Portrait of a Lady Summary

7/26/2019 Portrait of a Lady Summary

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The Portrait of A LadySummary

by Khuswant Singh

In this story, the author draws a pen portrait of his grandmother. He

beautifully unfolds his relationship with her, while describing her

appearance and daily activities.

Appearance of the grandmother

The author recalls his grandmother as a very old lady with a

wrinkled face. She appeared so old that it was hard for him to

believe that she had once been young and pretty. She was short,

fat and a little stooped in appearance. The author remembers her

moving about the house in spotless white, counting the beads of

her rosary while her lips moved constantly in silent prayers. She

was not pretty in the traditional sense, yet her serenity made her

beautiful.

Initial years of togetherness: Life in the village

In the initial years of his life, the author lived with his grandmother

in the village, sharing a good friendship. His grandmother used to

wake him up in the morning and get him ready for the school. She

would hand over to him the things he reuired in the school. !fter

having thick, stale chappatis with butter and sugar for breakfast,

they used to leave for school. The author"s grandmother always

accompanied him to school as it was attached to the temple. It was

her habit to carry several stale chappatis for the village dogs, which

they used to feed while returning from the school. The grandmother


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used to sit inside the temple reading holy books while the narrator

learnt alphabets and prayers in the school.

Turning point of their friendship: Life in the city

The #turning$point% of their fr iendship came when they moved to the

city to stay with the author%s parents. Though they shared the same

room, his grandmother no longer accompanied him to the school

since the author started going in a bus. !s years rolled by, they

saw less of each other.

&eanwhile, as there were no dogs in the streets, she took to

feeding the sparrows.'nlike the village school, the author was not taught about (od and

the scriptures which troubled his grandmother. She did not believe

in what was being taught at his school and was unhappy as she

could not help him with his lessons. &oreover, she was disturbed at

the idea of music lessons being given at school as she considered

music to be unsuitable for gentlefolk. Her disapproval was

conspicuous in her silence.

The grandmother combat's her loneliness by feeding the

sparrows

)hen the author started going to the university he was given a

room of his own. It resulted in a further gap between them. She

accepted her loneliness and rarely spoke to anyone. !ll day long,she sat spinning the wheel and reciting her prayers. She rela*ed for


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a short time, only in the afternoon, to feed the sparrows who came

in large numbers. The bond and level of comfort they shared with

her is evident in the fact that they perched even on her legs and

head. She used to be at her happiest$self while feeding the

sparrows.

Author leaves for higher studies

The author decided to go abroad for further studies. He was sure

that his grandmother would be upset at his departure. +n the

contrary, she came to the railway station to see him o but did not

show any emotion. She was absorbed in her prayers, telling the

beads of her rosary. She silently kissed the author"s forehead, which

the author considered to be -supposedly the last sign of their

physical contact.

Authors homecoming

+n his return after /ve years, the author did not /nd any change inhis grandmother. She was as old as ever and remained absorbed in

her prayers. 0ven that day, the happiest moment for her was

feeding the sparrows.

In the evening, for the /rst time ever, she did not pray. She

collected several ladies of the neighbourhood and sang songs

related to the home$coming of the warriors. She had to bepersuaded to stop singing in order to avoid overstraining. However,

the ne*t day she was taken ill.

randmother's death

Though diagnosed with a mild fever by the doctor, grandmother

knew that her end was near. She decided to spend the last fewhours of her life reciting prayers and telling her beads. Soon, her


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lips stopped moving and she died.

A silent tribute by the sparrows

The family went to make arrangements for the grandmother%s

funeral. !s they came with a stretcher, they stopped mid$way to

/nd thousands of sparrows scattered around her dead body. The

sparrows mourned the death of the grandmother in utter silence.

They ignored the bread crumbs thrown at them by the author%s

mother and 1ew away silently after the body was carried away for

cremation. The bread$crumbs were swept away by the sweeper ne*t

morning.

