Long Answers - Chapter - 15, Three Men in a Boat | English Class 9 PDF Download

Answer the following questions in detail:

Q1. Describe the encounter with Joskins.

Ans. The writer has described an event that took place when George was sixteen. George and eight other gentlemen of about the same age had an idea of hiring a boat at Kew and pulling it to Richmond and back. Joskins, a shock-headed youth among them who had once or twice taken out a boat on the Serpentine, told them that it was jolly fun, boating. They hired an eight-oared racing outrigger. They took off their coats and prepared to take their seats. A particularly nervous boy was appointed cox and he was told by Joskins how to steer. Joskins himself took stroke. When they started they received a violent blow in the small of the back from the buttend of number five’s scull, his own seat disappeared from under him and he fell on board, number two also was lying on his back at the bottom of the boat with his legs in the air. They passed under Kew Bridge at the rate of eight miles an hour. George, on recovering his seat, tried to help him but his oar disappeared under the boat. The cox threw both rudder lines over board and began to weep. It was a disastrous experience for them. They were saved by an old fisherman.

Q2. Describe any one incident at punting given in the Chapter.

Ans. Once the writer went for punting with a boy. The boy was over confident who was walking up and down the punt working his pole carelessly. He took one stop more than was necessary and walked off the punt altogether with the pole firmly fixed in the mud with him clinging to it while the punt drifted away. The writer was left alone in the punt without any pole and drifted midstream unable to stop himself or steer to safety. Then he was helped by two old fishermen who lent him a pole as they met him midstream in their fishing punt.

Q3. What happened to the writer when he went sailing with a young boy called Hector? How did it prove to be costly adventure?

Ans. They hired a boat from a man who advised them “to take in a reef and luff sharp” when they get round the bend. They did not understand what it meant. When they were on a wide stretch of waler, out of sight of the town, they felt it was the time to begin that operation. Hector went on pulling while the writer unrolled the sail. It seemed a complicated job. They didn’t know which was the top end. They finally got the sail up, upside down. It did not work. Hector advised the writer to wet the sail. At last they got the sail up the two of them together. Why the boat did not upset was an enigma. They had to cling to the gunwale as the boat sped and so they managed to keep inside the boat. The boat travelled upstream for about a mile at a speed he had never sailed, and don’t want to sail again. At last a mud bank saved them. The boat stuck, they cut off the sail and tried the sculls with broke down. After three house they were saved by an old fisherman.

Q1. What do you learn about the writer’s character as revealed by himself in this chapter?

Ans. The writer reveals quite a lot about his own character. He claims that he loves work, work fascinates him. He insists that he does more work than he should do. He says that you cannot give him too much work as it is his passion to accumulate work. He boasts that he is careful of his work. He has been keeping his work in his possession for years, he just keeps the work and does not do it and has not done if for years. He says he does not want more than his share of work. All this gives us quite an insight of his character. He is a great story teller, works magic with words, has a deep insight of human nature, evaluates Harris and George by saying that they eat and sleep most of the time. He also points to the cunningness of old and witty fishermen. He peeps into the boyish nature of youngsters.

Q2. Give examples to illustrate that experience wins over youth and inexperience.

Ans. That experience always wins over youth and inexperience– is a proved fact from the two stories given in this chapter. The first example is that of a young boy who goes for punting. At first he does quite well, becomes confident and then careless. He walks up and down the punt, works his pole with carelessness that looked quite fascinating, he took a step more than was necessary and walked off the punt altogether. The pole fixed firmly in the mud and he was left clinging to it while the punt drifted away. The writer went on drifting alone midstream as he had no pole to stop it. Two fishermen fishing in a punt saw him and helped him by landing him a pole. The second example is that of the writer when he goes for sailing with a young boy called Hector. On a wide stretch of water they put up their sails. Being inexperienced they put up the sail upside down. Their boat picked speed violently. They had to cling to the gunwale and somehow managed to keep inside the boat. Fortunately they were saved by a mud bank. The boat stopped and they cut down the sails. An old experienced fisherman saved their lives.