Three Days to See Summary and Explanation
CBSE Class 7 English (Elective) Unit 1 Learning Together Chapter 3- Three Days to See Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings from Poorvi Book
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CBSE Class 7 English Unit 1 Learning Together Chapter 3 – Try Again
By Helen Keller
Helen Keller was blind. She shares her experiences of recognizing through touch and her plan to see things if given three days to see.
- Three Days to See Summary
- Three Days to See Summary in Hindi
- Three Days to See Theme
- Three Days to See Explanation
Related:
- Three Days to See Question Answers
- Three Days to See Character Sketch
- Class 7 English Summary and Lesson Notes
Three Days to See Summary
Helen Keller is blind and writes about her desperation to see. She identifies things by touching them. She can feel the symmetrical pattern on a leaf, the smooth surface of the birch and the rough bark of the pine tree. As she touches a growing bud, she gets to know that the sleepy winter is ending and spring has arrived. At times, when she touches a small tree, her hand touches a bird that shakes happily as it sings a song. However, she feels that the sense of sight must give much more pleasure than touch. Her heart cries for her deep desire to see. In case she gets vision for three days, she has listed all that she would want to see. On the first day, she would like to see her the kind people who were her companions. They had made her life worth living. She wondered what more would she see in the face of a friend as it is said that eyes are the window of the soul. She means to say that although she cannot see, she knows what lies in the heart of a friend. On the second day she would wake up at daybreak and see the wonder of night changing to day. Then she would visit a museum to get a look at the evolution of humans and the world. She would get to know of the dinosaurs and mastadoons and how they tiny statured man had managed to rule the animal kingdom with his powerful brain.
On the third day again she would wake up at daybreak and witness the magic of night changing to day. Then she would spend time in a city watching people going about in their daily life. She would stand at a busy corner of the road and look at people. If someone would smile, she would feel happy; if she saw a determined face, she would feel proud and a suffering face would evoke sympathy in her.
Then at midnight, once again she would be in permanent darkness. She would not be able to see all that she desired in the short duration of three days and when it would end, then she would be reminded of all that she had missed.
Helen gives an advice to those who can see – to use their eyes presuming that the next day they would not be able to see. It means that see whatever your heart desires. She applies the same to all senses – taste, smell, touch, hear. She advices to make the most of senses and appreciate the glory of nature’s beauty. She ends by saying that the sense of sight is the most beautiful.
Summary of the Lesson Three Days to See in Hindi
हेलेन केलर अंधी हैं और देखने की अपनी बेचैनी के बारे में लिखती हैं। वे चीजों को छूकर पहचानती हैं। वे एक पत्ते पर सममित पैटर्न, बर्च की चिकनी सतह और देवदार के पेड़ की खुरदरी छाल को महसूस कर सकती हैं। जैसे ही वे एक बढ़ती हुई कली को छूती हैं, उन्हें पता चलता है कि नींद भरी सर्दी खत्म हो रही है और वसंत आ गया है। कभी-कभी, जब वे एक छोटे से पेड़ को छूती हैं, तो उनका हाथ एक पक्षी को छूता है जो खुशी से झूमता हुआ गाना गाता है। हालाँकि, उन्हें लगता है कि दृष्टि की भावना स्पर्श से कहीं अधिक आनंद देती होगी। उनका दिल देखने की उनकी गहरी इच्छा के लिए रोता है। अगर उन्हें तीन दिनों के लिए दृष्टि मिल जाती है, तो उन्होंने उन सभी चीजों की सूची बना ली है जिन्हें वे देखना चाहेंगी। पहले दिन, वह अपने उन दयालु लोगों को देखना चाहेंगी जो उनके साथी थे। उन्होंने उनके जीवन को जीने लायक बनाया था। वह सोचती थी कि एक दोस्त के चेहरे में वह और क्या देख पाएगी क्योंकि कहा जाता है कि आँखें आत्मा की खिड़की होती हैं। उसका मतलब यह है कि हालाँकि वह देख नहीं सकती, लेकिन वह जानती है कि एक दोस्त के दिल में क्या है। दूसरे दिन वह भोर में जागती और रात को दिन में बदलते हुए देखती। फिर