NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 1 – The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Reading with insight

Question 1.
You will probably agree that this story does not have breathless adventure and exciting action. Then what in your opinion makes it interesting?
Answer:
The thing of crazy streak in the Garoghlanian family makes the story interesting. Uncle Khosrove repeated phrase to every petty or major loss, ‘Pay no attention to it. It’s no harm’, adds more interest in the story. Mourad’s innocence and his mysterious ways to tackle the ‘horse’, ‘dog1 and even ‘farmer’ make the story really very interesting.

Question 2.
Did the boys return the horse because they were conscience-stricken or because they were afraid?
Answer:
The boys returned the horse as they were afraid. The narrator had come to know that the horse belonged to farmer John Byro whose surrey had become useless because of his lost horse for a month. He informed it to Mourad and asked him not to return the horse as he wanted to learn how to ride a horse properly first. But unluckily when they met John Byro on the way, they got afraid. They put it stealthily in Byro’s bam next morning.

Question 3.
‘One day back there in the good old days when I was nine and the world was full of every imaginable kind of magnificence, and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream. The story begins in a mood of nostalgia. Can you narrate some interesting incident from your childhood that might make an interesting story?
Answer:
Once when I was still a student of Class IV, I had gone to pick fruits including berries, guava, and pomegranates in the garden of villager Mr. Ramdhan Tyagi. We were a pack of eight children. We all had eaten fruits to our fill. After that we all packed our pockets. As we were returning happily, uncle Ramdhan returned from his home after a nap in the noon. He naturally gave us a chase.

I being the youngest in the group, lagged behind and was caught. He asked ‘whose daughter are you?’ ‘Sh. Lekh Ram’, I replied. In the evening we all heard the sounds of great row at the home of Sh. Lekh Ram. Actually, romance at ‘hort notice was my speciality then. To save my skin from my parents I had told the name of a neighbour as my father.

Question 4.
The story revolves around the characters that belong to a tribe in Armenia. Mourad and Aram are members of the Garoghlanian family. Now locate Armenia and Assyria on the atlas and prepare a write up on the Garoghlanian tribes. You may write about people, their names, traits, and geographical and economic features as suggested in the story.
Answer:
The Garoghlanian tribes were scattered in the expanse of Assyria and Armenia in Asia continent sometime between the period of 500 B.C. to 800 B.C. Their main occupation was farming. They were famous for their honesty and trust. They were great nature-lovers. They never thought of stealing. They never bothered to attain more heights financially as well as physically. They were contented in their peaceful easy life. They never dreamt of taking advantage of others in the world.

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Extra Questions and Answers

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Extra Questions Short Answer Type 

Question 1.
To which tribe did Aram and Mourad belong? What was particular about their tribe?
Answer:
Aram and Mourad belonged to Garoghlanian tribe. The tribe was well known for its honesty and trust. The people belonging to the tribe to neither be liars nor thieves.

Question 2.
Why and when did Mourad take John Byro’s horse?
Answer:
Mourad was known for a crazy streak in his character. He was fond of horse riding. But he belonged to a poor family, He could never afford to realise his long cherished s dream of riding a horse. So one day he ‘stole’ John Byro’s horse. He kept it to his custody at * least a month, before he disclosed it to Aram.

Question 3.
Why did Mourad bring the wonderful white horse to Aram?
Answer:
Mourad brought this horse to Aram, his cousin brother. He knew quite well that Aram was equally fond of riding a horse. Mourad himself had been enjoying joy-rides on the wonderful white horse since a month’s time. Now he wanted his cousin brother to enjoy the same.

Question 4.
How did Mourad manage to keep his ‘deed’ a ‘secret’?
Answer:
Mourad would enjoy the joy-rides on the wonderful white horse only during the early morning hours. As soon as the day breaks, he would hide the horse in a deserted bam. There were some oats and dry alfalfa to satisfy the hunger of the horse.

Question 5.
How did the narrator come to know about the real owner of the horse? What was his reaction?
Answer:
The narrator returned his home, after enjoying a ride on the wonderful white horse. An Assyrian visitor named John Byro came to his home and sighing sadly told that v his white horse was stolen for a month. Now the narrator realized the horse Mourad was . having those days, was actually Byro’s. He felt panicky and went to Mourad to disclose the news. But he requested him not to return the horse so early.

Question 6.
Why did the boys not want to return the horse immediately? Did their wish fulfilled?
Answer:
The boys didn’t want to return the horse immediately as both wanted to learn properly how to ride a horse. Mourad told Aram that he would keep it at least six months. But alas! Their wish couldn’t be fulfilled.

Question 7.
Why did the boys return the horse so early?
Answer:
One morning the boys were taking the horse to its hiding place, after having a joy ride over it. They met John Byro; the real owner of the horse. John swore that the horse was the twin of his own one and some suspicious mind could take it to be his own as its teeth and everything were like those of his own one. At this the boys got panicky. Due to fear of disclosure of their dare deed, they put hack the horse the next day at its real owner’s bam.

