BSEB Class 12 English Chapter 9 The Earth Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings from Rainbow Book
The Earth Class 12 English – The Earth BSEB Class 12 English Chapter 9 from Rainbow Book The Earth Summary and detailed explanations of the lesson along with the meanings of difficult words.
BSEB Class 12 Rainbow Book Chapter 9 – The Earth
By H. E. Bates
- The Earth Introduction
- The Earth Summary
- The Earth Summary in Hindi
- Video Explanation of The Earth
- The Earth Lesson Explanation
The Earth Introduction
The present short story ‘The Earth’, set in the English countryside, is about a farmer Johnson and his son Benjy who appears to be a simple minded person. The story very well depicts the laziness of the parents and the growing selfishness and cunningness of their simple-minded son who finally drives them away from their home.
The Earth Summary
In this story, the author talked about a farmer named Johnson and his family. He explained how important mother earth is to a farmer . The Johnsons had a large farming device with blades for planting of seeds, a vehicle with two wheels, tools for farming , a very thin brown female horse to slowly drag the plough and a cart.But according to a farmer, without the earth all these tools and equipment do not have any importance and value.
Apart from earth and other farming tools Johnsons also had a son.Benjy was the name of Johnsons’ son. Benjy was their only son so Johnsons’ made sure that they were always very kind and humble to Benjy and they used to worry about him a lot which is why he had grown up to become worse in their eyes than he really was.It was more than thirty years since the Johnsons knew that their child Benjy was different from others so they took him to a doctor. The doctor convinced the Johnsons that their kid needs some kind of interests that could help Benjy to make his mind better and stronger.
So Benjy decided to keep the hens, and hens were very important to him just like the earth was a very crucial part of his mother’s and father’s life.Benjy understood the entire concept of hens; that they are only useful because they lay eggs.Benjy understood the business of eggs that eggs could be sold in a group of twenty, tens and even fivers too from the back door of his house to all the people who need them. The money earned by selling those eggs was put carefully and regularly in a white bowl.
As the time passed, Benjy had so many hens that there was a time when there were more eggs that he was able to produce but was not able to sell at the back door. Benjy left his school at the age of fourteen and he had more than forty or fifty hens and also there were young hens who started laying eggs also.Benjy started reading and after a year or two he read in paper that it would be better to keep different breeds of hens separately. This resulted in new cages for hens. He also read that hens needed clean and sanitary places to sleep, air and exercise was also important for hens. Benjy was very strong so he decided to understand everything he read and started building new houses and cages for the hens. He understood simple things which could help him in building new houses and cages like nailing wire-netting to woods for hens.
In order to build new houses and cages to separate hens he needed space so his father and mother decided to give him their land which was running from the back of their house to half way to their field.
The Johnson’s had struggled very hard their entire life without any success with the earth. They had faith and trust that one day Benjy would become smarter and grow out of his simplicity just like they had always believed that one day this earth would end their poverty.
Benjy’s father was a preacher who talked about religion all the time and was a man of talking who used to talk a lot. He not only talked on Sundays to village worshipers in an assembly but he could actually talk everywhere like at the back-door, over the field gate, in the road outside the house.
Benjy’s father kept talking. On the other hand, Benjy was firmly doing his simple business of making hens lay eggs. Benjy was rapidly growing and part of his fathers house started to look like a board game of black and brown and white hens.All the money that he was making was going straight into the bank in his name.
As Benjy turned twenty-one his mother and father decided to organize a small ceremony. In his speech he talked about how he was a working man all his life and how he set an example of hard work and using the money resourcefully and now that passbook was Benjy’s natural gift that he would inherit and how he has to follow it in future.
When he opened the passbook and looked at it , he saw more than two hundred and thirty pounds written on it. He closed the passbook and put it in his pocket.
After that, Benjy’s mother and father did not speak but felt a different and a strange emotion which they did not expect. They had a mixed feeling of disappointment , fear, pride and pain. They did not imagine that they would be able to gather this much amount from the earth by working all their lives.They thought that Benjy was unable to relate to different kinds of emotions and feelings because he was so different from others.
And now as the population of the town was increasing , people wanted the land for making more buildings, suddenly their land went on sale.The Johnsons felt lost and sidetracked after hearing that their land went on sale.
Benjy’s father was really upset and was in a deep pain so he went to the owner of the land named Sanders and said we don’t have the money and we don’t see any way of getting the money so we must get out of this town on the feast of St Michael, 29 September.
Then Sanders replied to the Johnsons not to worry about this but to find a way to buy this land because if they can’t find a way to buy this somebody else would buy it soon.
Johnsons asked Sanders who would buy this land so Sanders replied your son Benjy would buy it.
After hearing this, the Johnsons regained their faith and trust.
Benjy was doing so well in his business that one by one his father’s former land was getting covered by his new and hygienic chicken houses. Benjy became the largest poultry farmer of his side of the town. Benjy’s appearance had also changed by now. He was still a big-limbed guy but now he became rather fat.His eyes no longer looked like the eyes of a simple-minded man. Rather he looked like the eyes of a clever looking man.
Also, Benjy had started employing new people to help him with his business. Out of all the people Benjy had employed for his business there was a girl named Florence.This girl had thick heavy legs, loose lips and had non reflecting grey coloured eyes that could match Benjy’s clear simplicity.For the very first time Benjy found his interest in a girl besides his hens and business of eggs.
But Benjy’s mother and father did not like Florence.He just wanted a woman who could help him with his business. For Benjy, Florence was that girl who could help him with his hens and he wanted to marry Florence.
Benjy married Florence at the end of his fortieth year in the autumn season and moved in with Florence as his wife in the same house.
Benjy told his parents that they want the front bedroom.his incident hurted them very badly. Since the house belonged to Benjy and he was now the owner of the house, they moved to the back without saying much.
Benjy’s mother and Florence used to argue a lot. So Benjy decided that his mother and father should start eating in the kitchen and Florence and Benjy should eat in the other room.All across the winter, all the four people kept themselves restricted into their separate rooms, the house seemed to be even more divided and there was a very big gap between them now.
In the end Benjy decided that he did not want his mother and father to live with him anymore. So he asked his parents to leave the house and find some other place to live.Benjy’s parents did not reply to what Benjy said. Their faces were motionless just like they had experienced an intense loss. Benjy drove the van and dropped his parents in the town.
After Benjy left, his parents were standing alone on the edge of the road looking at the ground. They did not know what to do, it seemed like they were standing in a strange place not sure where to go or what to do.
At one point of time they had the earth. Now they were so upset that they had nothing to say. It’s even difficult to tell if they had realized or not that even the earth was gone and they were left with nothing.
