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The people felt that they were lucky to have a king who would not afraid to admit his mistake.

The narrator used to work at a shipyard, carrying fruits and other goods to the docks in his pony cart. The narrator loved oranges so much that he could eat a number of oranges without a break for hours. The narrator was once caught with his seventeen oranges because his apron string broke and a policeman Pongo noticed that the narrator’s pockets were somewhat bulged.

So, the policeman looked into the narrator’s pockets and found there were seventeen oranges. Pongo wanted to set an example for the rest of the employees at the dock of the necessity of being honest and of the dire consequences of stealing anything from the dock. When the narrator was locked in the cabin, he lost hope in life, felt afraid that he would lose his job. The narrator ate all the oranges to get rid of the evidence. Pongo looked everywhere for the oranges. He looked in the narrator’s pockets and in his apron.

As there was no evidence left against the narrator, the policemen were not able to bring any charges against the narrator. He felt sick for a week and those oranges kept working away in his stomach.

After catching the narrator red-handed, Pongo left him in a room and went to bring a witness. The narrator knew he was in trouble. A voice in his head told him to eat the oranges and destroy the evidence. So he took an orange, peeled it and put it in his mouth. But the pips were left. The voice in his head asked him to swallow the pips and the peel. He took a small knife from his pocket and cut the oranges into large chunks.

He swallowed the pieces as fast as he could. His stomach was nearly full but there were still three oranges on the table. Pongo and the other policeman were about to arrive when they saw some carts at the dock gate and went to talk to the drivers. This gave the narrator a few more minutes. He swallowed the remaining oranges with a great deal of struggle and thus managed to clear the evidence.

The narrator had read a lot of detective stories and he knew the importance of evidence in proving the crime. His inner mind prompted him to clear the evidence in order to get away with the situation. But there were not one but seventeen evidences. And clearing them up seemed to be quite a task. Nevertheless, the narrator prepared himself for the task and one- by-one ate all the seventeen oranges – swallowing the pips and peels too.

When Pongo and the other policeman came there, they could not find any evidence against the narrator. Though confused by the smell of the oranges, they could not prove the narrator guilty. Due to lack of evidence, the narrator was set free. Thus he escaped the punishment even after being caught red-handed.

Correct answer is (b) afraid

1. I would be frightened and thinking of what to tell them.

2. I would quickly run from that place and when my parents ask me about it I would tell them that I was very hungry and the smell tempted me.

According to the narrator, Clem was holding the lid down tightly because he was hiding a large Dutch cheese inside it.

Clem Jones planned a theft carefully and executed it well.

(c) the narrator had eaten them all

Clem Jones was one of the narrator’s friends who worked with him at the dock. Clem was amazingly smart about stealing things from the docks and boats that he easily fooled the policemen with his great cunningness. Once, he carried a box and came out of the docks. The cop Pongo stopped him and investigated about the box. Clem told that it had a cat. The cop insisted on opening it.

When Clem did so, a ship’s cat jumped off and escaped into the docks. When Clem Jones returned with the box of cheese, he looked angrily at the policeman Pongo to make the policeman feel guilty of his previous act of opening the box, in which the cat was kept inside. By making Pongo feel guilty, Clem was able to avoid any more security check and thus was able to steal a large Dutch Cheese.

The narrator swallowed the pips and peels too.

The narrator had read many detective stories from which he had leamt that if he had said anything, it would be used against him. So he did not answer to any questions asked by Pongo.

Correct answer is (a) proof

Clem Jones was carrying a large Dutch cheese in the box during his second attempt.

The policemen arrived a little late to the cabin because they were talking to some cart drivers near the dock gate.

The narrator was caught red-handed by Pongo, the policeman. However, upon being questioned by Pongo, he did not say a word. So Pongo left the cabin to bring another policeman who would be a witness in the case. He locked the door from outside leaving the narrator alone in the cabin.

The narrator was worried. He looked at the walls and at the door and then at the seventeen oranges kept on the table. Thoughts of fear and deep remorse filled his mind. He would lose his job and might have to go to prison. What would his father say? What would his father do? He almost gave up the hope of escaping from the trouble. He cursed himself for his foolish act.

The narrator ate all the oranges to get rid of the evidence.

As there was no evidence left against the narrator, the policemen were not able to bring any charges against the narrator.

No, the narrator did not believe Clem’s story because he knew that Clem was planning for a theft.

When the box was opened, a ship’s cat jumped out and ran into the docks.

(c) eating oranges

The narrator worked in Swift Delivery Company.

No the narrator does not steal; he only picks up some fallen items or his friends would throw him a bunch of fruits.

The narrator’s job was to drive a little pony-andcart in and out of the docks.

The narrator made a big apron so that he could hide from the policeman the things which he used to take from the docks.

The narrator was carrying seventeen oranges in his pockets.

Clem Jones was carrying a ship’s cat in the box.

Pongo is a policeman.

Correct answer is (c) angrily

He was never crazy for oranges after that incident.

Pongo wanted to bring another policeman to be a witness against the narrator in the court because the narrator was not answering to his questions regarding the oranges found in his pocket.

Pongo looked everywhere for the oranges. He looked in the narrator’s pockets and in his apron. He became angry and shouted at the narrator.

The voice in the narrator’s head asked him to eat all the oranges so that there will be no evidence of his theft.

The police man caught the narrator red-handed because the string of the narrator’s apron broke and the cop noticed that the narrator’s pockets were bulging.

The policeman considered the seventeen oranges as evidence against the narrator

Pongo was able to easily notice the narrator’s bulging pockets because the strings of his apron broke.

(a) anything said would be held as evidence against him