Question

Work in groups of four. Discuss how the story would have been different if.

Pongo had forgotten to lock the door properly but the narrator only discovered it just before Pongo returned.

Answer 1

The narrator was a lover of oranges. He liked to eat oranges one after the other all day and every day. In fact, he was not a thief. But he used to steal something whenever he left the docks. He had put the oranges in his pockets and came out. Pongo, the policeman noticed his bulging pockets as his apron string was broken.

The narrator was calm and he did not say anything. Pongo locked him in a cabin. Pongo went out to bring another policeman to be a witness to take up the case to the court. The narrator was in the cabin. He looked at the walls. He was afraid that he would lose his job and be imprisoned. The policemen were returning to the cabin. Before their arrival, the narrator was surprised to notice the cabin unlocked.

The narrator had enough chance to escape from the cabin. But the narrator did not attempt to go out. He remained in the cabin, till Pongo’s arrival. In return, Pongo found the narrator unmoved despite the door was not locked. Pongo and the other policeman remained dumbbound. They bowed before the narrator for his honesty and discipline. They released him at once. The narrator thanked them heartily and went back to hope peacefully.