The Earth Summary in Hindi
इस कहानी में लेखक ने जॉनसन नाम के एक किसान और उसके परिवार के बारे में बात की है। उन्होंने बताया कि एक किसान के लिए धरती माता कितनी महत्वपूर्ण है। जॉन्सन के पास बीज बोने के लिए ब्लेड वाला एक बड़ा कृषि उपकरण, दो पहियों वाला एक वाहन, खेती के लिए उपकरण, धीरे–धीरे हल खींचने के लिए एक बहुत पतली भूरे रंग की मादा घोड़ा और एक गाड़ी थी। लेकिन एक किसान के अनुसार, पृथ्वी के बिना ये सब औज़ारों और उपकरणों का कोई महत्व और मूल्य नहीं है।
पृथ्वी और खेती के अन्य औजारों के अलावा जॉन्सन का एक बेटा भी था। जॉन्सन के बेटे का नाम बेंजी था। बेंजी उनका इकलौता बेटा था, इसलिए जॉन्सन ने यह सुनिश्चित किया कि वे हमेशा बेंजी के प्रति बहुत दयालु और विनम्र रहें और वे उसके बारे में बहुत चिंता करते थे, यही कारण है कि वह बड़ा होकर उनकी नजरों में उससे भी बदतर हो गया था जितना वह वास्तव में था। यह उससे कहीं अधिक था तीस साल से अधिक समय बाद जॉन्सन को पता चला कि उनका बच्चा बेन्जी दूसरों से अलग है, इसलिए वे उसे एक डॉक्टर के पास ले गए। डॉक्टर ने जॉन्सन को आश्वस्त किया कि उनके बच्चे को कुछ प्रकार की रुचियों की आवश्यकता है जो बेंजी को उसके दिमाग को बेहतर और मजबूत बनाने में मदद कर सके।
इसलिए बेंजी ने मुर्गियाँ पालने का फैसला किया, और मुर्गियाँ उसके लिए बहुत महत्वपूर्ण थीं, जैसे पृथ्वी उसकी माँ और पिता के जीवन का एक बहुत ही महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा थी। बेंजी ने मुर्गियों की पूरी अवधारणा को समझा; वे केवल इसलिए उपयोगी हैं क्योंकि वे अंडे देते हैं। बेंजी ने अंडे के व्यवसाय को समझा कि अंडे बीस, दस और यहां तक कि पाँच के समूह में भी अपने घर के पिछले दरवाजे से उन सभी लोगों को बेचे जा सकते हैं जिन्हें उनकी आवश्यकता है। उन अंडों को बेचकर जो पैसा मिलता था उसे सावधानीपूर्वक और नियमित रूप से एक सफेद कटोरे में रख दिया जाता था।
जैसे–जैसे समय बीतता गया, बेंजी के पास इतनी सारी मुर्गियाँ हो गईं कि एक समय ऐसा भी आया जब अधिक अंडे थे जिन्हें वह पैदा करने में सक्षम था लेकिन पिछले दरवाजे पर बेचने में सक्षम नहीं था। बेंजी ने चौदह साल की उम्र में अपना स्कूल छोड़ दिया और उसके पास चालीस या पचास से अधिक मुर्गियाँ थीं और कुछ युवा मुर्गियाँ भी थीं जिन्होंने अंडे देना भी शुरू कर दिया था। बेंजी ने पढ़ना शुरू किया और एक या दो साल बाद उसने पेपर में पढ़ा कि अलग-अलग नस्ल की मुर्गियों को अलग-अलग रखना बेहतर होगा। इसके परिणामस्वरूप मुर्गियों के लिए नए पिंजरे तैयार हो गए। उन्होंने यह भी पढ़ा कि मुर्गियों को सोने के लिए साफ–सुथरी जगह की जरूरत होती है, मुर्गियों के लिए हवा और व्यायाम भी जरूरी है। बेंजी बहुत ताकतवर था इसलिए उसने जो कुछ भी पढ़ा उसे समझने का फैसला किया और मुर्गियों के लिए नए घर और पिंजरे बनाने शुरू कर दिए। वह सरल चीजें समझता था जो उसे नए घर और पिंजरे बनाने में मदद कर सकती थीं, जैसे मुर्गियों के लिए जंगल में तार–जाल लगाना।
नए घर बनाने और मुर्गियों को अलग करने के लिए पिंजरे बनाने के लिए उसे जगह की ज़रूरत थी इसलिए उसके पिता और माँ ने उसे अपनी ज़मीन देने का फैसला किया जो उनके घर के पीछे से लेकर उनके खेत के आधे रास्ते तक थी।
जॉनसन ने पृथ्वी के मामले में बिना किसी सफलता के अपने पूरे जीवन में बहुत कठिन संघर्ष किया था। उन्हें विश्वास और भरोसा था कि एक दिन बेन्जी अधिक बुद्धिमान हो जाएगा और अपनी सादगी से बाहर निकल जाएगा, ठीक वैसे ही जैसे उन्हें हमेशा विश्वास था कि एक दिन यह धरती उनकी गरीबी खत्म कर देगी।
बेंजी के पिता एक उपदेशक थे जो हर समय धर्म के बारे में बात करते थे और एक बातचीत करने वाले व्यक्ति थे जो बहुत सारी बातें करते थे। वह न केवल रविवार को एक सभा में गाँव के उपासकों से बात करते थे, बल्कि वह वास्तव में हर जगह बात कर सकते थे जैसे कि पिछले दरवाजे पर, मैदान के गेट पर, घर के बाहर सड़क पर।
बेंजी के पिता बात करते रहे। दूसरी ओर, बेंजी मुर्गियों से अंडे देने का अपना साधारण व्यवसाय दृढ़ता से कर रहा था। बेंजी तेजी से बढ़ रहा था और उसके पिता के घर का एक हिस्सा काले, भूरे और सफेद मुर्गियों के बोर्ड गेम जैसा दिखने लगा था। वह जो भी पैसा कमा रहा था वह सीधे उसके नाम पर बैंक में जा रहा था।
जैसे ही बेंजी इक्कीस वर्ष का हुआ, उसकी माँ और पिता ने एक छोटा सा समारोह आयोजित करने का निर्णय लिया। अपने भाषण में उन्होंने इस बारे में बात की कि कैसे वह अपने पूरे जीवन में एक कामकाजी व्यक्ति थे और कैसे उन्होंने कड़ी मेहनत और धन का उपयोग करके एक उदाहरण स्थापित किया और अब वह पासबुक बेंजी का प्राकृतिक उपहार था जो उन्हें विरासत में मिला था और उन्हें भविष्य में इसका पालन कैसे करना है।
जब उसने पासबुक खोलकर देखा तो उसमें दो सौ तीस पाउंड से अधिक लिखा हुआ था। उसने पासबुक बंद करके जेब में रख ली।
उसके बाद, बेंजी की माँ और पिता ने बात नहीं की लेकिन एक अलग और अजीब भावना महसूस की जिसकी उन्हें उम्मीद नहीं थी। उनमें निराशा, भय, गर्व और पीड़ा की मिश्रित भावना थी। उन्होंने कल्पना भी नहीं की थी कि वे सारी जिंदगी मेहनत करके धरती से इतनी रकम इकट्ठा कर पाएंगे। उन्हें लगता था कि बेंजी विभिन्न प्रकार की भावनाओं से जुड़ने में असमर्थ है क्योंकि वह दूसरों से बहुत अलग है।
और अब जैसे–जैसे शहर की आबादी बढ़ रही थी, लोग अधिक इमारतें बनाने के लिए जमीन चाहते थे, अचानक उनकी जमीन बिक्री पर चली गई। यह सुनने के बाद कि उनकी जमीन बिक्री पर चली गई, जॉन्सन को खोया और भटका हुआ महसूस हुआ।
बेंजी के पिता वास्तव में परेशान थे और बहुत दर्द में थे इसलिए वह सैंडर्स नाम के जमीन के मालिक के पास गए और कहा कि हमारे पास पैसे नहीं हैं और हमें पैसे पाने का कोई रास्ता नहीं दिख रहा है इसलिए हमें 29 सितंबर को सेंट माइकल के पर्व पर इस शहर से बाहर निकलना होगा।
तब सैंडर्स ने जॉन्सन को जवाब दिया कि वे इस बारे में चिंता न करें बल्कि इस जमीन को खरीदने का कोई रास्ता खोजें क्योंकि अगर वे इसे खरीदने का कोई रास्ता नहीं ढूंढ पाए तो कोई और इसे जल्द ही खरीद लेगा।
जॉन्सन ने सैंडर्स से पूछा कि यह जमीन कौन खरीदेगा तो सैंडर्स ने जवाब दिया कि आपका बेटा बेंजी इसे खरीदेगा।
यह सुनने के बाद, जॉन्सन ने अपना आस्था और विश्वास पुनः प्राप्त कर लिया।
बेंजी अपने व्यवसाय में इतना अच्छा कर रहा था कि एक–एक करके उसके पिता की पूर्व भूमि उसके नए और स्वच्छ चिकन घरों से ढकती जा रही थी। बेन्जी शहर में अपने क्षेत्र का सबसे बड़ा मुर्गीपालक किसान बन गया। बेंजी की शक्ल भी अब तक बदल चुकी थी. वह अभी भी बड़े अंगों वाला लड़का था, लेकिन अब वह काफी मोटा हो गया था। उसकी आंखें अब एक साधारण दिमाग वाले व्यक्ति की आंखों की तरह नहीं दिखती थीं। बल्कि वह किसी चतुर दिखने वाले आदमी की आँखों जैसा लग रहा था।
