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10th Class - English
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NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Literature Chapter 12 Snake

Question 1.
Snakes generate both horror and fascination. Do you agree? Why? Why not?

Answer. Snakes generate both horror and fascination because our reasoning often misleads us. Though snakes are creations of nature, we are afraid of them. Snakes also fascinate us but we do not understand the beauty of nature, and being human, we have the impulse to kill it even though we are astounded by its beauty. Snakes are found in different colours and different sizes. They say that nature is more powerful than human beings. But still they generate horror which is just because of small instincts of natural world.

Question 2.
Read what W.W.E. Ross feels when he sees a snake and fill in the table given below:

The Snake Trying
The snake trying
to escape the pursuing stick,
with sudden curvings of thin
long body. How beautiful and graceful
are his shapes!
He glides through the water away
from the stroke. O let him go
over the water
into the reeds to hide
without hurt. Small and green
he is harmless even to children.
Along the sand
he lay until observed
and chased away, and now
he vanishes in the ripples
among the green slim reeds.

Question 3.
Given below is the summary of the poem Snake In short paragraphs.
However they are Jumbled. Work In pairs and put the summary Into a logical
sequence.

(a) After drinking water to satisfaction, the snake raised his head dreamily and flickered his forked tongue and licked his lips. The snake looked around like a God and then slowly proceeded to curve round and move away from the water trough.

(b) The poet felt much like the ancient mariner who had killed the albatross for no reason. He wishes that the snake would come back. He thinks of the snake as a king in exile who has to be crowned again. He also regrets having missed his opportunity of knowing and understanding one of the lords of life.


(c) As the snake put his head into the hole to retreat into the earth, the poet was filled with a protest against the idea of the snake withdrawing into his hole. The poet put down his pitcher, picked up a log and hurled it at the snake. The snake twisted violently and withkgreat alacrity vanished into the hole in the wall.

(d) A snake visited the poet’s water trough on a hot afternoon to quench his thirst. The poet who had also come to the trough to fill water in a pitcher waited for the snake since he had come at the trough prior to the poet.

(e) The voices of education inside the poet tell him that it was the fear for the snake that made him refrain from killing him. However, the poet feels that though he was quite afraid of the snake, he did actually feel honoured that a snake had come to seek his hospitality from the deep recesses of the earth.


(f) He is guilt-ridden and feels that he has to atone for the meanness of his action of throwing a log at the snake.

(g) The snake rested his throat upon the stone bottom and sipped the water into his slack long body. After drinking water, he raised his head just like cattle do and flashed his forked tongue, thought for a moment and then bent down to drink some more water.

(h) Education and social conventions make the poet think that the golden brown poisonous snake must be killed and that as a brave man he must undertake the task of killing the snake.

(i) The poet instantly felt sorry for his unrefined and contemptible act and cursed the voices of education and civilization that had shaped his thought processes and urged him to kill the snake.

(j) However, the poet instinctively likes the snake, treats him like a guest and feels honoured that it had come to drink at his water trough. The poet questions himself and wonders whether his not daring to kill the snake proved that he was a coward and whether his desire to talk to the snake reflected his perversity.

Answer.
l.-(d) 2.-(g) 3.-(a) 4. - (h)
5.-(e) 6.-(c) 7.-(f) 8.-(b)
9.- (i) 10.-(j)
4.Based on your reading of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options:
(a) ‘he lifted his head from his drinking as cattle do’ - The poet wants to convey
that the snake....
(i) is domesticated
(ii) is innocent
(iii) is as harmless as cattle
(iv) drinks water just like cattle
Answer. (iii) is as harmless as cattle

(b) ‘Sicilian July’, ‘Etna smoking’ and ‘burning bowels of the earth’ are images that
convey that ....
(i) there are snakes in volcanic areas
(ii)the poet lived in a hot area
(iii) it was a really hot day when the snake came
(iv) Sicilian snakes Ve dangerous
Answer. (iii) it was a really hot day when the snake came

(c) ‘A sort of horror, a sort of protest overcame me’ - The poet is tilled with protest
because ....
(i) he doesn’t want to let the snake remain alive
(ii)he fears the snake
(iii)he doesn’t want the snake to recede into darkness
(iv)he wants to kill it so that it doesn’t return
Answer.(iv) he wants to kill it so that it doesn’t return


(d) In the line ‘And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and entered
farther’ the phrase snake ‘easing’ his shoulders means....
(i) loosening its shoulders
(ii) slipping in with majestic grace
(iii)moving slowly
(iv) moving fast
Answer. (iii) moving slowly

(e) ‘He seemed to me like a king in exile.’ The poet refers to the snake as such to
emphasize that the snake....
(i) is like a king enduring banishment
(ii) is like a king due to be crowned
(iii) is a majestic king who came for a while on earth
(iv) is a majestic creature forced to go into exile by man
Answer. (iv) is a majestic creature forced to go into exile by man

(f) ‘I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act’- The poet is referring to....
(i) the snake going into the dreadful hole
(ii)the accursed modern education
(iii)the act of throwing a log of wood at the snake
(iv)the act of killing the snake
Answer. (iii) the act of throwing a log of wood at the snake

Question 5.
Answer the following questions briefly.
(a) Why does the poet decide to stand and wait till the snake has finished drinking? What does this tell you about the poet? (Notice that he uses ‘someone’ instead of ‘something’ for the snake.)