A Photograph Shirley Toulson

2ostalgically recollecting fond memories, the poetlooks at a very

old photograph of her mother who has been dead for nearly twelve

years. The poet is consumed with grief but is left with no words to

e*press the loss.

The poem begins with the poet looking at a very old photograph of

her mother at twelve years of age. The photograph, on a cardboard

frame, shows the poet%s mother, with her two girl cousins each

holding one of her hand. She was eldest of the three and had a

#sweet face%. In the snapshot, all the three girls stand still, smiling

with their hair falling on their faces, to get clicked by the camera of


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their uncle, on an occasion when they went paddling. The sea,

which has apparently undergone no change, washed their

#transient% feet. This image of transience provides a sharp contrast

to the eternal sea.

Some twenty or thirty years later, the poet%s mother laughed at the

picture pointing how she, 3etty and 4olly -the two cousins were

made to dress for the beach holiday. That sea holiday was a thing

of past for her mother at that time, while her mother%s laughter is

the poet%s past now. 3oth signify their respective losses and the

pain involved in recollecting the past.

Her mother is dead for nearly twelve years now. !nd for the present

#circumstance% the poet has nothing left to say. She is absorbed in

the memories of her dead mother. The painful #silence% of the

situation leaves the poet silent, with no words to e*press her grief.

Thus, the #silence silences% her.

!"e're #ot Afraid to $ie%%%If "e&an All e Together( Summary

by Gordon Cook and Alan East

A dream to duplicate the round)the)world voyage

The narrator, a 56 year old businessman and his wife &ary have


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dreamt to voyage around the world like the famous 7aptain 8ames

7ook. 9or the voyage, they have been perfecting their seafaring

skills for the past :; years. They have got a professionally built, 6;, the narrator, together with his wife and kids -son

8onathan, ; and daughter Su?anne, 6 sets sail from @lymouth,

0ngland. The initial period of the three$year Aourney -from the west

coast of !frica to 7ape Town proves to be uite pleasant. 3efore

heading east, they employ two crewmen, namely, Barry Cigil and

Herb Seigler to help them tackle one of the world%s roughest seas,

the southern Indian +cean.

The second day they encounter strong winds and alarming waves.

3y 4ecember


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water now deviated to the side. However, their hand$pumps block

due to debris and the electric$pump gets short$circuited.

9ortunately, he /nds a spare electric pump and connects it to an

out$pipe in order to drain out the water.

They keep pumping and steering all night long. 0ven their &ayday

calls are not answered as they are in a remote corner of the world.

In,uries of Su-anne

Sue%s head swells, her eyes go black and has a deep cut on her

arm. +n being asked about her inAuries, she replies to her father

that she did not want to bother him when he was trying to save

them.

$esperation to reach the land

The family manages to survive for :D hours since the wave hit the

boat. The water levels are controlled to a considerable level but

they still have leaks below the waterline. They decide to rest and

work in rotations.

The wave had left Wavewalkerin a considerably bad state. Since it

is not in a condition to make them reach !ustralia, they decide and

hope to reach the nearest island, Ile !msterdam, a 9rench scienti/cbase. 'nfortunately, the chances to reach the island are very slim

unless the wind and seas subside. 3esides, their supporting engine

had also been damaged.

.anuary / and 0

!fter pumping out the water for 5; hours continuously, they take a

sigh of relief as Aust a few centimetres of water is left to be pumped

out. They decide to hoist the storm Aib as the main mast is

destroyed and head towards the supposed location of the islands.

Having found some corned beef and crackers, they eat their /rst

meal in two days.

However, their relief is short$lived. The weather starts changing for

the worse and by the morning of 8anuary D, they are again left

desperate.

&ourageous .onathan

!s the narrator goes to comfort the children, he is left spellbound to


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see the fearlessness of his son, 8onathan, who says that he does

not fear death as long as they all are together. This /lls the

narrator with determination and courage to /ght the sea.