Question 8.
Who was John Byro? Why had he come to the narrator’s house?
Answer:
John Byro was an Assyrian by birth. He was a farmer. But he had learnt to speak Armenian also due to loneliness. Perhaps he had settled down somewhere in Armenia ten miles away from narrator’s home. He had come to the narrator’s house to vent out his woes over the loss of his only horse. His horse was missing for a month. .

Question 9.
What impression do you form about Khosrove?
Answer:
Khosrove was an uncle to Mourad and Aram. He had acquired the special char-acteristic of the family i.e. the crazy streak. He was an enormous man with a powerful head of black hair. He had the largest moustache in entire San Joaquin Valley. He was quite an irritable fellow who lost his temper quite easily if somebody cried over his loss. His most repeated words (at such situation) were. It is no harm; pay no attention to it.”

Question 10.
‘I couldn’t believe what I saw.’ What was there so incredible to the speaker? Who is the speaker here?
Answer:
The protagonist of the story ‘Aram’ is the speaker here. One fine summer pre day-break, his cousin brother Mourad had come to invite him on a wonderful white horse. The horse didn’t belong to him. So it was incredible to the speaker where from Mourad had got that horse, as he could not be a thief.

Question 11.
How was the ‘deed’ of taking away somebody else’s horse and hiding it without the owner’s knowledge not a theft according to the boys?
Answer:
According to the boys, the horse which actually belonged to John Byro had been taken away by them just to enjoy joy rides. It can’t be called a ‘theft’ until they offered to sell the horse.

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse Extra Questions Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Describe the boys joyride early one morning in your own words.
Answer:
The boys i.e. Mourad and Aram belonged to Garoghlanian tribe whose hallmarks were trust and honesty. Mourad was regarded a ‘crazy boy having acquired the ‘crazy streak’ of the family. One morning at about 4 a.m., Mourad tapped on Aram’s window waking him up. Aram peeped out of the window. He was surprised to see, wonderful white horse. He had come to invite him for a joy ride.

There was no time for Aram to think or care for the right or wrong. He just jumped out of window, on to the horse, behind Mourad. They both had a round of the vineyards, orchards, irrigation ditches and country roads, all behind Aram’s house. Then they reached on Olive Avenue. The air was new and lovely to breathe in early morning. Mourad began to sing, being too much crazy. They made the horse run, as long as it felt like running

Then Movrr.d alone had a ride. He shouted ‘Vazire’ run; and the horse once stood on its hind legs, snorted and burst into a fury of speed across a field of dry grass. Mourad returned after five minutes. He was dripping wet. Now the narrator wanted to ride alone. But the horse didn’t budge. At this Mourad asked Aram to kick it into its muscles and the trick worked.

But Aram didn’t know how to reign the horse and it dropped him after leaping over vines. It ran away. It was only after half an hour, Mourad got it and brought it back. Then they both took it to Fetvajian’s deserted bam to hide. Mourad had a strange way of taming the horse. The horse seemed to obey him. Both returned to their homes. The narrator had a hearty breakfast that morning, as his long cherished dream of riding a horse had been fulfilled.

Question 2.
Compare and Contrast the characters of Mourad and Aram.
Answer:
The story ‘The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse’ has a few characters. Two of them are Mourad and Aram. Aram is the speaker/ narrator of the story. But the most interesting character here is Mourad. He has his own way of understanding with birds and animals. He is thirteen year old i.e. 4 years older to Aram. Mourad had acquired the crazy streak of the family naturally. Except the narrator everybody who knew him regarded him crazy.

But one day, he surprised the narrator also. He had brought along a Wonderful white horse. No doubt it was not ‘his’, as neither he could purchase and stealing was out of question. Both belonged to poor family and stealing was not a natural trait with their tribe whose hallmarks were honesty and trust.

Anyhow, he had come to invite the narrator to enjoy a ride. He was so simpleton at heart, that he wanted to make Aram feel the same joy of enjoy¬ing a joyride, as he himself had enjoyed. Though he didn’t disclose how and when he did steal it. Both regarded that it was not a ‘theft’ until they wished to sell it. Both decided that they would keep it at least for six months unless they learnt to ride properly. The period is also decided by Mourad.

But unluckily, the narrator came to know about the real owner. He felt nervous as the owner of the horse, John Byrd had come to his house, inquiring/ feeling sorry over his lost horse. Jle went to Mourad to reveal the news. At that time Mouracl was sitting under a peach tree, healing the hurt wing of a young robin. It showed that he loved animals and birds a lot.

Mourad is a mysterious person with amusing characteristics. He had been enjoying rides on a horse of John Byro for a month and kept it for another two weeks. But he didn’t consider it a theft. As the narrator requested him to keep it for a year, he roared “what?” “Are you inviting a member of the Garoghlanian family to steal?” As they met the real owner, without getting worried, Mourad peacefully put back the horse at its real owner’s barn, early next morning. Again he behaved strangely, while bidding ‘goodbye’ to the horse.

He put his arms around the horse, pressed his nose into the horse’s nose, patted it, and then started back. It was all too mysterious to Aram to understand Mourad’s strange ways of making the wounded bird fly, keeping the dogs shut their mouths, and making the horse run. Really he was a strange boy.