NCERT Textbook - The Last Lesson | English Class 12 PDF Download

 Page 1


The Last Lesson 
Alphonse Daudet
Lost Spring 
Anees Jung 
Deep Water 
William Douglas
The Rattrap 
Selma Lagerlöf
Indigo 
Louis Fischer
Poets and Pancakes 
Asokamitran
The Interview  
Christopher Silvester
Umberto Eco 
Going Places 
A. R. Barton
Prose
Chap 1.indd   1 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Page 2


The Last Lesson 
Alphonse Daudet
Lost Spring 
Anees Jung 
Deep Water 
William Douglas
The Rattrap 
Selma Lagerlöf
Indigo 
Louis Fischer
Poets and Pancakes 
Asokamitran
The Interview  
Christopher Silvester
Umberto Eco 
Going Places 
A. R. Barton
Prose
Chap 1.indd   1 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
The Last Lesson
About the author
Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) was a French novelist and short-
story writer. The Last Lesson is set in the days of the Franco-
Prussian War (1870-1871) in which France was defeated by 
Prussia led by Bismarck. Prussia then consisted of what now 
are the nations of Germany, Poland and parts of Austria. In this 
story the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine have passed 
into Prussian hands. Read the story to find out what effect this 
had on life at school.
Notice these expressions in the text. 
Infer their meaning from the context
?? in great dread of  ?? in unison
?? counted on  ?? a great bustle  
?? thumbed at the edges  ?? reproach ourselves with
I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread 
of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would 
question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about 
them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the 
day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping 
at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill 
the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting 
than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and 
hurried off to school.
When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in front of 
the bulletin-board. For the last two years all our bad news had 
come from there — the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the 
commanding officer — and I thought to myself, without stopping, 
“What can be the matter now?”
Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, 
Wachter, who was there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, 
1
Chap 1.indd   2 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Page 3


The Last Lesson 
Alphonse Daudet
Lost Spring 
Anees Jung 
Deep Water 
William Douglas
The Rattrap 
Selma Lagerlöf
Indigo 
Louis Fischer
Poets and Pancakes 
Asokamitran
The Interview  
Christopher Silvester
Umberto Eco 
Going Places 
A. R. Barton
Prose
Chap 1.indd   1 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
The Last Lesson
About the author
Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) was a French novelist and short-
story writer. The Last Lesson is set in the days of the Franco-
Prussian War (1870-1871) in which France was defeated by 
Prussia led by Bismarck. Prussia then consisted of what now 
are the nations of Germany, Poland and parts of Austria. In this 
story the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine have passed 
into Prussian hands. Read the story to find out what effect this 
had on life at school.
Notice these expressions in the text. 
Infer their meaning from the context
?? in great dread of  ?? in unison
?? counted on  ?? a great bustle  
?? thumbed at the edges  ?? reproach ourselves with
I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread 
of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would 
question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about 
them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the 
day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping 
at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill 
the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting 
than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and 
hurried off to school.
When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in front of 
the bulletin-board. For the last two years all our bad news had 
come from there — the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the 
commanding officer — and I thought to myself, without stopping, 
“What can be the matter now?”
Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, 
Wachter, who was there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, 
1
Chap 1.indd   2 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
The Last Lesson/3
called after me, “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in 
plenty of time!”
I thought he was making fun of me, and reached  
M. Hamel’s little garden all out of breath.
Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which 
could be heard out in the street, the opening and closing of desks, 
lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears 
to understand better, and the teacher’s great ruler rapping on the 
table. But now it was all so still! I had counted on the commotion 
to get to my desk without being seen; but, of course, that day 
everything had to be as quiet as Sunday morning. Through the 
window I saw my classmates, already in their places, and M. Hamel 
walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I 
had to open the door and go in before everybody. You can imagine 
how I blushed and how frightened I was.
But nothing happened. M. Hamel saw me and said very kindly, 
“Go to your place quickly, little Franz. We were beginning without 
you.”
I jumped over the bench and sat down at my desk. Not till 
then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see that our 
teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt, and the 
little black silk cap, all embroidered, that he never wore except on 
inspection and prize days. Besides, the whole school seemed so 
Chap 1.indd   3 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Page 4


