Extract Based Questions: The Snake and the Mirror - Class 9 PDF Download

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1: 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.

(a) Who does ‘I’ refer to in this extract?
Ans: In this extract, ‘I’ refers to the homeopathic doctor who narrates his encounter with a snake.

(b) At what time did ‘I’ return to his room? Where did he return from?
Ans: The doctor returned to his room at ten o’clock at night after having a meal at a restaurant.

(c) When did ‘I’ hear a noise?
Ans: The doctor heard a noise when he entered his room.

(d) What type of noise was it?
Ans: It was a familiar noise like that made by the rats that lived in his room as they moved about.

Q2: The sound was a familiar one. One could say that the rats and I shared the room. I took out my box of matches and lighted the kerosene lamp on the table.

(a) What sound did the narrator hear as he entered the room?
Ans: The narrator heard a sound as if of the scampering of rats as he entered the room.

(b) Why does the narrator say that it was a familiar sound?
Ans: The narrator says that it was a familiar sound because there were many rats in his room and their constant squeaking or scampering about had become familiar.

(c) How many times did he hear it?
Ans: He heard the sound thrice. (He heard it as he opened the door, he heard it again as he sat combing his hair this way and that, and he heard it for the third time when he decided to smile more.)

(d) When and why did the noise stop?
Ans: The sound stopped suddenly as the narrator after pacing about the room, sat down in his chair. Probably, the rats had seen the snake.

Q3: It had a tiled roof with long supporting gables that rested on the beam over the wall. There was no ceiling. There was a regular traffic of rats to and off.

(a) What did the narrator do after entering the room?
Ans: The narrator lit the kerosene lamp and then made his bed.

(b) Why could the narrator not sleep?
Ans: The narrator could not sleep because there was a regular traffic of rats to and from the beam and the gables. Moreover, it was warm in the room.

(c) Where did he go and why?
Ans: He went out to the veranda for a little air.

(d) Why did he return to his room?
Ans: There was no wind blowing outside too.

Q4: I went back into the room and sat down on the chair. I opened the box beneath the table and took out a book, the Materia Medica. I opened it at the table on which stood the lamp and a large mirror; a small comb lay beside the mirror.

(a) Where was he before going back into the room? Why had he gone out of the room?
Ans: The narrator had gone out to the veranda before coming back into the room. He had gone out for some fresh air.

(b) Why did he take out a book from the box?
Ans: The narrator could not sleep because it was hot and still, and there was no electricity in his room. So, he took out the book to pass some time reading it.

(c) What objects stood on the table?
Ans: A kerosene lamp and a large mirror stood on the table. A small comb lay beside the mirror.

(d) What did the speaker do after this?
Ans: After this, the speaker looked into the mirror that stood on the table and contemplated his looks.

Q5: One feels tempted to look into a mirror when it is near one. I took a look. In those days I was a great admirer of beauty and I believed in making myself look handsome. I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat.

(a) Why did the narrator look into the mirror?
Ans: The narrator was tempted to look into the mirror because it was there in front of him.

(b) Why did he want to make himself look handsome?
Ans: The narrator, who admired beauty in everyone, wanted to make himself look handsome.

(c) What did the narrator do to make his presence felt?
Ans: He combed his hair and adjusted the parting.

(d) What two important decisions did the narrator take to improve his appearance?
Ans: The narrator decided to improve his appearance by shaving daily and growing a thin moustache. He also decided to smile his attractive smile more often.

Q6: I was unmarried and I was a doctor. I felt I had to make my presence felt. I picked up the comb and ran it through my hair and adjusted the parting so that it looked straight and neat. .

(a) Explain “I had to make my presence felt.”
Ans: The narrator decided that he had to create an impact on people by improving upon his appearance or personality.

(b) Why did the narrator feel he had to make his presence felt?
Ans: The narrator felt he was a doctor, a profession that is much respected in society, and was a bachelor. Therefore, he had to make an impact on society.

(c) What did the narrator do to make his presence felt?
Ans: In order to make his presence felt, he combed his hair carefully and adjusted the parting.

(d) What do you learn about the narrator from this extract?
Ans: The narrator was arrogant because of his profession and vain about his looks.

Q7: I made an important decision—I would shave, daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor! I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile. I made another earth- shaking decision.

(a) Where is the narrator? What is he doing?
Ans: The narrator is in his room admiring himself in the mirror.

(b) What discovery did he make about himself?
Ans: The narrator discovered that he was handsome and had an attractive smile.

(c) What two important decisions did he take? Why?
Ans: He decided to shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome and to smile his attractive smile more often. He took these decisions to improve his presence.

(d) What is the narrator’s tone in these lines?
Ans: The narrator’s tone is vain, but he is also laughing at himself, as he calls the decisions “earth-shaking”.

Q8: I got up, paced up and down the room. Then another lovely thought struck me. I would marry.

(a) Where did the narrator get up from? Why?
Ans: The narrator, the homeopathic doctor, got up from his chair in his room. He wanted to think about improving his presence in society.

(b) Which lovely thought struck him?
Ans: The lovely thought that struck him was that he should get married.

(c) What sort of lady did he wish to marry?
Ans: He wished to marry a rich, fat lady-doctor.

(d) What prompted him to make this choice?
Ans: He would get married to a woman doctor who had plenty of money and a good medical practice as he did not have much money. She had to be fat so that if he made a silly mistake and needed to run away she should not be able to run after him and catch him.

Q9: There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow.

(a) What alerted the narrator to the snake’s presence?
Ans: The narrator was alerted to the snake’s presence by the sudden silence from the rats above. Also he heard a dull thud as if a rubber tube had fallen to the ground.

(b) What does “any such thing” refer to?
Ans: The speaker did not have time to save himself from the snake by jumping away or crying out as it had coiled around his left arm above the elbow.

(c) What did the snake do after crawling over the narrator’s shoulder?
Ans: The snake coiled itself tightly around the narrator’s left arm and spread its hood close to his face.

(d) How did the narrator react to the snake’s presence?
Ans: The narrator sat motionless as if turned to stone. He could not move or cry out when the snake coiled itself around his arm.

Q10: I didn ’t jump. I didn ‘t tremble. I didn ’t cry out. There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow. The hood was spread out and its head was hardly three or four inches from my face!
It would not be correct to say merely that I sat there holding my breath I was turned to stone.

(a) Why did the author not jump, tremble and cry?
Ans: The author did not jump, tremble and cry because a snake had fallen on his shoulders. He was both too frightened to move and didn’t want to do anything to provoke the snake.

(b) What did the narrator do as the snake coiled itself round his arm?
Ans: As the narrator coiled itself around his arm, the narrator sat still, turned to stone.

(c) Did the snake bite the speaker? What distracted it?
Ans: No, the snake did not bite the speaker. A sight of its reflection in the mirror distracted the snake.

(d) What were the narrator’s thoughts as he looked at the snake?
Ans: In this moment of fear of death, (he realized the presence of God. God had punished him for being too proud and arrogant.