Class 9 English Notes Chapter 5 (The Snake and the Mirror) – Beehive English Text Book Book

Alright class, let's delve into Chapter 5 of your Beehive textbook, 'The Snake and the Mirror'. This is a wonderfully humorous story by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, originally written in Malayalam. It's not just entertaining; it explores some interesting aspects of human nature, making it important for your understanding and potentially for exams.

Chapter 5: The Snake and the Mirror - Detailed Notes

1. Introduction & Author:

• Story: A humorous narrative told by a homeopathic doctor about a terrifying encounter with a snake.
• Author: Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (renowned Malayalam fiction writer). Known for his simple language, humour, and insightful portrayal of ordinary life. This story has autobiographical elements.
• Narrative Style: First-person narration, making the story engaging and personal. It's told as an anecdote to a group of listeners.

2. Setting:

• Place: A small, non-electrified, rented room. It was an outer room with a tiled roof supported by gables resting on a beam. Infested with rats.
• Time: A hot summer night.

3. Characters:

• The Narrator (The Homeopathic Doctor):
  • Profession: Just started his medical practice (homeopathy).
  • Financial Status: Poor ("meagre earnings"). Possessions were few – some shirts, dhotis, one black coat, a kerosene lamp, a small mirror, a comb, basic medical books.
  • Appearance & Vanity: Young, unmarried, and quite conscious of his looks. Considers himself handsome. Admired himself in the mirror, made "important decisions" like growing a thin moustache and keeping an attractive smile.
  • Aspirations: Wanted to marry a rich, fat woman doctor. Rich, so he wouldn't worry about money. Fat, so she couldn't run after him if he made a mistake. Medical practitioner, for professional compatibility (and perhaps status).
  • Reaction to Snake: Initially terrified, turned "to stone", felt helpless, thought of God. His pride and vanity vanished instantly.
  • Change: The encounter humbled him, stripping away his pride. The final scene where his room is robbed, leaving only his dirty vest, adds to the irony and his changed state.
• The Snake:
  • Appearance: A large cobra.
  • Actions: Fell from the roof, landed on the doctor's shoulder, coiled around his left arm above the elbow. Its hood was spread out, close to his face. It looked into the mirror, seemed to admire its reflection, uncoiled itself, and moved towards the mirror.
  • Significance: Acts as a catalyst for the doctor's realization and humbling. Its fascination with the mirror parallels the doctor's own vanity. It represents a sudden, life-threatening intrusion of reality into the doctor's self-absorbed world.
• Listeners: The audience to whom the doctor narrates his story. Their questions (like "Did the snake follow you?") help structure the narrative.

4. Plot Summary:

• The doctor returns to his room on a hot summer night, unable to sleep due to the heat.
• He sits down, opens a medical book ('Materia Medica'), and places a lamp and a mirror on the table.
• He indulges in self-admiration and makes plans about his appearance and future marriage.
• He hears noises from above (rats), a familiar sound. Then a dull thud, followed immediately by a fat snake wriggling over the back of his chair and landing on his shoulder.
• The snake coils around his arm. He freezes in terror, praying silently.
• The snake turns its head and looks into the mirror, seemingly captivated by its own reflection.
• Seeing the snake distracted, the doctor holds his breath and remains motionless.
• The snake slowly unwinds itself and creeps onto the table, moving closer to the mirror, perhaps wanting a closer look.
• Seizing the opportunity, the doctor silently gets up, runs out of the room, and doesn't stop until he reaches a friend's house.
• He bathes and changes. The next morning, accompanied by friends, he returns to his room to move his belongings.
• He finds the room has been robbed. Almost everything is gone.
• The only thing left behind by the thief is the doctor's dirty vest – "the final insult".

5. Themes:

• Vanity and Pride: The doctor's preoccupation with his looks and future plans contrasts sharply with the sudden, terrifying reality of the snake. The snake itself looking in the mirror mocks human vanity.
• Fear vs. Reality: The story shows how quickly fear can strip away pride and self-importance, reducing a person to basics – survival and prayer.
• Humour: Despite the frightening situation, the narrative is laced with humour – the doctor's thoughts about his future wife, the snake admiring itself, the final insult of the thief leaving the dirty vest.
• Appearance vs. Reality: The doctor values appearance, but the snake encounter and the robbery reveal the superficiality of possessions and looks when faced with real danger or loss.
• Divine Intervention / Fate: The doctor feels a sense of God's presence during the ordeal. The snake's sudden fascination with the mirror, allowing his escape, feels almost like a miraculous intervention or a twist of fate.