The Last Lesson 
Alphonse Daudet
Lost Spring 
Anees Jung 
Deep Water 
William Douglas
The Rattrap 
Selma Lagerlöf
Indigo 
Louis Fischer
Poets and Pancakes 
Asokamitran
The Interview  
Christopher Silvester
Umberto Eco 
Going Places 
A. R. Barton
Prose
Chap 1.indd   1 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
The Last Lesson
About the author
Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) was a French novelist and short-
story writer. The Last Lesson is set in the days of the Franco-
Prussian War (1870-1871) in which France was defeated by 
Prussia led by Bismarck. Prussia then consisted of what now 
are the nations of Germany, Poland and parts of Austria. In this 
story the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine have passed 
into Prussian hands. Read the story to find out what effect this 
had on life at school.
Notice these expressions in the text. 
Infer their meaning from the context
?? in great dread of  ?? in unison
?? counted on  ?? a great bustle  
?? thumbed at the edges  ?? reproach ourselves with
I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread 
of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would 
question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about 
them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the 
day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping 
at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill 
the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting 
than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and 
hurried off to school.
When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in front of 
the bulletin-board. For the last two years all our bad news had 
come from there — the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the 
commanding officer — and I thought to myself, without stopping, 
“What can be the matter now?”
Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, 
Wachter, who was there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, 
1
Chap 1.indd   2 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
The Last Lesson/3
called after me, “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in 
plenty of time!”
I thought he was making fun of me, and reached  
M. Hamel’s little garden all out of breath.
Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which 
could be heard out in the street, the opening and closing of desks, 
lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears 
to understand better, and the teacher’s great ruler rapping on the 
table. But now it was all so still! I had counted on the commotion 
to get to my desk without being seen; but, of course, that day 
everything had to be as quiet as Sunday morning. Through the 
window I saw my classmates, already in their places, and M. Hamel 
walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I 
had to open the door and go in before everybody. You can imagine 
how I blushed and how frightened I was.
But nothing happened. M. Hamel saw me and said very kindly, 
“Go to your place quickly, little Franz. We were beginning without 
you.”
I jumped over the bench and sat down at my desk. Not till 
then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see that our 
teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt, and the 
little black silk cap, all embroidered, that he never wore except on 
inspection and prize days. Besides, the whole school seemed so 
Chap 1.indd   3 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
4/Flamingo
strange and solemn. But the thing 
that surprised me most was to see, 
on the back benches that were 
always empty, the village people 
sitting quietly like ourselves; old 
Hauser, with his three-cornered 
hat, the former mayor, the former 
postmaster, and several others 
besides. Everybody looked sad; and 
Hauser had brought an old primer, 
thumbed at the edges, and he held 
it open on his knees with his great 
spectacles lying across the pages.
While I was wondering about it all, M. Hamel mounted his 
chair, and, in the same grave and gentle tone which he had used to 
me, said, “My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The 
order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of 
Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow. This is your 
last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.”
What a thunderclap these words were to me!
Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the  
town-hall!
My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should 
never learn any more! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was 
for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds’ eggs, or going sliding 
on the Saar! My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, 
so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were 
old friends now that I couldn’t give up. And M. Hamel, too; the idea 
that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me 
forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was.
Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had 
put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the 
old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It 
was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school 
more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years 
of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that 
was theirs no more.
Chap 1.indd   4 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Page 5


