The Little Girl NCERT Solutions & Summary Class 9 English PDF
Subject: English (Beehive) | Chapter: 3 | Author: Katherine Mansfield
📥 Download Notes PDF 📢 Join Telegram📖 Chapter Summary: The Little Girl
This touching story revolves around a little girl named Kezia, who is terrified of her strict, authoritative, and giant-like father. She stutters in front of him and feels a "glad sense of relief" whenever he leaves for work. Kezia compares him to a giant due to his big hands and loud voice. In contrast, she sees her neighbor, Mr. MacDonald, playing joyfully with his five children and realizes that there are "different sorts of fathers."
One day, her Grandmother suggests she make a yellow silk pincushion as a birthday gift for her father. After stitching three sides, Kezia innocently tears up some important papers she finds on her mother's table to stuff the cushion. Those papers turn out to be her father's important Port Authority speech. Furious, her father punishes her severely by hitting her hands with a ruler.
Later, Kezia's mother falls ill and is hospitalized with her grandmother. Kezia is left alone at night with the cook, Alice. She has a terrifying nightmare about a butcher with a knife. Waking up screaming, she finds her father standing beside her bed. He tenderly picks her up, carries her to his room, and tucks her in to comfort her. Lying close to him, Kezia realizes that her father is not a giant; he just works too hard and gets too tired to play with her like Mr. MacDonald. She finally understands that her father has a "big heart."
📚 Part 1: NCERT Solutions (Textbook Questions)
Q1: Why was Kezia afraid of her father?
Ans: Kezia was afraid of her father because he was very strict, always gave commands, and never played with her. He had a loud voice and physically appeared like a giant to her, with his big hands, neck, and mouth.
Q2: Who were the people in Kezia’s family?
Ans: Kezia’s family consisted of four people: her father, her mother, her grandmother, and Kezia herself.
Q3: What was Kezia’s father’s routine (i) before going to his office? (ii) after coming back from his office? (iii) on Sundays?
Ans:
(i) Before going to the office: He would come into her room, give her a casual kiss, and leave for work.
(ii) After coming back: He would loudly demand his tea, the newspaper, and his slippers to be brought into the drawing-room.
(iii) On Sundays: He would stretch out on the sofa, put his handkerchief over his face, his feet on a cushion, and sleep soundly and loudly.
Q4: In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?
Ans: The grandmother encouraged Kezia by sending her down to the drawing-room every Sunday afternoon to have a "nice talk" with her parents. She also suggested that Kezia make a yellow silk pincushion as a surprise gift for her father's upcoming birthday.
⚡ Part 2: Extra Practice Questions
Q5: What did Kezia stuff the pincushion with? Why did it make her father angry?
Ans: Kezia tore up some fine sheets of paper she found on her mother's bedroom table to stuff the pincushion. Her father became furious because those sheets contained his highly important speech for the Port Authority.
Q6: How did Kezia’s negative attitude towards her father change?
Ans: Kezia always feared her father. However, one night when her mother and grandmother were at the hospital, she had a terrible nightmare about a butcher with a knife. Waking up in terror, she found her father beside her bed. Instead of scolding her, he tenderly carried her to his own bed, tucked her in, and let her rest her head on his chest. Feeling his heartbeat, she realized he wasn't a giant but a hardworking man who was too tired to play with her. This act of immense care changed her fear into deep love and understanding.
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Q: What did Kezia make as a birthday gift for her father?
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🔤 Important Word Meanings
- 1. Stutter (v): To speak with difficulty, repeating the first sounds of words (haklana).
- 2. Wretched (adj): Unhappy, miserable, or of poor quality.
- 3. Nightmare (n): A very frightening or unpleasant dream.
- 4. Snivelled (v): Cried and sniffled; weeping in a complaining way.
- 5. Tucked up (v): Covered up someone comfortably in bed.
- 6. Butcher (n): A person whose trade is cutting up and selling meat (often used symbolically for someone scary).
- 7. Glad sense of relief: A feeling of extreme relaxation when a tension goes away.