JKBOSE 10th Class English Solutions chapter – 6 Pappachi’s Moth

Pappachi (meaning Grandfather) was an entomologist and had retired as Director in the Department of Entomology. His real name was Benaan John IpeAfter his retirement from the government office in Delhi, he had come to live Ayemenem in Kerala. It was going to be almost ten years when he retired from service and now he spent most of his time at home. His wife, Mammachi (meaning Grandmother), had taken to pickle-making after the retirement of her husbandShe was now quite successful in her business and had earned a name for herselfPappachi never gave her any help in her work because he thought it below his dignity to do so. On the contrary, he would often beat her with a brass flower vase. He also felt jealous of the success of his wife in her business. In order to get her a bad name, he would often sit in the open and start sewing the buttons that were in fact not missing. In fact, there was a reason behind Pappachi’s bitterness in temper. While in service, he had discovered a new species of moth but the credit of this discovery was then denied to him. And now when he had retired, the credit of the same discovery was taken by the present Acting Director who used to be far junior to Pappachi. This life of bitterness after retirement continued for many years. Pappachi’s son, Chacko, was a scholar at the Oxford University. Once during his visit to home, he saw his father beating his mother with the brass flower vase. Chacko took hold of his father’s arm and twisted it at his back. He also warned his father not to do so in future.

Now a great change came in Pappachi’s life. He never again spoke to his wife till his death. And when he died, Mammachi wept a lot not because she loved him but because she was used to living with him.

Pappachi’s Moth Summary in Hindi

पापाची (जिसका अर्थ दादा होता है) एक कीट-विज्ञानी था और कीट- विज्ञान विभाग के निदेशक पद से रिटायर हुआ था। उसका वास्तविक नाम बेनान जॉन आइप था । दिल्ली के सरकारी कार्यालय से रिटायर होने के बाद वह केरल प्रदेश के अयेमेनम स्थान पर रहने के लिए आ गया था। उसे रिटायर हुए लगभग दस वर्ष हो गए थे और अब वह अपना अधिकतर समय घर पर बिताया करता था। उसकी पत्नी मामाची (जिसका अर्थ दादी होता है) अपने पति के रिटायर होने के बाद से अचार बनाने का काम करने लगी थी। अब वह अपने व्यापार में काफी सफल हो गई थी और उसने अपने लिए नाम पैदा कर लिया था। पापाची उसके काम में उसे कोई सहायता नहीं देता था क्योंकि ऐसा करना वह अपनी शान के खिलाफ़ समझता था। इसके विपरीत, वह अक्सर उसे पीतल के एक फूलदान से पीटा करता था । व्यापार में अपनी पत्नी की सफ़लता से वह उससे ईर्ष्या भी करता था। अपनी पत्नी की बदनामी करने के लिए वह अक्सर खुले में बैठ जाता और वह बटन टांकना शुरू कर देता जो कि वास्तव में टूटे नहीं होते थे। वास्तव में पापाची के मिजाज़ की कड़वाहट के पीछे एक कारण भी था। जब वह नौकरी कर रहा था तो उसने पतंगों की एक नई जाति की खोज की थी किन्तु उस खोज का श्रेय उसे देने से मना कर दिया गया था। और अब जब कि वह रिटायर हो चुका था, उसी खोज का श्रेय वर्तमान कार्यवाहक निदेशक ने ले लिया था जो पापाची से कहीं ज्यादा जूनियर (कनिष्ठ) हुआ करता था । रिटायर हो जाने के बाद भी वह कड़वाहट को ज़िन्दगी जारी रही। पापाची का बेटा, चाको, आक्सफोर्ड विश्वविद्यालय में एक विद्वान था। एक बार जब वह घर आया तो उस दौरान उसने अपने पिता को उसकी मां को पीतल के फूलदान से पीटते हुए देख लिया। चाको ने अपने पिता की बांह पकड़ी और उसे उसकी पीठ के पीछे तक मरोड़ दिया। उसने अपने पिता को भविष्य में ऐसा न करने की चेतावनी भी दे डाली। अब पापाची के जीवन में एक भारी बदलाव आ गया। उसके बाद, अपनी मृत्यु तक भी, वह अपनी पत्नी से कभी नहीं बोला। और जब उसकी मृत्यु हुई तो मामाची बहुत रोई, इसलिए नहीं कि वह उससे प्रेम करती थी बल्कि इसलिए कि उसे उसके साथ रहते चले आने की आदत पड़ गई थी ।

Mammachi had started making pickles commercially soon after Pappachi retired from government service in Delhi and came to live in Ayemenem. The Kottayam Bible Society was having a fair and asked Mammachi to make some of her famous banana jam and tender mango pickle. It sold quickly, and Mammachi found that she had more orders than she could cope with. Thrilled with her success, she decided to persist with the pickles and jam, and soon found herself busy all year around. Pappachi, for his part, was having trouble coping with the ignominy of retirement. He was seventeen years older than Mammachi and realized with a shock that he was an old man while his wife was still in her prime.

