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F.2 1. Mrs Packletide's Tiger by Saki Fiction 2...

F.2 1. Mrs Packletide's Tiger by Saki Fiction 2 UNIT UNIT Why do people hunt? Complete the web chart giving various reasons for the same: Was thought to be an act of bravery Reasons for Hunting 2. Read these lines and guess the answers to the questions given below It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger …. The compelling motive ….was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently …… personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully counter that sort of thing. a) Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger? b) What does it tell you about her? c) What is the tone of the storywriter? d) Do you think she was successful in her mission? e) What do you think the story is all about? 14  Fiction 3. This story was written at a time when there was very little awareness about the need to protect the environment and the wildlife. Now read the story. 1. It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger. Not that the lust to kill had suddenly descended on her, or that she felt that she would leave India safer and more wholesome than she had found it, with one fraction less of wild beast per million of inhabitants. The compelling motive for her sudden deviation towards the footsteps of 1 Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else; only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of press photographs could successfully counter that sort of thing. Mrs. Packletide had already arranged in her mind the lunch she would give at her house on Curzon Street, ostensibly2 in Loona Bimberton's honour, with a tiger-skin rug occupying most of the foreground and all of the conversation. She had also already designed in her mind the tiger-claw brooch that she was going to give Loona Bimberton on her next birthday. In a world that is supposed to be chiefly swayed by hunger and by love Mrs. Packletide was an exception; her movements and motives were largely governed by dislike of Loona Bimberton. 2. Circumstances proved propitious3. Mrs. Packletide had offered a thousand rupees for the opportunity of shooting a tiger without over-much risk or exertion, and it so 4 happened that a neighbouring village could boast of being the favoured rendezvous of an animal of respectable antecedents, which had been driven by the increasing infirmities of age to abandon game-killing and confine its appetite to the smaller domestic animals. The prospect of earning the thousand rupees had stimulated the sporting and commercial instinct of the villagers; children were posted night and day on the outskirts of the local jungle to head the tiger back in the unlikely event of his attempting to roam away to fresh hunting-grounds, and the cheaper kinds of goats were left about with elaborate carelessness to keep him satisfied with his present quarters. The one great anxiety was lest he should die of old age before the date appointed for the memsahib's shoot. Mothers carrying their babies home through the jungle after the day's work in the fields hushed their singing lest they might curtail the restful sleep of the venerable herd-robber. 1. Nimrod : Biblical character (great grandson of Noah); a mighty hunter 2. ostensibly: supposedly 3. propitious : favourable 15 4. rendezvous : meeting Fiction 3. The great night duly arrived, moonlit and cloudless. A platform had been constructed in a comfortable and conveniently placed tree, and thereon crouched Mrs. Packletide and her paid companion, Miss Mebbin. A goat, gifted with a particularly persistent bleat, such as even a partially deaf tiger might be reasonably expected to hear on a still night, 5 was tethered at the correct distance. With an accurately sighted rifle and a thumb- 6 nail pack of patience cards the sportswoman awaited the coming of the quarry. 4. "I suppose we are in some danger?" said Miss Mebbin. 5. She was not actually nervous about the wild beast, but she had a morbid dread of performing an atom more service than she had been paid for. 6. "Nonsense," said Mrs. Packletide; "it's a very old tiger. It couldn't spring up here even if it wanted to." 7. "If it's an old tiger I think you ought to get it cheaper. A thousand rupees is a lot of money." 8. Louisa Mebbin adopted a protective elder-sister attitude towards money in general, irrespective of nationality or denomination. Her energetic intervention had saved many a rouble from depleting itself in tips in some Moscow hotel, and francs and centimes clung to her instinctively under circumstances which would have driven them headlong from less sympathetic hands. Her speculations as to the market depreciation of tiger remnants were cut short by the appearance on the scene of the animal itself. As soon as it caught sight of the tethered goat it lay flat on the earth, seemingly less from a desire to take advantage of all available cover than for the purpose of snatching a short rest before commencing the grand attack. 