1. When I got to New Mullion, my eager expectations of a sweet and simple country village were severely disappointed. Its streets were rivers of mud, with rows of wooden shops, either painted a sour brown, or bare of any paint at all. The only agreeable sight about the place was the delivery man at the station. He was about forty, red-faced, cheerful, and thick about the middle. His working clothes were dirty and wellworn, and he had a friendly manner. You felt at once that he liked people.
Question. Why was the narrator’s spirits dampened when he reached New Mullion?
(i) there were less people in the town
(ii) it was a long journey and he was tired
(iii) the streets were crowded
(iv) the streets were full of mud
Answer. D
Question. Choose the option that lists the set of statements that are NOT TRUE according to the given extract.
1. There were less people in the town.
2. The streets were full of mud.
3. The narrator is a delivery man.
4. The narrator came to a big city.
5. The name of the village was New Mullion.
6. The wooden shops were painted.
7. Narrator’s expectations were disappointed.
(i) 1, 3, 4
(ii) 2, 3, 6
(iii) 2, 4, 7
(iv) 1, 4, 7
Answer. A
Question. Pick the option that correctly classifies fact/s (F) and myths (M) about the narrator.
1. Narrator’s spirits dampened because the streets were full of mud.
2. Narrator met the delivery man at the station.
3. Narrator was very happy.
4. Narrator met the delivery man at the bus stop.
(i) F – 1, 2 and M – 3, 4
(ii) F – 1, 3 and M – 2, 4
(iii) F – 2, 4 and M – 1, 3
(iv) F – 3, 4 and M – 1, 2
Answer. A
Question. What do you mean by the word ‘agreeable’?
(i) pleasant
(ii) correct
(iii) subservient
(iv) stylish
Answer. A
Question. ______________ is the synonym of ‘eager’.
(i) fine
(ii) keen
(iii) inviting
(iv) none of these
Answer. B
2. His cheerful country wisdom was very refreshing to a country boy like myself who was sick of the city. As we sat on the hilltop, looking over the pastures and creek which slipped among the trees, he talked of New Mullion, and painted a picture in words of all the people in it. He noticed everything, but no matter how much he might laugh at people, he also understood and forgave their foolishness.
Question. Who is ‘he’ referred to here?
(i) Bill
(ii) Oliver Lutkins
(iii) The Minister
(iv) The Chief
Answer. A
Question. What did the people overview from the hilltop?
(i) pastures and creek
(ii) plains
(iii) muddy roads
(iv) forests
Answer. A
Question. What did ‘he’ tell the narrator that made him feel refreshed?
(i) ‘He’ talked about the people of New Mullion.
(ii) ‘He’ talked about the fields of New Mullion.
(iii) ‘He’ spoke about Oliver Lutkins
(iv) ‘He’ forgave the foolishness of the people.
Answer. A
Question. What do you notice about the nature of ‘He’?
(i) Observant
(ii) Expressive
(iii) Indifferent
(iv) Both (i) and (ii)
Answer. D
Question. ________ is the antonym of ‘cheerful’.
(i) Light-hearted
(ii) Joyful
(iii) Gloomy
(iv) Mirthful
Answer. C
3. When I got to New Mullion, my eager expectations of a sweet and simple country village were severely disappointed.
Question. Who is I? Why was he disappointed with the village?
Answer. The narrator is a young lawyer who was disappointed with the village as the roads were muddy, with dank badly painted wooden shops.
Question. Why had he gone to New Mullion?
Answer. He had gone to New Mullion to serve summons to Oliver Lutkins to be a witness for a case.
4. He was so open and friendly that I glowed with the warmth of his affection. I knew, of course, that he wanted the business, but his kindness was real. I was glad the fare money would go to this good fellow. I managed to bargain down to two dollars an hour, and then he brought from his house nearby a sort of large black box on wheels.
Question. Who was so open and friendly?
Answer. The delivery man or Bill, was an open and friendly man according to the narrator.
Question. Did he take the lawyer to his destination?
Answer. No. Bill was himself Lutkins and fooled the narrator into going around the town on a wild goose chase.
5. I charged the whole thing to the firm. But it would have been worth paying him myself to have his presence. His cheerful country wisdom was very refreshing to a country boy like myself who was sick of the city. As we sat on the hilltop, looking over the pastures and creek which slipped among the trees, he talked of New Mullion, and painted a picture in words of all the people in it.
