Summary of the story
Answers
The short story “A Horse and Two Goats” by R. K. Narayan is set in a fictional small Tamil village named Kritam where the protagonist of the story, Muni, lives. The village consists of less than thirty houses, mostly made of bamboo thatch, straw and mud. Only one house called the Big House, the house of the village chief, is made of brick and cement.
Once upon a time, Muni owned a herd of forty sheep and goats. But it is now reduced to just two goats. On the day of the story, Muni takes his usual breakfast of a handful of millet flour and then shakes down drum sticks from the tree in front of his house. When Muni expresses his wish for a drumstick sauce, his wife asks him to bring groceries like dal, spices, oil and potato. He goes to the village shop and makes all efforts to get these things in credit but fails. He comes back home to be humiliated further by his wife and takes the two goats and goes to a place in the outskirts of the village beside the highway to graze his goats.
Muni sits under the clay horse statue where he usually sits to protect himself from the sun and watches the trucks. That day he sees a yellow station wagon approaching. The wagon comes and stops in front of the statue. A red faced American, dressed in Khaki, gets out of the wagon and asks in English about the nearest gas station.
As the American notices the horse statue, he gets fascinated by it and starts a discussion with Muni. He offers Muni cigarettes and carries on with the funny conversation where the two of them do not understand each other – Muni speaking in Tamil and the American in English.
First Muni assumes the American to be a police man or a soldier and tries to defend himself by saying that he is not involved in the crime that has happened in the nearby village. Then as he finds the American to be friendly by his gestures, he carries on telling his story.
Muni ends up telling the stranger how cheetahs or jackals sometimes carry their cattle off. He also tells him that he never went to school, as in those days only Brahmins went to schools. He narrates how the temple priest can see in the camphor flame the face of the thief, and how at the end of the Kali Yuga, the world will be destroyed and the clay horse will come to life and trample down all bad men. Muni also expresses his grudge for the village chief who has gathered a lot of money.
The American also tells his own story of he being a businessman dealing in coffee and how one day he was forced to work for four hours in his office when there was no electricity or elevators. This incident made him curious to “look at other civilizations”. So, he has come to India to see how people live here. He further adds that his wife has stayed back in Srinagar.
Thinking Muni to be the owner of the horse statue, the American offers a one hundred rupee note to buy it. Realising that some financial element has entered the talk, Muni thinks that the man wants to buy his goats. In fact, he has always dreamt of selling his goats at a good price and setting up a small shop with the money someday. Muni is happy that he has sold his goat for one hundred rupees and the American is happy that he has bought the horse statue.
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A Horse and Two Goats Summary
The story focuses on a villager “Muni” who once owned a herd of forty sheep and goats. However, he has only two goats now. Muni takes his breakfast and then shakes down his drum sticks from the tree in front of his residence. Then he expresses his wish for a drumstick sauce. However, his wife asks him to bring groceries for the house. Muni makes efforts to arrange for the groceries from the village shop on credit but fails. Furthermore, he gets humiliation from his wife for his failure. Then, he takes his goats and moves to a place in the outskirts of the village beside the highway for grazing his goats.
Then, Muni sits under the horse statue made of clay to protect himself from the sun. He watches the trucks. Furthermore, he sees a yellow station wagon coming towards him. A red-faced American gets out of the wagon and enquires about the nearest gas station. Muni thought him to be a policeman or a soldier who had come to enquire about the crime that took place in the nearby village. This misconception took place due to his Khaki dress. However, on finding the American friendly through his gestures, he tells him his story.
Both of them tell each other their story. Muni tells how his cattle were taken off by cheetahs and jackals. Also, he tells that he has never gone to school as only Brahmins were provided education those days. Furthermore, he tells him about the temple priest who could see the face of the thief in the camphor. He adds that all the bad men would be destroyed at the end of kali yuga. Also, he expresses his anger towards the village chief who has become rich by gathering a lot of wealth.
The American also tells Muni about his being a businessman dealing in coffee. He was forced to work four hours when there was no electricity. The incident aroused curiosity in him to look at other civilisations and thus he visited India leaving his wife in Srinagar.
The statue of horse fascinated the American. He thought Muni to be the owner of the horse. He offers him one hundred rupees for buying it. Due to miscommunication, Muni took the dealing for his goats. He always dreamt of selling his goats and start a shop with the money. So he was happy. Moreover, the American was happy to buy the horse
Muni tells his wife about the dealing. She could not believe his words and accused him of theft. Her suspicion gets stronger when the two goats return home just after that.
conclusion of the story
The story depicts the cultural differences between the East and the West. Also, it throws light on poverty and wealth, a theme of knowledge and wisdom. Furthermore, it portrays the rural life in India, social classes, prevailing of the caste system, prejudices and superstitious beliefs.