The ongoing struggle

He tries his best to protect the weakened starboard side. That

evening, the narrator and his wife sit together holding hands,

feeling hopeless and thinking that their end is approaching. 3ut still

with all the moral support that he receives from his children, he

continues his eorts. 9ortunately, Wavewalkersails through the

storm. He works on the wind speeds in order to calculate their

e*act position. )hile he is thinking, Sue gives him a greeting card

e*pressing her love, gratitude and optimism.

Though he is not very convinced, he instructs Barry to steer a

course of :FD degrees saying that if they are lucky they can hope

to /nd the island by the evening. He then goes to sleep with a

heavy heart.

1ltimate victory

9ortunately, they sail on and manage to /nd Ile !msterdam by

evening. +n being informed about this, the narrator"s Aoy knows no

bound. 8onathan calls him the best captain and the best daddyin the whole world. Soon, they get o$shore and struggle to reach

the island with the help of its inhabitants.

Stepping on the land after such turmoil /lls the narrator%s thoughts

with cheerful and optimistic Barry and HerbieG supportive &aryG a

brave seven$year$old girl who did not want her parents to worry

about her head inAuries and a si*$year$old boy who is not afraid to

die.


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$iscovering Tut: the Saga&ontinues

by A.R. Williams

The mummy of 2ing Tut

!s the mummy of ing Tut was glided for performing a 7T scan,

angry winds stirred and dark clouds covered the stars. His scan was

being done to unearth the mysteries that had surrounded his death.

Tourists had lined to pay their respects to the #mummy% of thefamous 0gyptian king Tutankhamun and made speculations about

his untimely death.

!+unerary treasures(

The mummy was in a very bad state, according to ahi Hawass,

Secretary (eneral of 0gypt"s Supreme 7ouncil of !ntiuities. ing

Tut%s tomb was /rst discovered in :>


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7arter investigated the three nested coJns. In the /rst, a shroud

adorned with garlands of willow and olive leaves, wild celery, lotus

petals and corn1owers were found. This gave vague evidence that

the death might have taken place in the month of &arch or !pril.

7arter faced diJculty in e*tracting the mummy of the king out of

the coJn. The ritual resins had hardened resulting in cementing of

Tut to the bottom of the solid gold coJn. Though 7arter

unsuccessfully tried to use sun to loosen the resins, there was no

other way left to separate the mummy from the adornments than to

chisel it away. Its head had to be removed and the maAor Aoints had

to be detached.

The only ground for 7arter to defend himself for chiselling Tut was

that thieves would have ripped the body apart to rob the gold, if he

had not chiselled it.

Another revelation

!s the archaeology changed with the advent of time, it focused

more on details of life and mysteries of death than on treasures.

Some K= years after 7arter%s discovery, in :>;F a startling fact was

revealed, in the discovery of an anatomy professor who had L$rayed

the mummy. He claimed that the breast$bone and the front ribs of

the mummy were missing.

Tuts family history

!menhotep III -Tut%s father or grandfather ruled for almost four

decades during the :Fthdynasty golden age. He was succeeded by

his son !menhotep IC who pioneered one of the odd periods in the

history of ancient 0gypt. He made some drastic and unpleasant

changes. He promoted the worship of the !ten, the Sun disk, and

changed his name to !khenaten. He moved the religious capital to

the new city of !khetaten. He made some drastic unpleasantchanges. He destroyed the images and temples of !mun, a maAor

god. !fter his demise, a ruler named Smenkhkare reigned for a brief

time. 9inally, Tutankhaten-the name was later changed to

Tutankhamun took the throne and restored the old order destroyed

by his predecessors. He reigned for about nine years.