The Last Lesson 
Alphonse Daudet
Lost Spring 
Anees Jung 
Deep Water 
William Douglas
The Rattrap 
Selma Lagerlöf
Indigo 
Louis Fischer
Poets and Pancakes 
Asokamitran
The Interview  
Christopher Silvester
Umberto Eco 
Going Places 
A. R. Barton
Prose
Chap 1.indd   1 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
The Last Lesson
About the author
Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) was a French novelist and short-
story writer. The Last Lesson is set in the days of the Franco-
Prussian War (1870-1871) in which France was defeated by 
Prussia led by Bismarck. Prussia then consisted of what now 
are the nations of Germany, Poland and parts of Austria. In this 
story the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine have passed 
into Prussian hands. Read the story to find out what effect this 
had on life at school.
Notice these expressions in the text. 
Infer their meaning from the context
?? in great dread of  ?? in unison
?? counted on  ?? a great bustle  
?? thumbed at the edges  ?? reproach ourselves with
I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread 
of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would 
question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about 
them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the 
day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping 
at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill 
the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting 
than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and 
hurried off to school.
When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in front of 
the bulletin-board. For the last two years all our bad news had 
come from there — the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the 
commanding officer — and I thought to myself, without stopping, 
“What can be the matter now?”
Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, 
Wachter, who was there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, 
1
Chap 1.indd   2 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
The Last Lesson/3
called after me, “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in 
plenty of time!”
I thought he was making fun of me, and reached  
M. Hamel’s little garden all out of breath.
Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which 
could be heard out in the street, the opening and closing of desks, 
lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears 
to understand better, and the teacher’s great ruler rapping on the 
table. But now it was all so still! I had counted on the commotion 
to get to my desk without being seen; but, of course, that day 
everything had to be as quiet as Sunday morning. Through the 
window I saw my classmates, already in their places, and M. Hamel 
walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I 
had to open the door and go in before everybody. You can imagine 
how I blushed and how frightened I was.
But nothing happened. M. Hamel saw me and said very kindly, 
“Go to your place quickly, little Franz. We were beginning without 
you.”
I jumped over the bench and sat down at my desk. Not till 
then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see that our 
teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt, and the 
little black silk cap, all embroidered, that he never wore except on 
inspection and prize days. Besides, the whole school seemed so 
Chap 1.indd   3 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
4/Flamingo
strange and solemn. But the thing 
that surprised me most was to see, 
on the back benches that were 
always empty, the village people 
sitting quietly like ourselves; old 
Hauser, with his three-cornered 
hat, the former mayor, the former 
postmaster, and several others 
besides. Everybody looked sad; and 
Hauser had brought an old primer, 
thumbed at the edges, and he held 
it open on his knees with his great 
spectacles lying across the pages.
While I was wondering about it all, M. Hamel mounted his 
chair, and, in the same grave and gentle tone which he had used to 
me, said, “My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The 
order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of 
Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow. This is your 
last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.”
What a thunderclap these words were to me!
Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the  
town-hall!
My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should 
never learn any more! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was 
for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds’ eggs, or going sliding 
on the Saar! My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, 
so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were 
old friends now that I couldn’t give up. And M. Hamel, too; the idea 
that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me 
forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was.
Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had 
put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the 
old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It 
was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school 
more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years 
of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that 
was theirs no more.
Chap 1.indd   4 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26
The Last Lesson/5
While I was thinking of all this, I heard my name called. It was 
my turn to recite. What would I not have given to be able to say 
that dreadful rule for the participle all through, very loud and clear, 
and without one mistake? But I got mixed up on the first words 
and stood there, holding on to my desk, my heart beating, and not 
daring to look up. 
I heard M. Hamel say to me, “I won’t scold you, little Franz; 
you must feel bad enough. See how it is! Every day we have said to 
ourselves, ‘Bah! I’ve plenty of time. I’ll learn it tomorrow.’ And now 
you see where we’ve come out. Ah, that’s the great trouble with 
Alsace; she puts off learning till tomorrow. Now those fellows out 
there will have the right to say to you, ‘How is it; you pretend to 
be Frenchmen, and yet you can neither speak nor write your own 
language?’ But you are not the worst, poor little Franz. We’ve all a 
great deal to reproach ourselves with.”
“Your parents were not anxious enough to have you learn. They 
preferred to put you to work on a farm or at the mills, so as to have 
a little more money. And I? I’ve been to blame also. Have I not often 
sent you to water my flowers instead of learning your lessons? And 
when I wanted to go fishing, did I not just give you a holiday?”
Then, from one thing to another, M. Hamel went on to talk 
of the French language, saying that it was the most beautiful 
language in the world — the clearest, the most logical; that we must 
guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are 
enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their 
language it is as if they had the 
key to their prison. Then he 
opened a grammar and 
read us our lesson. I 
was amazed to see how 
well I understood it. 
All he said seemed 
so easy, so easy! I 
think, too, that I had 
never listened so 
carefully, and that he 
had never explained 
everything with so 
Chap 1.indd   5 12/11/2024   11:17:43 AM
Reprint 2025-26