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PROSE – 3

WILD DUCK

By Romesh Gunesekhar

Meanings:

1. motionless - without movement

2. oar - a long pole with a broad flat blade for rowing

a boat

3. tuck - to push or fold the outer edges into

(something), to make firm or secure

4. exclaim - to cry out suddenly

5. passion - a desire, an enthusiasm

6. explosion - blowing up, the act of exploding

7. ripple - slight waves on the surface of the water

8. paddle - to move through water

9. glide - to move smoothly, to sale through the air

without beating the wings

10. relief - lessening or removal of pain

Extract1

They come in clouds, huge clouds moving very fast”. He moved his arm in a

wide sweep, rocking the boat.

Q1. Who is the speaker? To whom is he speaking? How did the

listener react to this?

Ans: The above words are spoken by the father to his son while they were on

a hunting expedition. When the father described how the birds would

fly in, the boy ran his finger down the cold blue barrel of his gun as a

mark of alertness.

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Q2. Describe how the father and son were waiting in the lake?

Ans: The father and the son were waiting for the wild ducks to fly above

them. On a small motionless boat, they sat facing each other with their

guns resting across their knees and their oars tucked in beside them.

Q3. What were they waiting for? How did the father describe

their arrival?

Ans: The father and the son were waiting for the wild ducks. The father said

that they would come like huge clouds across the sky from the volcanic

hill.

Q4. What are the instructions given to the son by the father?

Ans: The father instructed his son to be quick and fast while shooting the

wild ducks. He asked him to aim well by imagining the flight path. To

be lucky in the first go would not be easy but he asked his son to

manage with one shot.

Extract - 2

“You got the leader!” the man cheered . Another bird swiftly took its place;

they were all leaders by instinct.

Q1. How did the boy react when he saw the ducks?

Ans: The boy was out for hunting the ducks for the first time. He was spell

bound when he saw the birds flying in the sky. His breath whistled out

of his small round mouth, as watching birds was his passion.

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Q2. Describe how the birds were flying in the sky?

Ans: The boy was spell bound to see the birds flying like a ribbon of black

dots billowing out on the horizon. There were almost a million of them

and half the sky was covered by them. Huge clouds of them banked

one way then another changing the shape of the sky and blotting the

light. They broke into small groups and then arose in a perfect

formation.

Q3. How do we know that the son was more wise than his father?

Ans: When the birds reached over head, the father at once started aiming

and shooting the birds down. The explosion caused ripples in the lake

and shook the boat. Thus he missed his target. He could not kill one

bird. But the son slowly raised his rifle and picked a single speck out of

the mass and fired. His steady hands and wise thinking helped him get

the leader of the formation. Hence the son acted more wisely than his

father.

Extract -3

The boy moved the boat against the tide of teal still wheeling overhead; his

arms trembled as he pulled the paddle through the black water.

Q1. Why were the birds called leaders by instinct?

Ans: The young boy had targeted and succeeded in bringing down the

leader of the formation of birds in the sky. When the leader fell, the

speck of birds plummeted but soon another bird swiftly took its place

showing that they were all leaders by instinct.

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Q2. Describe the injured bird in the water.

Ans: The injured bird looked like a lump floating on the water. It had a

broken wing pointing towards the sky like the ragged sail of a toy boat.

It lay helpless floating on the surface of the water.

Q3. Why did the boy want to return home?

Ans: The boy was both guilty and frightened to see the injured bird floating

on the water. He scooped the big helpless bird up. He felt relieved to

see that the bird wasn’t dead and so he wanted to take it home and

look after it.

Q4. Why did the man feel relieved?

Ans: After the duck hunting experience the son threw away the gun that his

father had given him. The boy was glad that he had done it but the

man was angry as he couldn’t understand the boy’s action; but

eventually he was filled with a sense of peace when he realised that he

was teaching his son to kill while the boy was teaching him how to care.

Q5. Write the character sketch of the young boy and his father.

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