Page 1
CBSE
12
2 2
UNIT UNIT
Fiction
F.2 Mrs Packletide's Tiger
by Saki
1. Why do people hunt? Complete the web chart giving various reasons for the
same:
2. Read these lines and guess the answers to the questions given below
It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger …. The
compelling motive ….was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently …… personally
procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing.
a) Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger?
b) What does it tell you about her?
c) What is the tone of the storywriter?
d) Do you think she was successful in her mission?
e) What do you think the story is all about?
Was thought
to be an act
of bravery
Reasons for Hunting
Page 2
CBSE
12
2 2
UNIT UNIT
Fiction
F.2 Mrs Packletide's Tiger
by Saki
1. Why do people hunt? Complete the web chart giving various reasons for the
same:
2. Read these lines and guess the answers to the questions given below
It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger …. The
compelling motive ….was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently …… personally
procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing.
a) Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger?
b) What does it tell you about her?
c) What is the tone of the storywriter?
d) Do you think she was successful in her mission?
e) What do you think the story is all about?
Was thought
to be an act
of bravery
Reasons for Hunting
CBSE
Fiction
13
3. This story was written at a time when there was very little awareness about the
need to protect the environment and the wildlife. Now read the story.
1. It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger. Not that
the lust to kill had suddenly descended on her, or that she felt that she would leave India
safer and more wholesome than she had found it, with one fraction less of wild beast
per million of inhabitants. The compelling motive for
her sudden deviation towards the footsteps of
1
Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had
recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane
by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else;
only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy
harvest of press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing. Mrs. Packletide had
already arranged in her mind the lunch she would
2
give at her house in Curzon Street, ostensibly in
Loona Bimberton's honour, with a tiger-skin rug
occupying most of the foreground and all of the
conversation. She had also already designed in her
mind the tiger-claw brooch that she was going to
give Loona Bimberton on her next birthday. In a
world that is supposed to be chiefly swayed by hunger and by love Mrs. Packletide was
an exception; her movements and motives were largely governed by dislike of Loona
Bimberton.
3
2. Circumstances proved propitious . Mrs. Packletide had offered a thousand rupees for
the opportunity of shooting a tiger without over-much risk or exertion, and it so
4
happened that a neighbouring village could boast of being the favoured rendezvous
of an animal of respectable antecedents, which had been driven by the increasing
infirmities of age to abandon game-killing and confine its appetite to the smaller
domestic animals. The prospect of earning the thousand rupees had stimulated the
sporting and commercial instinct of the villagers; children were posted night and day on
the outskirts of the local jungle to head the tiger back in the unlikely event of his
attempting to roam away to fresh hunting-grounds, and the cheaper kinds of goats
were left about with elaborate carelessness to keep him satisfied with his present
quarters. The one great anxiety was lest he should die of old age before the date
appointed for the memsahib's shoot. Mothers carrying their babies home through the
jungle after the day's work in the fields hushed their singing lest they might curtail the
restful sleep of the venerable herd-robber.
1. Nimrod : Biblical character (great grandson of Noah); a mighty hunter
2. ostensibly: supposedly 3. propitious : favourable
4. rendezvous : meeting
Page 3
CBSE
12
2 2
UNIT UNIT
Fiction
F.2 Mrs Packletide's Tiger
by Saki
1. Why do people hunt? Complete the web chart giving various reasons for the
same:
2. Read these lines and guess the answers to the questions given below
It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger …. The
compelling motive ….was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently …… personally
procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing.
a) Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger?
b) What does it tell you about her?
c) What is the tone of the storywriter?
d) Do you think she was successful in her mission?
e) What do you think the story is all about?
Was thought
to be an act
of bravery
Reasons for Hunting
CBSE
Fiction
13
3. This story was written at a time when there was very little awareness about the
need to protect the environment and the wildlife. Now read the story.