Answer. The poet decides to stand and wait till the snake has finished drinking because he thinks that the snake came before him. The poet stands waiting with his pitcher ‘I came down with my pitcher’ and feels that there is some guest at the water trough. The poet feels himself honoured that someone has come to drink water from his trough. This shows that the poet is a lover of nature who sees the snake as a big creation of nature.


(b) In stanzas 2 and 3, the poet gives a vivid description of the snake by using suggestive expressions. What picture of the snake do you form on the basis of
this description?

Answer. The snake that came to the water-trough down from a fissure in the earth wall was yellow- brown slack, soft-bellied. He sipped with his straight mouth, softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body, silently.

(c) How does the poet describe the day and the atmosphere when he saw the snake?

Answer. It was a hot day. The poet came out in pyjamas because of the heat, to fill his pitcher. It seemed to be a day of ‘Sicilian July, with Etna smoking. The atmosphere was gloomy when the snake emerged from the fissure to drink water at the trough.

(d) What does the poet want to convey by saying that the snake emerges from the ‘burning bowels of the earth’?

Answer. The poet wants to convey that the snake came out of the dark hell. He means that the snake comes out of the fissure from the bottom of the earth which is all dark and black as hell.

(e) Do you think the snake was conscious of the poet’s presence? How do you know?

Answer. The snake was not conscious of the poet’s presence for it came very peacefully trailing his yellow-brown belly down over the edge of the stone water trough. It rested its throat upon the bottom where the water was dripping and sipped with his straight mouth softly into his slack long body.

(f) How do we know that the snake’s thirst was satiated? Pick out the expressions that convey this.

Answer. The snakes thirst was satiated for, after drinking silendy he lifted his head ‘as catde do’ satisfied and flickered his forked tongue from his lips ‘as one who has drunken’ and slowly proceeded to draw his slow length curving round And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.

(g) The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake. Why does he experience conflicting emotions on seeing the snake?

Answer. On seeing the snake the poet has conflicting emotions. There is something that actually wants him to like the snake but at the same time his education preaches him to kill it as it might be dangerous to him. He also sees it as his guest and feels honoured that a guest has come to drink water. Hence, he is covered with guilt after throwing the log on the poor innocent snake.


(h) The poet is filled with horror and protest when the snake prepares to retreat and bury itself in the ‘horrid black’, ‘dreadful’ hole. In the light of this statement, bring out the irony of his act of throwing a log at the snake.
Answer. The snake moved slowly into the hole and suddenly the poet ‘picked up a log and threw it at the water-trough to kill the snake’. The snake hearing the ‘clatter’ hastily moved ‘into the black hole’. The poet now regretted his action and blamed himself for acting the way he did. He wished the snake could come back for him to crown it like a king.

(i) The poet seems to*be full of admiration and respect for the snake. He almost regards him like a majestic God. Pick out at least four expressions from the poem that reflect these emotions.
Answer. The poet is full of admiration and respect for the snake. He respects it like a guest who has come to his water-trough to drink water. He ‘stands and waits’ to fill his pitcher and tells the snake to drink because it came before him. He considers him ‘like a god’ and wishes the snake would come back so that he could crown him ‘like a king’. He feels he had missed his ‘chance with one of the lords’, when the snake recedes back into its hole.

(j) What is the difference between the snake’s movement at the beginning of the poem and later when the poet strikes it with a log of wood? You may use relevant vocabulary from the poem to highlight the difference.
Answer. When the snake comes to the water-trough he ‘trails his yellow-brown soft-belly’ smoothly
down silently. And when he has drunk the water he looked around like a god slowly
proceeding to go into the fissure but when the poet picked up a ‘clumsy log’ and threw at the snake it ‘writhed like lightning and was gone into the black hole’.

(k) The poet experiences feelings of self-derision, guilt and regret after hitting the snake. Pick out expressions that suggest this. Why does he feel like this?
Answer. After hitting the snake the poet has feelings of self-derision, guilt and regret. He blames the voice of education that lures him to hit the snake. He thinks how ‘paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!’ He despises himself and his inner voice curses human education’.