साथ ही, बेंजी ने अपने व्यवसाय में मदद के लिए नए लोगों को नियुक्त करना भी शुरू कर दिया था। बेंजी ने अपने व्यवसाय के लिए जितने लोगों को नियुक्त किया था, उनमें से फ्लोरेंस नाम की एक लड़की थी। इस लड़की के मोटे, भारी पैर, ढीले होंठ और गैर–प्रतिबिंबित भूरे रंग की आंखें थीं जो बेंजी की स्पष्ट सादगी से मेल खा सकती थीं। पहली बार बेंजी को अपनी रुचि का पता चला एक लड़की के अलावा उसकी मुर्गियां और अंडे का कारोबार भी।
लेकिन बेंजी के माता–पिता को फ्लोरेंस पसंद नहीं थी। बेंजी सिर्फ एक ऐसी महिला चाहते थे जो उनके व्यवसाय में उनकी मदद कर सके। बेन्जी के लिए, फ़्लोरेंस वह लड़की थी जो उसकी मुर्गियों की देखभाल में मदद कर सकती थी और वह फ़्लोरेंस से शादी करना चाहता था।
बेन्जी ने अपने चालीसवें वर्ष के अंत में पतझड़ के मौसम में फ्लोरेंस से शादी की और फ्लोरेंस के साथ उसी घर में अपनी पत्नी के रूप में रहने लगे।
बेंजी ने अपने माता–पिता से कहा कि वे सामने वाला शयनकक्ष चाहते हैं। इस घटना से उन्हें बहुत दुख हुआ। चूँकि घर बेन्जी का था और वह अब घर का मालिक था, वे बिना ज्यादा कुछ कहे पीछे की ओर चले गए।
बेंजी की मां और फ्लोरेंस के बीच खूब बहस होती थी. इसलिए बेंजी ने फैसला किया कि उसकी मां और पिता को रसोई में खाना शुरू करना चाहिए और फ्लोरेंस और बेंजी को दूसरे कमरे में खाना चाहिए। पूरे सर्दियों में, सभी चार लोगों ने खुद को अपने अलग–अलग कमरों में सीमित रखा, घर और भी अधिक विभाजित लग रहा था और अब उनके बीच बहुत बड़ा अंतर था।
अंत में बेंजी ने निर्णय लिया कि वह नहीं चाहता कि उसके माता–पिता अब उसके साथ रहें। इसलिए उसने अपने माता–पिता से घर छोड़ने और रहने के लिए कोई अन्य जगह ढूंढने के लिए कहा। बेंजी के माता–पिता ने बेंजी की बात का कोई जवाब नहीं दिया। उनके चेहरे ऐसे निश्चल थे जैसे उन्हें कोई भारी नुकसान हुआ हो। बेन्जी ने वैन चलाई और अपने माता–पिता को शहर में छोड़ा।
बेंजी के जाने के बाद, उसके माता–पिता सड़क के किनारे अकेले खड़े होकर जमीन की ओर देख रहे थे। उन्हें नहीं पता था कि क्या करना है, ऐसा लग रहा था जैसे वे किसी अजीब जगह पर खड़े हैं और निश्चित नहीं हैं कि कहाँ जाना है या क्या करना है।
किसी समय उनके पास पृथ्वी थी। अब वे इतने परेशान हो गये थे कि उनके पास कहने को कुछ नहीं था। यह बताना और भी मुश्किल है कि क्या उन्हें एहसास हुआ था या नहीं कि पृथ्वी भी ख़त्म हो गई थी और उनके पास कुछ भी नहीं बचा था।
Video Explanation of The Earth
The Earth Explanation
Passage –
- All that the Johnsons had was the earth. Very often it seemed as if it were all they had ever had.
- It was true that they also had possessions – a plough, a two-wheeled cart, tools, a bony brown mare which slowly dragged the plough and the cart about their rough four-acre plot – but without the earth these things were useless. It was true that they also had a son.
Word Meaning:
Possessions – the state of having, owning, or controlling something.
Plough – a large farming implement with one or more blades fixed in a frame, drawn over soil to turn it over and cut furrows in preparation for the planting of seeds.
Acre- a piece of land measuring 480 sq yards
Bony – very thin
Mare – the female of a horse or other equine animal.
Explanation of the Above Passage – ExpaIn this story, the author talked about a farmer named Johnson and his family. Earth was the only thing that Johnsons had. He explained how important mother earth is to a farmer . The Johnsons had a large farming device with blades for planting of seeds, a vehicle with two wheels, tools for farming , a very thin brown female horse to slowly drag the plough and a cart. The Johnsons also had a piece of land measuring 480 sq yards . But according to a farmer, without the earth all these tools and equipment do not have any importance and value. Apart from earth and other farming tools Johnsons also had a son.
Passage –
- The Johnsons’ son was named Benjy, and it was more than thirty years since they had surrendered to the idea that he was not right in his head. It was not that he was insane or imbecile or even that he could not read and write and count figures, but only that he was simple, not quite like other people. And because he was their only son, the Johnson had spent many years being a little too kind, too anxious and too sacrificial towards him, so that he had grown up to seem worse, in their eyes, than he really was. Benjy had the large loose limbs that often belong to the simple-minded, and thick soft fair hair on his face. He had the look of being a simple-hearted man as well as a simple-minded man. His eyes were blue, and all day long he had a simple smile on his face. But somewhere behind the blue eyes, the simple smile, and the soft childish hair, his simplicity seemed gradually to have become a kind of cunning.
Word Meaning:
Surrendered – to give up
imbecile– weak in mind, stupid
Insane – mad
Anxious – feeling or showing worry
Simplicity -the quality or condition of being easy to understand or do.
Gradually – slowly
Cunning – clever
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy was the name of Johnsons’ son. Johnsons’ knew for more than thirty years that their son was not right in the head . Not because he was stupid or mad; he could easily read, write and count numbers, but only because he was very simple and innocent, unlike others.
Benjy was their only son so Johnsons’ made sure that they were always very kind and humble to Benjy and they used to worry about him a lot which is why he had grown up to become worse in their eyes than he really was. Benjy had blue eyes, large loose limbs and thick soft fair hair on his face. He had a very simple smile on his face all day long and looked like a very simple hearted and simple minded man. But slowly this guy with blue coloured eyes and a simple smile, childish hair, who was very innocent and easy to understand, his simplicity slowly turned into cleverness .