1. It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger. Not that
the lust to kill had suddenly descended on her, or that she felt that she would leave India
safer and more wholesome than she had found it, with one fraction less of wild beast
per million of inhabitants. The compelling motive for
her sudden deviation towards the footsteps of
1
Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had
recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane
by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else;
only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy
harvest of press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing. Mrs. Packletide had
already arranged in her mind the lunch she would
2
give at her house in Curzon Street, ostensibly in
Loona Bimberton's honour, with a tiger-skin rug
occupying most of the foreground and all of the
conversation. She had also already designed in her
mind the tiger-claw brooch that she was going to
give Loona Bimberton on her next birthday. In a
world that is supposed to be chiefly swayed by hunger and by love Mrs. Packletide was
an exception; her movements and motives were largely governed by dislike of Loona
Bimberton.
3
2. Circumstances proved propitious . Mrs. Packletide had offered a thousand rupees for
the opportunity of shooting a tiger without over-much risk or exertion, and it so
4
happened that a neighbouring village could boast of being the favoured rendezvous
of an animal of respectable antecedents, which had been driven by the increasing
infirmities of age to abandon game-killing and confine its appetite to the smaller
domestic animals. The prospect of earning the thousand rupees had stimulated the
sporting and commercial instinct of the villagers; children were posted night and day on
the outskirts of the local jungle to head the tiger back in the unlikely event of his
attempting to roam away to fresh hunting-grounds, and the cheaper kinds of goats
were left about with elaborate carelessness to keep him satisfied with his present
quarters. The one great anxiety was lest he should die of old age before the date
appointed for the memsahib's shoot. Mothers carrying their babies home through the
jungle after the day's work in the fields hushed their singing lest they might curtail the
restful sleep of the venerable herd-robber.
1. Nimrod : Biblical character (great grandson of Noah); a mighty hunter
2. ostensibly: supposedly 3. propitious : favourable
4. rendezvous : meeting
CBSE
Fiction
14
3. The great night duly arrived, moonlit and cloudless. A platform had been constructed in
a comfortable and conveniently placed tree, and thereon crouched Mrs. Packletide and
her paid companion, Miss Mebbin. A goat, gifted with a particularly persistent bleat,
such as even a partially deaf tiger might be reasonably expected to hear on a still night,
5
was tethered at the correct distance. With an accurately sighted rifle and a thumb-
6
nail pack of patience cards the sportswoman awaited the coming of the quarry.
4. "I suppose we are in some danger?" said Miss Mebbin.
5. She was not actually nervous about the wild beast, but she had a morbid dread of
performing an atom more service than she had been paid for.
6. "Nonsense," said Mrs. Packletide; "it's a very old tiger. It couldn't spring up here even if
it wanted to."
7. "If it's an old tiger I think you
ought to get it cheaper. A
thousand rupees is a lot of
money."
8. Louisa Mebbin adopted a
protective elder-sister
attitude towards money in
general, irrespective of
nationality or denomination.
Her energetic intervention
had saved many a rouble
from dissipating itself in tips
in some Moscow hotel, and
francs and centimes clung to her instinctively under circumstances which would have
driven them headlong from less sympathetic hands. Her speculations as to the market
depreciation of tiger remnants were cut short by the appearance on the scene of the
animal itself. As soon as it caught sight of the tethered goat it lay flat on the earth,
seemingly less from a desire to take advantage of all available cover than for the
purpose of snatching a short rest before commencing the grand attack.
9. "I believe it's ill," said Louisa Mebbin, loudly in Hindustani, for the benefit of the village
headman, who was in ambush in a neighbouring tree.
10. "Hush!" said Mrs. Packletide, and at that moment the tiger commenced ambling
towards his victim.
11. "Now, now!" urged Miss Mebbin with some excitement; "if he doesn't touch the goat we
needn't pay for it." (The bait was an extra.)
