“You said there couldn’t possibly be a frog in
my bread-and-milk; there was a frog in my bread-and-milk,” he repeated,
with the insistence of a skilled tactician who does not intend to shift from
favourable ground.

So his boy-cousin and girl-cousin and his quite
uninteresting younger brother were to be taken to Jagborough sands that
afternoon and he was to stay at home. His cousins’ aunt, who insisted, by an
unwarranted stretch of imagination, in styling herself his aunt also, had
hastily invented the Jagborough expedition in order to impress on Nicholas the
delights that he had justly forfeited by his disgraceful conduct at the
breakfast-table. It was her habit, whenever one of the children fell from
grace, to improvise something of a festival nature from which the offender
would be rigorously debarred; if all the children sinned collectively they were
suddenly informed of a circus in a neighbouring town, a circus of unrivalled
merit and uncounted elephants, to which, but for their depravity, ther would have
been taken that very day.

A few decent tears were looked for on the part of
Nicholas when the moment for the departure of the expedition arrived. As a
matter of fact, however, all the crying was done by his girl-cousin, who
scraped her knee rather painfully against the step of the carriage as she was
scrambling in. “How she did howl,” said Nicholas cheerfully, as the
party drove off without any of the elation of high spirits that should have
characterized it.

“She’ll soon get over that,” said the
soi-disant aunt; “it will be a glorious afternoon for racing about over
those beautiful sands. How they will enjoy themselves!”

“Bobby won’t enjoy himself much, and he won’t
race much either,” said Nicholas with a grim chuckle; “his boots are
hurting him. They’re too tight.”

“Why didn’t he tell me they were
hurting?” asked the aunt with some asperity.

“He told you twice, but you weren’t listening.
You often don’t listen when we tell you important things.”

“You are not to go into the gooseberry
garden,” said the aunt, changing the subject.

“Why not?” demanded Nicholas.

“Because you are in disgrace,” said the
aunt loftily.

Nicholas did not admit the flawlessness of the
reasoning; he felt perfectly capable of being in disgrace and in a gooseberry
garden at the same moment. His face took on an expression of considerable
obstinacy. It was clear to his aunt that he was determined to get into the
gooseberry garden, “only,” as she remarked to herself, “because
I have told him he is not to.”

Now the gooseberry garden had two doors by which it
might be entered, and once a small person like Nicholas could slip in there he
could effectually disappear from view amid the masking growth of artichokes,
raspberry canes, and fruit bushes. The aunt had many other things to do that
afternoon, but she spent an hour or two in trivial gardening operations among
flower beds and shrubberies, whence she could watch the two doors that led to
the forbidden paradise. She was a woman of few ideas, with immense powers of
concentration.

Nicholas made one or two sorties into the front
garden, wriggling his way with obvious stealth of purpose towards one or other
of the doors, but never able for a moment to evade the aunt’s watchful eye. As
a matter of fact, he had no intention of trying to get into the gooseberry
garden, but it was extremely convenient for him that his aunt should believe
that he had; it was a belief that would keep her on selfimposed sentry-duty for
the greater part of the aftemoon. Having thoroughly confirmed and fortified her
suspicions, Nicholas slipped back into the house and rapidly put into execution
a plan of action that had long germinated in his brain. By standing on a chair
in the library one could reach a shelf on which reposed a fat,
important-looking key. The key was as important as it looked; it was the
instrument which kept the mysteries of the lumber-room secure from unauthorized
intrusion, which opened a way only for aunts and such-like privileged persons.
Nicholas had not had much experience of the art of fitting keys into keyholes
and turning locks, but for some days past he had practised with the key of the
schoolroom door; he did not believe in trusting too much to luck and accident.
The key turned stiffly in the lock, but it turned. The door opened, and
Nicholas was in an unknown land, compared with which the gooseberry garden was
a stale delight, a mere material pleasure.

Often and often Nicholas had pictured to himself
what the lumber-room might be like, that region that was so carefully sealed
from youthful eyes and concerning which no questions were ever answered. It
came up to his expectations. In the first place it was large and dimly lit, one
high window opening onto the forbidden garden being its only source of
illumination. In the second place it was a storehouse of unimagined treasures.
Tne aunt-by-assertion was one of those people who think that things spoil by
use and consign them to dust and damp by way of preserving them. Such parts of
the house as Nicholas knew best were rather bare and cheerless, but here there
were wonderful things for the eye to feast on. First and foremost there was a
piece of framed tapestry that was evidently meant to be a fire-screen. To
Nicholas it was a living, breathing story; he sat down on a roll of Indian
hangings, glowing in wonderful colours beneath a layer of dust, and took in all
the details of the tapestry picture. A man, dressed in the hunting costume of
some remote period, had just transfixed a stag with an arrow; it could not have
been a difficult shot because the stag was only one or two paces away from him;
in the thickly growing vegetation that the picture suggested it would not have
been difficult to creep up to a feeding stag, and the two spotted dogs that
were springing forward to join in the chase had evidently been trained to keep
to heel till the arrow was discharged. That part of the picture was simple, if
interesting, but did the huntsman see, what Nicholas saw, that four galloping
wolves were coming in his direction through the wood? There might be more than
four of them hidden behind the trees, and in any case would the man and his
dogs be able to cope with the four wolves if they made an attack? The man had
only two arrows left in his quiver, and he might miss with one or both of them;
all one knew about his skill in shooting was that he could hit a large stag at
a ridiculously short range. Nicholas sat for many golden minutes revolving the
possibilities of the scene; he was inclined to think that there were more than
four wolves and that the man and his dogs were in a tight corner.