(l) You have already read Coleridge’s poem The Ancient Mariner in which an albatross is killed by the mariner. Why does the poet make an allusion to the albatross?
Answer. The poet places the blame on the voice of education for his action to have tempted him into hitting the snake and hopes he need not pay for his negative action like the sailor that killed ‘the albatross’. The poet wishes the snake to come back for him to crown it like a king but believes it would never do so and sees it ‘like a king in exile’.

(m) I have something to expiate’-Explain.
Answer. Although the poet hits the snake under the influence of his education he feels sorry and wishes the snake would coffie back so the poet could crown it like a king but he misses the chance. He thinks he has to make amends for this petty mistake.

Question 6.
The encounter with the snake and the dual response of the poet to his presence at the water-trough reflect a conflict between the civilized social education and natural human instincts. The poet writes a diary entry highlighting how he was torn between the two voices. Write his diary.

Answer. I have a reaction of fear and fascination for the snake. There is a conflict between my natural feelings and my rational thinking. I have feelings of affection as if crushed by our social education. My reasoning often misleads me. Although I hit the snake under the influence of my education, yet I feel sorry for my mean act. So my natural instinct prevails in the end.
By nature I am sympathetic, considerate and peace loving but education turns me into a brute and kills the natural man in me. I mean to say this education also makes me egoistic and selfish which urges me to kill the snake to satisfy my social needs.
The nature of the conflict which grips my mind at the sight of the snake draws the conflict between the use of rational powers and intuitive powers. I listen to my rational voice and attack the snake only to regret my mean and vulgar act.
My education with forces of ignorance, cruelty and barbarity makes me think that our rationality and intellect produce in us fears, doubts and superstitions.
It is our instinctive nature which prompts us to do the acts of goodness.

Question 7.
Alliteration is the repetition of sounds in words, usually the first sound. Sibilance is a special form of alliteration using the softer consonants that create hissing sounds, or sibilant sounds. These consonants and digraphs include s, sh, th, ch, z, f, x, and soft c.

Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it represents for a rhetorical or artistic effect of bringing out the full flavor of words. The sounds literally make the meaning in such words as "buzz," "crash," "whirr," "clang" "hiss," "purr," "squeak,"
etc.lt Is also used by poets to convey their subject to the reader. For example, In the last lines of Sir Alfred Tennyson’s poem ‘Come Down, O Maid’, m and n sounds produce an atmosphere of murmuring Insects:
. the moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees.
Notice how D H Lawrence uses both these devices effectively in the following stanza.
He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the edge of
the stone trough
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,
Silently.
To what effect ffas the poet used these devices? How has it added to your understanding of the subject of the poem? You may record your understanding of snake characteristics under the following headings:
(a) Sound
(b) Movement
(c) Shape

Answer.
(a) Sound:
. He sipped with his straight mouth, Softly drank through his straight gums,
into his slack long body, silently-Alliteration (sibilance)

(b) Movement:
. And flickered his two forked tongue from his tips and mused a moment -Alliteration.
. And depart peaceful, pacified and thankless into the burning bowels of the earth Alliteration.

(c)shape:
. And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down over the edge of the stone trough. - Alliteration (sibilance)
. Being garth-brown earth-golden, from the burning bowels of the earth. - Alliteration.

Question 8.
The poet has also used both repetition and similes in the poem. For example-’must wait, must stand and wait’ (repetition) and ‘looked at me vaguely as cattle do’ (simile). Pick out examples of both and make a list of them in your notebooks. Give reasons why the poet uses these literary devices.

Answer.

Repetition:

Hot, hot day;
Earth brown, earth golden;
Was it cowardice, was it perversity, was it humility;
I was afraid, I was most afraid;
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream.

 

Simile:

As drinking/ cattle do;
And lifted around like a god;
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice a dream;
And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken;
and I, like a second comer;
like a king in exile;
he had come like a guest;
writhed like lightening.

Question 9.
A calligram is a poem, phrase, or word in which the handwriting is arranged in a way that creates a visual image. The image created by the words expresses visually what the word, or words, say. In a poem, it manifests visually the theme presented by the text of the poem. Read the poem given below. Try to compose a calligram. You could pick a subject of your choice.

Answer:

Snake
Snake glides
through grass
over
Pebbles
forked tongue
working
never
speaking
but its
body
whispers
listen.
Keith Bosley

Important Question

NCERT CBSE for Class 10 English Literature Chapter 12 Snake Important Questions

Question 1.
Why does the poet experience conflicting emotions on seeing the snake?
Year of Question: (2013)

Answer:
The poet experienced conflicting emotions because his head (education), and his heart (sensibilities) gave him different suggestions, opinions, on how to handle the snake His heart did not want to listen to his mind that told him to kill the snake, if he were a man.