Though Mammachi had conical corneas and was already practically blind, Pappachi would not help her with the pickle-making, because he did not consider pickle-making a suitable job for a high-ranking ex-government official. He had always been a jealous man so he greatly resented the attention his wife was suddenly getting. He slouched around the compound in his immaculately tailored suit, weaving sullen circles around mounds of red chillies and freshly powdered yellow turmeric, watching Mammachi supervise the buying, the weighing, the salting and drying, of limes and tender mangoes. Every night he beat her with a brass flower vase. The beatings weren’t new. What was new was only the frequency with which they took place. One night Pappachi broke the bow of Mammachi’s violin and threw it in the river.

Then Chacko came home for a summer vacation from Oxford. He had grown to be a big man and was, in those days, strong from rowing for Balliol. A week after he arrived he found Pappachi beating Mammachi in the study. Chacko strode into the room, caught Pappachi’s vase-hand and twisted it around his back.

‘I never want this to happen again,’ he told his father, ‘ever.’

For the rest of that day Pappachi sat in the verandah and stared stonily out at the ornamental garden, ignoring the plates of food that Kochu Maria brought him. Late at night he went into his study and brought out his favourite mahogany rocking chair. He put it down in the middle of the driveway and smashed it into little bits with a plumber’s monkey wrench. He left it there in the moonlight, a heap of varnished wicker and splintered wood. He never touched Mammachi again. But he never spoke to her either as long as he lived. When he needed anything, he used Kochu Maria or Baby Kochamma as intermediaries.

In the evenings, when he knew visitors were expected, he would sit on the verandah and sew buttons that weren’t missing onto his shirts, to create the impression that Mammachi neglected him. To some small degree he did succeed in further corroding Ayemenem’s view of working wives.

He bought the sky blue Plymouth from an old Englishman in Munnar. He became a familiar sight in Ayemenem, coasting importantly down the narrow road in his wide car, looking outwardly elegant but sweating freely inside his woollen_suits. He wouldn’t allow Mammachi or anyone else in the family to use it, or even to sit in it. The Plymouth was Pappachi’s revenge.

Pappachi had been an Imperial Entomologist at the Pusa Institute. After Independence, when the British left, his designation was changed from Imperial Entomologist to Joint Director, Entomology. The year he retired, he had risen to a rank equivalent to Director.

मामाची ने उसके शीघ्र ही बाद से व्यावसायिक रूप से अचार बनाने का काम शुरू कर दिया जब पापाची दिल्ली में |सरकारी सेवा से निवृत्त हो गया और अयेमेनम में रहने के लिए आ गया। कोटायम बाइबल सोसाइटी ने एक मेला लगाना था और उन्होंने मामाची से कहा कि वह अपनी कुछ प्रसिद्ध केले वाली चटनी और कच्चे आम वाला अचार बना दे । यह जल्दी से बिक गया, तथा मामाची ने देखा कि उसे इतने ज़्यादा आर्डर मिलने लगे थे जितने कि वह पूरे नहीं कर पाती थी । अपनी सफलता से रोमांचित होकर उसने अचार और चटनी बनाने के काम को जारी रखने का निश्चय कर लिया, और शीघ्र ही देखा कि वह पूरा वर्ष भर व्यस्त रहने लगी थी। अपनी तरफ से पापाची रिटायर हो जाने के कलंक का सामना करने में दिक्कत महसूस कर रहा था। वह आयु में मामाची से सत्रह वर्ष बड़ा था और उसे यह महसूस करते हुए सदमा महसूस हुआ कि वह एक बूढ़ा आदमी हो गया था जबकि उसकी पत्नी अभी भी अपनी जवानी में थी।

यद्यपि मामाची की आँखों का श्वेत पटल शंकु आकार का था और वह पहले ही लगभग पूरी तरह अन्धी हो चुकी थी, पापाची उसकी अचार बनाने में मदद नहीं करता था, क्योंकि वह अचार बनाने को ऊंचे रुतबे वाले एक पूर्वसरकारी अधिकारी के लिए कोई उपयुक्त काम नहीं मानता था। वह सदा से ही एक ईर्ष्यालु व्यक्ति रहा था इसलिए उसे उस सम्मान पर बहुत क्रोध आने लगा था जो उसकी पत्नी को अचानक प्राप्त होने लगा था । वह अपने अति सुन्दर ढंग से सिले हुए वस्त्र पहने आंगन में आलस्यपूर्वक घूमता | कच्चे आम खरीदते हुए, रहता, लाल मिर्च और ताज़ा पिसी हुई पीली हल्दी के ढेरों के गिर्द रूठा-सा हुआ चक्कर काटता, मामाची को नींबू तथा तौलते उनमें नमक मिलाते हुए और सुखाते हुए देखता रहता । प्रत्येक रात वह उसे एक पीतल के बने फूलदान के साथ पीटा करता। यह पिटाइयां कोई नई बात नहीं थीं। जो बात नई थी वह थी उस बारम्बारता की जिसमें वे होने लगी थीं। एक रात पापाची मामाची के वायलन की कमान को तोड़ दिया और इसे नदा में फेंक दिया।