The death of 2ing Tut

Tutankhamun or ing Tut as he%s widely known today, died as a

teenage pharaoh -ancient 0gyptian king and buried laden withgold. He was the last heir of the family of rulers who had ruled


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0gypt for centuries. His une*pected demise was a big event and the

reasons for his death remained unclear. Two of the biggest

uestions are still unanswered about him M how did he die, and

how old was he at the time of his deathN

The &T scan

In the year


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form of clouds with various shapes. !lthough it changes in its form

and shape, its core e*istence remains the same.

It descends or falls on the surface of the earth to eliminate

droughts, wash away the tiny particles and settle down the dust$

layers. It reinvigorates the dry lands and gives life to the seeds

that, otherwise, would have remained dormant and unborn. Thus,

the rain drops rise in the form of vapours only to come back to its

origin in the form of rain. 4uring this cycle, it puri/es and

beauti/es -by nourishing the unborn seeds the planet.

The last two lines of the poem are the poet%s re1ection upon the

answer given by the rain. The poet observes that the life of rain is

similar to that of a song. ! song originates from the heart of the

poet, travels to reach others and after ful/lling its purpose

-whether acknowledged or not, it returns to the poet with all due

love. Similarly, the rain rises from the land and oceans, wanders,

ful/lls its purpose of nourishing life and purifying the planet, and

then returns to its birth$place.

T56 AILI# PLA#6T: T56 466#783676#TS 48L6

"y #ani $alkhivala

The chapter comments on the deteriorating condition of our planet.


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It speaks of the problems faced by our planet, reasons for its poor

condition and the changing view of the world for the planet.

The reen 7ovement

The author begins by commenting on the great attention received

by the (reen &ovement that began some 6< and the movement has been a great success since then.

A change in the human perception

! revolutionary change has come in the perception of the human

beings bringing in a holistic and ecological view of the world.

There has been a shift from the understanding developed by

7opernicus to the people%s belief that the earth is a living organism

whose needs must be respected and preserved by us. !ccording to

the writer, our earth is like a patient in declining health. Thus, we

have to realise our ethical responsibility of guarding the planet.

Sustainable $evelopment

The)orld 7ommission on 0nvironment and 4evelopment

propagated the concept of sustainable development in :>F6.

Sustainable development calls for a well$balanced development soas to meet the demands of the present and not to deprive our

future generations from the natural world of resources.

7an and the other living)species

&an has been considered as the most dangerous being on the

planet. However, due to the eorts of a number of agencies all over

the world, man is learning to live in harmony with the other living

species on the planet. &an%s e*istence is shifting from the system

of domination to that of partnership.

The depletion of the principal biological systems

There are stil l many mill ions of living species that have not beencatalogued. The author mentions the ecological concern pointed out


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by &r. Bester E. 3rown in his book The (olden 0conomic @rospect.

&r. 3rown points out four principal biological systems$ /sheries,

forests, grasslands and croplands. These form the foundation of the

global economic system as they supply food and provide raw

materials for industries e*cept minerals and petroleum$derived

synthetics.

The demand of the human beings on these systems is increasing to

such an #unsustainable% e*tent that the productivity of these

systems is being hampered. The e*cessive demand result in

deterioration and depletion of resources leading to the breakdown

of /sheries, disappearance of forests, deterioration of croplands

and turning of grasslands into barren lands.

$eforestation

The forests are being destroyed in large proportions to obtain

/rewood in poor countries. 4epletion of tropical forests has lead to

the e*tinction of several species. In fact, the tropical forests or the

powerhouse of evolution are eroding at the rate of forty to / fty

million acres per year. 3esides, the increasing use of dung for

burning deprives the soil of important natural fertilisers.

!ccording to our @arliament%s 0stimates 7ommittee, a near

catastrophic depletion has been marked in the number of theforests of India over the last four decades. Ironically, article KF! of

the Indian 7onstitution states that the state shall protect and

improve the environment and safeguard the forests and wildlife of

the country. However, India is losing its forests at the rate of 5.6

million acres a year.

The condition of the environment is #critical% as per a study

conducted by the 'nited 2ations.

