23 January 2011

Bubbling Well Road

Bubbling Well Road -Rudyard Kipling
Gist:
The village Chachuran lies Bubbling Well Road and the house of the gosain or priest Arti-goth. Five miles west of Chachuran is a patch of the plumed jungle-grass. In the heart of patch hides the gosain of Bubbling Well Road. The writer entered the jungle grass for the pig hunting as he was told by the villagers about the big boar. His small dog Mr. Wardle followed him. The grass-stems held the heat exactly as boiler-tubes do.
The writer missed Mr Wardle and called for him loudly. An underground echo assisted the writer. He thought himself that he heard a man laughing which made him shake. He found a black gap in the ground that actually the mouth of a well. The laughing sound came from the noise of a little spring, spouting half-way down one side of the well. He started to find the path on the other side.
In the end the writer was leaded by the priest into the open, out of the Arti-goth patch. The villages told the writer that the patch of grass was full of devils and ghosts. The men and women and children enter it and had never returned. It was believed that the priest used them for witchcraft. But the writer decided to clear the mystery of Bubbling Well Road on a fine summer day with a file of old newspapers and box of matches.
Questions with Answers :
1. Why did writer’s dog go with him into the grass patch ?
Mr Wardle, the terrier went with the writer because the dog believed that the writer was incapable of existing for an hour with his advice and countenance.
2. What did the writer see when he pushed his way through a think clump of grass ?
The writer managed to slip in and out between the grass clumps. He missed Mr Wardle and called for it loudly. A deep voice repeated under his feet and the underground echo assisted him. He was happened to see a well with the water as black as pitch and blue scum atop.
3. What was the priest’s reaction when the writer suddenly appears at his hut ?
The priest saw the writer and he howled with terror and embraced the writer’s boots
4. Why did the villagers not share their fears about the patch of grass with the writer before he set out to hunt wild boar ?
The villagers did not share their fears about the patch of grass with the writer before he set out to hunt wild boar because they were afraid they would lose their award for bringing news of the pig.
5. What was the secret promise the writer made to himself before he left the village ?
The writer thought to set the patch of alight, but the grass was too green. Some fine summer day however, if the wind is favourable, a file of old newspapers and a box of matches would make clear the mystery of Bubbling Well Road.
Bits:
1. Chenab river falls into the Indus fifteen miles or so above the hamlet of Chachuran
2. Five miles west of Chachuran lies Bubbling Well Road
3. Chachuran is a patch of the plumed jungle grass
4. A sounder of pig had gone in the Atri-goth patch
5. Mr Wardle, the terrier
6. The priest lead the writer into the open, out of the Arti-goth patch
7. The villagers told that the patch of grass was full of devils and ghosts
8. The villagers believed that all the devils and ghosts were in the service of the priest