तब चाको (पापाची का बेटा) गर्मी की छुट्टियों के लिए ऑक्सफोर्ड से घर आया । वह एक ऊंचे कद का आदमी बन गया था और उन दिनों बैलिओल (ऑक्सफोर्ड विश्वविद्यालय का एक कालेज) की तरफ से नौकायन मुकाबलों में भाग लेने की वजह से काफी ताकतवर हो गया था। अपने आने के एक सप्ताह बाद उसने पठनकक्ष में पापाची को मामाची को पीटते हुए देखा । चाको लम्बे कदम लेता हुआ कमरे में जा घुसा, पापाची के फूलदान वाले हाथ को पकड़ लिया और इसे उसकी पीठ की तरफ खींचते हुए मरोड़ दिया ।

‘मैं बिल्कुल नहीं चाहता कि ऐसा कभी दोबारा हो, ‘ उसने अपने पिता से कहा, ‘कभी भी।’

तब शेष दिन भर के लिए पापाची बरामदे में बैठा रहा और पत्थर – सा बना बाहर वाले सजावटी बाग़ की तरफ देखता रहा, खाने की उन प्लेटों की तरफ कोई ध्यान न देता हुआ जो कोचु मारिया उसके लिए ले कर आई । रात को देर हुए वह अपने पठनकक्ष में चला गया और अपनी मनपसन्द महार्घ लकड़ी की बनी कुर्सी बाहर निकाल ली। इसे उसने प्रवेशमार्ग के मध्य में रखा और इसे एक नलकार वाले चूड़ीदार प्रकूंच से मार-मार कर छोटे-छोटे टुकड़ों में तोड़ डाला। इसे उसने वहीं चांद की रोशनी में छोड़ दिया, पॉलिश की हुई तीलियों और टूटी-फूटी लकड़ी के एक ढेर के रूप में। उसने दोबारा मामाची को कभी न छुआ । किन्तु जितनी देर तक वह जीवित रहा, उसने कभी उससे बात भी न की। जब उसे किसी चीज़ की ज़रूरत होती तो वह कोचु मारिया या बेबी कोचम्मा को बिचौलियों के रूप में इस्तेमाल किया करता ।

सायंकाल के समय जब वह जानता कि मिलने वालों के आने की संभावना होती थी, तो वह बरामदे में बैठ जाता और अपनी कमीज़ों पर बटन टांकने लगता जो कि वहां पहले से ही होते थे, यह प्रभाव डालने के लिए कि मामाची उसकी उपेक्षा करती थी। कुछ थोड़ी-सी हद तक वह कामकाजी औरतों बारे में अयेमेनम के लोगों के विचार को और ज्यादा बुरा बनाने में कामयाब हो गया।

उसने हल्के नीले रंग की प्लाईमाउथ गाड़ी मुन्नार में एक बूढ़े अंग्रेज़ से खरीद ली। अयेमेनम में वह एक परिचित बन गया, अपनी चौड़ी कार में तंग-सी सड़क के ऊपर बड़े ठाठ से सवारी करता हुआ, बाहर से देखने में शानदार किन्तु | अपने ऊनी वस्त्रों के अन्दर भरपूर पसीना बहाता हुआ। वह मामाची या परिवार में किसी अन्य को इसे इस्तेमाल करने की इजाज़त न देता, या इसमें बैठने की भी। प्लाईमाउथ पापाची की बदला लेने की एक चीज़ थी।

पापाची पूसा संस्थान में एक साम्राज्यिक कीट- विज्ञानी था । स्वतन्त्रता के पश्चात् जब अंग्रेज़ चले गए तो उसका पदनाम साम्राज्यिक कीट- विज्ञानी से बदल कर संयुक्त निदेशक, एन्टोमालोजी कर दिया गया। जिस वर्ष वह सेवानिवृत्त हुआ, वह तरक्की करके निदेशक के समकक्ष पद को प्राप्त कर चुका था।

His life’s greatest setback was not having had the moth that he had discovered named after him.

