Answer 1

The story was written in the days of the Franco-Prussian war in which France was defeated by Prussia. In this story the French districts of Alsace-Lorraine have passed into Prussian hands. M. Hamel is the teacher  of French and a boy, Franz who never serious in the class of M. Hamel. One day he was late for school. He  feared that his teacher would scold as he was not very sure about participles which the teacher, M. Hamel, is going to test that day. But finally he decided to go to school. As he entered he saw the crowd has gathered  round the bulletin board. He did not stop there. On arriving at school, he noted an unusual silence. He  entered into the class and was greeted with a strange sight. The last benches which were always empty were  occupied by the village elders who look grim and solemn. Franz noticed M. Hamel was dressed nicely and asked Franz to sit so that he could start his lesson. The teacher made a startling announcement that this  would be their last lesson in French as the new teacher would be arriving the following day. He said, “ The  order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new teacher  comes tomorrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.” There came a sudden  change in the minds of the people and they developed a new profound love French. Franz was overcome  with a feeling of remorse and regretted for wasting his time in trivial pursuits. He decided to pay attention to  the lesson since school had become very important for him. The people and Franz himself realized how  precious their language is to them. M. Hamel had been teaching in that school for last forty years. His  dedication, devotion, discipline impressed them. He realizes the real worth of his school and the teacher  whom they have all taken for granted all these years. M. Hamel in his last address told about the importance  of French. He called that it was the most beautiful language in the world. It is the clearest and the most  logical one. M.Hamel was overcome by strong emotions and in large letter he wrote on the board ‘Viva La France’ – long live France!