The problem of over)population

+ne of the maAor factors adding to the deforming future of the

human society is the fast$growing world population. The present

world population is estimated at D.6 bill ion. )ith this ever$

increasing population, development seems a far$fetched dream.

!s per the author, the best contraceptive to control the population

is development. Coluntary family planning with an element of

coercion is the only alternative. Eise in income, spread of education

and improved health would lead to fall in ferti lity. @opulation andpoverty are directly proportional to each other. Thus, control of the


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population should be our top$most priority.

!6ra of 4esponsibility(

The author now re$mentions the holistic view of the basis of our

e*istence. He points that it is an 0ra of Eesponsibility that calls

for seeing the world as an integrated whole rather than a

dissociated collection of parts. Industry plays an important role in

this responsibility. 0*cellence in environmental performance is

reuired for the manufacturers to continue their e*istence. +ur

earth belongs as much to the future generation as much to us. )e

should soon realise our duty towards our planet and should not

treat it solely as our property.

The chapter concludes with the beautiful lines of &r. Bester 3rown,

)e have not inherited this earth from our forefathersG we have

borrowed it from our children.


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!lbert 0instein at School Summary

The father of modern physics, !lbert 0instein is famous to have

discovered the theory of relativity which marked a revolution in

physics. However, how many of us know the fact that in his early

school days he was a dull student and got e*pelled from his school.

2o teacher liked him and he too, in turn, disliked attending school.

This led to the school /nally taking a decision in chasing him away.

The narrative begins with !lbert being asked about a date by his

history teacher. This was when he was very abrupt and crude in

replying that he found it pointless to memorise dates when one

could 1ip through the necessary pages whenever one needed to. He

believed in education but didn"t consider learning facts as

education. He hated school because he hated the conventional form

of education and the teachers found him to be a "disgrace." 9inally,

the teacher, disgusted and fed up, asked him to be taken away by

his father. 0instein also hated going home, not for the obvious

reasons of bad food and lack of comfort, but because he hated the

atmosphere of "slum violence."

He was so against the idea of going to school and adopting to the

set educational pattern that he once con/ded in his friend that he

thought he would never pass the e*ams for the school diploma. He

once told his cousin 0lsa that he wanted to study science simply


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because he liked it. He didn"t need additional reasons to study the

subAect he was interested in. He was sent to &unich to study where

within si* months he grew disinterested and found it wrong to

waste his father"s money, especially when it was so unfruitful and

unproductive.

This was the moment of !lbert"s childhood epiphany when he

gleamed with a sudden bright idea of averting school forever. He

asked his friend Ouri to search for a friendly doctor who would write

him o as a lunatic at school. He wanted the doctor to certify him

as a person suering from nervous breakdown so that he could stay

away from school. To this doctor, !lbert revealed his love for

mathematics and his maths teacher. Bater, in school, he asked for a

reference letter from his maths teacher. This is when he heard the

most surprising comment from his maths teacher who saidP I knew

you were going to leave before you knew yourself.

9inally, the day when !lbert was called by the headmaster he was

not worried when this happened. However, he was taken aback

when the headmaster said that he couldn"t tolerate !lbert"s attitudetowards education and his behaviour in the classroom which

disturbed an ideal environment for studying. Thus, he wanted

!lbert to leave school. !lbert felt the medical report burning a hole

in his pocket.

He left the school where he had spent /ve miserable years, without

turning his head to give it a last look. He felt like seeing only Ouri

before he left &unich. 0lsa was back in 3erlin when he left. Ouribade him farewell and wished him good luck.


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Eanga"s &arriage Summary

Eanga%s &arriage, by &asti Cenkatesh Iyengar, is a story about a

boy who returns to his village after receiving education in 0nglish

medium from 3angalore. The boy is the son of the accountant of

the village. They live in the village Hoshali in &ysore. The boy when

returns, the whole village 1oods over him to see if there is anychange in his personality. However, to their dismay, he still has the

same eyes and mouth and everything else. He did the traditional

namaskar and all dispersed.