It fell into his drink one evening while he was sitting in the verandah of rest house after a long day in the field. As he picked it out he noticed its unusually dense dorsal tufts. He took a closer look. With growing excitement he mounted it, measured it and the next morning placed it in the sun for a few hours for the alcohol to evaporate. Then he caught the first train back to Delhi, to taxonomic attention and, he hoped, fame. After six unbearable months of anxiety, to Pappachi’s intense disappointment, he was told that his moth had finally been identified as a slightly unusual race of a well-known species that belonged to the tropical family, Lymantridae.

The real blow came twelve years after, when, as a consequence of a radical taxonomic reshuffle, lepidopterists decided that Pappachi’s moth was in fact a separate species and genus hitherto unknown to science. By then, of course, Pappachi had retired and moved to Ayemenem. It was too late for him to assert his claim to the discovery. His moth was named after the Acting Director of the Department_of Entomology, a junior officer whom Pappachi had always disliked.

In the years to come, even though he had been ill-humoured long before he discovered the moth, Pappachi’s Moth was held responsible for his black moods and sudden bouts of temper. Its pernicious ghost grey, furry and with |unusually dense dorsal tufts haunted every house that he ever lived in. It tormented him and his children and his children’s children.

Until the day he died, even in the stifling Ayemenem heat, every single day, Pappachi wore a well-dressed three-piece suit and his gold pocket watch. On his dressing table, next to his cologne and silver hair brush, he kept a picture of himself as a young man, with his hair slicked down, taken in a photographer’s studio in Vienna where he had done the six-month diploma course that had qualified him to apply for the post of Imperial Entomologist It was during those few months they spent in Vienna that Mammachi took her first lessons on the violin. The lessons were abruptly discontinued when Mammachi’s teacher, Launsky- Tieffenthal, made the mistake of telling Pappachi that his wife was exceptionally talented and, in his opinion, potentially concert class.

Mammachi pasted, in the family photograph album, the clipping from the Indian Express that reported Pappachi’s death. It said :

Noted entomologist, Shri Benaan John Ipe, son of late Rev. E John Ipe of Ayemenem (popularly known as Punnyan Kunju), suffered a massive heart attack and passed away at the Kottayam General Hospital last night. He developed chest pains around 1.05 a.m. and was rushed to hospital. The end came at 2.45 a.m. Shri Ipe had been keeping indifferent health since last six months. He is survived by his wife Soshamma and two children.

At Pappachi’s funeral, Mammachi cried and her contact lenses slid around in her eyes. Ammu told the twins that Mammachi was crying more because she was used to him than she loved him. She was used to having him slouching around the pickle factory, and was used to being beaten from time to time. Ammu said that human beings were creatures of habit, and it was amazing the kind of things they could get used to. “You only have to look around you,” Ammu said, “to see that beatings with brass vases were the least of them.”

उसके जीवन का सबसे बड़ा झटका यह रहा था कि वह पतंगा जिसका उसने पता लगाया था, उसका नाम उसके अपने नाम पर नहीं रखा गया था।

एक सायं जब वह खेत में लम्बे दिन भर के काम के बाद विश्राम गृह के बरामदे में बैठा हुआ था, तो यह उसके मदिरा वाले प्याले में आ गिरा था। जब उसने इसे पकड़ कर बाहर निकाला तो उसने इसके पीछे वाले हिस्से के गुच्छों को असाधारण रूप से घना पाया। उसने और अधिक ग़ौर से देखा। अधिक बढ़ती हुई उत्तेजना के साथ उसने इसे किसी चीज़ पर उठाया, इसकी पैमाइश की तथा अगली प्रातः इसे कुछ घण्टों के लिए इसमें से मदिरा का वाष्पीकरण होने के लिए धूप में छोड़ दिया। फिर उसने दिल्ली जाने वाली पहली गाड़ी पकड़ ली, एक प्रकार से वर्गीकरण-विज्ञान रूपी सत्कार की तरफ़ ले जाने वाली गाड़ी और वह आशा करता था, प्रसिद्धि की तरफ ले जाने वाली गाड़ी चिन्ता भरे छ: असहनीय महीनों के बाद, पापाची को गहरी निराशा हुई, जब उसे यह बताया गया कि अन्त में उसके पतंगे को एक सुपरिचित वर्ग के पतंगों में से थोड़ी-सी असाधारण जाति वाले पतंगे के रूप में पहचाना गया था और जो कि लिमेन्ट्रायडी नामक उष्णकटिबन्धीय परिवार से सम्बन्ध रखता था।