Passage –
- It was more than thirty years since the Johnsons, realising that he was not quite like others, had taken Benjy to a doctor. This doctor had persuaded them that he needed interests that would strengthen his mind. It would be good if they gave him something to do, some occupation, which would help his development. It would help a great deal if they gave him a special interest. to feed his sense of responsibility. ‘You are people on the land,’ the doctor said, let him keep hens.’
Word Meaning:
persuaded – convinced
Strengthen – make or become stronger.
Occupation – a job or profession.
Development – a process that creates growth or progress
Explanation of the Above Passage – It was more than thirty years since the Johnsons knew that their child Benjy was different from others so they took him to a doctor. The doctor convinced the Johnsons that their kid needs some kind of interests that could help Benjy to make his mind better and stronger. Benjy needed a job or some kind of work that could help with his development. It would be good for Benjy to find his interest and have an occupation to understand his responsibility. So the doctor suggested to the Johnsons that you are a farmer and people on the land so you should let your Benj keep the hens. Working with hens would keep Benjy busy and he could learn to take responsibility also.
Passage –
- So for many years Benjy had kept hens, and what the earth was to his mother and father the hens were to Benjy: they were almost all he had. When he came from school, cut off by his simplicity from other children, Benjy went straight home to his hens, which he kept in a wire coop that his father had made at the back of the house. At first he kept ten or a dozen hens, all colours and breeds, brown and speckled and black and white, and the coop was small. He fed the hens simply, on scraps from the table, seeded cabbages strung from the wire, a little maize, and on corn-ears which he gleaned in the late summer from his father’s acre of stubble. It is possible that a hen, being a simple creature, thrives best on simple treatment. Benjy understood the first and last thing about a hen: that it exists for the purpose of laying eggs. In those days this simple process had not become scientific; nor had it become highly complicated and commercialized. Eggs were cheap; hens mysteriously pecked nourishment off the bare earth. They sat in a home-made nesting-box, on straw, and laid the eggs expected of them.
Word Meaning:
wire coop– an enclosed place shut in with wire netting
Dozen- group or set of twelve.
Speckled- spotted
Scraps- food left in pates
seeded cabbages– cabbages which had been left in the ground too long and had flowered and produced seeds
on corn-ears- husk of corns
Gleaned- collected, gathered, picked up
Stubble- a stalk of grain
Thrives- prospers, flourishes
Commercialized- made commercial, run on strict business lines so as to make as much money as possible
Mysteriously- in a way that is strange, not known, or not understood
pecked nourishment- picked up food
Nesting-box– nest made of box or box like nest
Explanation of the Above Passage – So Benjy decided to keep the hens, and hens were very important to him just like the earth was a very crucial part of his mother’s and father’s life. Hens were like the only thing Benjy had in his life which was important to him. After attending the school and leaving his simplicity behind from other children, Benjy went home straight to his hens. Benjy used to keep his hens in a wire cage which was made by his father at the back of their house.
In the beginning Benjy used to keep ten or twelve hens, all of different colors and breeds such as of black and white, brown color, or a spotted hen. The cage in which Benjy used to keep his hens was very small. He used to feed the hens whatever food was left on the table, cabbages which had been left in the ground too long and had flowered and produced seeds, little bit of grains, and corns which he collected in the late summers from his father’s land where he used to grow his grains. As hen is a very simple creature, it was assumed that even after feeding them leftovers and giving them very simple treatment, they flourish and grow the most. Benjy understood the entire concept of hens; that they are only useful because they lay eggs. Back in those days Benjy understood that laying eggs and selling them in the market was a very simple process as it was not very complicated or run on strict business lines so as to make as much money as possible. Eggs were really cheap and they were considered to be a good nourishment food. Hens can lay eggs in a home-made nest which can be easily made with a box.
Passage –
- Benjy understood another thing about the business of hens, and that was that eggs could be sold to callers at the back door of their house, in scores and half-scores and fivers, and the money from these eggs was put carefully, almost religiously, into a large white basin that stood on the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard. The basin was beyond Benjy’s reach. ‘But one day,’ his mother would tell him, ‘the money will be yours. You understand? Your father and me are going to save the money. When there’s enough we shall put it in the bank. The bank will give interest on it and then one day, when you’re twenty-one, it will be yours by rights. It’ll all be yours and you can do what you like with it. Do you understand?’ And Benjy would simply smile at his mother and say yes, he understood.
Word Meaning:
Basin- bowl
in scores- a score is a group of twenty
Half -scores- half of in score which is ten
Fivers- five
Religiously- regularly
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy understood the business of eggs that eggs could be sold in a group of twenty, tens and even fivers too from the back door of his house to all the people who need them. The money earned by selling those eggs was put carefully and regularly in a white bowl. The bowl was placed on the top shelf of their kitchen cupboard. Benjy could not reach the bowl as it was placed on the height. Benjy’s mother made him realize that one day Benjy would get all the money which his mother and father was saving. She also told him that when there would be enough money we should put all the money in a bank so that they can earn interest and once Benjy turns twenty-one he would get all the money by rights so that he could do whatever he wanted to do with that money. After listening to his mother, Benjy smiled at his mother and said that he understood everything.
Passage –
- As time went on Benjy began to keep many more hens. Soon there were more eggs than could be sold at the back door, and by the time Benjy had left school at fourteen he had forty or fifty hens and about as many laying pullets, and these were producing an average of two hundred eggs a week. Soon he would set off three times a week with a large basket of eggs on a wheel-truck, and hawk them in Castol, the nearest town. By this time the money no longer went into the basin, but straight into the bank. Benjy could read and a year or two afterwards he read in a paper that it was better to segregate breeds of hens, keeping White Leghorn separate from Rhode Islands, and young from old. This meant new coops, and at the same time Benjy read that hens needed air and exercise and dry hygienic places to sleep. Benjy was very strong and understood a simple thing like nailing wire-netting to wood and began himself to build new houses and coops for the new, segregated breeds of hens. For all this he needed space, and so his father and mother gave him a strip of land running from the back of the house half-way across the field. In this way they gave him something more precious than they had ever given before. For the first time, without fully realising it, they gave him a piece of the earth.
Word Meaning:
laying pullets -young hens that have begun laying eggs
Hawk-unload
Castol -a small wheel
segregate-separate
white leghorn- Rhode island: two famous breeds of hen
Coops- cage
Hygienic- clean or sanitary
Precious- important
Explanation of the Above Passage – As the time passed, Benjy had so many hens that there was a time when there were more eggs that he was able to produce but was not able to sell at the back door. Benjy left his school at the age of fourteen and he had more than forty or fifty hens and also there were young hens who started laying eggs also. Hens were producing an average of two hundred eggs a week. So Benjy decided to sell a large basket of eggs at least three times a week to the nearest town. He would take the eggs on his wheel truck and unload them on a small wheel. Benjy started to keep all his money in a bank rather in a bowl. Benjy started reading and after a year or two he read in paper that it would be better to keep different breeds of hens separately like keeping white leghorn separated from rhode islands (these are two different breeds of hens) similarly keeping old hens separate from young ones. This resulted in new cages for hens. He also read that hens needed clean and sanitary places to sleep, air and exercise was also important for hens. Benjy was very strong so he decided to understand everything he read and started building new houses and cages for the hens. He understood simple things which could help him in building new houses and cages like nailing wire-netting to woods for hens. He also separated the hens according to their breeds. In order to build new houses and cages to separate hens he needed space so his father and mother decided to give him their land which was running from the back of their house to half way to their field. By giving him the land his parents realised that they have given Benjy something which was very important to them which they have never given him before. They actually gave him a piece of earth.
