(Page 47)
Question 1.
Why is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first
think about the place?
Answer:
The lawyer was sent to New Mullion to
serve summons on Oliver Lutkins, who was needed as a witness in a law case.
He
first thinks that the place must be a sweet and a simple country village.
Question 2.
Who befriends lawyer? Where does he take him?
Answer:
A
hack driver at the station, who called himself Bill Magnuson, befriends him.
He told the lawyer that he knew Lutkins and would help in finding him. Bill
took him to all the places where Lutkins was known to hang out. He took the
lawyer to Fritz’s shop, where Lutkins played a lot of poker; to Gustaff’s
barber shop and then to Gray’s barber shop; to the poolroom and several other
places before finally taking him to Lutkins’ mother’s farm. However, Oliver
Lutkins was not found.
Question 3.
What does Bill say about Lutkins?
Answer:
Bill told
the lawyer that Lutkins was a hard person to find as he was always busy in
some activity or the other. He owed money to many people, including Bill, and
had never paid back anybody. He also said that Lutkins played a lot of poker
and was good at deceiving people.
Page 50
Question 1.
What more does Bill say about
Lutkins and his family?
Answer:
Bill told the lawyer that he knew
mother of Lutkins’. He said that she was a terror. He narrated an incident
when he took a trunk to her once and she almost took his skin off because he
did not carry it carefully. He also said that she was very tall and bulky. She
was very quick and could talk a lot. He said that Lutkins must have heard that
somebody was chasing him and consequently would have gone into hiding at his
mother’s place.
Question 2.
Does the narrator serve the summons that day?
Answer:
No,
the narrator did not serve the summons that day.
Question 3.
Who is Lutkins?
Answer:
The hack driver himself is
Lutkins but pretends to be Bill Magnuson. He tricks the lawyer to avoid the
summons to be a witness in a case.
Think About It (Page 53)
Question 1.
When the lawyer reached New Mullion, did ‘Bill’ know
that he was looking for Lutkins ? When do you think ‘Bill’ came up with his
plan for fooling the lawyer?
Answer:
No, ‘Bill’ did not know
initially that the lawyer was looking for him.
He must have made his plan
for fooling the lawyer when the lawyer told him that he was looking for
Lutkins, as he knew that he was required as a witness but did not want to give
his testimony.
Question 2.
Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all over the village. How is
that no one lets out the secret? (Hint : Notice that the hack driver asks the
lawyer to keep out of sight behind him when they go into Fritz’s.) Can you
find other such subtle ways in which Lutkins manipulates the tour?
Answer:
Lutkins
never allows the lawyer to reach the place
where the imaginary Lutkins is
supposed to be present at a given time. The way he weaves stories about
Lutkins’ vagabond nature and the way he scares the lawyer about Lutkins’
mother are ways of fooling the lawyer devised by the hack driver. Everywhere
he does not allow the lawyer to ask about Lutkins but he himself pretends to
ask about him, which the villagers are knowing is a pretence. So the villagers
also join in the whole drama.
Question 3.
Why do you think Lufkin’s neighbours were anxious to meet the
lawyer?
Answer:
Almost the entire village had enjoyer Lutkins making
a fool of the lawyer. Only Lutkins’ neighbours had not seen the lawyer but had
come to know what happened. They wanted to see the gullible man who Lutkins
had taken for a ride. That is why tin y wanted to meet him.
Question 4.
After his first day’s experience with the hack driver the
lawyer thinks of returning to New Mullion to practice law. Do you think he
would have reconsidered this idea after his second visit?
Answer:
No,
absolutely not. After knowing how Lutkins had made fool of him, he would never
return to New Mullion to practice law.
Question 5.
Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have
avoided being taken for a ride? CBSE 2015
Answer:
Yes, the lawyer
was gullible. He believed every word of what Oliver Lutkins said. He should
have asked about Lutkins from other villagers. Instead, he depended completely
on the hack driver.
Talk About It (Page 53)
Question 1.
Do
we come across persons like Lutkins only in fiction or do we encounter them in
real life as well? You can give examples from fiction, or narrate an incident
that you have read in the newspaper, or an incident from real life.
Answer:
Persons
like Lutkins are found in real life as well. They do not just appear in
stories. They are very much real. Newspapers are full of reports of such
tricksters. There is this famous con man in ‘David Copperfield’ written by
Charles Dickens. His name is Uriah Heep. He traps a gullible, rich old man.
The old man depends on him entirely. He takes advantage of his trust and takes
all his money. He makes the old man an addict to alcohol. Then he forces the
old man to marry his daughter to him.
Question 2.
Who is a ‘con man’, or a confidence trickster?
Answer:
A
‘con man’ or a confidence trickster is a person who makes a fool out of other
people. He wins their trust first and then, he gets from them whatever he
wants.