वह मनुष्यों और दुनिया के विकास को देखने के लिए एक संग्रहालय में जाती। वह डायनासोर और मस्तूलों के बारे में जानती और कैसे वे छोटे कद के मनुष्य अपने शक्तिशाली मस्तिष्क से जानवरों के साम्राज्य पर राज करने में कामयाब रहे। तीसरे दिन फिर वह भोर में जागती और रात को दिन में बदलते हुए जादू को देखती। फिर वह शहर में समय बिताती और लोगों को उनके दैनिक जीवन में चलते हुए देखती। वह सड़क के व्यस्त कोने पर खड़ी होकर लोगों को देखती। अगर कोई मुस्कुराता, तो उसे खुशी होती; अगर वह किसी दृढ़ निश्चयी चेहरे को देखती, तो उसे गर्व होता और किसी पीड़ित चेहरे को देखकर उसके मन में सहानुभूति पैदा होती। फिर आधी रात को, एक बार फिर वह स्थायी अंधकार में होती। वह तीन दिनों की छोटी अवधि में वह सब कुछ नहीं देख पाती जो वह चाहती थी और जब यह अवधि समाप्त हो जाती, तो उसे वह सब याद आ जाता जो उसने मिस किया था। हेलेन उन लोगों को एक सलाह देती है जो देख सकते हैं – अपनी आँखों का इस्तेमाल यह मानकर करें कि अगले दिन वे नहीं देख पाएँगे। इसका मतलब है कि जो भी आपका दिल चाहे, उसे देखें। वह इसे सभी इंद्रियों पर लागू करती है – स्वाद, गंध, स्पर्श, सुनना। वह इंद्रियों का अधिकतम उपयोग करने और प्रकृति की सुंदरता की महिमा की सराहना करने की सलाह देती है। वह यह कहकर समाप्त करती है कि दृष्टि की भावना सबसे सुंदर है।
Theme of the Lesson Three Days to See
Zest for life
Helen is enthusiastic about life which is evident from the plan that she presents if she got to see for three days. The visit to the museum and a busy city indicate her zeal towards life despite her blindness.
Importance of senses
Helen’s loss teaches us the importance of our senses. Her deep desire to see indicates the void that blindness has created in her. She considers vision to be the most delightful experience because she is deprived of it.
Sorrow
When Helen remarks that at midnight of the third day, she will be again put into permanent darkness, we can understand the sorrow and pain in her heart. Being blind has surely brought sadness and gloom in her life.
Didactic
In the last paragraph, Helen gives a suggestion to the reader to use their senses keeping in mind that the next day they may not have them. So, one must have all the experiences that one desires because they could be deprived of them. Thus, the story gives us a teaching.
Three Days to See Lesson Explanation
Passage: I, who cannot see, find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring, I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter’s sleep. Occasionally, I am very fortunate; I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song.
Word meanings:
symmetry: evenness
birch: a slender tree with thin peeling bark
shaggy: hairy
quiver: shiver
Explanation of the passage: Helen Keller tells that she is blind but through the sensation of touch, she finds several interesting things. Some of them are – the fine pattern on a leaf, the smooth skin of the silver birch tree, the rough trunk of the pine tree. During the Spring season, she touches the branches of trees in the hope of finding a bud of a flower which is the signal that nature has gotten out of the winter’s sleepy spell and spring has arrived. Sometimes, she is lucky because when she touches a small tree, she feels the happily shaking bird which is singing.
Passage: At times, my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. And I have imagined what I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes, say, for just three days.
Word meanings:
Longing: deep desire
Revealed: told or shown
Explanation of the passage: Sometimes, her heart cries out in desperation to see things. If, through touching and feeling, she derives so much pleasure, then she imagines that the pleasure derived by seeing things would be much more. She has imagined what all she would like to see if she was given vision for a period of three days.
Passage: I should divide the period into three parts. On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and companionship have made my life worth living. I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that ‘window of the soul’, the eye.
I can only ‘see’ through my fingertips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter, sorrow and other obvious emotions. I know my friends from the feel of their faces.