Passage –
- All this time they themselves had struggled hard and almost vainly with the earth. At the back of their minds lay a precious belief that Benjy would one day grow out of his simplicity. In the same way they cherished a silent belief that the earth would one day outgrow its poverty. The earth had yielded stubbornly for them, and the reason, like Benjy, was simple. The reason was not on the earth, but in themselves. For most of their lives they had put rather more value on faith than sweat.
Word Meaning:
vainly – uselessly, without success
Belief- trust, faith,
Cherished- protect and care lovingly
Stubbornly- obstinately
yielded- produced or provided
Explanation of the Above Passage – The Johnsons had struggled very hard their entire life without any success with the earth. They had faith and trust that one day Benjy would become smarter and grow out of his simplicity just like they had always believed that one day this earth would end their poverty. But the earth has not produced very generously for them .The reason behind this was not because of earth but because of themselves. The reason for this was very simple: they had put more value on their faith rather than working hard and sweating more for the results.
Passage –
- For many years Benjy’s father had been a local preacher, a man with quite a gift of talking. He liked not only to talk on Sundays, to village congregations in small still chapels far out in the countryside, but he liked to talk at the back-door, over the field gate, in the road outside the house. He talked so much that he must have had an idea that the earth, designed, created, and nourished by God, would take care of itself. While he talked, thistles seeded and choked his wheat, rabbits broke in and gnawed his cabbages, storms smashed his standing corn. He struggled on like a man chained by bad luck, and while he knew that his land was poor and that Benjy was a simple man, no one had ever had the need or courage to tell him that he himself was a lazy man with too large a trust in Providence.
Word Meaning:
Preacher – a person who preaches
Congregations- assembly (of worshipers)
Chapel – a small building or room used for Christian worship
Gnawed- nibbled, sank teeth into
Thistles- a widely distributed herbaceous plant of the daisy family,
Providence- the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power.
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s father was a preacher who talked about religion all the time and was a man of talking who used to talk a lot. He not only talked on Sundays to village worshipers in an assembly but he could actually talk everywhere like at the back-door, over the field gate, in the road outside the house. He was such a true believer of god and he used to talk so much about god that he even believed if god had designed and created this earth that he would actually take care of it on its own. He kept talking but didnt even realise that his farm was being destroyed by rabbits who broke in and ate his cabbage , and the storm damaged his standing corns. He thought he was a struggling man because he had bad luck and his kid was a simple man but actually no one had the courage to tell him that he was actually a very lazy man who could work hard instead of just putting trust in god to save his earth.
Passage –
- And while his father talked Benjy went on steadfastly with the simple business of making hens lay eggs. Part of the field at the back of his father’s house began to resemble a quivering chequer-board of black and brown and white feathers. For a long time now the eggs had been too many for the wheel-truck, and Benjy at regular intervals borrowed his father’s horse and cart, taking the eggs not only down into the town but also into the market. All the time Benjy wore the simple smile of a simple-hearted man on his face, and all the time the money went religiously into the bank in his name.
Word Meaning:
Steadfastly- firmly
Quivering – trembling or shaking with a slight rapid motion.
Chequer-board– a square board divided into a number of small black and white square patches for playing certain games. The rectangular hen coops, each containing a different colour of hen, made part of the field resemble a chequer board
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s father kept talking. On the other hand, Benjy was firmly doing his simple business of making hens lay eggs. Benjy was rapidly growing and part of his fathers house started to look like a board game of black and brown and white hens. Benjy’s business was doing well for a long time that his wheel truck was not enough to carry too many eggs so he had to borrow his fathers horse and cart at regular intervals in order to take eggs into the town but also into the market. Benjy kept his simple smile of a simple-hearted man on his face throughout his journey. All the money that he was making was going straight into the bank in his name.
Passage –
- When Benjy was twenty-one his mother and father planned and carried out a little ceremony. They got his passbook from the bank, and at supper his father made a sort of speech, almost in the tone of a public address, in which he talked as if he had been a diligent man all his life, setting an example of thrift and industry, and that this, the passbook, was Benjy’s natural reward for following it. He talked as if he were talking to a child who still does not know one from two, and at last he gave Benjy the passbook. This is your money, Benjy,’ he said. Now you’re twenty-one, this is your money. Do you understand?’
Word Meaning:
Supper– evening meal
diligent-: hard-working, industrious
Thrift- the quality of using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully.
Industry – hard work
Explanation of the Above Passage – As Benjy turned twenty-one his mother and father decided to organise a small ceremony. They got his passbook from the bank and at the evening meal his father prepared a speech for Benjy which was prepared in such a tone as he was going to share it with the entire public. In his speech he talked about how he was a working man all his life and how he set an example of hard work and using the money resourcefully and now that passbook was Benjy’s natural gift that he would inherit and how he has to follow it in future. He was saying all those things in a way that he was talking to a child who did not understand much and at the end he gave him the passbook. His father said this is your money now. Now that you are twenty-one this is all yours. Do you understand?
Passage –
- ‘Yes,’ Benjy said, and he took the passbook. He opened it and looked at it, and saw in it an amount of more than two hundred and thirty pounds. Then he shut up the passbook and put it into his pocket.
Explanation of the Above Passage – Yes , Benjy replied to his father by taking the passbook in his hands. When he opened the passbook and looked at it , he saw more than two hundred and thirty pounds written on it. He closed the passbook and put it in his pocket.
Passage –
- Benjy’s mother and father did not speak. A strange tremor of a peculiar emotion went through them both: a mixture of disappointment, fear, pride, and pain. The amount in Benjy’s passbook was more than they themselves had ever amassed from the earth in their lives. They did not hope and did not mean that Benjy should give it back to them, but there was something about the silent, simple finality of his putting the passbook into his pocket that struck them like a blow in the face. They had expected something else: a word of thanks, perhaps a concession, a willingness that they should share the money they had helped to save. It hurt them momentarily that Benjy should appear so completely indifferent to them and to all they felt. Then they remembered why it was. It was because Benjy was still simple. There were shades of feeling and conduct that were beyond his understanding. They were touched with pity for him, and understood.
Word Meaning:
Tremor– quiver, shudder
Peculiar- different to what is normal or expected; strange.
Amassed- gather together or accumulate
Finality- a tone or manner which indicates that no further comment or argument is possible
Concession- a thing that is granted
Momentarily- for a very short time
Explanation of the Above Passage – After that, Benjy’s mother and father did not speak but felt a different and a strange emotion which they did not expect. They had a mixed feeling of disappointment , fear, pride and pain. They did not imagine that they would be able to gather this much amount from the earth by working all their lives. They were not hoping to keep or share that money with Benjy but the manner in which Benjy repsoned by keeping the passbook in his pocket kind of hit them in the face. His response was really cold and his parents were expecting something else. They were expecting a gesture where Benjy would be thankful to his parents or would ask them to share that money when they actually helped him to save it. This reaction hurted his parents for a short time but again they remembered how simple Benjy was and they felt pity for him for being so simple. They thought that Benjy was unable to relate to different kinds of emotions and feelings because he was so different from others.
Passage –
- ‘What are you going to do with the money?’ they said.
- ‘I’m going to buy a piece of land,’ Benjy said.
