A Horse and Two Goats (Q 11 to 14)
A Horse and Two Goats
Treasure Trove (Short Stories)
Extracts 11 to 14
Extract XI.
1. Same as the answer of Extract IX (iii)
2. Kaliyuga is the last of the four stages the world goes through as part of the cycle of the ages. At the end of the Kaliyuga, this world and all other words will be destroyed and a saviour will appear in the shape of a horse named Kalki, and save all the good people, while all the evil people will die.
3. The language barrier provides humour in the story. Muni and the foreigner could not understand each other. When Muni asked the foreigner how many children he had, the foreigner, assuming that Muni had asked the price he was ready to pay, replied hundred. Later, the foreigner handed Muni a hundred rupee note, which Muni thought was in exchange for his goats.
4. The living room of the foreigner has a large bookcase filled with volumes of books. There are books piled up to the roof.
5. Muni told the story behind the horse statue. He said that the horse would come to life at the end of Kaliyuga and save all the good people.
The foreigner assured Muni that he would keep the statue with good care in his living room in his house in America.
Extract XII.
1. The foreigner speaks these words. Muni was reflecting on the end of the world and asked the foreigner if he had any idea when Kaliyuga would end.
2. Muni had heard from the passers-by that there were 'kapi hotels' opened at the Friday Markets in the next town along the highway. Muni only recognised the word 'coffee' in the foreigner's conversation. He thought that the foreigner wanted to drink coffee.
3. Muni has said that at the end of the world a saviour would come on the horse statue, which would grow bigger, and be called Kalki. There would be floods in which Kalki would carry good people to safety and the evil people would die.
4. The foreigner claimed that he was a modest businessman dealing in coffee. However, he boasted about having the best home. He was a clever businessman. He took out a hundred rupee note and started bargaining over the price of the statue.
5. The foreigner planned to cancel his air ticket and travel by ship, with the horse in his cabin.
Extract XIII.
1. Muni was asking the foreigner about his children. The foreigner did not understand Muni. He assumed that Muni was talking about the statue so he offered him hundred rupees for the statue. The humour arises out of their inability to understand each other. They seemed to understand each other, but in reality, they were talking about entirely different subjects.
2.
- Muni asked the foreigner how many children the he had.
- He even asked how many of them were boys and how many of them were girls.
3. Muni looked closely at the hundred rupees note. He was amazed as he had never seen a hundred rupees note before. Muni thought that the foreigner wanted him to exchange the note for change. Muni laughed at this thought.
4. The village headman was a money-lender who disguised himself in torn clothes, just to mislead the people of the village. According to Muni, the headman had so much money that he could even have changed a lakh rupee of notes in gold coins.
5. The foreigner showed interest in Muni's goats out of courtesy. Muni had reared the goats in the hope of selling them one day, and with that profit, open a small shop near the highway.
Extract XIV.
1. Muni usually ate salted millet, cooked into a little ball, along with a raw onion. He was expecting a 'miracle' food because he wanted to chew drumsticks out of sauce, the same morning. He knew that if he obeyed his wife, she would somehow arrange food for him by the evening.
2. Muni's wife was furious on seeing the hundred rupees note and accused Muni of stealing it.
3. As soon as Muni completed his speech, Muni and his wife heard the sound of goats outside. On opening the door she saw the two goats and concluded that Muni had stolen the money.
4. Muni asked the goats where the foreigner was and if they didn't know that they belonged to the foreigner now. He also asked them why they had come back. This shows that he was annoyed on seeing the goats.
5. The story ends with a misunderstanding between Muni and his wife. His wife accused him of stealing the money as the goats followed Muni back to home.
The humour in the story and the characters appealed to us. The humour is not dark but it helps us to sympathize with the characters and their flaws. It is not insulting, but enjoyable. It lets the readers laugh at the characters and their situation, gently.
