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A symbol is an image which suggests or represents something other than itself. In this poem, ‘Slumber’ stands for the lack of knowing on the part of the speaker/poet.

After leaving the dusty road, they entered a footpath in a field.

The child did not request his parents to buy sweets because he knew that they would not buy sweets and would say him greedy.

The child saw many sweets there as; gulab jamun, rasgulla, burfi, jalebi, etc. His mouth began to water when he saw his favourite sweet burfi.

The parents sat down on the well to take rest. Moreover the boy was left behind playing with the insects on the footpath. So they waited for him also.

The boy entered the meadow, played with the butterflies and other insects and with a great difficulty he could catch a butterfly.

The boy was attracted towards the fields because they were in full bloom with pale mustard flowers. Beautiful butterflies and other insects were hovering there.

The child behaved quite differently. He turned his face from everything which he had keenly desired with his parents. Now his parents were above all things for him. He did not even see towards anything and cried only, “I want my mother, I want my father.” 

A man in the crowd heard his groan. He lifted him up in his arms. He tried to soothe him. He took him to the roundabout, to the juggler, to the balloon seller, to the sweet seller, to the garland seller.

The condition of the child was very pitiable when he had lost his parents. He was running to and fro searching for his parents. He was shouting loudly, “My mother, my father.” Tears were flowing from his eyes. He was quite hopeless.

The child was lost at a roundabout. There was a thick crowd of men, women and children who were enjoying the roundabout. The child could not suppress his desire. He also entered the crowd and went forward. But when he did not get his turn for long, he came out of the crowd to see his parents. But he could not find them there or anywhere else. Thus the lost his parents.

The first demand of the child was for burfi while he was accompanying his parents to the fair.

Yes, the behaviour of the lost child has been realistically.painted by Mulk Raj Anand. Every reader of the story would find as if all the incidents are happening before his eyes. All the related incidents and scenes are so artistically intertwined that the interest of the reader is not disturbed anywhere.

The child entered the over-crowded temple in search of his parents.

It is trying to escape from the stroke of a stick.

Though his loved one’s death has left the poet numb and the ‘common human fears’ no longer affected him, his reaction cannot be labelled as ‘bitter grief’. This is because, by the end of the poem, we come to know that the poet imagines her to be a part of nature, rotating with the earth on its axis.

He takes consolation from the fact that she is still alive in the nature and is beyond life’s trials. This promotes the idea that he feels a ‘great peace’ of mind. Thus, we can conclude that the poet’s feelings are ambiguous.

The child sees a number of things which fascinate him on his way to the fair. First, he saw toys at a shop. Then he saw a flowering mustard field. In the fields, the child saw dragonflies bustling about on their wings and a lone black bee in search of sweetness from the flowers. Then while walking on the footpath he was attracted by the insects and worms. As he neared the village with his parents, he saw huge crowds of people going to the fair.

The child also came across a sweetmeat seller selling sweets like burfi and gulab jamun. A little further he came across a flower seller who was selling a garland of Gulmohar. Walking ahead, he saw a man selling rainbow-coloured balloons. He also saw a snake-charmer who stood playing a flute to a snake. Finally, he saw a roundabout in full swing. The child keeps lagging behind his parents because the child is fascinated by all the things he sees on his way. At times, he stops to be able to buy toys and at other times he stops to admire the beauty of the nature – collecting flowers, catching butterflies.

Some facts about snake charmers are as follows:

• The snake-charmers belong to the Nath sect and are the followers of Lord Shiva or Bhole Nath.
• The skills of catching snakes are taught in their childhood.
• The snakes usually lie about in the open in the snake-charmers colonies. Small boxes, filled with sand are also set up for the snakes there.

There are many ways to find out whether a snake is harmful. 

The poisonous/venomous snakes have :

• Slit eyes (except coral snakes)
• Triangle-shaped head
• Depression between the eyes and the nostrils
• Patterns on body
• Rattles its tail

The snake had been lying along the sandy bank. It disappears in the ripples among the reeds.

(1) The poet wishes that the snake should slip away without being hurt because he is harmless even to the children, so he should not be hit and hurt.

(2) The snake was lying on the sand -perhaps basking in the sun, but now when someone chases him with a stick, out of fear it slides away.

(3) To many animals God has given colour protection. The natural colouring or markings of some animals, resemble their surroundings and thus conceal them from predators. Here the snake is ‘green’ and it disappears into ‘green’ reeds, it becomes almost impossible to locate it and hurt it.