Question 2.
What did voice of education say to the poet in the poem, ‘snake’?
Year of Question: (2013)

Answer:
Education had made him understand that snakes are poisonous and that it should be killed for survival. Snake poison could result in death. It had not taught him to understand, respect and protect another living being, that was in not way disturbing him.

Question 3.
How does the poet describe the day and the atmosphere when he saw the snake?
Year of Question: (2013)

Answer:
The poet says that it was a very hot day in July, probably as hot as the day when Mount Etna in Sicily had erupted, releasing excessive heat, fire and lava.

Question 4.
Why did D.H. Lawrence, the poet, despise himself? How did he feel and describe his action?
Year of Question: (2013)

Answer:
He despised himself for throwing a log at the snake. He felt extremely disgusted when he saw the snake escaping in a hurry. He regretted his paltry, vulgar and mean behaviour. He hated himself and the education that had told him that snakes are harmful and must be killed. He felt his action was responsible for depriving him of the opportunity of honouring a king.

Question 5.
Why did the poet wait for the snake to quench its thirst first?
Year of Question: (2013)

Answer:
The poet waits for the snake to quench its thirst because he considered it to be an honoured guest. Besides, as the snake had come before him, it was first in the order.

Question 6.
How is the poet guilty of violating the rule of hospitality?
Year of Question: (2013)

Answer:
The poet felt honoured when he noticed a majestic snake crawling towards his water trough, to quench its thirst. Later, he picked up a log and threw it at the harmless snake, while it was making a decent exit. The poet regretted his impulsive act and termed it as being, ’vulgar’ ’mean’ ‘petty’, and rebukes the voices of human education. The poet believed that he ought to make amends for his unreasonable and undignified act. He experienced an acute sense of guilt for having violated the basic rules of hospitality.

Question 7.
How does the poet describe the day and the atmosphere when he saw the snake?
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer:
It was a very hot day, similar to the day in july when Mount Etna had erupted emitting heat and fire. Compelled by the heat, the snake had come out from the earth.

Question 8.
What does the poet want to convey by saying that the snake emerges from the ‘burning bowels of the earth’?
Year of Question: (2013)

Answer:
It was due to heat that the snake was forced to leave its hideout and come out in the open for respite from the heat.

Question 9.
Do you think the snake was conscious of the poet’s presence? How do you know?
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer:
Not in the beginning. He drank, completely oblivious of the poet’s presence there. Later on, when he looked at him, it showed no fear. Probably, it did not know that a man stood there in fascination with a very confused state of mind, that was giving him contrary instructions.

Question 10.
How do we know that the snake’s thirst was satiated?
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer:
After drinking enough water, the snake took out its biforked tongue, moved it and smacked its lips as the cattle do. This was an indication that its thirst was quenched.

Question 11.
The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake. Why does he experience conflicting emotions on seeing the snake?
Year of Question: (2013)

Answer:
The poet does get confused when he sees the snake. He experiences the conflicting emotions because the instinct and the mind tell him to react in different ways. His instinct makes him get fascinated, admire, honour, and respect, the snake who he feels is as majestic as God, an uncrowned king. But his mind that is guided by the myths of formal education tells him to kill the snake, as man has arbitrarily certified all snakes as poisonous.
The poet is filled with horror and protest when the snake prepares to retreat and bury itself in the ‘horrid black’, ‘dreadful’ hole. In the light of this statement, bring out the irony of his act of throwing a log at the snake.
Though the poet is very fascinated by the snake, he feels compelled by the voice of his education, not to let it go away; so he picks up the log lying there and throws it at the snake to harm it, kill it or frighten it so that it may not appear again.

Question 12.
Why does the poet decide to stand and wait till the snake has finished drinking? What does this tell you about the poet? (Notice that he uses ‘someone’ instead of something for the snake.)
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer: The poet had not expected this encounter with the snake. He felt extremely honoured that the snake had come there seeking his hospitality. As it had come there before him, he decided to wait, without disturbing him. He uses ‘someone’, perhaps to personify the snake, by treating it as a guest.

Question 13.
In stanza 2 and 3, the poet gives a vivid description of the snake by using suggestive expression. What picture of the snake do you form on the basis of this description?
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer: The poet is very vividly presenting the picture of a huge golden snake that had come in very peaceful and calmly, from its hot home beneath the earth. It was in no hurry, and moved about in a very lazy and harmless manner. The snake is also compared to a cattle by the poet probably to highlight that it did not have any vicious intentions. It had just come in to drink water and tried to slip away with the same laziness into its hole.