असली आघात बारह वर्ष बाद में हुआ, जो एक तत्काल हुई विज्ञानी-वर्गीकरण की अदला-बदली का परिणाम था, पतंगा-विशेषज्ञ वैज्ञानिकों का यह निर्णय आया कि पापाची वाला पतंगा वास्तव में एक अलग जाति का पतंगा था और एक ऐसा वंश था जिसका अभी तक विज्ञान को पता नहीं था। तब तक, निस्सन्देह पापाची सेवानिवृत्त हो चुका था और अयेमेनम जा चुका था। अब इतनी देर हो चुकी थी कि वह इस खोज पर अपना दावा नहीं कर सकता था। उसके पतंगे का नाम कीट- विज्ञान विभाग के कार्यकारी निदेशक के नाम पर रख दिया गया, एक नीचे के क्रम वाला अधिकारी जिससे पापाची सदा ही घृणा करता रहा था।

आने वाले वर्षों में, यद्यपि वह अपनी पतंगे की खोज के बहुत पूर्व समय से ही बद-मिज़ाज वाला रहा था, उसके क्रोधों और अचानक गुस्सों के फूटने के लिए पापाची के पतंगे को ही ज़िम्मेदार माना जाता था। इसका भूत – घातक, भूरा, लोमदार और पीछे के भाग में असाधारण रूप से घने गुच्छों वाला – प्रत्येक उस घर में घूमता रहता जहां वह कभी भी रहता था । यह उसे पीड़ित करता, उसके बच्चों को तथा उसके बच्चों के बच्चों को भी ।

उस दिन तक जब उसकी मृत्यु हुई, अयेमेनेम की दम घोंटने वाली गर्मी में भी प्रतिदिन, पापाची एक साफ़-सुथरा थ्री-पीस सूट और अपनी सोने की जेबी घड़ी पहना करता । उसके ड्रेसिंग टेबल के ऊपर, उसके इत्र और चांदी की कंघी के बगल में, उसने एक युवा व्यक्ति के रूप में अपना एक फोटो रखा हुआ था, जिसमें उसने अपने बाल तेल लगा कर नीचे को चिपकाए हुए थे, और वह फोटो विएना में एक फोटोग्राफर के स्टुडियो में लिया गया था, और जहां ( विएना में) उसने छः महीने का एक डिप्लोमा कोर्स किया था जिस की वजह से उसने इम्पीरियल एन्टोमालोजिस्ट के पद के लिए आवेदन करने के लिए स्वयं को योग्य बना लिया था। यह उन्हीं कुछ महीनों के दौरान था, जो उन्होंने विएना में बिताए थे, कि मामाची ने वायलिन बजाने में अपनी प्रारम्भिक सिखलाई प्राप्त की थी। उस सिखलाई को एकदम अचानक रोक दिया गया जब मामाची के अध्यापक लांस्की-टायफेन्थाल ने पापाची को यह बताने की ग़लती कर दी कि उसकी पत्नी असाधारण रूप से प्रतिभावान थी, और उसके विचार में वह संगीत-गोष्ठियों भाग लेने की योग्यता रखती थी।

मामाची ने इण्डियन एक्सप्रेस से एक कतरन परिवार की फोटो एल्बम में चिपका दी, जिसमें पापाची की मृत्यु का समाचार छपा था। इसमें लिखा था –

प्रसिद्ध कीट- वैज्ञानिक, श्री बिनान जाह्न आइप, सुपुत्र अयेमेनेम-वासी दिवंगत आदरणीय ई० जाह्न आइप (जो पनयान कुंजु के नाम से जाने जाते थे), एक ज़ोरदार दिल का दौरा पड़ने की वजह से कल रात कोटायाम के जनरल अस्पताल में परलोक सिधार गए। उन्हें प्रातः लगभग 1.05 बजे छाती में दर्द उठा और उन्हें जल्दी से अस्पताल पहुंचाया गया। प्रातः 2.45 पर निधन हो गया। श्री आइप की पिछले छः महीने से सेहत ठीक नहीं रह रही थी । वह अपने पीछे अपनी पत्नी सोशम्मा और दो बच्चे छोड़ गए हैं ।

पापाची की अंत्येष्टि के समय मामाची रोती रही और उसके संस्पर्श लेन्स उसकी आँखों में इधर-उधर सरकते रहे। अम्मु ने दोनों जुड़वा बच्चों को बताया कि मामाची ज़्यादा इसलिए रो रही थी क्योंकि वह उसकी (पापाची की) आदी हो गई थी, इसलिए नहीं कि वह उससे प्यार करती थी। वह इस बात की आदी हो गई थी कि अचार वाली फैक्टरी में वह इधरउधर सुस्ताता हुआ फिरता रहे, और इस बात की आदी हो गई थी कि कभी-कभी उसकी पिटाई होती रहे। अम्मु ने कहा कि मानव लोग आदत बना लेने वाले जीव होते हैं, और उस तरह की चीज़ों को देख कर हैरानी होती है जिनके वे आदी हो जाते हैं। “आपको केवल अपने इर्द-गिर्द देखने की ज़रूरत होती है, ” अम्मु ने कहा, ‘‘यह देखने के लिए कि पीतल के फूलदान से होने वाली पिटाइयां उन चीज़ों में से सब से कम महत्त्व की चीजें थीं । “