(1) The snake is trying to escape from somebody who is pursuing to strike him with a stick.

(2) The words ‘with sudden curvings of thin long body’ suggest that when the snake moves forward in his serpentile way, his body makes? twisting movements. That image is created through these words.

(3) As the poet suggests, the snake should be allowed to go over the water into the reeds to hide himself.

D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’

B. Transferred Epithet

The reeds are green.

He vanishes among the reeds.

He was chased away.

He was lying along the sand.

The snake goes through the water to save itself from the stroke.

He thinks they are beautiful and graceful.

There are many kinds of snakes. They are King Cobra, Black Mamba, Python, Rattlesnake, American Copperhead, Corn snake, Boa Constrictor, Eastern Coral snake, Black Rat snake, Burmese Python, Anaconda, Water Moccasin snake, Green Tree Python, etc. All of them are not poisonous. The poisonous ones are Indian Cobra, Blue Krait, Russel’s Viper, Rattlesnake, Death Adder, Philippine Cobra, Tiger snake, Black Mamba, Taipan and Eastern Brown snake.

No, it seems that the boy has not lost anything earlier. The words that suggest so are ,‘senses first responsibility in a world of possessions’.

The poet says that the boy is learning to cope up with the loss of the ball. He is experiencing grief and learning to grow up in this world of possessions. He learns that there are so many things in life that get lost and cannot be brought back.But it is useless to feel sorrow for them and makes no sense to stop your life from moving ahead for the sake of those memories that are now bygone.

Yes, the boy has had the ball for a ] long time i.e., since his childhood. Yes, it is linked with the memories of days when he played with it.

There were green, green forests everywhere. Rajvir had never seen such greenery before. Soon the soft green paddy fields gave way to tea bushes. Both Pranjol and Rajvir were going to Assam by train. Pranjol’s father Mr Barua was the manager of a tea garden at Dhekiabari, in Upper Assam.

The baker would first greet the lady of the house by saying ‘Good Morning’. He would then place the basket on the vertical bamboo – and deliver the loaves to the servant.

He says that its curving shapes look beautiful and graceful.

The poet wants the boy to experience the loss. He should learn that it is the part of life. That’s why the poet doesn't want to interfere and wants the boy to be strong and handle the situation himself and doesn't want to offer him money to buy another ball.

1. c. Breads are a very important part of the culture of the people in Goa. B marriage gift would have no meaning if a sweet bread known as the 'bol' is not given.

2. b. The lady of the house prepares sandwiches on the occasion of her daughter’s engagement.

3. d. The sweet bread is known as 'bol'.

4. c. A baker’s furnace is absolutely essential in the village.

5. a. Cakes and bols are a must for Christmas.

Yes, it seems like the boy has had the ball for a long time. When it bounced into the water, all his memories of the days of childhood flashed in front of him. This led to a realization that those moments would not come back, just like the ball. He can buy new balls and can create new similar moments, but those that are gone, would not ever return.

Different kinds of breads are important during the different occasions. Bolinhas had to be prepared during Christmas and other festivals. The mothers used to prepare sandwiches on the occasion of their daughter’s engagement. So, the baker’s furnace was essential in a traditional Goan village.

The baker used to enter with the jingling sound of his specially made bamboo staff. His one hand supported the basket on his head and the other banged the bamboo on the ground.

The narrator states that the eaters of loaves might have gone but the makers are still there. He further says that those age-old, time-tested furnaces still exist and the fire in the furnaces has not yet been extinguished.

From the story it is clear that breadmaking is still popular in Goa. The author has described about the existence of time-old furnaces and their still burning fire. The Goan society is still having moulders, bread mixers and bakers.

A baker’s profession was apparently a profitable profession. This was evident from plump appearance of the baker as if he was well fed. A plump person can give a jackfruit-like appearance.

No, a simple jab of a knife cannot kill a tree because it takes many years for a tree to grow and rise out of the earth. Moreover, only a chop cannot kill it because it will slowly rise again and grow to its original size.

Even today if someone wears a-pant with length a little bit down from knees he invites the comment, “he is dressed like a pader”, because bakers used to wear such dresses in Goa.

Wanda appears to be smart enough to. understand what was going on around her. But she was mentally conditioned to withstand such incidents, because she must had had been through pains which are associated with migration.

Maddie is feeling bad about Wanda and herself. She is feeling very sad for not even getting a chance to say sorry to Wanda.

Maddie wrote a note to Peggy to stop making fun of Wanda. But she tore it because she thought that it could annoy Peggy and she would make fun of her instead.