Snake Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
What ideas and thoughts come to poet’s mind when he finds a poisonous snake drinking water at his water-trough?
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer:
When the poet went to water-trough to take water in his pitcher, he saw a snake drinking water like cattle, and felt honoured. It looked majestic to the poet. He admired it but realised that it was poisonous and decided to attack it. He picked up a log and threw it at the snake. But the snake escaped. The poet felt a sense of cowardice, perversity and humility. He regretted for his action - felt he would have to expiate for his moral lapse.

Question 2.
Whenever we act against the voice of our conscience, the result is suffering. Explain with reference to the poet’s action against the snake and its consequences.
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer:
The graceful and dignified presence of the snake that had come to quench its thirst had fascinated the poet and filled him with awe. The poet who had also gone to fetch some water waits patiently, with due respect for the ’guest’. However, the voice of education tells him that yellow snakes are venomous and urges him to throw a log at the receding snake. When the poet sees the harmless snake slithering in panic for safety into the bowels of the earth, he is filled with a sense of guilt and remorse. He despises himself for being petty and wishes that the snake would reappear to accept his hospitality and seek redemption for his evil act.

Question 3.
"Man is the most selfish animal on this earth, who has not spared any other species to satisfy his greed." Elaborate.
Or
Why can’t man live and let others (wildlife in general) live in peace?
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer:
Everything that grows, lives, breathes and procreates, fall under the category of living beings. God created all living beings. The only difference between man and other living things are that man has been endowed with the power of reasoning, while the other living beings are guided by their instinct.
Now, what did man do with his power of reasoning? He started using it unreasonably. Animals kill only when they are hungry. But man kills to eat, for fun, for power, as a sport, in the name of religion. He just needs to hit upon a reason to be inhuman and unreasonable. Man has destroyed the earth given to us by God.
He has destroyed the ecological balance, by killing animals and birds and chopping down trees. All this to satiate his greed for wealth and power. For man the adage, "Live and let live" is not for him to practise. Allowing another being to stand up against him will be a definite crash of his ego, which he will not allow even if it means that he has to kill.

Question 4.
Snakes generate both horror and fascination. Do you agree? Why/Why not?
Year of Question: (2012)

Answer:
I agree to the fact that snakes generate both horror and fascination. Snakes are legless reptiles that glide their way through water and ground. They are carnivorous and thus, can be very dangerous. They can prey on objects larger than their heads which makes snakes a highly risky reptile to encounter. Of course, it is because of these traits that some people find it fascinating to keep snakes as their pet.
But the fear that has been instilled in our minds with regard to this creature is so severe that we tend to panic if we see even a harmless non-poisonous variety basking in the sun. Snakes are lovely to look at because of the varied colours and designs on their bodies. Patterns on different species of snakes symbolise their type and characteristics.
Different varieties of snakes can be seen held captive for no fault of theirs, and displayed with their species name and features, in zoos across the world. There are many people in the world who worship snakes, and many others who chop them up and serve it as a delicacy. In short the formal education as said by the Poet D.H. Lawrence generates horror in our minds when we see the reptile, while our instinct directs us to look at it in fascination.

Snake Extra Questions and Answers Reference-to-Context
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow. Write each answer in your answer-sheet in one or two sentences only.

Question 1.
A snake came to my water-trough
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat.
To drink there.
In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob-tree
Year of Question: (2014)

(i) Who had come to the poet’s water-trough?
(ii) What do you mean by ‘water-trough’?
(iii) Why was the poet going to the trough?
(iv) Where was the water-trough?

Answer:
(i) A snake had come to the poet’s water trough.
(ii) A watering trough (or artificial watering point) is a man-made or natural receptacle intended to provide drinking water to animals
(iii) It was a very hot day, so the poet was also going to the trough to collect water for himself.
(iv) The water trough was placed under the shade of the great dark carob tree.

Question 2.
I came down the steps with my pitcher
And must wait, must stand and wait, for there
he was at the trough before me.
Year of Question: (2014)

(i) Who is T?
(ii) What is the pitcher for?
(iii) Why must he wait? Wait is repeated, why?
(iv) Why did the poet allow the snake to finish drinking water and not disturb him?

Answer:
(i) ‘I’ refers to the poet.
(ii) The pitcher is for filling water.
(iii) He had to wait because he did not want to disturb the snake who had come in first. Wait is repeated in " must stand and wait" because the poet was so fascinated by the snake, he wanted to keep looking at it. He did not want to go away, but stand and wait, enjoying the ways of the snake, as it drank water.
(iv) The poet waited for the snake to finish drinking, because it had come there earlier and courtesy demanded that he waits for his turn.

Question 3.
He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down,
over the edge of the stone trough
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom.
Year of Question: (2014)

(i) How had the snake come there?
(ii) Where did it rest its ‘throat’?
(iii) How did it reach there?
(iv) Why had the snake come there?