Ans. Pappachi was a retired government officer. He joined service during the British period. He worked as an Imperial Entomologist. When the British left, he rose to the post of Director in the Department of Entomology. Once he discovered a new species of moth. But the credit was never given to him. It left a deep bitterness in his heart. After his retirement, Pappachi came to live in his home at Ayemenem. Now his wife took to making pickles on a commercial scale. She was quite successful in her business. Pappachi began to feel jealous of her growing popularity. Even before his retirement, he was a bad-tempered fellow. But now he would beat his wife almost every night with a brass flower vase. Once his son saw him doing this. He warned his father never to do that again. Pappachi never touched his wife after that. But he never spoke to her also. He would often sit in the verandah and pretend to sew buttons on his shirts. He did so to show that no one cared for him. Pappachi died of a severe heart attack. His wife cried at his funeral. It was because she had become used to him, not because she loved him. She had become used to even his beatings.

Ans. Mammachi was Pappachi’s wife. She was seventeen years junior in age to her husband. She still looked young when her husband came to live at home after his retirement. She started making pickles on a commercial scale. She worked very hard. Her business developed day after day. Pappachi never helped her in her work. He would just loiter around in the verandah. He thought it below his dignity to help his wife in the making of pickles. He even beat her with a brass flower vase almost every night. Mammachi had always been a victim to Pappachi’s bad temper, but she never protested. She bore all his cruelty patiently. Once her son saw Pappachi beating her with the brass vase. He warned him never to do that again. When Pappachi died, Mammachi cried over his funeral. But it was because she had become used to him, not because she loved him. She had become used to even his beatings.

Ans. It is Chacko, Pappachi’s son, who says these words. He has come home from Oxford during summer vacation. He is a scholar there. He is fond of rowing and has a strong body. One day he sees his father beating his mother. He at once goes into the room. He sees Pappachi beating Mammachi with a brass vase. He twists the vase-hand around Pappachi’s back and warns him never to do that again. He makes his meaning quite clear by saying, “I never want this to happen again. Ever.” Thus poor Mammachi is saved from Pappachi’s frequent beatings. He never touches her again.

Ans. Pappachi and Mammachi were typical Indian husband and wife of olden days. They had almost nothing in common with each other, except physical relations. The husband never spoke a word of love to his wife. He thought it his right to beat her whenever he liked. He never bothered to help her in any way. Poor Mammachi bore all her husband’s cruelty patiently. She had borne it so long that she had become used to it. She cried at his death not because she loved him but because she had become used to him, even his beatings. Strangely, humans become used to very unusual things. They become used to things that are even painful or harmful to them. Such was the relationship between Mammachi and Pappachi.

Ans. In the text, we find two contrary aspects of Mammachi’s character. On the one hand, we find her a very unfortunate and oppressed woman. She patiently bears all the beatings and cruelties of her husband. But, on the other hand, she proves herself a very determined and self-confident woman. She start making pickles on a commercial scale. She works very hard all alone. She gets no help from her husband. Yet she persists in her venture. She earns a name for herself. Her husband feels jealous of her. She knows all this. But then enough is enough. Her son comes to her side. He warns his father never to beat his mother again. Now Pappachi stops speaking to her. But she doesn’t care. She carries on doggedly with her business of pickle-making.

Ans. Irony means a situation which is very different from what we expect. There is irony in the title of the story itself. While in service in the Department of Entomology, Pappachi had discovered a new species of moth, but the credit of this discovery was denied to him. And after his retirement, the credit of this discovery was taken by the then Acting Director. There is irony even in Pappachi’s position at home. He wants to dictate things to his wife but she doesn’t care for him in spite of the daily beatings she gets from him. There is irony even in the tears she sheds for him after his death. She weeps a lot not because she loved him but because she was used to living with him. As long as he was alive, she suffered at his hands, but now she sorely missed him. What greater irony could be there !

Ans. The story Pappachi’s Moth’ is a sad and serious one. It is hard to find any instance of humour in it. It would be cruel to find humour in someone’s tears. No character in the story is happy with the conditions he or she has to live in. Thus there can’t be any question of humour in it. Still Pappachi’s drive in his old Plymouth can be called an instance of humour. He drives in his car to show himself off but perspires badly inside his woollen suits.