Word meanings:
Detect: find
Obvious: certain
Explanation of the passage: She would divide the three days’ period into three parts. On day one she would want to see those people who had been kind to her and were her companions. They made her life worthy. She wondered what would she see in the heart of her friend as it is said that the eye is the window of the soul. She means to say that despite lacking vision, she knows what lies inside the heart of her friend. With the help of her fingers, she can identify the outline of a face. She can identify whether the person is laughing or in sorrow and such emotions by feeling the lines and expressions on their face. She recognizes her friends by feeling their faces by touch.
Passage: The next day I should arise with the dawn and see the thrilling miracle by which night is transformed into day. I should behold with awe the magnificent panorama of light with which the sun awakens the sleeping earth. This day I should devote to a hasty glimpse of the world, past and present. I should want to see the pageant of man’s progress, and so I should go to the museums. There my eyes would see the condensed history of the earth—animals and the races of men pictured in their native environment; gigantic carcasses of dinosaurs and mastodons that roamed the earth before man appeared, with his tiny stature and powerful brain, to conquer the animal kingdom.
Word meanings:
Arise: here, awake
Dawn: daybreak
behold: see
Awe: amazement
panorama: scene
glimpse: brief look
pageant: display
condensed: brief
carcasses: remains
mastodons: a large animal similar to an elephant, but with fur
stature: physique, build
Explanation of the passage: On day two, she would wake up at daybreak and witness the magic when night changes to day. She would be amazed to see the scene of light as if awakening the earth which had been sleeping. Then she would like to get a quick look at the earth’s history. She would visit a museum and get to know of evolution of humans. She would like to know about the times of dinosaurs and mastadoons and how man appeared on the earth and managed to rule over the animal kingdom despite its small body but with a powerful brain.
Passage: The following morning, I should again greet the dawn, anxious to discover new delights, new revelations of beauty. Today, this third day, I shall spend in the workaday world, amid the haunts of men going about the business of life. The city becomes my destination.
Word meanings:
haunts: regular meeting places
Explanation of the passage: On the third day again she would wake up at daybreak. She would be curious to find new facets of nature. She would spend the day seeing people busy in their daily lives. She would visit the city.
Passage: First, I stand at a busy corner, merely looking at people, trying by sight of them to understand something of their daily lives. I see smiles, and I am happy. I see serious determination, and I am proud. I see suffering, and I am compassionate.
Word meanings:
merely: just
Compassionate: feeling or showing sympathy and concern for others
Explanation of the passage: At a busy corner of the road, she would watch people walk by and try to understand the pattern of their daily life. If she got smiles from them, she would feel happy. On seeing determined faces, she would feel proud. If she came across a suffering face, she would feel sympathetic.
Passage: At midnight, permanent night would close in on me again. Naturally in those three short days I should not have seen all I wanted to see. Only when darkness had again descended upon me should I realise how much I had left unseen.
Explanation of the passage: At the midnight of day three, once again, she would be put in a state of permanent darkness or night. In the short duration of three days, she would not have seen all that she wanted to. Once she would be in darkness again, then she would be reminded of all that she had missed seeing.
Passage: I who am blind can give one hint to those who can see: use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same method can be applied to your other senses. Hear the music of voice, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again. Make the most of every sense; glory in all the facets of pleasure and beauty, which the world reveals to you through the several means of contact, which Nature provides. But of all the senses, I am sure that sight must be the most delightful.
Word meanings:
strains: tunes
tactile sense: sense of touch
morsel: a small piece of food
facets: aspects
Explanation of the passage: Helen is blind and gives an advice to those who can see – to use their eyes in such a way, presuming that the next day they would not be able to see. Means that they would see all that they wished to because then they would not get a chance later. She suggests to apply the same procedure to other senses as well. For example – hear music of a voice, song sung by the bird, music of the orchestra, in case one would turn deaf the next day. Another example – touch every object lest the sense of touch fails the next day. Another example is of the sense of smell – to smell the fragrance of flowers, taste of food, in case not to get the sense of smell and taste the next day. She suggests to make the most of every sense, feel pleasure and thank god for the various facets of pleasure that he has showered on us. She concludes by saying that of allthe senses, perhaps the sense of sight gives the most pleasure. Perhaps she says this because she is devoid of the sense of sight.
Conclusion
This post on Three days to see from Poorvi book for class 7 gives the detailed summary, word meanings and explanation of the lesson. Students can get the gist of the lesson from the summary and understand the lesson.