5. tethered - fastened
6. thumb - nail pack of patience cards - small sized playing cards to play solitaire
Page 4
CBSE
12
2 2
UNIT UNIT
Fiction
F.2 Mrs Packletide's Tiger
by Saki
1. Why do people hunt? Complete the web chart giving various reasons for the
same:
2. Read these lines and guess the answers to the questions given below
It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger …. The
compelling motive ….was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently …… personally
procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing.
a) Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger?
b) What does it tell you about her?
c) What is the tone of the storywriter?
d) Do you think she was successful in her mission?
e) What do you think the story is all about?
Was thought
to be an act
of bravery
Reasons for Hunting
CBSE
Fiction
13
3. This story was written at a time when there was very little awareness about the
need to protect the environment and the wildlife. Now read the story.
1. It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger. Not that
the lust to kill had suddenly descended on her, or that she felt that she would leave India
safer and more wholesome than she had found it, with one fraction less of wild beast
per million of inhabitants. The compelling motive for
her sudden deviation towards the footsteps of
1
Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had
recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane
by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else;
only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy
harvest of press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing. Mrs. Packletide had
already arranged in her mind the lunch she would
2
give at her house in Curzon Street, ostensibly in
Loona Bimberton's honour, with a tiger-skin rug
occupying most of the foreground and all of the
conversation. She had also already designed in her
mind the tiger-claw brooch that she was going to
give Loona Bimberton on her next birthday. In a
world that is supposed to be chiefly swayed by hunger and by love Mrs. Packletide was
an exception; her movements and motives were largely governed by dislike of Loona
Bimberton.
3
2. Circumstances proved propitious . Mrs. Packletide had offered a thousand rupees for
the opportunity of shooting a tiger without over-much risk or exertion, and it so
4
happened that a neighbouring village could boast of being the favoured rendezvous
of an animal of respectable antecedents, which had been driven by the increasing
infirmities of age to abandon game-killing and confine its appetite to the smaller
domestic animals. The prospect of earning the thousand rupees had stimulated the
sporting and commercial instinct of the villagers; children were posted night and day on
the outskirts of the local jungle to head the tiger back in the unlikely event of his
attempting to roam away to fresh hunting-grounds, and the cheaper kinds of goats
were left about with elaborate carelessness to keep him satisfied with his present
quarters. The one great anxiety was lest he should die of old age before the date
appointed for the memsahib's shoot. Mothers carrying their babies home through the
jungle after the day's work in the fields hushed their singing lest they might curtail the
restful sleep of the venerable herd-robber.
1. Nimrod : Biblical character (great grandson of Noah); a mighty hunter
2. ostensibly: supposedly 3. propitious : favourable
4. rendezvous : meeting
CBSE
Fiction
14
3. The great night duly arrived, moonlit and cloudless. A platform had been constructed in
a comfortable and conveniently placed tree, and thereon crouched Mrs. Packletide and
her paid companion, Miss Mebbin. A goat, gifted with a particularly persistent bleat,
such as even a partially deaf tiger might be reasonably expected to hear on a still night,
5
was tethered at the correct distance. With an accurately sighted rifle and a thumb-
6
nail pack of patience cards the sportswoman awaited the coming of the quarry.
4. "I suppose we are in some danger?" said Miss Mebbin.
5. She was not actually nervous about the wild beast, but she had a morbid dread of
performing an atom more service than she had been paid for.
6. "Nonsense," said Mrs. Packletide; "it's a very old tiger. It couldn't spring up here even if
it wanted to."
7. "If it's an old tiger I think you
ought to get it cheaper. A
thousand rupees is a lot of
money."
8. Louisa Mebbin adopted a
protective elder-sister
attitude towards money in
general, irrespective of
nationality or denomination.