9. "I believe it's ill," said Louisa Mebbin, loudly in Hindustani, for the benefit of the village headman, who was in ambush in a neighbouring tree. 10. "Hush!" said Mrs. Packletide, and at that moment the tiger commenced ambling towards his victim. 11. "Now, now!" urged Miss Mebbin with some excitement; "if he doesn't touch the goat we needn't pay for it." (The bait was an extra.) 5. tethered - fastened 16 6. thumb - nail pack of patience cards - small sized playing cards to play solitaire  Fiction 12. The rifle flashed out with a loud report, and the great tawny beast sprang to one side and then rolled over in the stillness of death. In a moment a crowd of excited natives had swarmed on to the scene, and their shouting speedily carried the glad news to the village, where a thumping of tom-toms took up the chorus of triumph. And their triumph and rejoicing found a ready echo in the heart of Mrs. Packletide; already that luncheon-party in Curzon Street seemed immeasurably nearer. 13. It was Louisa Mebbin who drew attention to the fact that the goat was in death-throes from a mortal bullet-wound, while no trace of the rifle's deadly work could be found on the tiger. Evidently the wrong animal had been hit, and the beast of prey had succumbed to heart-failure, caused by the 7 sudden report of the rifle, accelerated by senile decay. Mrs. Packletide was pardonably annoyed at the discovery; but, at any rate, she was the possessor of a dead tiger, and the villagers, anxious for their thousand rupees, gladly connived at the fiction that she had shot the beast. And Miss Mebbin was a paid companion. Therefore, Mrs. Packletide faced the cameras with a light heart, and her pictured fame reached from the pages of the Texas Weekly Snapshot to the illustrated Monday supplement of the Novoe Vremya. As for Loona Bimberton, she refused to look at an illustrated paper for weeks, and her letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger-claw brooch was a model of repressed emotions. The luncheon-party she declined. There are limits beyond which repressed emotions become dangerous. 14. "How amused every one would be if they knew what really happened," said Louisa Mebbin a few days after the ball. 15. "What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Packletide quickly. 16. "How you shot the goat and frightened the tiger to death," said Miss Mebbin, with her disagreeably pleasant laugh. 17. "No one would believe it," said Mrs. Packletide, her face changing colour as rapidly as though it were going through a book of patterns8before post-time9. 18. "Loona Bimberton would," said Miss Mebbin. Mrs. Packletide's face settled on an unbecoming shade of greenish white. 7. senile - characteristic of old age 8. book of patterns - Book showing the colour patterns of racing. stables, with colours worn by jockeys. 17 9. post-time- the start of horse race and deadline for placing a bet Fiction 19. "You surely wouldn't give me away?" she asked. 20. “I've seen a week-end cottage near Darking that I should rather like to buy," said Miss Mebbin with seeming irrelevance. "Six hundred and eighty, freehold. Quite a bargain, only I don't happen to have the money." * * * 10 21. Louisa Mebbin's pretty week-end cottage, christened by her "Les Fauves ," and gay in summer-time with its garden borders of tiger-lilies, is the wonder and admiration of her friends. 22. "It is a marvel how Louisa manages to do it," is the general verdict. 23. Mrs. Packletide indulges in no more big-game shooting. 24. "The incidental11expenses are so heavy," she confides to inquiring friends. About the Author Saki, (1870-1916), whose real name was Hector Hugh Munro, was a British writer, whose witty stories satirized the society and culture of his day. He was considered a master of the short story. 4. Read the extract and answer the questions that follow. II. “It was Louisa Mebbin who drew attention to the fact that the goat was in death- throes from a mortal bullet-wound, while no trace of the rifle’s deadly work could be found on the tiger. Evidently the wrong animal had been hit, and the beast of prey had succumbed to heart-failure, caused by the sudden report of the rifle, accelerated by senile decay. Mrs Packletide was pardonably annoyed at the discovery; but, at any rate, she was the possessor of a dead tiger, and the villagers anxious for their thousand rupees, gladly connived at the fiction that she had shot the beast. And Miss Mebbin was a paid companion.” i) Which line from the extract supports the idea that people had no doubts about Mrs Packletide missing her mark? ii) Select the option that correctly reveals the character traits of Mrs. Packletide. 