The story is a /rst person narrative and a maAor portion of the story

is in 1ash back. The speaker directly addresses the reader.The

narrator is a neighbour of the protagonist. He introduces the story

with a dierence by /rst giving a detailed description of theirvillage Hoshali. He praises the mangoes from his village. He asks


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the reader if heQshe has ever heard of the village. He replies to the

uestion himself, for the village was not located in any of the maps

for the 0nglish babus and the ones in our country forgot to put it

there. Then he introduces Eanga, the protagonist, in a time ten

years ago. Eanga had gone to 3angalore for studies and returned

home after si* months. It was the time when 0nglish was a

language not popular and a few people used it. !ll used to converse

in annada.

!ll the villagers arrived at Eanga%s place and began scrutinising

him. To their dismay, he was still the same old Eanga and they left

disappointed. However, the narrator stayed back and shared a few

Aokes with the boy and then left.Bater in the afternoon, Eanga

arrived at the narrator%s home with a few oranges. The narrator

Audged the boy and felt it appropriate to marry such a well

educated and humble boy. However, Eanga had no plans to settle

as a married man. He put his views on marriage in front of the

narrator that he wanted to get married to a girl who is mature and

someone Eangappa could admire.Eanga left after the discussion and the narrator decided then that

he would get the boy married. 4etermined, he began considering

Eama Eao%s niece Eatna as a suitable bride for Eanga. She was from

a big town and knew how to play veena and harmonium. He came

up with a plan. He asked Eama Eao%s wife to send Eatna to his

place to fetch some buttermilk. So she came on 9riday wearing a

grand saree. He reuested Eatna to sing and sent for Eanga. Eangareached the narrator%s place and stopped outside the room as he

did not want to disrupt the singing but was curious to see her face

so peeped in. Eatna noticed the stranger and stopped abruptly.

Eanga came in and the girl left.

7uriously he inuired about the girl and narrator cleverly played at

his words. He told Eanga that the girl was married o a year ago

and noticed the disappointment 1aring Eanga%s face. He wasinfatuated to the girl. The narrator was happy as his plan was


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working.!s his ne*t step, the ne*t day the narrator took Eanga to

an astrologer who he had already tutored what to say. It was the

meeting with the astrologer when the narrator%s name is disclosed.

Shyama, he was. The astrologer pretended to read the natal chart

of Eangappa and declared that the boy was in love with a girl who

had a name of something found in the ocean. Shyama said it could

be Eatna, Eama Eao%s niece. Eanga%s smile was not hidden from

Shyama. 3ut the girl was marriedR

The narrator took the boy to Eama Eao%s home and asked him to

wait outside. )hen he came outside he con/rmed that the girl was

not married, that there had been some confusion. !fter all, the

narrator had to come up with something. 0ven Eanga then admitted

that he had been attracted to the girl. Bater a conversation

between the astrologer and the narrator is described how the

astrologer says that though the narrator had given him clues, he

could have found it al l out by himself through astrology.

The story moves forward ten years, or to say, returns to the

present. Eangappa came one day to the narrator, inviting him at hisson Shyama%s third birthday. +bviously, ratna and Eanga had been

married. !nd now they have a three years old son whom Eanga

named after the narrator.

The !ddress Summary


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The story The !ddress is all about human predicament that follows

war. The story narrates how a daughter goes to her native place in

Holland in search of her mother"s belongings after the war.In the beginning of the story it is narrated how the protagonist was

given a cold reception when she went to her native place after the

war in search of her mother"s belongings. !fter ringing the bell of

House 2umber K; in &arconi Street, a woman opened the door. +n

being introduced,the woman kept staring at her in silence. There

was no sign of recognition on her face. The woman was wearing

her mother"s green knitted cardigan. The narrator could understandthat she had made no mistake. She asked the woman whether she

knew her mother. The woman could not deny this. The narrator

wanted to talk to her for sometime. 3ut the woman cautiously

closed the door. The narrator stopped there for sometime and then

left the place.