But there were other objects of delight and
interest claiming his instant attention; there were quaint twisted candlesticks
in the shape of snakes, and a teapot fashioned like a china duck, out of whose
open beak the tea was supposed to come. How dull and shapeless the nursery
teapot seemed in comparison! And there was a carved sandalwood box packed tight
with aromatic cotton-wool, and between the layers of cotton-wool were little
brass figures, hump-necked bulls, and peacocks and goblins, delightful to see
and to handle. Less promising in appearance was a large square book with plain
black covers; Nicholas peeped into it, and, behold, it was full of coloured
pictures of birds. And such birds! In the garden, and in the lanes when he went
for a walk, Nicholas came accross a few birds, of which the largest were an
occasional magpie or wood-pigeons here were herons and bustards, kites,
toucans, tiger-bitterns, brush turkeys, ibises, golden pheasants, a whole
portrait gallery of undreamed-of creatures. And as he was admiring the
colouring of the mandarin duck and assigning a life-history to it, the voice of
his aunt in shrill vociferation of his name came from the gooseberry garden
without. She had grown suspicious at his long disappearance, and had leapt to
the conclusion that he had climbed over the wall behind the sheltering screen
of the lilac bushes: she was now engaged in energetic and rather hopeless
search for him among the artichokes and raspberry canes.

“Nicholas, Nicholas!” she screamed,
“you are to come out of this at once. It’s no use trying to hide there; I
can see you all the time.”

It was probably the first time for twenty years
that any one had smiled in that lumber-room.

Presently, the angry repetitions of Nicholas’s name
gave way to a shriek, and a cry for somebody to come quickly. Nicholas shut the
book, restored it carefully to its place in a corner, and shook some dust from
a neighbouring pile of newspapers over it. Then he crept from the room, locked
the door, and replaced the key exactly where he had found it. His aunt was
still calling his name when he sauntered into the front garden.

“Who’s calling?” he asked.

“Me,” came the answer from the other side
of the wall; “didn’t you hear me? I’ve been looking for you in the
gooseberry garden, and I’ve slipped into the rain-water tank. Luckily there’s
no water in it, but the sides are slippery and I can’t get out. Fetch the
little ladder from under the cherry tree–“

“I was told I wasn’t to go into the gooseberry
garden,” said Nicholas promptly.

“I told you not to, and now I tell you that
you may,” came the voice from the rain-water tank, rather impatiently.

“Your voice doesn’t sound like aunt’s,”
objected Nicholas; “you may be the Evil One tempting me to be disobedient.
Aunt often tells me that the Evil One tempts me and that I always yield This
time I’m not going to yield.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” said the prisoner
in the tank; “go and fetch the ladder.”

“Will there be strawberry jam for tea?”
asked Nicholas innocently.

“Certainly there will be,” said the aunt,
privately resolving that Nicholas should have none of it.

“Now I know that you are the Evil One and not
aunt,” shouted Nicholas gleefully; “when we asked aunt for strawberry
jam yesterday she said there wasn’t any. I know there are four jars of it in
the store cupboard, because I looked, and of course you know it’s there, but
she doesn’t, because she said there wasn’t any. Oh, Devil, you have sold
yourself!”

There was an unusual sense of luxury in being able
to talk to an aunt as though one was talking to the Evil One, but Nicholas
knew, with childish discernment that such luxuries were not to be over-indulged
in. He walked noisily away, and it was a kitchenmaid, in search of parsley, who
eventually rescued the aunt from the rain-water tank. Tea that evening was
partaken of in a fearsome silence. Tne tide had been at its highest when the
children had arrived at Jagborough Cove, so there had been no sands to play
on–a circumstance that the aunt had overlooked in the haste of organising her
punative expedition. The tightness of Bobby’s boots had had a disasterous
effect on his temper the whole of the afternoon, and altogether the children
could not have been said to have enjoyed themselves. The aunt maintained the
frozen muteness of one who has suffered undignified and unmerited detention in
a rain-water tank for thirty-five minutes. As for Nicholas, he, too, was silent,
in the absorption of one who has much to think about; it was just possible, he
considered, that the huntsman would escape with his hounds while the wolves
feasted on the stricken stag.