Her energetic intervention
had saved many a rouble
from dissipating itself in tips
in some Moscow hotel, and
francs and centimes clung to her instinctively under circumstances which would have
driven them headlong from less sympathetic hands. Her speculations as to the market
depreciation of tiger remnants were cut short by the appearance on the scene of the
animal itself. As soon as it caught sight of the tethered goat it lay flat on the earth,
seemingly less from a desire to take advantage of all available cover than for the
purpose of snatching a short rest before commencing the grand attack.
9. "I believe it's ill," said Louisa Mebbin, loudly in Hindustani, for the benefit of the village
headman, who was in ambush in a neighbouring tree.
10. "Hush!" said Mrs. Packletide, and at that moment the tiger commenced ambling
towards his victim.
11. "Now, now!" urged Miss Mebbin with some excitement; "if he doesn't touch the goat we
needn't pay for it." (The bait was an extra.)
5. tethered - fastened
6. thumb - nail pack of patience cards - small sized playing cards to play solitaire
CBSE
Fiction
15
12. The rifle flashed out with a loud report, and the great tawny beast sprang to one side
and then rolled over in the stillness of death. In a moment a crowd of excited natives
had swarmed on to the scene, and their shouting speedily carried the glad news to the
village, where a thumping of
tom-toms took up the chorus of
triumph. And their triumph and
rejoicing found a ready echo in
the heart of Mrs. Packletide;
already that luncheon-party in
Curzon Street seemed
immeasurably nearer.
13. It was Louisa Mebbin who drew
attention to the fact that the
goat was in death-throes from
a mortal bullet-wound, while no
trace of the rifle's deadly work could be found on the tiger. Evidently the wrong animal
had been hit, and the beast of prey had succumbed to heart-failure, caused by the
7
sudden report of the rifle, accelerated by senile decay. Mrs. Packletide was
pardonably annoyed at the discovery; but, at any rate, she was the possessor of a dead
tiger, and the villagers, anxious for their thousand rupees, gladly connived at the fiction
that she had shot the beast. And Miss Mebbin was a paid companion. Therefore did
Mrs. Packletide face the cameras with a light heart, and her pictured fame reached
from the pages of the Texas Weekly Snapshot to the illustrated Monday supplement of
the Novoe Vremya. As for Loona Bimberton, she refused to look at an illustrated paper
for weeks, and her letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger-claw brooch was a model of
repressed emotions. The luncheon-party she declined; there are limits beyond which
repressed emotions become dangerous.
14. "How amused every one would be if they knew what really happened," said Louisa
Mebbin a few days after the ball.
15. "What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Packletide quickly.
16. "How you shot the goat and frightened the tiger to death," said Miss Mebbin, with her
disagreeably pleasant laugh.
17. "No one would believe it," said Mrs. Packletide, her face changing colour as rapidly as
8 9
though it were going through a book of patterns before post-time .
18. "Loona Bimberton would," said Miss Mebbin. Mrs. Packletide's face settled on an
unbecoming shade of greenish white.
7. senile - characteristic of old age
8. book of patterns - Book showing the colour patterns of racing. stables, with colours worn by jockeys.
9. post-time- the start of horse race and deadline for placing a bet
Page 5
CBSE
12
2 2
UNIT UNIT
Fiction
F.2 Mrs Packletide's Tiger
by Saki
1. Why do people hunt? Complete the web chart giving various reasons for the
same:
2. Read these lines and guess the answers to the questions given below
It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger …. The
compelling motive ….was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently …… personally
procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing.
a) Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger?
b) What does it tell you about her?
c) What is the tone of the storywriter?
d) Do you think she was successful in her mission?
e) What do you think the story is all about?
Was thought
to be an act
of bravery
Reasons for Hunting
CBSE
Fiction
13
3. This story was written at a time when there was very little awareness about the
need to protect the environment and the wildlife. Now read the story.