1. Miserly 2. Opportunistic 3. Blunt 4. Greedy 18 10. Les Fauves - French for ' The Wild Animals' 11. incidental - secondary.  Fiction 5. Pretentious A. 1, 3 and 4 B. 2, 3, 4 and 5 C. 1, 3, 4 and 5 D. 2, 4 and 5 iii) Select the idiom that captures the central idea of the extract. A. Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn. B. Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids. C. Humans are the most unreliable species. D. The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance- it is the illusion of knowledge. iv) Identify the writer’s tone in this extract. v) Select the option that displays the reason for Mrs. Packletide’s brief annoyance. A. The covering up of her blunder. B. The death of the goat. C. The sudden report of the rifle. D. The participation of the villagers. 4. Answer the following questions in your own words: (a) What made Mrs. Packletide decide to give a party in Loona Bimberton's honour? What did she intend to give Loona on her birthday? (b) Who was Miss Mebbin? Was she really devoted to Mrs. Packletide? How did she behave during the tiger shooting? (c) Mrs. Packletide was a good shot. Discuss. (d) What comment did Miss Mebbin make after Mrs Packletide fired the shot? Why did Miss Mebbin make this comment? How did Mrs Packletide react to this comment? (e) Briefly comment on the behaviour of the villagers throughout the story. (f) Did Mrs. Packletide achieve her heart's desire? Give reasons for your answer. (g) How did Miss Mebbin manage to get her week-end cottage? Why did she plant so many tiger lilies in her garden? 19 Fiction (h) "The incidental expenses are so heavy," she confides to inquiring friends. Who is the speaker? What is she referring to here? (i) Do you think the silent figure of Loona Bimberton in the background, plays a crucial role in the story? Explain. 6. Discuss the following questions in detail and write the answers in your notebooks: (a) Do you think the tiger shooting organized by the villagers was a serious affair? Give reasons for your answer. (b) Do you think the writer is trying to make fun of the main characters in the story i.e. Mrs. Packletide, Miss Mebbin and Loona Bimberton? Pick out instances from the story that point to this fact. (c) A person who is vain is full of self importance and can only think of himself/herself and can go to great lengths to prove his/her superiority. Do you think Mrs Packletide is vain? Give reasons in support of your answer. (d) Sometimes writers highlight certain negative aspects in society or human beings by making fun of them. This is called a Satire. In your groups, discuss whether you would classify this story as a satire. Give reasons to support your answer (e) How does the writer create humour in this story? 7. Choose extracts from the story that illustrate the character of the people listed in the table given below. There are some words given to help you. You may add words of your own. One has been done as an example: vain jealous competitive shrewd manipulative stingy materialistic spiteful Character Extract from the story What this tells us about the character Mrs. Packletide (i) The compelling motive for her sudden Competitive deviation towards the footsteps of Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else; only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully counter 20 that sort of thing  Fiction (ii) Mrs. Packletide had offered a thousand............................ rupees for the opportunity of shooting a tiger without over-much risk or exertion, (iii) Mrs. Packletide faced the cameras with........................... a light heart, and her pictured fame reached from the pages of the Texas Weekly Snapshot to the illustrated Monday supplement of the Novoe Vremya. Louisa Mebbin (i) "If it's an old tiger I think you ought to........................... get it cheaper. A thousand rupees is a lot of money." (ii) Louisa Mebbin adopted a protective........................... elder-sister attitude towards money in general, irrespective of nationality or denomination (iii) "How amused every one would be if........................... they knew what really happened," said Louisa Mebbin a few days after the ball. (iv) Louisa Mebbin's pretty week-end cottage, christened by her "Les Fauves," and gay in summer-time with its garden borders of tiger-lilies, is the wonder and admiration of her friends Loona Bimberton (i) As for Loona Bimberton, she refused to........................... look at an illustrated paper for weeks, and her letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger-claw brooch was a model of repressed emotions (ii) There are limits beyond which repressed........................... emotions become dangerous. 