A. Read the
following passages and answer the questions given below :

i.

The children were to be driven, as a special
treat, to the sands at Jagborough. Nicholas was not to be of the party; he was
in disgrace. Only that morning he had refused to eat his wholesome
bread-and-milk on the seemingly frivolous ground that there was a frog in it.
Older and wiser and better people had told him that there could not possibly be
a frog in his bread-and-milk and that he was not to talk nonsense; he
continued, nevertheless, to talk what seemed the veriest nonsense, and
described with much detail the coloration and markings of the alleged frog. The
dramatic part of the incident was that there really was a frog in Nicholas’s
basin of bread-and-milk; he had put it there himself, so he felt entitled to
know something about it. The sin of taking a frog from the garden and putting
it into a bowl of wholesome bread-and-milk was enlarged on at great length, but
the fact that stood out clearest in the whole affair, as it presented itself to
the mind of Nicholas, was that the older, wiser, and better people had been
proved to be profoundly in error in matters about which they had expressed the
utmost assurance.

a. Where were
the children to be driven?

Ans. The children
were to be driven to the sands at Jagborough.

b. Why Nicholas
was not to be at the Party?

Ans. Nicholas was
not to be at the Party, because he was in disgrace.

C. What was the
ground on which Nicholas had refused to eat his breakfast?

Ans. Nicholas had
refused to eat his breakfast on the ground that there was a frog in the bread
and milk used for breakfast.

d. What did
Nicholas describe in much detail?

Ans. Nicholas
described in much detail coloration and markings of the alleged frog.

e. What had
older, wiser and better people told Nicholas?

Ans. Older and wiser
and better people had told him that there could not possibly be a frog in his
bread-and-milk and that he was not to talk nonsense.

f. What was the
dramatic part of the incidence?

Ans. The dramatic
part of the incident was that there really was a frog in Nicholas’s basin of
bread-and-milk. He had put it there himself. So he felt entitled to know
something about it.

ii.

Now the
gooseberry garden had two doors by which it might be entered, and once a small
person like Nicholas could slip in there he could effectually disappear from
view amid the masking growth of artichokes, raspberry canes, and fruit bushes.
The aunt had many other things to do that afternoon, but she spent an hour or
two in trivial gardening operations among flower beds and shrubberies, whence
she could watch the two doors that led to the forbidden paradise. She was a
woman of few ideas, with immense powers of concentration.

a. How many
doors did the gooseberry garden have?

Ans. The gooseberry
garden had two doors.

b. What were the
different plants in the garden?

Ans. The different
plants in the gooseberry garden were artichokes, raspberry canes, and fruit
bushes.

C. How did the
aunt spend her time?

Ans. The aunt spent her
time in trivial gardening operations among flower beds and shrubberies, whence
she could watch the two doors that led to the forbidden paradise.

d. The aunt was
a woman of.

Ans. The aunt was a woman of few ideas, with immense power
of concentration.

e. The aunt had
immense power of………

Ans. The aunt had
immense power of concentration.

f. Do you like
gardening?

Ans. Yes, I like
gardening.

iii.

By standing on a
chair in the library one could reach a shelf on which reposed a fat,
important-looking key. The key was as important as it looked; it was the
instrument which kept the mysteries of the lumber-room secure from unauthorized
intrusion, which opened a way only for aunts and such-like privileged persons.
Nicholas had not had much experience of the art of fitting keys into keyholes
and turning locks, but for some days past he had practised with the key of the
schoolroom door; he did not believe in trusting too much to luck and accident.
The key turned stiffly in the lock, but it turned. The door opened, and
Nicholas was in an unknown land, compared with which the gooseberry garden was
a stale delight, a mere material pleasure.

a. How could one
reach to a shelf?

Ans. One could reach
a shelf by standing on a chair in the library.

b. What was
there on the shelf?

Ans. There was a fat,
important-looking key on the shelf.

C. What was the
use of the key?

Ans. The key was used
to open the lumber room.

d. Who were
permitted to the lumber room?

Ans. The aunts and
such-like privileged persons were permitted to the lumber room.

e. What was the thing Nicholas was inexperienced
about?

Ans. Nicholas was
inexperienced about fitting keys into keyholes and turning locks.

f. What did Nicholas think about the gooseberry
garden after coming to the lumber room?

Ans. Nicholas compared
the lumber room with the gooseberry garden and thought the gooseberry garden to
be a stale delight and a mere material pleasure.

iv.

