The Little Girl Class 9 | Summary and Notes | NCERT Solutions |
The Little Girl Class 9 | Summary and Notes | NCERT Solutions | Questions Answers |
Summary
The story ‘The Little Girl’ is about a little girl named Kezia. She lived with her parents and grandmother. But she was always afraid of her father and avoided him as much as she could. Every time he left, she would take a deep breath of relief. Whenever they met, she trembled with fear and would mumble quietly if he was nearby. Her father was a mean man according to Kezia, and she tried hard not to be around him when he came home from work.
Kezia’s grandmother always told her to try and understand her parents better. She encouraged Kezia to talk with her parents in the drawing-room. But, the young girl always got a cold reaction from her parents. One day, Kezia’s grandmother advised the young girl that she should make a pin cushion for her father’s birthday that was coming soon. Kezia stitched three sides of the cushion laboriously and left one side open so she could put something inside it. She wondered what she could use to stuff the pin-cushion case. She went into her mother’s bedroom to look for some scraps. There she found a lot of sheets of paper. She gathered them up, tore them into small pieces, and stuffed the case. Finally, she sewed the fourth side shut.
Kezia’s mother discovered that she tore up her father’s speech. She told Kezia to come to the living room. Her father was angry with her and he didn’t even listen to the reason why she had torn up his speech. He simply punished her by hitting her palms with a ruler for telling him about it, but still not understanding what she did wrong. She felt miserable and cried. She thought about the purpose of God’s creation of fathers. Then, she Mr. Macdonald who was playing with his children and having a good time. She realized that there are some good fathers, like this man, who love their children. There are also some bad fathers, like her own father, who had been rude and harsh to her for many years.
However, one day, Kezia’s mom got sick and was in the hospital. Kezia’s grandmother went with her mother. So, Kezia was left alone in the house with only the cook Alice around during the daytime. However, at night-time she had bad dreams about a butcher holding a knife and rope who came closer smiling wretchedly while she couldn’t move from that place. This nightmare woke her up. On opening her eyes, she noticed that her father was standing next to her.
Soon Kezia was taken to her father’s bedroom. He made a spot for her to sleep on the bed. He also told her that she could rub her feet against his legs for some warmth. Later, she felt very safe and comfortable in her father’s company. She realized that he wasn’t as bad as she had thought before, and that he loved and cared about her too, just in a different way than other fathers do. Kezia saw her father every day and he was usually in a bad mood. He worked hard to earn money for his family. This made him too tired in the evening to come and play with Kezia. The next day, Kezia loved her father like she loved her mother and grandmother.
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NCERT Solutions of The The Little Girl
II. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences.
Question 1. Why was Kezia afraid of her father?
Answer: Kezia was scared of her dad because he was strict and bossy. He never played with her. He used to give her a mean look over his glasses.
Question 2. Who were the people in Kezia’s family?
Answer: Kezia’s family comprised of her father, mother, grandmother and herself.
Question 3. What was Kezia’s father’s routine?
(i) before going to his office?
(ii) after coming back from his office?
(iii) on Sundays?
Answer: i) Before going to work, Kezia’s father would come into her room and give her a kiss goodbye.
ii) When he got home from work, he would ask his mother to get his papers and slippers. Then he would ask Kezia to take off his boots.
iii) On Sundays, he would stretch out on the sofa. He would put his handkerchief over his face and feet on one of the best cushions. Then he would sleep and snore.
Question 4. In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?
Answer: Kezia’s grandmother would tell her to go down to the drawing room and talk to her father. She also told Kezie to stitch a pin-cushion out of a beautiful yellow silk piece, and give it as a birthday present for her father.
II. Discuss these questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers in two or three paragraphs each.
Question 1. Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?
Answer: Kezie stitched three sides of the cushion. She was confused about what to fill it with. Her grandmother wasn’t there, so she went to her parents’ room and asked her mother for some scrap. But, her mother wasn’t there in the room.
Kezie saw some pieces of paper on the bed table. She thought they were important, so she collected them all and put them in a cushion. But when her father looked for the papers later, he was angry with her because she had touched them. The papers were for a speech at the Port Authority. Her father scolded and hit her with a ruler because she didn’t listen to him and touch only what belonged to her.
Question 2. Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?
Answer: Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”.
Mr. Macdonald was a kind and gentle father. He used to play and laugh with his children. He was friendly with them. He was quite different from Kezia’s father who was strict and unfriendly.
Question 3. How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?
Answer: One day, Kezia’s mom and grandma were at the hospital. She was alone with their cook, Alice. That night she had a nightmare and called for her grandmother but saw her dad near her bed. He took her in his arms and carefully tucked her on his bed. Then he lay down next to her. Half asleep, she went close to him, snuggled up to him with head under his arm and held onto his shirt tightly.
She saw her father go to bed before her. She knew that he had to work hard every day, which made him too tired to behave like Mr Macdonald. She told his father that he had a big heart.
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