Answer:
(i) It had come out of the dark interiors of the earth through a crack in the wall.
(ii) It rested its throat upon the stone-bottom.
(iii) It moved with slackness upon his soft belly.
(iv) The snake had come there to drink water.

Question 4.
"And where the water had dripped
From the tap, in a small clearness,
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight
gums, into his slack long body.
Silently

(i) Where from did it drink water?
(ii) How did it drink?
(iii) Did the snake cause any disturbance while drinking water?
(iv) How was the snake’s body?

Answer:
(i) The snake drank water from the small clearness where the water had dropped from the tap.
(ii) He sipped the water with his straight mouth and swallowed it softly through his straight gums.
(iii) The snake did not create any disturbance, but crawled in lazily and drank the water in absolute silence.
(iv) The snake’s body was long and slack.

Question 5.
Someone was before me at my water-trough,
And I, like a second comer, waiting.
Year of Question: (2014)

(i) What is the meaning of ‘second comer’?
(ii) What value is embedded in these lines?
(iii) Who is "someone"?
(iv) Did the poet wait?

Answer:
(i) "Second comer" means to be second in the queue or line. To have come second.
(ii) The poet is telling us that whether man or beast, we have to be courteous and wait for our turn.
(iii) "Someone" refers to the snake.
(iv) Yes, he did wait for his turn to use the water-trough to drink water.

Question 6.
He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,
And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do,
And flickered his two-forked tongue
From his lips, and mused a moment
Year of Question: (2015)

(i) Which poetic device has been used in the first line?
(ii) Why has the poet used the simile?
(iii) How did the snake look at the poet?
(iv) Why does a snake flicker its tongue?

Answer:
(i) Simile is the poetic device used in the first line.
(ii) The poet has used the simile to express the similarity in the way the snake and the cattle behave as they pause while drinking water.
(iii) The snake looked at the poet vaguely. He was not registering the presence of the poet while raising his head in between breaks taken while drinking the water. He was just glancing casually.
(iv) A snake flicks its tongue out, to get a better sense of its surroundings by "tasting" the air. To compensate for their poor eyesight and limited hearing.

Question 7.
And stooped and drank a little more,
Being earth-brown, earth-golden
From the burning bowels of the earth
On the day of Sicilian July, with Etna smoking.
Year of Question: (2015)

(i) What did the snake do then?
(ii) What was its colour?
(iii) From where had it come?
(iv) What has the poet made a reference to in the last line?

Answer:
(i) After taking a break, it again drank some more water.
(ii) The snake was earth-brown or earth-golden in colour.
(iii) It had come from the hot interiors of the earth’s soil.
(iv) The poet has made a reference to the Volcanic eruption that had happened in Sicily, perhaps on a similar day in July, that had resulted in a lot of heat, fire and smoke being released from Mt. Etna, to emphasise the heat of the day.

Question 8.
The voice of my education said to me
He must be killed,
For in Sicily the black,
black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous
And voices in me said, If you were a man
You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.
Year of Question: (2015)

(i) What did the voice of his education say to the poet?
(ii) What has he learnt about the snakes in Sicily?
(iii) What commands did he receive from his inner voice?
(iv) Why is "If you were a man" used?

Answer:
(i) The voice of education told the poet that the snake must be killed.
(ii) He has been taught that the golden snakes are venomous, unlike the harmless black variety.
(iii) The voices coaxed him to pick up a stick and finish off the snake.
(iv) The poet has used this expression to convey the fact that a man would do any thing if his manliness is in question, or challenged.

Question 9.
But must I confess how I liked him.
How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough
And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,
Into the burning bowels of this earth?
Year of Question: (2015)

(i) Did the poet like the snake?
(ii) What was his initial response on seeing the snake?
(iii) Why does he say that the satiated snake departs thanklessly?
(iv) Where would it go?

Answer:
(i) Yes, the poet confesses that he did take a liking for the snake.
(ii) The poet was very happy that the snake had been his guest.
(iii) Water is a free natural resource upon which every living been has a right to. Therefore the snake is entitled to use it to quench his thirst. It is in no way obliged to thank the person who has stored this natural resource in a trough.
(iv) It would go back into the earth, from where it had come.

Question 10.
Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him? Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him? Was it humility, to feel so honoured?
I felt so honoured.
And yet those voices:
If you were not afraid, you would kill him!
Year of Question: (2015)

(i) What are the doubts and questions that arise inside the poet?
(ii) Explain: ‘Yet those voices:’
(iii) What was the poets dilemna?
(iv) What did he consider to be humility?