1. It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger. Not that
the lust to kill had suddenly descended on her, or that she felt that she would leave India
safer and more wholesome than she had found it, with one fraction less of wild beast
per million of inhabitants. The compelling motive for
her sudden deviation towards the footsteps of
1
Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had
recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane
by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else;
only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy
harvest of press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing. Mrs. Packletide had
already arranged in her mind the lunch she would
2
give at her house in Curzon Street, ostensibly in
Loona Bimberton's honour, with a tiger-skin rug
occupying most of the foreground and all of the
conversation. She had also already designed in her
mind the tiger-claw brooch that she was going to
give Loona Bimberton on her next birthday. In a
world that is supposed to be chiefly swayed by hunger and by love Mrs. Packletide was
an exception; her movements and motives were largely governed by dislike of Loona
Bimberton.
3
2. Circumstances proved propitious . Mrs. Packletide had offered a thousand rupees for
the opportunity of shooting a tiger without over-much risk or exertion, and it so
4
happened that a neighbouring village could boast of being the favoured rendezvous
of an animal of respectable antecedents, which had been driven by the increasing
infirmities of age to abandon game-killing and confine its appetite to the smaller
domestic animals. The prospect of earning the thousand rupees had stimulated the
sporting and commercial instinct of the villagers; children were posted night and day on
the outskirts of the local jungle to head the tiger back in the unlikely event of his
attempting to roam away to fresh hunting-grounds, and the cheaper kinds of goats
were left about with elaborate carelessness to keep him satisfied with his present
quarters. The one great anxiety was lest he should die of old age before the date
appointed for the memsahib's shoot. Mothers carrying their babies home through the
jungle after the day's work in the fields hushed their singing lest they might curtail the
restful sleep of the venerable herd-robber.
1. Nimrod : Biblical character (great grandson of Noah); a mighty hunter
2. ostensibly: supposedly 3. propitious : favourable
4. rendezvous : meeting
CBSE
Fiction
14
3. The great night duly arrived, moonlit and cloudless. A platform had been constructed in
a comfortable and conveniently placed tree, and thereon crouched Mrs. Packletide and
her paid companion, Miss Mebbin. A goat, gifted with a particularly persistent bleat,
such as even a partially deaf tiger might be reasonably expected to hear on a still night,
5
was tethered at the correct distance. With an accurately sighted rifle and a thumb-
6
nail pack of patience cards the sportswoman awaited the coming of the quarry.
4. "I suppose we are in some danger?" said Miss Mebbin.
5. She was not actually nervous about the wild beast, but she had a morbid dread of
performing an atom more service than she had been paid for.
6. "Nonsense," said Mrs. Packletide; "it's a very old tiger. It couldn't spring up here even if
it wanted to."
7. "If it's an old tiger I think you
ought to get it cheaper. A
thousand rupees is a lot of
money."
8. Louisa Mebbin adopted a
protective elder-sister
attitude towards money in
general, irrespective of
nationality or denomination.
Her energetic intervention
had saved many a rouble
from dissipating itself in tips
in some Moscow hotel, and
francs and centimes clung to her instinctively under circumstances which would have
driven them headlong from less sympathetic hands. Her speculations as to the market
depreciation of tiger remnants were cut short by the appearance on the scene of the
animal itself. As soon as it caught sight of the tethered goat it lay flat on the earth,
seemingly less from a desire to take advantage of all available cover than for the
purpose of snatching a short rest before commencing the grand attack.
9. "I believe it's ill," said Louisa Mebbin, loudly in Hindustani, for the benefit of the village
headman, who was in ambush in a neighbouring tree.
10. "Hush!" said Mrs. Packletide, and at that moment the tiger commenced ambling
towards his victim.
11. "Now, now!" urged Miss Mebbin with some excitement; "if he doesn't touch the goat we
needn't pay for it." (The bait was an extra.)
