Why did the father go home with a white horse?
Answers
Answer:
‘The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse’ along with the meanings of difficult words.
Also, the explanation is followed by a Summary of the Lesson. All the exercises and Questions and Answers given at the back of the lessons have been covered.
Class 11 English (Snapshots book) Chapter 1 - The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse
By William Saroyan
summer of the beautiful white horse
The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Introduction of the Lesson
The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse is written by William Saroyan. The story is about two Armenian boys – Aram and Mourad who belong to the Garoghlanaian family. Their tribe is known for their honesty. They are poor and can hardly earn money for food. They both long to ride a horse. Mourad had stolen a horse from a farmer a month ago. One early morning, he brought it to the window of Aram and asked him to come along for a ride. They rode the horse for many days. When Aram gets to know the horse is stolen, he gets shocked but discounts the stealing in his mind. One day the owner of the horse, John Byro, comes to his house to complain about his missing horse to Uncle Khosrove.
One day on their way back to hide the horse on the deserted vineyard, they meet the owner and feel guilty at the end. The next morning, they returned the horse back to the owner’s barn.
The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse- Summary
Aram and Mourad were two poor boys who belonged to the Armenian Garoghlanian family who were known for their honesty since the eleventh century. One early morning when Aram was asleep and was enjoying pleasant dreams, his cousin Mourad showed up to his window with a beautiful white horse. Aram could not believe it and was thinking it was a dream. But since there was a little light outside, he knew this for sure that the horse was real. As they were poverty-stricken, he couldn’t believe that the horse was their own. He was trying to figure out if the horse had been stolen by his cousin. Mourad had come to invite him for a ride-along. He asked him to make it quick before everyone in the world wakes up. Aram wore his clothes and jumped out of the window and sat behind Mourad on the horse.
They rode on the old countryside of the area where they lived – Walnut Avenue. After some time, Mourad asked him to get off as he wanted to ride the horse alone. Aram asked him if he could also ride the horse alone just like him to which Mourad said they will see as it was for his own safety. He got to know that Mourad had stolen the horse a month ago and was riding it every morning.
When Aram got his chance of a ride, the horse took him to the vineyard and threw him off and ran away. After searching for thirty minutes, Mourad finally managed to find the horse and they hid him in a deserted vineyard that had some oats and alfalfa. Mourad had a way with everything, especially horses. He knew how to handle every type of animal and also humans. Every morning for two weeks, they would take the horse for a ride and then hide it again. One day, John Byro came to Aram’s house to talk to his uncle Khosrove who was an irritated and loud man who shouted at almost everything. Byro told him about his missing horse whom he bought at sixty dollars. For one month, he couldn't find it and he walked for 10 miles to come to their house. Khosrove roared at him and told him, ‘it’s no harm, pay no attention to it.’ Byro became irritated by his attitude and he went away.
Aram went to Mourad and told him about the missing horse of Byro and asked him not to return the horse until he learns to ride it. Mourad told him that it would take one year for him to learn to ride the horse. He further angrily added that they could not be thieves as their tribe is known for honesty and said that they would return the horse after six months.
One day on their way back to hide the horse to the hidden spot, they met John Byro who was going back to the town. He talked to them and carefully examined the horse. He admitted that the horse looked exactly like the one he had but since he knew his parents and the honesty of their family, he didn’t believe that they had his missing horse. He assumed it was a twin horse. Mourad managed to let Byro assume that it was not his horse so they went away. The next morning, both of them took the horse back to Byro’s vineyard and put it in the barn. The dogs followed them all along quietly and they left the place.
The same afternoon, John Byro came back to his house to tell his mother about his horse who had come back. He was happy and was astonished to see the horse’s better temper and it was stronger than ever. Uncle Khosrove again roared, ‘Quiet, man, quiet. Your horse has been returned. Pay no attention to it.’