Long Answers: Chapter - 6, Three Men in a Boat | English Class 9 PDF Download

Answer the following questions in detail:

Q1. What does Jim say about the China Dog and other such objects?

Ans. Jim shows his philosophical view on man’s attitude towards the treasure of art. He says that things priced and looked at with awe today are nothing but commonly used articles of common people of three or four hundred years ago. He shows his love for history and nature and reveals a reality that present will become past. He talks of the China dog showpiece lying in his furnished lodging which is an ordinary piece of art work disliked by the writer as well as his land lady. He thinks after two hundred years, when this ordinary China dog would be dug up, people would admire it and praise the use of colours. He claims that it is human nature to prize what is rare and overlook what is common and easily accessible to man.

Q2. What was special about shopkeeper’s house? What changes were made by him in it?

Ans. There was a superb carved oak staircase in the shopkeeper’s house. Its walls were oak-panelled with exquisite carvings. The drawing room was decorated with blue wall paper because the shopkeeper felt that oak gave a gloomy and awful look to the whole house, so he covered it with bright blue wall paper. The writer says that other people have to spend a lot to give their homes a look of carved oak but this man having it in plenty did not care a little for it.

Q3. What happened to Harris in the maze?

Ans. Harris felt it was quite easy to come out of the maze at Hampton where he had gone to guide one of his cousins. He studied the map but found it misleading. He met some people in the maze who could not find their way out. Harris confidently asked them to follow him. They thought him as a great saviour and followed him. He planned to keep on turning to the right but reached the someplace again. People realised their folly and called him and impostor. Finding no way out people shouted out for the keeper but the newly employed keeper did not know the way out. At last and old keeper rescued them.

Q4. Why wouldn’t writer like to live actually at Hompton Court?

Ans. Though the writer admires the peacefulness of Hampton Court, but he would not like to live there as he was bred in a city and was accustomed to its din, population, commotion and noise. The serenity of nature, the rustling of trees seem to be pleasant during the day but ghostly and eerie in the night. They present a strange, dull and mysterious stillness all around. So he would like to live in a place where there are gas-lit streets echoing with human voice and throbbing with life.

Q5. What is writer’s opinion about the “art treasures of today”?

Ans. The writer has described his view about the art treasures. In his opinion things priced highly and looked at with awe today are nothing more than commonly used articles by common people three or four hundred years ago. He wonders if this trend will be followed in future also. Then he talks of the China dog showpiece lying in his lodgings which everybody disliked. He thinks after two hundred years when this ordinary China piece would be dug up in 2228 people would admire it and would be wonder-struck by the use of colours. The author comments that it is the human tendency to prize what is rare.

Q6. Who broke Jim’s reverie and Why?

Ans. An old bald-headed man broke Jim’s reverie intervening by asking him if he wanted to see the tombs whereas Jim was lost in imagination of a pious life free from all sins and absurdities on seeing the lovely landscape. But the old man’s shrill voice upset him.

Q7. Explain the beauty of riverside as narrated by the writer.

Ans. The sunny river is flanked by the inhabitants of Hampton and Mousley who dress themselves up in their finest boating costumes. People wearing colourful costumes and sitting in the boats look fascinating. The riverside becomes the venue for people to flaunt their taste in colours and attractive attires. People with their dogs come here. They flirt, smoke and watch the boats. The hats, pretty coloured dresses of ladies and jackets of men make the river a confluence of amazing and fascinating colours. Pretty girls, excited dogs, moving boats, white sails, the pleasant landscape and the sparkling water produce the gayest sights of the river.

Q8. What experience the writer has to face when he accompanied two ladies on a boat-trip?

Ans. Once Jim accompanied two ladies who were in silky stuff, flowers and ribbons, dainty shoes and light gloves. Jim thought that they were dressed for a photographic studio and not for a river picnic. They found the boat quite dirty and felt it might spoil their lovely dresses. When the writer sculled the boat, the oars splashed a few drops of water on their dresses and left stains. The writer tried his best to avoid flickering of water from falling over their dresses. But the oarsman splashed a good amount of water on them. The ladies covered themselves with rugs to save their clothes from staining. Every time a drop touched them, they visibly shrank and shuddered. Though it was a noble sight to see them suffering silently, but the writer felt nervous as he is too sensitive. During the lunch the ladies were reluctant to sit on dusty grass. They were always apprehensive that somebody might spill the curry on their dresses. They thought only of their dresses and could not enjoy the picnic.

Q9. How do you enjoy the humour in dressing sense of the three men?

Ans. The dressing sense of the three friends is quite humorous. Jim likes red and black that match his golden brown hair. He feels that a light blue necktie goes well with it. A pair of Russian shoes and a red silk hanky round the waist give the combination a push. Harris likes shades of orange and yellow but that does not suit him as his complexion is too dark for yellow dress. The writer advises him to have a combination of blue and white but he refuses. The writer concludes that the less taste a person has in dress, the more obstinate he is. George has brought new things for the trip. His blazer is gaudy and showy. Jim thinks that it does not suit him but George is adamant. He says people should wear such dresses with can bear onslaughts of water.

Q10. Give your own examples to show that people are not contended with what they have got, they always long for what they don’t have.

Ans. There are people who crave for new art pieces and they are ready to pay any price for that. Through this anecdote the writer presents bitter fact of human nature that people are not contended with what they have but crave for what they don’t have. For example a man, maintaining a bike, is not satisfied with it rather he craves for a car which may be out of his reach and impossible to maintain. Yet another craves for a big house which he does not have. The writer tries to prove that it is a human nature that the more he has the more he desires.

Q11. Experience counts much, a novice may go wrong. Justify this statement in the light of the troubles faced by Harris in maze.

Ans. Experience has its own importance in human life. An experienced person is always good at every task whereas a novice generally may go wrong. As in the maze episode, Harris is an inexperienced man who in spite of trying again and again failed to come out of the maze. The same is the case with the newly appointed Keeper. He goes to rescue the people who lost their way out but he himself was lost in the maze. It is the experienced man like the old keeper who succeeds and rescues the people along with Harris. Though Harris is confident of himself but he has no experience of the job that is why he wandered in the maze without finding a way out.

Q12. Writer has commented upon two traits of Harris’s character in this chapter. What are they?

Ans. The writer takes a dig at Harris and tells us that there was hardly any pub which Elizabeth had not visited as shown by the signs displayed there. This reminds him of his friend Harris who frequently visited pubs in search of drinks. The writer imagines if Harris becomes the Prime minister and dies, the pubs he had never entered would become famous. Secondly the writer mocks at his boastful and over confident attitude. He braggs about knowing the ins and outs of the maze but soon he is awarded with the title of ‘an imposter’ by the people stranded there and his chains get exposed. Thus his two traits are– he is fond of drinking and he is over confident.