21 Fiction 8. There are many amusing lines in the story. Here are a few of them. Rewrite each one in ordinary prose so that the meaning is retained. One has been done for you as an example: a) It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger. Mrs. Packletide wanted to shoot a tiger b) Mrs. Packletide had already arranged in her mind the lunch she would give at her house on Curzon Street, ostensibly in Loona Bimberton's honour, with a tiger-skin rug occupying most of the foreground and all of the conversation. …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… c) Mothers carrying their babies home through the jungle after the day's work in the fields hushed their singing lest they might curtail the restful sleep of the venerable herd-robber. …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… d) Louisa Mebbin adopted a protective elder-sister attitude towards money in general, irrespective of nationality or denomination. …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… (e) Evidently the wrong animal had been hit, and the beast of prey had succumbed to heart-failure, caused by the sudden report of the rifle, accelerated by senile decay. …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… (f) As for Loona Bimberton, she refused to look at an illustrated paper for weeks, and her letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger-claw brooch was a model of repressed emotions. …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… 9. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines normally-contradictory terms. The most common form of oxymoron involves an adjective-noun combination of two words like- failed success Writers often use an oxymoron to call attention to an apparent contradiction. For example, Wilfred Owen's poem The Send-off refers to soldiers leaving for the front line, who "lined the train with faces grimly gay." The oxymoron 'grimly gay' highlights the 22  Fiction contradiction between how the soldiers feel and how they act: though they put on a brave face and act cheerful, they feel grim. Some examples of oxymorons are- dark sunshine, cold sun, living dead, dark light, almost exactly etc. The story Mrs. Packletide's Tiger has a number of oxymorons. Can you identify them and write them down in your notebooks? WRITING TASK 10. (a) Years later Mrs. Packletide writes her autobiography. As Mrs. Packletide, write about the tiger episode with the help of the clues given below. jealous of the applause Loona was getting-thought of tiger hunt--all arranged-- Louisa Mebbin accompanied; turned out to be a blackmailer-huge price to pay to outdo a rival (b) Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger by Saki is seeped in rich wit and humour. Choose and describe the most Laugh-Out-Loud (LOL) moment in the story. Give at least three reasons as to why you think this the most LOL moment. (c) In groups of four, construct the dialogues and enact the following situations from the story: 1. Mrs. Packletide and the headman of the village/other villagers discussing the details of the tiger shooting 2. Miss Mebbin blackmailing Mrs Packletide into gifting her a cottage 3. Loona Bimberton and a lady-friend discussing Mrs Packletide's hunting success LISTENING TASK 11. Listen to the reading of a passage on lion hunting and answer the questions given below: 1. The Maasai tribe in Africa hunt lions because i. they live near the forests of Africa ii. they view it as a sign of bravery and personal achievement iii. they are a hunting tribe iv. they adorn their bodies with body parts of the lion 2. Solo hunting has been banned because i. it is dangerous ii. of the declining lion population iii. too many hunters have been killed 23 Fiction iv. it creates pride in the minds of the successful hunters 3. The hunting of lionesses is discouraged because i. they bear the cubs ii. they run much faster iii. they are more fierce iv. they cannot be spotted easily 4. The Maasai warriors chase a lion with rattle bells to i. awaken it ii. make it run faster iii. make it angry iv. frighten it 5. The Maasai use three parts of the lion. They are i. the mane, tail and claws ii. the mane, nails and claws iii. the mane, tail and nails iv. the whiskers, tail and claws 6. The tail is given to i. the strongest warrior ii. the fastest warrior iii. the youngest warrior iv. the bravest warrior 24