- ‘Lands?’ they said. ‘What land? Where?’
- ‘Mr Whitmore wants to sell the four acres next to us,’ Benjy said.
- ‘But, Benjy,’ they said. ‘How did you know? How did you find out?’
- Benjy had a very simple answer.
- ‘I asked Mr Whitmore,’ he said.
- ‘Well,’ they said, ‘that is a very good idea. A wonderful good idea. You couldn’t do anything better.’
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s parents asked him what he would do with all that money. So he replied that he would purchase a piece of land. His parents were surprised with the answer so they asked him again as to what kind of land and from where he would buy it. So Benjy replied to his parents that Mr Whitmore wanted to sell the four acres of land next to their land. Again, they asked how he got to know about all this. Benjy had a simple answer that he asked Mr Whitmore directly if he wanted to sell the land. His parents were very happy and thought it was a wonderful idea to buy that land.
Passage –
- As time went on, and Benjy acquired the land, his father and mother not only felt that it was a good idea but they felt very proud of him. They had that kind of pride in him that parents have in a child that says its first word or takes its first step. Benjy, a simple-minded man, had taken his first step in normal, adult things. It was wonderful, too, that he had taken the step without help, without force or prompting. All his life they had treated him as a child that will not grow up and now, suddenly, he had grown up. Though they could scarcely realize it. Benjy was a man of property.
Word Meaning:
Acquired– buy or obtain
Scarcely- only a very short time before.
Explanation of the Above Passage – As Benjy purchased the land , his parents were really proud of him. They thought purchasing the land was a very good idea. When a child says his first word or takes the first step in his life there is a feeling of joy and a pride which only a parent could feel, his parents were experiencing the similar feeling. Benjy was a very simple man and this was a very big step that he took stepping into his adulthood. Benjy actually took this big step without anyone’s help or suggestion. His parents always treated him like a kid who would never grow up but suddenly Benjy was all grown up now for his parents. Suddenly Benjy was the man of the property. His parents only realized it now.
Passage –
- For the next four or five years Benjy went on creating more houses for more hens, and then selling more eggs and making more money. He was sell a simple man. He could not have made a pair of boots; he knew nothing about the stock-markets. But he knew everything about a hen. His hens were still to him what the earth was to his parents: all he had, and all he understood.
Word Meaning:
Stock–market– where investors buy and sell shares of companies.
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy was making more money by creating more and more houses for hens , selling more eggs for the next four to five years. Benjy was still a simple man who sells eggs with a simple smile on his face. Benjy was very good in his business; he knew everything about hen. He didn’t know how to make a pair of boots or anything about the stock- market but he knew everything about his work. For Benjy hens were everything just like how earth was to his parents. Hens were a very important part of his life and that’s all he could understand.
Passage –
- There was only one difference between Benjy’s hens and his parents’ land. The hens belonged to Benjy. The land had never belonged to his parents, who had rented it now for forty years, on a yearly tenancy, from a man named Sanders. They had often spoken of buying the land, but somehow the scheme never came to anything. It was easier for Benjy’ s father to stand at the door and talk, or to talk in the pulpit and trust in God, than to make a business proposition. And now, at sixty-five, they were too old to think of buying land, even if there had been any money for buying land.
Word Meaning:
Tenancy– possession of land or property as a tenant
Pulpit- podium, dais
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy was the owner of the hens, that was the only difference between him and his parents . Benjy’s parents never purchased the land, they had rented the land for more than forty years from a man named Sanders. So they never had the ownership rights of the land, they were always tenants of their land. Sometimes they had thought of purchasing the land from Sanders but somehow that never happened. Benjy’s father had the courage to talk to people about God by standing at the door or on a podium , but he never talked about his business or thought of making a business transaction. Now his father was too old as he turned sixty-five to purchase the land even if he had money to actually purchase the land.
Passage –
- And suddenly the land was for sale: their land, their earth, which was all they had. The town was spreading, the man named Sanders said, and everywhere people wanted land for building. Either he must sell the land for building, or he must sell the land to them.
Explanation of the Above Passage – And now as the population of the town was increasing , people wanted the land for making more buildings, suddenly their land went on sale. The same land which was all they ever had, their earth was now for sale. Sanders, who was the owner of the land had no other option but to sell that land either to the Johnsons or to somebody else for making new buildings.
Passage –
- They felt lost and distracted. They had lived a vague, trusting life without system, with a simple-minded son to rear, with an infinite faith in God but with little or no faith in fertilizers. As a result they had nothing. Even the earth, which they had regarded as inviolate, was not theirs, and was about to be taken away from them.
Word Meaning:
Distracted– sidetracked
Vague- uncertain or unclear
Rear- at the back
Infinite- limitless
Fertilizers- chemical or natural substance added to soil or land to increase its fertility.
Inviolate- not open to any threat or attack
Explanation of the Above Passage – The johnsons felt lost and sidetracked after hearing that their land went on sale. They had lived their entire life by trusting God and not by understanding how the world actually works. Their entire life was so unclear now they were just left with a simple-minded son Benjy and their limitless trust in God and little or no faith on chemicals or natural substances that they could have used to increase the fertility of their field. As a result everything was taken away from them, even the earth that they thought could not be attacked and was theirs. They were left with nothing.
Passage –
- Deeply and painfully upset, they went to the man named Sanders, and told him how it was.
- ‘I don’t see no way of getting the money,’ Benjy’s father said. ‘So we must get out at Michaelmas. That’s all.’
- ‘Don’t you worry,’ Sanders said. ‘Don’t surprise me you can’t see your way to do it. But I can tell you this, if you can’t buy it, somebody not far away will.’
- ‘Who’ll buy it?’ they said.
- ‘Benjy,’ he said.
- They went home feeling that this was the supremely important moment of their lives. It seemed like the moment of reward. If their faith had been shaken, it was now completely whole again. They saw that there could be joy and satisfaction and ultimate good, even in the raising of a simple-minded son.
Word Meaning:
Michaelmas– the feast of St Michael, 29 September.
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s father was really upset and was in a deep pain so he went to the owner of the land named Sanders and said we don’t have the money and we don’t see any way of getting the money so we must get out of this town on the feast of St Michael, 29 September. Then Sanders replied to the Johnsons not to worry about this but to find a way to buy this land because if they can’t find a way to buy this somebody else would buy it soon.
Johnsons asked Sanders who would buy this land so Sanders replied your son Benjy would buy it. After hearing this, the Johnsons regained their faith and trust. This felt like a very important moment of their entire lives. It felt like a reward to them. They were very happy and satisfied by raising their simple minded son.
Passage –
- “We never knew, Benjy. We never even suspected,’ they said. ‘What made you do it? What are you going to do?’
- ‘I’m going to put up more incubator houses,’ Benjy said.
Explanation of the Above Passage – The Johnsons were really surprised by this and they asked Benjy how he planned all this , how he was going to do this? Benjy explained to them he was planning to build Incubator houses(incubator houses are built as part of various poultry farms, breeding farms, and poultry hatcheries.
Passage –
- Again, as when they had given Benjy the passbook, they did not speak. They had expected something else, without quite knowing what: a word, a small concession perhaps, an assurance that things would go on as before. But there was nothing, only the same simple finality as when Benjy had taken possession of the passbook. They were momentarily pained. Then they knew, again, why it was. There are some things which are forgivable to a simple-minded man. The simple-minded, as they knew quite well, do not always understand.