5. tethered - fastened
6. thumb - nail pack of patience cards - small sized playing cards to play solitaire
CBSE
Fiction
15
12. The rifle flashed out with a loud report, and the great tawny beast sprang to one side
and then rolled over in the stillness of death. In a moment a crowd of excited natives
had swarmed on to the scene, and their shouting speedily carried the glad news to the
village, where a thumping of
tom-toms took up the chorus of
triumph. And their triumph and
rejoicing found a ready echo in
the heart of Mrs. Packletide;
already that luncheon-party in
Curzon Street seemed
immeasurably nearer.
13. It was Louisa Mebbin who drew
attention to the fact that the
goat was in death-throes from
a mortal bullet-wound, while no
trace of the rifle's deadly work could be found on the tiger. Evidently the wrong animal
had been hit, and the beast of prey had succumbed to heart-failure, caused by the
7
sudden report of the rifle, accelerated by senile decay. Mrs. Packletide was
pardonably annoyed at the discovery; but, at any rate, she was the possessor of a dead
tiger, and the villagers, anxious for their thousand rupees, gladly connived at the fiction
that she had shot the beast. And Miss Mebbin was a paid companion. Therefore did
Mrs. Packletide face the cameras with a light heart, and her pictured fame reached
from the pages of the Texas Weekly Snapshot to the illustrated Monday supplement of
the Novoe Vremya. As for Loona Bimberton, she refused to look at an illustrated paper
for weeks, and her letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger-claw brooch was a model of
repressed emotions. The luncheon-party she declined; there are limits beyond which
repressed emotions become dangerous.
14. "How amused every one would be if they knew what really happened," said Louisa
Mebbin a few days after the ball.
15. "What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Packletide quickly.
16. "How you shot the goat and frightened the tiger to death," said Miss Mebbin, with her
disagreeably pleasant laugh.
17. "No one would believe it," said Mrs. Packletide, her face changing colour as rapidly as
8 9
though it were going through a book of patterns before post-time .
18. "Loona Bimberton would," said Miss Mebbin. Mrs. Packletide's face settled on an
unbecoming shade of greenish white.
7. senile - characteristic of old age
8. book of patterns - Book showing the colour patterns of racing. stables, with colours worn by jockeys.
9. post-time- the start of horse race and deadline for placing a bet
CBSE
Fiction
16
19. "You surely wouldn't give me away?" she asked.
20. "I've seen a week-end cottage near Darking that I should rather like to buy," said Miss
Mebbin with seeming irrelevance. "Six hundred and eighty, freehold. Quite a bargain,
only I don't happen to have the money."
* * *
10
21. Louisa Mebbin's pretty week-end cottage, christened by her "Les Fauves ," and gay
in summer-time with its garden borders of tiger-lilies, is the wonder and admiration of
her friends.
22. "It is a marvel how Louisa manages to do it," is the general verdict.
23. Mrs. Packletide indulges in no more big-game shooting.
11
24. "The incidental expenses are so heavy," she confides to inquiring friends.
About the Author
Saki, (1870-1916), whose real name was Hector Hugh Munro, was a British
writer, whose witty stories satirized the society and culture of his day. He was
considered a master of the short story.
4. Answer the following questions in your own words:
(a) Why did Mrs. Packletide wish to kill a tiger?
(b) What made her decide to give a party in Loona Bimberton's honour? What did she
intend to give Loona on her birthday?
(c) How was the tiger shooting arranged? What kind of a tiger was chosen for the
purpose?
(d) In what way did the villagers help Mrs. Packletide shoot the tiger?
(e) Who was Miss Mebbin? Was she really devoted to Mrs. Packletide? How did she
behave during the tiger shooting?
(f) Mrs. Packletide was a good shot. Discuss.
(g) What comment did Miss Mebbin make after Mrs Packletide had fired the shot?
Why did Miss Mebbin make this comment? How did Mrs Packletide react to this
comment?
(h) How did the villagers react to the tiger's death?
(i) Do you think Mrs. Packletide was able to achieve her heart's desire? Give reasons
for your answer.
10. Les Fauves - French for ' The Wild Animals'
11. incidental - secondary.
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