Question. What was the charge finally?
Answer. The final charge was more than 12 dollars as they had taken six hours to search for Lutkins at two dollars per hour including lunch.
Question. How do you think it took such a long time for Bill to hunt down Lutkins?
Answer. It took such a long time for Bill to hunt down and fail to find Lutkins because everytime he ended up at a place where Lutkins could be, he came with the response that Lutkins had escaped.
6. What really hurt me was that when I served the summons, Lutkins and his mother laughed at me as though I were a bright boy of seven. With loving kindness they begged me to go with them to a neighbour’s house for a cup of coffee. “I told them about you and they’re anxious to look at you,” said Lutkins joyfully. “They’re about the only folks in the town that missed seeing you yesterday.”
Question. Why did Lutkins and his mother laugh at the narrator?
Answer. The two laughed at the narrator because they had befooled him into thinking that Lutkins was nowhere to be found when Bill was himself Lutkins and his mother had helped with the joke.
Question. Do you think the narrator was a gullible man?
Answer. Yes. The narrator was too gullible for the profession he had chosen. He should have understood something was fishy once Bill could not find Lutkins anywhere especially when he made him go through the entire village.
Question. Why did the narrator think of fleeing to his hometown to practice law?
Answer. The narrator was a junior assistant clerk in a law firm where he had the job of serving summons. He hated this work as it took him to the wrong side of the city where he had been beaten up too by the people. This is why he had considered fleeing to his hometown and practicing law there.
Question. What happened at Lutkin’s mother’s farm?
Answer. When the lawyer and Bill reached the farmyard looking for Lutkins, his mother shouted at them and charged at them with an iron off the stove. However, they did manage to search the house by peering through the windows.
Question. Why did the narrator think that in finding New Mullion he had found a treasure?
Answer. The narrator had found Bill, a deep and rich human, he thought he would grow to love Fritz and Custaff and a hundred other slow-spoken, simple, wise neighbours. He pictured an honest and happy life beyond the strict limits of universities and law firms. He had discovered a new way of life and so thought that he had found a treasure.
Question. Who befriended the narrator when he went to New Mullion? Where did he take him?
Answer. The hack driver befriended the lawyer when he went to New Mullion to serve summons on a man called Oliver Lutkins. The hack driver took him to all the places that Lutkins hanged out at. They went to Fritz’s to see if Oliver was playing a game of poker, then to so many other places and finally to Lutkin’s mother’s farm. But all this was in vain.
Question. What job did the narrator get after graduation? Did he like his work?
Answer. The narrator became a junior assistant clerk in a good law firm after graduation. However, he did not like his work. He had to serve summons and for the same he had to visit dirty and shadowy corners of the city which he disliked a lot.
Question. How did Lutkins’ mother receive the narrator?
Answer. At last Lutkins took the narrator to meet his mother. Lutkins mother came out of the kitchen with an iron from the old stove. She marched on the narrator shouting loud. This frightened him and he retreated, making a fool of himself.
Question. With what impression did the lawyer come back to the city?
Answer. The lawyer returned to the city with a good impression. In fact, he even thought about practising law at New Mullion. The people here were deep, compassionate and humAnswer. They were simple, wise, good and helpful. The place was simply ‘a treasure’ for him.
Question. Why was the narrator sent to New Mullion by his law firm?
Answer. The narrator was a new entrant in the law firm. So, he was sent to New Mullion to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins. A case was coming up in the court which required Lutkins’ presence urgently.
Question. How did the narrator feel after knowing that the hack driver was Lutkins himself?
Answer. The narrator at last came to know the truth from the official. It was that the man as the hack driver was Lutkins himself. He felt shocked at this deception.His feelings were hurt as Lutkins and his mother laughed at him.
Question. Write a character sketch of the hack driver.
Answer. The hack driver seemed to be a simple countryman at his first appearance who was ready to help the narrator. The lawyer was in search of Lutkins and hence, the hack driver took him to various places where he might find Lutkins. The next day, the case came up in court. As he was unable to find Lutkins, the lawyer was asked to go back to New Mullion with a man who had worked with Lutkins. The lawyer was shocked to find that the hack driver himself was Lutkins. He felt humiliated and learned not to be hasty in judging a person.
