Q6. What was the 'bitter truth of Halku life which made his wife's anger relaxed?
Answers
Answer:
Halku came in and said to his wife, “The Landlord’s come! Get the rupees
you set aside, I’ll give him the money. Munni had been sweeping. She
turned around and said, ‘But there’s only three rupees. If you give them to
him where’s the blanket going to come from? How are you going to get
through these January nights in the fields! Tell him we’ll pay him after the
harvest, not right now.
For a moment Halku stood hesitating. January was on top of them.
Without a blanket he couldn’t possibly sleep in the fields at night. But the
landlord wouldn’t be put off, he’d threaten and insult him. Trying to coax her
Halku said, ‘Come on, give it to me. I’ll figure out some other plan.’
Munni was angry. She said, ”You’ve already tried. Some other plan”. You
just tell me what other plan can be found. Is somebody going to give you a
blanket! What I say is, give up this tenant farming! The work’s killing you,
whatever you harvest goes to pay up the arrears. Were we born just to keep
paying off debts! Earn some money for your own belly, give up that kind of
farming. I won’t give you the money, I won’t!,
Sadly Halku said, ‘Then I’ll have to put up with his abuse.’ Losing her
temper, Munni said, ‘Why should he abuse you–is this his kingdom?’ But as
she said it her brews relaxed from the frown. The bitter truth in Halku’s
words came charging at her like a wild beast. She went to the niche in the
wall, took out the rupees and handed them over to Halku.
Halku took the money and went outside looking as though he were tearing
his heart out and giving it away. He’d saved the rupees from his work, pice
by pice, for his blanket. Today he was going to throw it away. With every
step his head sank lower under the burden of his poverty.
A dark January night. In the sky even the stars seemed to be shivering. At
the edge of his field, underneath a shelter of cane leaves, Halku lay on a
bamboo cot wrapped up in his old burlap shawl, shivering. Underneath the
cot his friend, Jabra the dog, was whimpering with his muzzle pressed into
his belly. Neither one of them was able to sleep.
Halku curled up drawing his knees close against his chin and said, ‘Cold,
Jabra! Didn’t I tell you, in the house you could lie in the paddy straw! So
why did you come out here!, Now you’ll have to bear the cold, there’s
nothing I can do. You thought I was coming out here to eat puris and sweets
and you came running on ahead of me. Now you can moan all you want.’
Jabra wagged his tail without getting up.
Halku reached out his hand and patted Jabra’s cold back.
He got up, took some embers hem the pit and filled his pipe. Jabra got up
too.
Smoking, Halku said, ‘If you smoke the cold’s just as bad, but at least you
feel a little betters’
Jabra looked at him with eyes overgrowing with love.
‘You have to put up with just one more cold night. Tomorrow I’ll spread
some straw. When you bed down in that you won’t feel the cold.’
Jabra put his paws on Halku’s knees and brought his muzzle close. Halku
felt his warm breath.
After he finished smoking Halku lay down and made up his mind that
however things were he would sleep now. But in only one minute his he
began to pound. He turned from side to side, but like some kind of witch the
cold weather continued to torment him.
When he could no longer bear it he gently picked Jabra up and, patting his
he; got him to fall asleep in his lap. The dog’s body gave off some kind of
stink but Halku, hugging him tight, experienced a happiness he hadn’t felt
for months. Jabra probably thought he was in heaven, and in Halku’s
innocent heart there no resentment of his smell. He embraced him with the
very same affection he would have felt for a brother or a friend.
Answer:
Halku came in and said to his wife, “The Landlord’s come! Get the rupees
you set aside, I’ll give him the money. Munni had been sweeping. She
turned around and said, ‘But there’s only three rupees. If you give them to
him where’s the blanket going to come from? How are you going to get
through these January nights in the fields! Tell him we’ll pay him after the
harvest, not right now.
For a moment Halku stood hesitating. January was on top of them.
Without a blanket he couldn’t possibly sleep in the fields at night. But the
landlord wouldn’t be put off, he’d threaten and insult him. Trying to coax her
Halku said, ‘Come on, give it to me. I’ll figure out some other plan.’
Munni was angry. She said, ”You’ve already tried. Some other plan”. You
just tell me what other plan can be found. Is somebody going to give you a
blanket! What I say is, give up this tenant farming! The work’s killing you,
whatever you harvest goes to pay up the arrears. Were we born just to keep
paying off debts! Earn some money for your own belly, give up that kind of
farming. I won’t give you the money, I won’t!,
Sadly Halku said, ‘Then I’ll have to put up with his abuse.’ Losing her
temper, Munni said, ‘Why should he abuse you–is this his kingdom?’ But as
she said it her brews relaxed from the frown. The bitter truth in Halku’s
words came charging at her like a wild beast. She went to the niche in the
wall, took out the rupees and handed them over to Halku.
Halku took the money and went outside looking as though he were tearing
his heart out and giving it away. He’d saved the rupees from his work, pice
by pice, for his blanket. Today he was going to throw it away. With every
step his head sank lower under the burden of his poverty.
A dark January night. In the sky even the stars seemed to be shivering. At
the edge of his field, underneath a shelter of cane leaves, Halku lay on a
bamboo cot wrapped up in his old burlap shawl, shivering. Underneath the
cot his friend, Jabra the dog, was whimpering with his muzzle pressed into
his belly. Neither one of them was able to sleep.
Halku curled up drawing his knees close against his chin and said, ‘Cold,
Jabra! Didn’t I tell you, in the house you could lie in the paddy straw! So
why did you come out here!, Now you’ll have to bear the cold, there’s
nothing I can do. You thought I was coming out here to eat puris and sweets
and you came running on ahead of me. Now you can moan all you want.’
Jabra wagged his tail without getting up.
Halku reached out his hand and patted Jabra’s cold back.
He got up, took some embers hem the pit and filled his pipe. Jabra got up
too.
Smoking, Halku said, ‘If you smoke the cold’s just as bad, but at least you
feel a little betters’
Jabra looked at him with eyes overgrowing with love.
‘You have to put up with just one more cold night. Tomorrow I’ll spread
some straw. When you bed down in that you won’t feel the cold.’
Jabra put his paws on Halku’s knees and brought his muzzle close. Halku
felt his warm breath.
After he finished smoking Halku lay down and made up his mind that
however things were he would sleep now. But in only one minute his he
began to pound. He turned from side to side, but like some kind of witch the
cold weather continued to torment him.
When he could no longer bear it he gently picked Jabra up and, patting his
he; got him to fall asleep in his lap. The dog’s body gave off some kind of
stink but Halku, hugging him tight, experienced a happiness he hadn’t felt
for months. Jabra probably thought he was in heaven, and in Halku’s
innocent heart there no resentment of his smell. He embraced him with the
very same affection he would have felt for a brother or a friend.