Word Meaning:
Assurance– a positive declaration intended to give confidence; a promise
Explanation of the Above Passage – The Johnsons had the very same feeling they experienced when they gave Benjy the passbook and he kept the passbook directly in his pocket without expressing much. At that time also they were expecting a better response like a word, a thank you or a positive declaration to give them a confidence that things would remain the same as they were before.
The Johnsons were hurt by Benjy’s response for a small moment of time because they realised that Benjy was a simple-minded man who could not understand those feelings and gave them a benefit of doubt that a simple-minded man can not understand much about emotions and feelings.
Passage –
- By this time Benjy was almost forty, and it was only to them that he remained a simple-minded man. As his new hygienic chicken houses began to cover first one strip of his father’s former land and then another, with the grey patches of hen-dung eating their way into the brown tilled earth, he began to be the largest poultry farmer on that side of the town. In appearance he had changed too. Always big-limbed, he had now become rather fat. His eyes were still a simple blue, and soft fair hair still grew thickly on his face, but now, set in fat flesh, the eyes seemed much smaller. They were no longer the eyes of a simple-minded man. They were the eyes of a man who, in a simple way, is quite cunning.
Word Meaning:
Former– prior, earlier
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s business was increasing rapidly. By the time he turned forty, for his parents Benjy was still a simple-minded man. But Benjy was doing so well in his business that one by one his father’s former land was getting covered by his new and hygienic chicken houses. Benjy became the largest poultry farmer of his side of the town. Benjy’s appearance had also changed by now. He was still a big-limbed guy but now he became rather fat. He still had a simple blue coloured eye and had soft-fair hair which were growing thickly on his face but because he was much fatter now that his eyes appear to be much smaller than before. His eyes no longer looked like the eyes of a simple-minded man. Rather he looked like the eyes of a clever looking man.
Passage –
- No one but Benjy, at this time, knew how many hens and chickens he possessed. No one knew how many eggs the collective-system lorries fetched from him every week; no one knew the amount of his passbook. It was possible to gauge his progress only by the new chicken houses covering his father’s former land, and by the fact that he now employed people to help him.
Word Meaning:
Possessed- controlled
Lorries- a large, heavy motor vehicle for transporting goods or troops; a truck.
Gauge- an instrument that measures and gives a visual display of the amount, level, or contents of something.
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy became a very successful man. But nobody knew apart from Benjy how many hens and chickens he had collected so far. No one knew how many eggs he was supplying and selling every week by loading them in trucks and how much money he had collected in his passbook. The only way to measure Benjy’s progress was by looking at his fathers former land and how the land was covered by the new chickens. Also, Benjy had started employing new people to help him with his business.
Passage –
- One of these people was a girl named Florence. She had thick heavy legs and loose lips and unreflective grey eyes that matched Benny’s in their apparent simplicity. When Florence bent down to clean the chicken houses, which were raised up off the ground, Benjy could see a gap of bare flesh above her grey stockings or the shadows of deep breasts beneath her smock. In a little while Benjy was catching Florence about the waist in the warm dark incubator houses, and for the first time in his life he had some other interest besides hens.
Word Meaning:
Unreflective- not reflecting light.
Apparent- clear
Smock- a dress or top for a woman or girl, gathered at the chest and having a loosely fitting lower part.
Explanation of the Above Passage – Out of all the people Benjy had employed for his business there was a girl named Florence. This girl had thick heavy legs, loose lips and had non reflecting grey coloured eyes that could match Benjy’s clear simplicity. Florence used to clean the chicken houses by bending down on the ground and at that moment Benjy could see a gap of bare flesh through her stockings. He could see the shadows of her breast under her loose fitted top. After a while Benjy was holding Florence from her waist in the darkness of his incubator houses. For the very first time Benjy found his interest in a girl besides his hens and business of eggs.
Passage –
- It became clear to him that his father and mother did not like Florence, this simple, undistinguished girl with ugly legs and a mouth that would not keep shut. But Benjy did not need a distinguished, intelligent girl, even if one would have looked at him. He needed a woman to help with the hens, and soon he was saying that he and Florence would be married.
Word Meaning:
Undistinguished– lacking distinction; unexceptional
Explanation of the Above Passage – But Benjy’s mother and father did not like Florence. They did not find any distinction in this girl. For them Florence was not good looking as she had ugly legs and she never kept her mouth shut as she used to talk all the time. But for Benjy, he didn’t need any different girl .For him it doesn’t even matter if the girl was even intelligent or not even if he wanted to look around for other girls. He just wanted a woman who could help him with his business. For Benjy, Florence was that girl who could help him with his hens and he wanted to marry Florence.
Word Meaning:
- As with the passbook and the lad, his father and mother were not prepared for that.
- ‘Married? Aren’t you all right as you are? Don’t you want time to consider it? Where are you going to live?’
- ‘Here,’ Benjy said.
- And that autumn, at the end of his fortieth year, Benjy moved into the house with Florence as his wife.
- ‘We’ll want the front bedroom,’ Benjy said.
Word Meaning:
Lad– a boy or a young man
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s parents were not prepared for this. For them, Benjy was just a young boy with a simple mind who did not understand much.
Benjy’s parents asked him why he even wanted to get married in the first place, isn’t he fine just the way he was? They asked him don’t you want to think twice before doing this? Have you decided where and how would you live?
Benjy replied to his parents that he and Florence would live in this house only. Benjy married Florence at the end of his fortieth year in the autumn season and moved in with Florence as his wife in the same house. Benjy told his parents that they want the front bedroom.
Passage –
- All their lives his father and mother had slept in the front bedroom. Now they vacated it and moved into the back. This removal hurt them deeply. But because it was now Benjy’s house, because Benjy asked it, they moved without protest, adding a little more to the long chronicle of sacrifice, forgiving Benjy because the simple-minded cannot be expected to understand.
Word Meaning:
Vacated– leave
Chronicle– account, record
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s parents had lived in the front bedroom for their entire life so when Benjy asked for the front bedroom, his parents had to leave the front bedroom and move into the back. This incident hurted them very badly. Since the house belonged to Benjy and he was now the owner of the house, they moved to the back without saying much. But this incident just like the passbook incident also hurted them deeply but again they decided to forgive him as they thought Benjy was a simple-minded man who cannot understand much.
Passage –
- But the problem of the girl was different. It seemed to them that the girl was about to take Benjy away from them. The air in the house became charged deeply with antagonism, the house itself invisibly but clearly divided. And then presently it became divided in actuality. Up to that time the four people had eaten together. Suddenly Benjy’ s mother did not like the way Florence scoured the saucepans. ‘I always scour them with soda. Soda’s always been good enough for me and always will.’
Word Meaning:
Antagonism- ill feeing
Scoured- rubbed, cleaned
Scour- clean
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s parents did not like the girl. They thought Florence wanted to take Benjy away from them . Suddenly the entire vibe of the house changed. There was negativity all around the house, it seemed that the house was at the verge of getting divided. Later the house actually got divided. Earlier, the four of them used to eat together. But Benjy’s mother did not like the way Florence cleaned the saucepans. She used to clean them with soda so she said to Florence, Soda was always the good way of cleaning and would always be the best way to clean saucepans.
Passage –
- When Benjy heard of the quarrel he had a very simple solution. ‘That settles it,’ he said. ‘Now you eat in the kitchen, and we’ll eat in the other room.’
Explanation of the Above Passage – When Benjy heard his mother and Florence arguing about cleaning the saucepans, he decided that his mother and father should start eating in the kitchen and Florence and Benjy should eat in the other room. So that they don’t have to eat together.
