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  Chapter  5. The Little girl 

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Question 1: To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss, to which she responded with ‘Good Bye Father’. And oh, there Was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road! 

1. What was the daily routine of the father ?

2. When did the daughter feel relief ?

3. Trace a word from the passage which means “answered”. 

Answer:

1. The daily routine of Kezia’s father was to visit her daughter’s room, meet her and give her a kiss before leaving for work.

2. The daughter felt relief when the carriage went away from the house.

3. Responded.

Question 2: But the same old nightmare came the butcher with a knife and a rope who came nearer and nearer, with that dreadful smile, while she could not move, only stand still, crying out “Grandma!”. She woke shivering to see father beside her bed, a candle in his hand. “What is the matter ?” he said.

1. Why did she get the nightmare ?

2. Where was the butcher ?

3. Find a word from the passage that means “shake in fear and cold”.

Answer:

1. She got the nightmare as she was alone with her father at home and her mother and granny were in the hospital.

2. The butcher was in her dream.

3. Shivering.

Question 3: “But it was for your b-b- birth day.” Down came the ruler on her little, pink palms. Hours later, when grandmother had wrapped her in a shawl and rocked her in the rocking-chair, the child clung to her soft body. “What did God make fathers for ?” she sobbed.

1. Who is responding in the first line and before whom ?

2. How did the father react ?

3. Find a word from the passage that means “wept”.

Answer:

1. Kezia is responding before her father.

2. The father became angry and beat her pink palms with a ruler.

3. Sobbed.

Question 4: On Sunday afternoon, Grandmother sent her down to file drawing room to have a “Nice talk with Father and Mother”. But the little girl always found mother reading and father stretched out on the sofa, his handkerchief on his flee, his feet on one of file best cushion, sleeping soundly and snoring.

1. Who was ‘she’ and why did the grandmother send her down ?

2. What did she notice about her parents ?

3. Trace a word that means “undisturbed”.

Answer:

1. “She” is Kezia. Grandmother sent her down to have a nice talk with her parents.

2. She noticed that her father was sleeping and snoring and mother was reading.

3. Soundly.

Question 5: She sat on a stool, gravely watched him until he woke and stretched, and asked the time – then looked at her. “Don’t stare so, Kezia. You look like a little brown owl”.

1. Who is Kezia watching gravely ?

2. Why was she sitting there waiting for him to wake up ? ;

3. Trace the word in the extract which means “seriously”.

Answer:

1. Kezia was watching her father gravely.

2. On a Sunday afternoon, her grandmother sent her to have a nice talk with father and mother. But Kezia always found her father sleeping on the sofa.

3. Gravely.

Question 1:
What orders were passed to Kezia in the evening when father returned home from office?
Answer:
When Kezia’s father returned home from office she was supposed to come down, take off father’s shoes and put them outside. She was also to put her father’s teacup on file tea table.

Question 2:
Why did Kezia avoid her father? 
Answer:
Kezia avoided her father because according to her, her father was an emotionless person. He never spoke to Kezia lovingly and calmly. He scolded Kezia and reprimanded her for making mistakes. Kezia stammered in front of her father since he was a very huge and giant like figure far away from the warmth of a father.

Question 3;
Why was Kezia afraid of her father? 
Answer:
Kezia was a little sensitive girl. Her father was aggressive and always spoke loudly. He always scolded her. He used to beat her. Even when she accepted her mistakes. He never played with her. This made her afraid of her father.

Question 4
What made Kezia’s father punish her? 
Answer:
She tore important papers of her father to stuff in the pin cushion because she was making a gift to present to her father. Since the papers had her father’s speech written on it, she was punished for tearing it.

Question 5
“Father’s great speech for the Port Authority had been lost.” What had happened to father’s speech ?
Answer:
Father’s speech had been tom to pieces by Kezia, the little girl. She was making a pin cushion as a gift to her father, for his birthday. As she was not able to find anything to stuff it with, she tore the speech and stuffed it in her cushion.

Question 6
Why did Kezia’s grandmother send her to the drawing room every Sunday afternoon?

Answer:
Kezia’s grandmother knew that she was afraid of her father and she felt that if she spoke to him more often, she would gq£ rid of that fear. So, every Sunday afternoon she used to send her to the drawing room to have a nice talk with her father.

Question 7
What kind of a person was Kezia’s father? 
Answer:
Kezia’s father was a hard working man but short tempered. He was a strict disciplinarian too. When Kezia’s mother was hospitalized, Kezia realized that her father loved her but didn’t have the art of expressing his love.

Question 8
What did Kezia find whenever on Sunday afternoons her grandmother sent her down to have a talk with her parents ?

Answer:
Whenever Kezia was sent by her grandmother to talk to her parents on Sunday afternoons, she always found her mother reading and her father stretched out on the sofa, sleeping soundly and snoring.

Question 9
How was Kezia’s father different from Mr. McDonalds ? 
Answer:
Mr. McDonalds played with his children. The girls would hang on to his coat, they would laugh together. Kezia’s father had no time for such things. He really worked very hard for the family.

Question 10
How did the father comfort the little girl, Kezia, when she got scared in her sleep?

Answer:
The father came to Kezia’s room with a candle, lifted her up in his strong arms, lay beside her and made her stay close to him. She held his shirt and snuggled herself close to her father. This comforted Kezia when she got scared in her sleep.