1. Epitaph : (a) a word or piece of writing taken from a written work.

2. Abstract : (b) a short piece of writing or a poem about a dead person, especially written on his/her gravestone.

3. Citation : (c) a shortened form of a speech, article, book, etc. giving only the most important facts or arguments. End sections of the magazines include abstracts of recent articles / books.

4. Obituary : (d) news of someone’s death in a newspaper.

5. Postscript : (e) a short remark or message added to the bottom of a letter after you have signed your name, usually introduced by the abbreviation PS.

6. Glossary : (f) meanings of difficult words and phrases in a text that are difficult to understand.

7. Extract : (g) a particular part of a book, poem, etc. that is chosen so that it can be used in a discussion, article, etc.

8. Appendix : (h) a separate part at the end of a book or magazine which gives additional information.

9. Epigraph : (i) a saying or a part of a poem, play or book at the beginning of a piece of writing to give the reader some idea of what the piece is about.

10. Manuscript : (j) the original copy of a book or article before it is printed.

Ans. 1. → (b) 2. → (c) 3. → (g) 4. → (d) 5. → (e) 6. → (f) 7. → (a) 8. → (h) 9. → (i) 10. → (j).

1. Dermatologist

2. Endocrinologist

3. Ornithologist

4. Gerontologist

5. Cytologist

6. Ergonomist

7. Paleontologist

8. Herpetologist

9. Ichthyologist

(a) Birds

(b) Cells

(c) Skin

(d) Hormones

(e) Technology

(f) Old age

(g) Fish

(h) Fossils

(i) Reptiles

Ans. 1.→ (c) 2. → (d) 3. → (a) 4. → (f) 5.→ (b) 6. → (e) 7. → (h) 8. → (i) 9. → (g).

1. Good boys do not tell lies.

2. Oboy your parents.

3. He is foeding the poor.

4. Let the truth be always spoken.

5. You have not spoken the truth.

6. Keep it a secret.

7. God be thanked.

8. The teacher punished him.

9. The tree was being cut by the woodcutter.

10. Quinine tastes bitter.

11. She had taught him a good lesson.

12. Open the door.

13. The matter will be looked into by the police.

14. Stop writing.

15. She will have read this book.

1. Lies are not told by good boys.

2. Parents should be obeyed.

3. The poor are being fed by him.

4. Always speak the truth.

5. The truth has not been spoken by you.

6. Let it be kept a secret.

7. Thank God.

8. He was punished by the teacher.

9. The woodcutter was cutting the tree.

10. Quinine is bitter when tasted.

11. A good lesson had been taught to him by her.

12. Let the door be opened.

13. The police will look into the matter.

14. You are ordered to stop writing.

15. This book will have been read by her.

Ans. The world has always been a man-dominated world. Man has treated woman not as an equal partner in life, but as a mere slave. Woman is for him the weaker vessel. He has given her many beautiful names. A man calls his wife his better half. Women are known as the fair sex. We call them devis. But all these are mere sugar-coated words. Man knows that woman can’t win him in the battle of muscles. That is why he has kept her in a state of perpetual slavery throughout the ages. Such an attitude is clearly reflected in the story, Pappachi’s Moth’. In this story, the author has raised the question of woman’s shabby treatment at the hands of man. It has been depicted through the relationship between Pappachi and Mammachi. Pappachi gives no respect at all to his wife. He pays no regard to her hard work and her efforts to supplement the family income. Rather, he shows his masculinity by beating her with a brass flower vase almost every night.

Ans. In this story, the author has raised the question of woman’s shabby treatment at the hands of man. It has been depicted through the relationship between Pappachi and Mammachi. Pappachi gives no respect at all to his wife. He pays no regard to her hard work and her efforts to supplement the family income. Rather he shows his masculinity by beating her with a brass flower vase almost every night.

Ans. Most often, the outward behaviour and elegance of a person does not match with his private behaviour. Outwardly, people pretend to be very nice and virtuous but are quite the opposite inside. We can say that there is not even one in thousands whose outside exactly corresponds with his inside. We should not be misled by the outward appearance of things. Appearances are often deceptive. Many things appear to be charming and attractive outwardly, but they are, in fact, worthless and even harmful. A snake has a glossy body, but it is one of the most dreaded reptiles. Similarly, many wicked men pass for noble and virtuous men. They are like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Shakespeare says in Hamlet that one may smile and smile and yet be a villain. So, we should not go after external looks. We should judge things by their inner worth. We should not be led by the outward appearance of things since all that glitters is not gold.