6. Literary Style & Devices:

• Anecdotal Tone: Told as a story shared among friends.
• Humour and Irony: The contrast between the doctor's thoughts and the situation creates irony (e.g., wanting a fat wife, the snake's vanity, the thief leaving the vest).
• Suspense: The description of the snake coiling around his arm builds tension.
• Imagery: Vivid descriptions of the room, the snake, and the doctor's fear ("death lurked four inches away", "I was turned to stone").
• Simple Language: Characteristic of Basheer's style, making the story accessible and effective.

7. Key Vocabulary:

• Meagre: Lacking in quantity or quality; small.
• Solitary: Done or existing alone.
• Gable: The triangular upper part of a wall at the end of a ridged roof.
• Possessions: Belongings.
• Materia Medica: A book detailing knowledge about the substances used in medicine.
• Simultaneous: Occurring at the same time.
• Slithered: Moved with a smooth sliding motion.
• Wriggled: Twisted and turned with quick writhing movements.
• Hood: The expanded part of a cobra's neck.
• Lurked: Remained hidden, especially to wait in ambush.
• Vermilion: A brilliant red pigment/colour.
• Crept: Moved slowly and carefully.
• Frenzied: Wildly excited or uncontrolled.
• Scoundrel: A dishonest or unscrupulous person; a rogue.

8. Key Takeaway:

The story humorously highlights how a sudden confrontation with mortality (or extreme fear) can shatter vanity and pride, forcing a person to confront their own vulnerability. It also subtly mocks human self-importance through the parallel actions of the snake.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs):

1. What profession did the narrator of 'The Snake and the Mirror' practice?
   a) Allopathy
   b) Surgery
   c) Homeopathy
   d) Dentistry

2. Why did the doctor want to marry a fat woman?
   a) He found fat women attractive.
   b) So she wouldn't be able to run after him if he made a mistake.
   c) Fat women were considered wealthy in his community.
   d) His mother advised him to.

3. What object on the table seemed to fascinate the snake?
   a) The lamp
   b) The 'Materia Medica' book
   c) The doctor's coat
   d) The mirror

4. Which phrase best describes the doctor's financial condition at the beginning of the story?
   a) Extremely wealthy
   b) Comfortably well-off
   c) Meagre earnings
   d) Heavily in debt

5. What sound did the doctor hear just before the snake landed on him?
   a) A loud bang
   b) A dull thud
   c) A sharp hiss
   d) Complete silence

6. When the snake coiled around his arm, the doctor felt like he was:
   a) Made of molten fire
   b) Turned to stone
   c) Floating in the air
   d) Covered in ice

7. What "important decision" did the doctor make while looking in the mirror before the snake arrived?
   a) To buy a new house
   b) To shave daily and grow a thin moustache
   c) To change his profession
   d) To move out of the rented room

8. What did the doctor find when he returned to his room the next morning?
   a) The snake was still there.
   b) All his belongings were safe.
   c) Most of his belongings had been stolen.
   d) The landlord had cleaned the room.

9. What was the only item the thief left behind?
   a) The mirror
   b) The medical books
   c) The doctor's dirty vest
   d) The kerosene lamp

10. What is a major theme explored in the story?
    a) The importance of cleanliness
    b) The dangers of living alone
    c) Human vanity and pride confronted by fear
    d) The superiority of homeopathy

Answer Key for MCQs:

1. c) Homeopathy
2. b) So she wouldn't be able to run after him if he made a mistake.
3. d) The mirror
4. c) Meagre earnings
5. b) A dull thud
6. b) Turned to stone
7. b) To shave daily and grow a thin moustache
8. c) Most of his belongings had been stolen.
9. c) The doctor's dirty vest
10. c) Human vanity and pride confronted by fear

Make sure you read the chapter thoroughly again, paying attention to these details. Understanding the doctor's character, the sequence of events, and the underlying humour and themes is crucial. Good luck with your preparation!