Answer:
(i) He is not able to understand why he could not pick up the stick to attack the snake.
He wonders if he was being humble, a coward, insensible or illogical in wanting to interact with the snake and not hurting him.
(ii) Though a part of him told him to feel honoured by the visitors presence, he was being troubled by the inner voices.
(iii) The dilemna pertains to the confusion that persists in his mind. He was torn between his natural reaction to feel honoured and interact with the snake and his inner voice telling him to kill the snake.
(iv) The poet was wondering whether it was his humility that made him feel honoured by the snakes visit.

Question 11.
And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid,
But even so, honoured still more
That he should seek my hospitality
From out the dark door of the secret earth.
Year of Question: (2017)

(i) How did he feel?
(ii) From where had the snake come?
(iii) Why was he still feeling honoured?
(iv) Name the poet and poem from which these lines are taken.

Answer:
(i) The poet felt afraid.
(ii) It had come from the depths of the earth.
(iii) The poet despite being afraid continued to feel honoured as the snake had chosen to seek his hospitality.
(iv) These lines are taken from the poem ‘Snake’. The poet is D.H. Lawrence.

Question 12.
He drank enough
And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken,
And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air, so black,
Seeming to lick his lips,
And looked around like a god, unseeing, into the air,
Year of Question: (2017)

(i) When the snake had drunk enough what did he do?
(ii) Explain "Flickered his tongue the air.
(iii) Why has the poet compared the snake to God?
(iv) Name the poetic device used.

Answer:
(i) It lifted its head dreamily after he had quenched his thirst.
(ii) The poet is saying that the impact made by the flickering of its forked tongue was similar to a sudden streak of lightening that appears in the dark night sky (air).
(iii) The attitude with which the snake licked its lip and made a passing survey around him made the snake look like God.
(iv) Simile is used here.

Question 13.
And slowly turned his head,
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice a dream,
Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round
And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.
Year of Question: (2017)

(i) What was the movement of the snake?
(ii) Explain "Thrice a dream"
(iii) Why did the snake turn back to retreat?
(iv) Identify the poetic devices used here.

Answer:
(i) It slowly turned its head.
(ii) The snake was crawling back into its hole, very slowly. The poet feels that the snake was in a state of deep sleep when one would also be exposed to a myriad of dreams. It looked drunk and dreamy.
(iii) The snake turned back as it had quenched its thirst.
(iv) The poetic devices used are ‘repetition’ and ‘Alliteration’.

Question 14.
And as he put his head into that dreadful hole,
And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and entered farther,
A sort of horror, a sort of protest against his withdrawing into that horrid black hole,
Deliberately going into the blackness, and slowly drawing himself after,
Overcame me now his back was turned.
Year of Question: (2017)

(i) What was the snake doing?
(ii) How did it retreat?
(iii) What feelings surged up in the poet?
(iv) Why does the poet feel that the snake is going away deliberately?

Answer:
(i) It was drawing up to go.
(ii) It eased its body and shoulders and began retreating into its hole.
(iii) As he saw the snake going away into the dark hole, he felt upset and horrible.
(iv) To do something deliberately means to do it intentionally. Therefore, he says the snake has finished the purpose of its arrival, and was therefore making an exit consciously.

Question 15.
I looked round, I put down my pitcher,
I picked up a clumsy log
And threw it at the water-trough with a clatter.
I think it did not hit him,
Year of Question: (2017)

(i) Why did the poet look around?
(ii) What did he pick up?
(iii) What did he do with it?
(iv) Did it hit the snake?

Answer:
(i) He was upset that the snake was deliberately going away. In protest, he put his pitcher down and looked around in anger to pick up something to throw at the retreating snake.
(ii) He picked up a clumsy, uneven log of wood.
(iii) He threw it at the water trough.
(iv) The poet was not sure if the log had hit the snake.

Question 16.
But suddenly that part of him that was left behind convulsed in undignified haste.
Writhed like lightning, and was gone
Into the black hole, the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front.
At which, in the intense still noon, I stared with fascination.
Year of Question: (2017)

(i) Why did the snake convulse?
(ii) How did it vanish?
(iii) Where did it go?
(iv) Why did the poet stare at the snake with fascination?

Answer:
(i) The snake would have convulsed because the log must have hurt him.
(ii) It made undignified violent movements, twisted and turned, and vanished like lightning.
(iii) It went into the black hole, the earth lipped fissure in the front wall.
(iv) The reaction of the snake fascinated the poet and he continued to stare at it despite the hot weather at mid noon.

Question 17.
And immediately I regretted it.
I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!
I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education.
Year of Question: (2011)

(i) What was his reaction within?
(ii) How did he describe his act?
(iii) What does he mean by accursed human education?
(iv) Why did the poet despise himself?

Answer:
(i) He felt sorry and regretted his action.
(ii) The poet described his act as worthless(paltry), dirty (vulgar), and very mean.
(iii) He means, the myths that are made into facts, and taught to human beings. He is referring to the formal and informal education. He says that this kind of education is a curse on mankind.
(iv) The poet despised himself for listening to the inner voices that told him to use his ‘education’.