(Page 49) Mammachi had started making pickles commercially soon after Pappachi retired from government service in Delhi and came to live in Ayemenem. The Kottayam Bible Society was having a fair and asked Mammachi to make some of her famous banana jam and tender mango pickle. It sold quickly, and Mammachi found that she had more orders than she could cope with. Thrilled with her success, she decided to persist with the pickles and jam, and soon found herself busy all year around. Pappachi, for his part, was having trouble coping with the ignominy of retirement. He was seventeen years older than Mammachi and realized with shock that he was an old man while his wife was still in her prime.

       after, great, old, famous.

       prime, cope, tender, persist.

(i) Pappachi was a retired …………

(ii) After his retirement, he came to live in his home at ………….

(iii) His wife took to …………. on a commercial scale.

(iv) She was quite ………….. in her business.

(a) after → before ; great → small; old → new ; famous → notorious.

(b) prime = youth, best condition; cope = manage; tender = easy to bite through and cut; persist = continue.

(c) (i) government officer; (ii) Ayemenem; (iii) making pickles; (iv) successful.

(Page 49) Though Mammachi had conical corneas and was already practically blind, Pappachi would not help her with the pickle-making, because he did not consider pickle-making a suitable job for a high-ranking ex-government official. He had always been a jealous man so he greatly resented the attention his wife was suddenly getting. He slouched around the compound in his immaculately tailored suit, weaving sullen circles around mounds of red chillies and freshly powdered yellow turmeric, watching Mammachi supervise the buying, the weighing, the salting and drying, of limes and tender mangoes. Every night he beat her with a brass flower vase. The beatings weren’t new. What was new was only the frequency with which they took place. One night Pappachi broke the bow of Mammachi’s violin and threw it in the river.

1. The name of the chapter is ‘Pappachi’s Moth’ and the name of writer is Arundhati Roy. 2. Because he considered pickle-making not a suitable job for a person like him who was a high-ranked ex-government official. 3. Pappachi would beat his wife every night with brass flower vase. One night he broke the bow of her violin and threw it into the river. 4. grudge. 5. slouched.

(Page 49) Then Chacko came home for a summer vacation from Oxford. He had grown to be a big man and was, in those days, strong from rowing for Balliol. A week after he arrived, he found Pappachi beating Mammachi in the study. Chacko strode into the room, caught Pappachi’s vase-hand and twisted it around his back.

1. The name of the chapter is Pappachi’s Moth’ and the name of writer is Arundhati Roy. 2. Chacko had become strong from rowing. 3. Because Pappachi was beating Mammachi in the study. He got angry when he saw Pappachi beating Mammachi. 4. straighten. 5. rowing.

(Page 49-50) Pappachi had been an Imperial Entomologist at the Pusa Institute. After Independence, when the British left, his designation was changed from Imperial Entomologist to Joint Director, Entomology. The year he retired, he had risen to a rank equivalent to Director.

His life’s greatest setback was not having had the moth that he had discovered named after him.

It fell into his drink one evening while he was sitting in the verandah of rest house after a long day in the field. As he picked it out he noticed its unusually dense dorsal tufts. He took a closer look. With growing excitement he mounted it, measured it and the next morning placed it in the sun for a few hours for the alcohol to evaporate. Then he caught the first train back to Delhi, to taxonomic attention and, he hoped, fame. After six unbearable months of anxiety, to Pappachi’s intense disappointment, he was told that his moth had finally been identified as a slightly unusual race of a well-known species that belonged to the tropical family, Lymantridae.

risen

dense

closer

fame

thin

fallen

notoriety

farther

(i) Pappachi worked as an ……….

(ii) He joined service during the ………. period.

(iii) He retired as a ………… in the Department of Entomology.

(iv) While in service, he had discovered a new species of ………….

(v) But the credit of his …………. was denied to him.

(vi) The moth that he had discovered was not ………… after him.

(vii) It was the greatest ………….. of his life.

Answers ;- (i) Imperial Entomologist ; (ii) British ; (iii) Director; (iv) moth; (v) discovery ; (vi) named ; (vii) setback.

(Page 50) At Pappachi’s funeral, Mammachi cried and her contact lenses slid around in her eyes. Ammu told the twins that Mammachi was crying more because she was used to him than she loved him. She was used to having him slouching around the pickle factory, and was used to being beaten from time to time. Ammu said that human beings were creatures of habit, and it was amazing the kind of things they could get used to. “You only have to look around you,” Ammu said, “to see that beatings with brass vases were the least of them.”

(i) Mammachi ……….. a lot at the death of her husband.

(ii) She did so not because she loved him, but because she had become ……….. him.

(iii) Her husband …………. around the pickle factory all the time.

(iv) Ammu told the ………… all about Pappachi and Mammachi.

       amazing; love.

       loved; human.

(a) (i) cried ; (ii) used to; (iii) slouched; (iv) twins.

(b) amazing – surprising; love – affection.

(c) loved – hated; human → inhuman.