But there were other objects of delight and
interest claiming his instant attention; there were quaint twisted candlesticks
in the shape of snakes, and a teapot fashioned like a china duck, out of whose
open beak the tea was supposed to come. How dull and shapeless the nursery
teapot seemed in comparison! And there was a carved sandalwood box packed tight
with aromatic cotton-wool, and between the layers of cotton-wool were little
brass figures, hump-necked bulls, and peacocks and goblins, delightful to see
and to handle. Less promising in appearance was a large square book with plain
black covers; Nicholas peeped into it, and, behold, it was full of coloured
pictures of birds.

a. How were the other objects that claimed
Nicholas’ immediate attention?

Ans. There were other
objects of delight and interest claiming Nicholas’ immediate attention.

b. What was the shape of the candles?

Ans. The shape of the
candles was like snakes.

C. How the teapot was shaped?

Ans. The teapot was
shaped like a China duck.

d. What were the things between the layers of
cotton wood?

Ans. The Things between
the layers of cotton-wool were little brass figures, hump-necked bulls, and
peacocks and goblins, delightful to see and to handle.

e. What was the less promising thing in the lumber
room?

Ans. The less
promising thing in the lumber room was a large square book with plain black
covers.

f. Do you like the articles in the lumber room?

Ans. Yes. I like the
articles in the lumber room.

v.

It was probably the first time for twenty years
that any one had smiled in that lumber-room.

Presently, the angry repetitions of Nicholas’s name
gave way to a shriek, and a cry for somebody to come quickly. Nicholas shut the
book, restored it carefully to its place in a corner, and shook some dust from
a neighbouring pile of newspapers over it. Then he crept from the room, locked
the door, and replaced the key exactly where he had found it. His aunt was
still calling his name when he sauntered into the front garden.

a. What happened in the lumber room for the first
time in twenty years?

Ans. It was probably
the first time for twenty years that any one had smiled in that lumber-room.

b. What did Nicholas do when heard a call for him?

Ans. When Nicholas
heard a call for him, he shut the book, restored it carefully to its place in a
corner, and shook some dust from a neighbouring pile of newspapers over it.
Then he crept from the room, locked the door, and replaced the key exactly
where he had found it.

C. What did Nicholas do with the newspaper pile?

Ans. Nicholas shook
some dust from the newspapers pile.

d. What did Nicholas do with the key?

Ans. Nicholas replaced
the key exactly where he had found it.

e. What was Nicholas’ aunt doing when while he
sauntered into the front garden?

Ans. Nicholas’ aunt
was calling his name when he sauntered into the front garden.

f. Do you like to hide in a prohibited place?

Ans. Yes. Sometimes
it is a great fun to hide in a prohibited place.

i. Why Nicholas was disgraced?

Ans. Nicholas was disgraced because he had refused to eat bread and milk on the ground that there was a frog in it.

ii. What was Nicholas’ punishment for being disgraced?

Ans. Nicholas’ punishment for being disgraced was  that all the children in the family except Nicholas were to be driven to the sands of Jagborough as a special treat. He was kept away from the party.

iii. What was the plan for the other children of the family?

Ans. All the children in the family except Nicholas were to be driven to the sands of Jagborough as a a special treat. 

iv. What was Nicholas’ plan that had long been germinated in his mind and how did he execute it?

Ans. Nicholas’ plan that had long been germinated in his mind was to enter the lumber room. When the other children in the family left for the sands of Jagborough and he was alone, he misled his aunt, slowly slipped into the back of the house, collected the key of the lumber room from there and slowly entered the lumber room.

v. Describe the lumber-room.  

Ans. The lumber-room was dark and dimly lit. It had one hi window opening on to the forbidden garden. The window was the only source of light. It was a storehouse of unimagined treasures.

 entered the lumber room.

vi. Why the trip of the children was not successful? 

Ans. The trip of the children was not successful because there had been no sands to play on the Jagborough Cove. The tightness of Bobby’s boots head a disastrous effect on his temper the whole of the afternoon. So the children had not enjoyed in the trip. 

vii. Give the character sketch of Nicholas. 

Ans. Nicholas is obstinate. He is shrewd, smart and crafty too. He deceives his aunt easily using his smart and crafty tricks. He enters the lumber-room without letting his aunt know about it. He even happily takes revenge of the aunt when the aunt had fallen into the water tank. Thus, Nicholas enjoys in every way in the situation of his punishment.  

vii. How did Nicholas deceive his aunt and what did he do meanwhile?

Ans. Nicholas first made impression on the mind of his own that he may enter the gooseberry garden. Actually he did not have intention to get into the gooseberry garden. He wanted to enter the lumber room. So he misled his aunt that he may enter the gooseberry garden. So the aunt kept an eye on all the gates of the gooseberry garden. Then he slowly crept into the lumber room by stealing the key using his smart tricks. is obstinate. Thus, he deceives his aunt easily using his smart and crafty tricks. Meanwhile, he enjoys all the luxuries in the lumber-room.