Question 18.
And I thought of the albatross
And I wished he would come back, my snake.
Year of Question: (2011)

(i) Why is he making a reference to the albatross?
(ii) What made him think of the albatross?
(iii) Who is the ‘he" the poet wishes would return?
(iv) Why does he call it ‘my snake’?

Answer: (i) The poet is referring to the albatross in ‘The Rime of the ancient mariner’, that was killed because of human error.
(ii) He thought of the albatross because he blamed himself for having behaved as foolishly as the ancient mariner, when he hurt the snake.
(iii) The poet wishes that ‘he’, the snake would come back.
(iv) The snake had come in as his guest, whom he had treated with disregard. He regretted his act and hoped it would come back to enable him redeem his sins. (He may be establishing an ownership, perhaps because the snake lived within his premises)

Question 19.
For he seemed to me again like a king,
Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld,
Now due to be crowned again.
Year of Question: (2011)

(i) What did the snake look like?
(ii) Which world did it belong to?
(iii) What similarities are drawn here between a king and the snake?
(iv) Identify the poetic device used in the first line?

Answer:
(i) It looked as majestic as a king.
(ii) It belonged to the underworld.
(iii) The poet says that the snake looked like a king who lived in the underworld without a crown, just like an exiled king, both of whom may be crowned again.
(iv) The poetic device used in the first line is ‘simile’.

Question 20.
And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords Of life.
And I have something to expiate A pettiness.
Year of Question: (2011)

(i) What is the missed chance the poet is speaking about?
(ii) Who is one of the lords of life?
(iii) Why did the poet have to expiate?
(iv) What had he done?

Answer:
(i) He is saying that he missed the chance of interacting with one among the living Lords.
(ii) The snake is one of the lords of life, or living lords.
(iii) He had to expiate for the wrong he had done.
(iv) He had shown disrespect to his guest, by listening to his inner voice. The voice told him to harm the snake, his guest. The poet now regrets having thrown a log of wood at it, and making it retreat in a mad haste.

Question 21.
I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!
I despised myself and the voices of my accursed education.
Year of Question: (2011)

(i) To which act is the speaker referring?
(ii) What kind of act was it?
(iii) What does the word ‘accursed’ mean?

Answer:
(i) The poet is referring to his act of throwing a log of wood at the snake.
(ii) He considered it as a paltry, mean, and vulgar act.
(iii) To be under a curse/ used to express strong dislike or anger at someone or something/ evil/ bad/ wicked.

important questions and answers from the lesson "The Snake and the Mirror" for a 10th-grade student,

Question1.
What sound did the doctor hear, and what did he think it was?

Answer:

  • Sound: The doctor heard a familiar sound
  • What he thought: He thought it was the rats in his room
  • Times he heard it: He heard the sound multiple times before it stopped
  • When and why the sound stopped: The sound stopped when the snake appeared
Question2.
What two "important" and "earth-shaking" decisions did the doctor make while looking into the mirror?

Answer:

  • First Decision: The doctor decided he would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome.
  • Second Decision: He decided to always keep an attractive smile on his face.
Question3.
What is the doctors opinion about himself when he first smiles and when he smiles again?

Answer:

  • First Smile:
  • He admired his own beauty and thought he looked handsome
  • He was confident and proud of being a doctor and a bachelor
  • Second Smile:
  • He smiled feebly at himself when he realized he was in danger from the snake
  • His thoughts shifted from pride to fear and humility as he confronted the danger
Question4.
How does the story present humour despite being about a frightening incident?

Answer:

  • Contrast between dreams and reality:
  • The doctor wanted to be handsome and successful but was actually poor and lived in a rat-infested room
  • He dreamed of marrying a rich, fat woman, but later reveals he married a thin, fast-running woman.
  • When the doctor looked in the mirror, he admired himself, but later, he feared for his life with the snake coiled around him
Question5.
What was the doctors reaction when the snake landed on him?

Answer:

  • Reaction:
  • The doctor didnt jump or tremble
  • He became completely still, like a stone, holding his breath, aware of the snakes position
  • He prayed silently and realized he was at the mercy of the snake
Question6.
What saved the doctor from the snake?

Answer:

  • What happened:
  • The snake looked at its reflection in the mirror and seemed distracted
  • The snake slowly uncoiled itself and moved toward the mirror
  • This allowed the doctor to escape from the room
Question7.
How does the doctors life change after the snake incident?

Answer:

  • Next day:
  • The doctor ran to his friends house for safety
  • The following morning, he returned to his room to collect his things but found that a thief had stolen almost everything
  • The thief left only the doctors dirty vest, which the doctor found humorous

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