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प्रश्न
Read the following extract and do the activities.
I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Patting with his poison – flash
Of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
And buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison
moved in Mother’s blood, they said.
(A1) Choose the correct option for the following.
(1) The incident in the poem took place in
(i) the morning (ii) the night
(iii) the afternoon (iv) the evening
(2) ‘The Evil’ mentioned in the poem was
(i) the peasant (ii) the God
(iii) the scorpion (iv) the mother
(3) The scorpion crawled beneath a sack of
(i) sugar (ii) a wheat
(iii) corns (iv) rice
(4) The peasants are compared with
(i) flock of sheep (ii) group of monkeys
(iii) swarms of flies (iv) herds of cattle
(A2) Write the reactions of the people when they knew that the mother was stung by a scorpion.
(i)..................................................................
(ii)................................................................
(iii)...............................................................
(iv)...............................................................
(A3) Write down the rhyming words from the stanzas for the following.
(i) fight - (ii) clash -
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उत्तर
(A1) 02
(1) The incident in the poem took place in the night.
(2) ‘The Evil’ mentioned in the poem was the scorpion.
(3) The scorpion crawled beneath a sack of rice.
(4) The peasants are compared with swarms of flies.
(A2) The reactions of the people when they knew that the mother was stung by scorpion……. 02
(i) By hearing about the incident, they came into the poet’s house like a swarms of flies.
(ii) They prayed to God countless times to immobilize the evil creature.
(iii) They searched the scorpion with candles and lanterns.
(iv) They found it is necessary for the scorpion to stay still to reduce the pains of the poet’s mother.
(A3) (i) fight - night (ii) clash - flash 01
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in paragraph format.
Night of the Scorpion
I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison – flash
of diabolic tail in the darkroom –
he risked the rain again
The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyze the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison
moved in Mother’s blood, they said.
May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the center,
the peace of understanding on each face.
More candles, more lanterns, more neighbors,
more insects, and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through,
groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist,
trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb, and hybrid
He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the
poison with an incantation.
After twenty hours
it lost its sting.
My mother only said
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
And spared my children.
-Nissim Ezekiel
you can use the following points while appreciating the given poem:
i. Title
ii. Poet
iii. Theme/Central idea
iv.Rhyme scheme
v. Figures of speech
vi. Special features (type the poem, imagery, implied meaning if any,etc.)
vii. Favorite lines
viii. Why I like/don’t like the poem.
Choose the correct alternative.
The child is afraid but admires ____________.
Choose the correct alternative.
His father and the villagers panic and hastily suggest _____________.
Choose the correct alternative.
This is a _____________ poem as it tells a story.
Choose the correct alternative.
Using the first person gives the feeling that it is told from ______________.
Choose the correct alternative.
‘The scorpion picked on me. And spared my children’ depicts ____________.
Choose the correct alternative.
The poem is titled ‘Night of the Scorpion’, for, the major part of the poem _______________.
Choose the correct alternative.
The peasants chant the name of God to _______________.
Read the poem and complete the table showing the qualities of the father and mother giving sufficient evidence from the poem.
| Qualities | |
| Father | Mother |
Prepare a Presentation (on paper or on a PC) as a piece of reference to other students. Make use of the following points.