Passage –
- And throughout that winter Benjy and his wife lived in one part of the house, and his father and mother in the other. To the old people the days began now to seem very long, and as they looked out on the land they could see the reason. Where there had once been brown bare earth, rows of winter beans, patches of wheat, there were now only Benjy’s chicken houses. The earth was still there, but the purpose of it no longer concerned them. The plough, the mare, the cart, and their few tools stood about in the yard, but now it was truer than ever that without the earth they were useless.
Explanation of the Above Passage – As decided by Benjy his mother and father spent the entire winter in one part of the room whereas Florence and Benjy lived in the other part.The days seemed to be longer than usual for Benjy’s mother and father. They used to look out on the land where the Johnsons used to farm, grow beans and patches of wheat; now there were only Benjy’s chicken houses. They could still see the earth but the earth has lost its value and importance to them. Johnsons still had the plough, the horse, the cart, and few tools in their yard but without the earth all these things are of no use to them.
Passage –
- As the winter went on, and the four people were more and more confined indoors, the division in the house became an enormous gap. The two women passed each other on the stairs with glances of antagonism, nor speaking. When Benjy’s father walked out to preach on Sundays he walked slowly and brokenly, with the steps of an old man. Only Benjy appeared not to be upset. Preoccupied with his hens, it was as if the emotions of normal people never penetrated beyond his plump hairy face and the eyes that looked so harmless and simple still.
Word Meaning:
Confined– restricted
Enormous- Big
Antagonism- active hostility or opposition
Explanation of the Above Passage – All across the winter, all the four people kept themselves restricted into their separate rooms, the house seemed to be even more divided and there was a very big gap between them now.
Whenever Florence and Benjy’s mother passed each other on the stairs, there was a feeling of opposition and they never spoke to one another. Benjy’s father turned very old and whenever he walked out to preach on Sundays he used to take small steps very slowly and brokenly just like an old man. But Benjy was not bothered by whatever was going on in the house or with his father. He was always busy with his hens. Beside having the looks of a simple-minded man with plump hairy face and those harmless eyes, It seemed that the emotions and feelings of a normal human being does not affect or bother Benjy.
Passage –
- But in the end it was Benjy who made the decision.
- ‘Mum and Dad,’ he said,’ it would be a lot better if you went somewhere else to live.’
- ‘Benjy,’ they said.
- ‘A lot better,’ he said. ‘This is our house now. We want it. I bought the house, and I want it now.’
- ‘Benjy.’
- ‘I bought it and I want it,’ Benjy said again. ‘I want you to go.’
- ‘Benjy, we can’t go,’ his mother said. ‘We got nowhere to go. We got nowhere.’
- ‘You’ve got to get out!’ Benjy shouted.
Explanation of the Above Passage – In the end Benjy decided that he did not want his mother and father to live with him anymore. So he asked his parents to leave the house and find some other place to live. Benjy said to his parents that he had bought the house so he was the owner of the house, it would be much better if they went somewhere else to live.
Benjy’s mother replied to Benjy that they had nowhere to go. But Benjy didn’t listen, he asked them to get out of the house.
Passage –
- As he shouted they realised, more fully than at any time in their lives, that Benjy was really not right in his head. His simple blue eyes were shot suddenly with a wild expression of insane anger. They not only knew that Benjy was a simple-minded man who was not fully responsible for his actions, but for the first time, struck by this wild-eyed burst of anger, they were frightened of Benjy too.
Explanation of the Above Passage – When Benjy started shouting, his parents realised that they were right throughout their lives that Benjy was not right in his head. Benjy’s simple blue eyes of a simple-minded man suddenly filled with mad anger. His parents knew that Benjy was a simple-minded mind who could not understand and take the responsibility of his own actions. But for the very first time his parents were really afraid of Benjy’s anger as his eyes were filled with anger.
Passage –
- ‘All right,’ they said, ‘we’ll find some way to go.’
Explanation of the Above Passage – So his parents decided to leave the house and said we would find some way to go.
Passage –
- It was little more than a week later when Benjy drove his mother and father down into the town. He now had a small Ford van, and as he drove the van, with his mother and father on the driving seat, he showed no sign of normal emotion. It was clear that he did not understand the meaning of affection, of bewilderment, or of despair. He felt and spoke and thought only in the simplest terms, with the cruel simplicity of a child.
Word Meaning:
Bewilderment– the quality or state of being lost,
Despair- the complete loss
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy had a small Ford van. After a week later Benjy drove his mother and father down into the town. While he was driving his parents, he did not show any emotion or feeling of a normal human being.It was very clear to his parents that Benjy did not understand or feel affection or loss. Benjy could only feel, speak and think in the simplest way just like a child.
Passage –
- ‘You’ll be better by yourselves in lodgings,’ he said. ‘You’ll be better by yourselves.’
Word Meaning:
Lodgings– temporary accommodation.
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy said to his parents that you would be better on your own in any rented accommodation.
Passage –
- They did not answer. They sat with faces made completely immobile by a kind of stupefied resignation very near to grief. They listened silently and, because for forty years they had believed Benjy to be not right in his head, they made allowances for the last time.
Word Meaning:
Immobile– motionless
Stupefied- bewildered, stunned
Grief- intense sorrow
Allowances- something that is permitted
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy’s parents did not reply to what Benjy said. Their faces were motionless just like they had experienced an intense loss. They were listening silently because for more than forty years they had believed that Benjy was not right in his head, so after this incident also they made peace with it and believed this for the last time also that Benjy was not right in his head that’s why he did all this.
Passage –
- Down in the town the car stopped in a street filled entirely with houses. Benjy did not get out of the van, his father’s and mother’s belongings had already gone on and now they alighted empty-handed. As they stood on the pavement Benjy spoke a few words to them, looked at them with unmoved simple eyes, and then drove away.
Word Meaning:
Alighted- to come down from something (such as a vehicle)
Pavement- the hard surface of a road or street.
Explanation of the Above Passage – Benjy stopped the car down in the town in a street filled with houses. His father and mother took their luggage and all the belongings out of the car and then came out of the van and were standing empty-handed. Benjy did not even get out of his van. His parents were standing on the side of the road, Benjy spoke a few words to his parents but without any emotions or feelings just with his simple eyes and then drove back in his van.
Passage –
- When the van had gone they stood alone on the pavement, looking at the ground. They stood as if they had alighted in a strange place, were not sure of themselves, and did not know what to do.
Explanation of the Above Passage – After Benjy left, his parents were standing alone on the edge of the road looking at the ground. They did not know what to do, it seemed like they were standing in a strange place not sure where to go or what to do.
Passage –
- Once they had had the earth. Now it was not possible to tell, from their downcast and silent faces, whether they altogether realised that it, too, had gone.
Explanation of the Above Passage – At one point of time they had the earth. Now they were so upset that they had nothing to say. It’s even difficult to tell if they had realized or not that even the earth was gone and they were left with nothing.
BSEB Class 12 English Lessons Explanation
- Indian Civilization and Culture Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- Bharat is my Home Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- A Pinch of Snuff Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- I have a Dream Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- Ideas That Have Helped Mankind Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- The Artist Summary Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- A Child is Born Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- How Free Is The Press Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- The Earth Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- India Through a Traveller’s Eyes Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- The proposal Summary, Explanation, Word meanings
- Sweetest Love, I Do Not Goe Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- Song of Myself Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- Now the leaves are falling fast Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- Ode To Autumn Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- An Epitaph Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- The Soldier Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- Macavity The Mystery Cat Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- Fire-Hymn Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- Snake Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
- My Grandmother’s House Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings
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