Tom-uncle Philip-died- mother advised - bachelor-
mania of collecting Precious stones-announced
as heir-iron box- not to shake - Professor clinch-gave the box to the society for the preservation of human vivisection
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Answer:
(i) He was
Uncle Philip died when Tom, the narrator, was 37 years old. His mother advised Tom not to expect anything from him. Uncle Philip was Tom’s Father’s brother, an inventor and a mechanical engineer. He was a bachelor and lived a lonely life. He collected precious stones. He had a manic for precious stones and became richer and richer. His collection was added to his safe at the trust company. Tom was a clerk. He was sent for by his uncle one day. He went to his uncle, who told him a strange story. He told how money minded he was and confessed his wickedness and hoped to live in the memory of at least one member of the family. Generally thought to be poor living on an annuity, uncle Philip had never parted with his precious stones.
He says Tom will have it as he is his only heir. He would be happy to make at least one man happy before he died. He asks Tom to pay for his funeral and that the safe with the precious gems was only his possession. Before Tom left him, his uncle said the rubies were in the safe and that he should read the letter on top of it carefully. And not to shake the box. He asked Tom not to come back. Uncle Philip died a week later and was handsomely buried. The day after, Tom opened his safe and found nothing but an iron box made by his uncle. It was very heavy. Now he was surprised whether his uncle’s words were true or not.
He spent all he had for his Uncle’s funeral and was poorer than before. Things seemed odd and his uncle’s cunningness seemed true. He took the strange box to his lodgings and carefully kept in a closet. The letter gave details about the contents of gems as well as a dynamite. A warning that he should open it with belief his expectations would grow. If he opened it with doubt he would be blown to atoms. He tried ways and means to open the box, thought about it for months and weeks as it was dubbed with terrible danger and a very great fortune. It confused him a lot. He met too many people for advice.
A doctor Schaff asked him to keep it aside and stop thinking or he would become mad. He went to Libraries for strong advice and knowledge about dynamites. He became a slave of one very strange idea. Between the leaves of the Bible he found the numbered list of stones and their cost. The variety of rubies and their worth were described with the threat of death. Biographies written by the uncle spoke of the evil of stones and the good of stones. One, a black pearl, was mentioned as ‘She’.
He was a clerk who knew only how to keep a ledger. Following the strange words of his uncle was too much and absurd to him. It was like a riddle. He was rich, holding the rubies but too poor unable to use it. He asked his father who told him that it was just a cruel joke of his uncle. He also advised Tom to stop thinking about its fortune. Two years went by and Tom continued to possess the fortune without being rich. Susan breaks off the engagement with Tom considering him mad.
Advertisements about the box in Journals brought out absurd schemes. He is asked to quit his house by the owner. He moves to the suburbs, hides the box, changes his name and occupation. He was happy to assist the government officials to collect tax for his uncle’s estate being his heir. He showed them his uncle’s letter, offered the key of the box and time to move away. The official said he would come later. Now Tom makes a will leaving the precious gems to the Society for the Preservation of Human Vivisection.
A Dilemma Glossary
appalled (adj.) – horrified, shocked
avarice (n) – extreme greed for wealth
closet (n) – cupboard
contrive (v) – cook up, hatch a plan by deliberate use of skills
despotic (adj.) – tyrannical, autocratic
incredible (adj.) – impossible to believe
ingenious (adj.) – clever, original and inventive
jest (n) – a joke
malicious (adj.) – spiteful, intended to harm or upset someone
mania (n) – an extensive, persistent desire, an obsession
oddity (n) – the quality being strange or peculiar
queer (adj.) – strange, odd
vivisection (n) – a surgery conducted on a living organism purposes