Bill told the lawyer that Lutkins was a hard fellow to catch . He was always up to something or the other. He owed money to many people, including Bill, and had never even paid anybody a cent. He also said that Lutkins played a lot of poker and was good at deceiving people.
Question. Lutkins was really a ‘hard fellow to catch’. Explain on the basis of the story ‘The Hack Driver’?
Answer. The lawyer from the city who comes to serve summons on Lutkins does not recognize him. He had never seen Lutkins or did he have any image or photograph of him. This absence of identity proof helped Lutkins in fooling the lawyer and pretending to be someone else named Bill. Lutkins used this to his advantage and takes the lawyer on a merry ride around the village pretending to be someone else and helping him catch himself. This craftiness makes him a very hard fellow to catch. He not only avoids being served summons by the lawyer but he also earns money off him for looking for himself. He befriends the lawyer and earns his confidence easily and then proceeds to befool him throughout the day. Lutkins really is a hard fellow to catch.
Question. Appearances can be deceptive. Discuss on the basis of the story ‘The Hack Driver’?
Answer. When the lawyer arrives at the station of New Mullion, he doesn’t like the look of the village. The only thing he finds agreeable is the delivery man at the entrance who looks very cheerful and helpful. He starts liking the village and its villagers after spending the day with the hack driver. However, it is only the next day that he realises that the very same hack driver and the seemingly simple people of the village have made a fool out of him. The village that seemed boring and uninteresting to him suddenly became a place he wanted to move to leaving his city life. Also, the cheerful and helpful hack driver turned out to be a very cunning and troublesome man. Hence, it can be said with surety that appearances can be deceptive.
Question. In life, people who easily trust others are sometimes made to look foolish. One should not be too trusting.Describe how Oliver Lutkins made a fool of the young lawyer?
Answer. Lutkins impressed the young lawyer with his friendly manner, thus leading the lawyer to think that the people of the town were trustworthy. He claimed to know most of the places where Lutkins could be found. Lutkins charged the young lawyer a high price for the hack and food. He alerted Fritz, his friends and mother not to reveal his identity to the lawyer. He even went to the railway station to see the young lawyer off. The young lawyer, on his second visit, learnt that the hack driver himself was Lutkins. The young lawyer thus, learned a lesson that no one should be too trustworthy and one must be alert at all the times.
Question. Why did the narrator decide to practise law in New Mullion? What happened to this plan in his second visit?
Answer. The narrator joined a law firm as a junior assistant clerk and was sent to New Mullion to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins. New Mullion was a town in the countryside. It was about forty miles away. The narrator found the town dirty. But a man helped him to search Lutkins. The man offered his hack on hire to the narrator. The narrator found the people slow-spoken, simple and wise. They were very helpful too. So, he pictured that he would practise law there.
But in his second visit, that picture was totally changed. The man who had hired his hack to the narrator was Lutkins himself. So Lutkins himself had deceived the narrator. This changed the image of New Mullion in narrator’s mind.
Question. Lutkins played with the emotions of the young lawyer. By the end of the story, he was hurt on knowing the truth of the hack driver. Would you call Lutkins an insensitive fellow? Should we hurt the feeling of someone like this?
Answer. Lutkins played with the emotions of the young lawyer. He impressed him by his deceptive nature. He pretended to help him. But he was making a fool out of him. He roamed around the city with the lawyer in search of Lutkins. He did not reveal that he himself was Lutkins. Wherever he went, he made the lawyer a laughing stock for others.
Everyone was amused to see how Lutkins was making a fool of the lawyer. By the end of the story when the lawyer revisited the place, he was hurt to know how the hack driver had befooled him. No doubt the hack driver was an insensitive human being. He did not care for his emotions. No, we should not hurt someone’s emotions for the sake of self¬entertainment.
Question. Give a character sketch of Lutkins.
Answer. Lutkins was a wise, clever and crafty man. He need no certificate of his qualities when summons is meant for him. And he also proves himself capable of these summons. Clearly, he has done something wrong or illegal and he doesn’t mend himself. He deceives the narrator repeatedly. He poses before him as Bill or Magnuson and befools him. So, he is really a genius at befooling people. He convinces the narrator that he himself has to take some money from Lutkins. He confuses him by saying that Lutkins was seen at various places a few minutes ago. Finally, he takes the narrator to his own house and shows him his mother. This impresses the narrator.