In the subseuent sections, the memories of the narrator"s bygone

days come to light. Her mother had provided the address years agoduring the war. She went to home for few days. She could /nd that

various things were missing. !t that time her mother told her about

&rs 4orling. She happened to be an old acuaintance of the

narrator"s mother. Bately she had renewed contact with her and had

been coming there regularly. 0very time she left their house she

took something home with her. She told that she wanted to save al l

their nice possessions. The ne*t day the narrator saw &rs 4orlinggoing out of their house with a heavy suitcase. She had a 1eeting

glimpse of &rs 4orling"s face. She asked her mother whether the

woman lived far away. !t that time the narrator"s mother told about

the addressP 2umber K;,&arconi Street. !fter many days the after

the war,the narrator was curious to take record of the possessions

that must still be at 2umber K;, &arconi Street. )ith this intention

she went to the given address.


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The concluding part of the story describes the second visit of the

narrator. !s the narrator"s /rst visit yielded no result so she

planned to go once again. Interestingly, a girl of /fteen opened the

door to her. Her mother was not at home. The narrator e*pressed

her wish to wait for her. The girl accompanied her to the passage.

The narrator saw an old fashioned iron candle holder hanging ne*t

to a mirror. The girl made her sit in the living room and went inside.

The narrator was horri/ed to /nd herself in a room she knew and

did not know. She found herself in the midst of familiar things which

she longed to see again but which troubled her in the strange

atmosphere. She had no courage to look around her. 3ut she no

longer had desire to possess them. She got up, walked to the door,

and left the room. She resolved to forget the address and moved

on.


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The Summer of the 3eautiful )hiteHorse Summary

This is a story of two tribal !rmenian boys who belonged to the

(aroghlanian tribe. 9or their family, even at times of e*treme

poverty nothing could match the importance of honesty. They never

did anything wrong and never lied or never even stole anything.

The story talks about an incident that revolves around two cousins

!ram who is nine years old and &ourad who is thirteen. The world,

for !ram, at that time, seemed to be a delightful and e*tremelyAoyous yet mysterious dream. @eople believed in every imaginable

kind of magni/cence. &ourad was considered to be cra?y by

everybody he knew.

The story opens with &ourad coming to !ram"s house at four in the

morning one /ne day. He tapped on the window to !ram"s room.

)hen !ram looked out of the window, he was taken aback and

startled to see &ourad riding a beautiful white horse. In fact, hewas so da?ed that &ourad had to say Oes, it"s a horse. Oou are not

dreaming. !ll this was too unbelievable because !ram knew that

they were too poor to be able to aord to buy a horse. The only way

&ourad could possess it could be by stealing. They were too honest

to lie and yet too cra?y to ride a horse.

Thus, they kept the horse for two weeks, enAoying its ride in cool air

and singing to their heart"s content on the country roads. They hid

it from the rest of the world by keeping it in a barn of the deserted


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vineyard. &eanwhile, !ram came to know that the horse was stolen

from 8ohn 3yro. They planned not to return it to him so soon

although it pricked their conscience to steal, which was completely

their ethics and tribal norms.

+ne /ne day they came across 8ohn, the farmer. Such was the boys"

family famous for their honesty that the thought of his horse being

stolen by the boys never crossed 8ohn"s mind. He was Aust ama?ed

at the resemblance and saidP I would swear it is my horse if I did

not know your parents.

This moving e*perience led the boys towards 8ohn"s vineyard the

very ne*t morning. They left the horse in the barn after patting it

aectionately. Bater that day, 8ohn seemed to be very pleased and

shared the news of the return of his horse with !ram"s mother. The

story teaches us the importance and necessity of honesty even in

the face of greed and passion.

Portrait of a Lady Summary

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