As usual he got us down the bus onto a moonsplashed field, where we sat in a circle and enjoyed the last remaining cases of ale we had carried with us. My nephew was sleeping against my waistcoat. We didn't reach home before midnight.
Raj Kumar Gautam, Arniko HSS, Biratnagar, rgautam78@yahoo.com. August 04, 2011.
A Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star
by Lilla M. Bishop and Barry C. Bishop
Summary
This essay is written by two American geographers who had spent 15 months living in the hills of western Nepal. It describes the hill people who walk to Nepalgunj to buy and sell things. The hill people on their journey towards Nepalgunj carry medicinal herbs, hashish, hand-knit sweaters and baskets to sell there. The geographers also met a group of men at the height of 9000 metres who were processing silajit on the way instead of their homes because they wanted to avoid a bad star! They are intending to sell silajit in Nepalgunj.
When the geographers walked through the sal forest slopes of the hills near the Terai they noticed that the trees were being chopped down and that the forest would soon disappear. One of the geographers talked to the local people about this but they said they had to chop down the trees to feed their animals.
When the geographers arrived in Nepalgunj they stared in amazement at the many things they had not seen while they were in the hills. They also watched the hill people buying supplies from the traders. Their fellow travelers bought sweets, aluminum, ironware, cotton cloth, spice and jewelry. One of porters, Karma spent all his money buying distillery (alcohol making) equipment. He hoped to become rich by making alcohol in Jumla.
The geographers returned to Jumla to finish their project. They had learnt much in Nepal. For example, they had learnt that hill people needed to farm as well as do other activities to survive. They also observed that people in the hills were always moving around.
Note: The title "A Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star" suggests the foot movement made by travelers who are going to Nepalgunj quickly because they do not want to be travelling at an unlucky time.
Comprehension questions based on the Text
- How did the writers travel to Nepalgunj?
- List the items carried by their fellow travelers?
- Why were these goods being taken to Nepalgunj?
- What did the Chhetri woman ask the authors to do for her?
- What is silajit?
- Why did the men not process the silajit before leaving their home village?
- What was happening to the trees in the sal forest?
- Why did people say they cut down the trees?
- What does the phrase "the Terai, bread-basket of Nepal" mean?
- Why did the author walk wide-eyed down the middle of the paved street in Nepalgunj?
- List the items the hill people bought in Nepalgunj?
- What did Karma buy?
- Why did he buy this?
- How long had the authors been in Western Nepal?
- How did they travel around western Nepal?
- How did the peasants survive?
Some vocabulary
Hashish: ganja; hand-knit: knitted by hand; poignantly: emotionally; hinterlands: areas some distance away from a major city; tarlike: like tar (pitch that roads are made from); pharmaceutical: medical; propitious: lucky, favourable; elevation: altitude/height above sea level; skeletal looking: very thin; bare and eroded: lacking in trees and soil; bread-basket of Nepal: i.e. where most of Nepal's food is grown; grove: small woodland; mournful: sad; yapping: barking; muted: hardly able to be heard, inaudible; barrage of new sights: lots of new things to look at; beside himself at: very excited by; doughy: made from a lot of flour; swarm: go round in a big crowd; distillery equipment: alcohol making equipment; mesh: come together; inhospitable: unfriendly; afoot: on foot, walking; indomitable: determined; peasantfolk: farmers who have a small amount of land; cross-flows: i.e. people constantly going backwards and forwards across the area: formidable: difficult to use.
Board Questions (only short questions have been asked so far from this text)
1. How is Karnali linked economically with the low land regions to the south? (2057, 2061, 2063)
2. What did the two writers learn about the life and culture of the people of the Karnali region during their journey on foot? (2059)
3. Give short account of the life of the people of Karnali as you find in "Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star"? (2066)
Some Solved Questions
How is Karnali linked economically with the low land regions to the south? (2057, 2061, 2063)
Ans. The two American geographers, Lilla and Barry along with a host of porters made a landmark tour on foot in 1971 to explore the life of the people of the Karnali region – western hills of Nepal – as they descended to Nepalgunj, a trading town in the southern Terai. Their travel lasted over 15 months and they covered nearly 2000 miles. Most Karnali people, on the one hand, carry with them unprocessed and raw products like medicinal herbs, hashish, hand-knit sweaters, and blankets to trade in Nepalgunj. Some other enterprising but superstitious people take unprocessed silajit, which were easily available in their home valley of Sinja. They would be found processing this product on the way to the lowland. Still other Karnali folks also go to the lowland region to the south to find jobs. A case to cite is that of the Chhetri woman's husband who had gone to find job fifteen years ago but had never returned home.
In Nepalgunj, on the other hand, the geographers noticed that the hill people went in groups from shop to shop buying essential commodities like cotton cloth, aluminum, ironware, spice, and jewelry, which they would probably sell or put to use for domestic purposes back home in Karnali. Some people even buy unconventional items like alcohol making equipment in order to make quick money. Whatever they buy or sell, the Karnali people's only access to the lowland is travel on formidable footpaths so it is economically burdensome and time-consuming.
Give a short account of the life of the people of Karnali people.
Karnali region lies in the western hills of Nepal. It is geographically far removed from the bread-basket of Nepal – the Terai. The people of this region are mostly traders. They carry with them products like medicinal herbs, hashish, hand-knit sweaters, and blankets. What is missing in their list of goods to be sold in the lowlands are food items. This could be so because of the unfavourable nature of soil of this region. Nevertheless, the people of this region have managed to work closely with nature in this inhospitable western Himalayas. The people of this region upon returning home bring with them conventional items like cotton cloth, aluminum, ironware, spice, and jewelry from the lowland town of Nepalgunj. The Karnali people are unfortunately very superstitious and fatalist in their approach. The 8 or 9 men who were processing silajit on the way did so because they thought it would bring them bad luck had they processed it at home at the inopportune time. Additionally, the women folk of lower Karnali are uneducated and unaware as to the devastating consequences of tree cutting in order to feed their livestock. Thus, the combined lack of access to transportation, education, communication and other basic infrastructure of development has made the life of the Karnali people very difficult and torturous. In their search for sustenance and opportunity the hill people are compelled to leave their ancestral land to seek job in the lowland region of Nepal and even in India! One of the defining characteristics of the Karnali area is the constant movement of people, animals and goods over the formidable footpaths of the region.
Raj Kumar Gautam, Birat College of Management Studies/Arniko HSS/Merryland College, Biratnagar, rgautam78@yahoo.com.August 21, 2010.
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