Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guides for (Folk-Tales of Bengal) Lal Behari Dey’s The Ghost Brahman: WBCHSE Class 11 English Literature textbook A Realm of English (B) Selection, which is part of the Semester III syllabus for students studying under WBBSE (West Bengal Board-Uccha Madhyamik). These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
A poor Brahman struggled to find enough money to marry. He begged until he had enough for a wedding and brought his new wife home to his mother. Soon after, he had to leave to find work in faraway lands, telling his family he might be gone for years. On the same day he left, a ghost that looked exactly like him arrived at the house. His wife and mother believed the ghost was the real Brahman who had returned early. The ghost lived with them for many years.
When the real Brahman returned home, he found the imposter living with his family. The ghost insisted the house, wife, and mother were his and drove the Brahman away. The Brahman went to the king for justice, but the king could not tell the two men apart. Unable to decide, the king kept telling the Brahman to return the next day.
Every day, the sad Brahman passed a group of cowboys playing games. One boy acted as their king. This cowboy king noticed the weeping Brahman and asked to hear his story. He then offered to solve the case. The real king, who was stuck, allowed it. The cowboy king brought a small bottle with a narrow neck, called a phial, to the trial. He announced that whichever man could enter the phial would be declared the rightful owner. The real Brahman said this was impossible for a person. The ghost, however, transformed into a tiny insect and went inside the bottle. The cowboy king quickly sealed the phial, trapping the ghost. He told the Brahman to throw the bottle into the sea and take back his home and family. The Brahman did, and he lived happily with his wife and mother. The story finishes with the line, “The Natiya-thorn withereth,” which is a traditional way to end a folk tale, meaning the story is over.
Questions and Answers
1. What was the Brahman’s main difficulty at the beginning of the story? How did he overcome this initial problem?
Answer: The Brahman’s main difficulty at the beginning of the story was that, not being a Kulin, he found it the hardest thing in the world to get married. A large sum of money was needed, not just for the wedding expenses, but also for giving to the parents of the bride. Since he was a poor Brahman, he did not have the necessary funds to secure a wife and was unable to marry.
He overcame this problem through persistent effort and humility. He went to rich people and begged them to give him money so that he could marry. He begged from door to door and also flattered many wealthy people in his efforts to collect the required sum. After a long period of begging and flattering, he at last succeeded in scraping together the money that was needed for the marriage, allowing him to finally take a wife.
2. Why did the Brahman decide to leave his home after his wedding? What instructions did he give his mother?
Answer: Shortly after his wedding, the Brahman decided to leave his home because he had no means to support his new wife and his mother. He explained to his mother that he needed to go to distant countries to get money somehow or other. He was prepared for a long journey, telling her that he might be away for years and would not return until he had managed to get a good sum of money to provide for his family properly.
Before setting out on his travels, the Brahman gave his mother specific instructions. He told her that he would give her all the money he currently had. He instructed her to make the best of it and, most importantly, to take care of his wife while he was away. After giving these instructions and receiving his mother’s blessing, he left on his journey to seek his fortune.
3. How did the ghost manage to deceive the Brahman’s wife and mother upon its arrival?
Answer: The ghost managed to deceive the Brahman’s wife and mother through a perfect physical impersonation. On the evening of the same day the real Brahman left, a ghost assuming the exact appearance of the Brahman came into the house. The resemblance was so complete that the text describes the ghost and the Brahman as being exactly like each other in everything, like two peas in a pod, which means they were identical.
Because of this flawless disguise, the newly married woman thought it was her husband who had returned. Similarly, the mother did not doubt for a moment that it was her son. The deception was so successful that the ghost was able to live in the house as if he were its rightful owner, the son of the old woman, and the husband of the young woman. Even the people in the neighbourhood were fooled and believed the ghost was the real Brahman.
4. What excuse did the ghost give for returning home so soon? Why was this excuse believed?
Answer: When the Brahman’s wife asked the ghost why he had returned so soon after saying he might be away for years, the ghost gave a two-part excuse. First, it claimed that the day was not a lucky day for travel, which is why it had returned home. Second, it added a practical reason, stating that it had, besides, already got some money. This combination of a superstitious and a financial reason served as its explanation.
This excuse was believed primarily because the ghost had assumed the exact appearance of the real Brahman. The wife, thinking it was her husband, had no reason to suspect a trick. The mother also did not doubt that it was her son. Because they were completely convinced by its appearance, they accepted the ghost’s story without question. The perfect disguise made the excuse seem plausible to them, and they allowed the ghost to stay.
5. Describe the confrontation between the real Brahman and the ghost-Brahman upon the former’s return.
Answer: After some years, the real Brahman returned from his travels and was met with great surprise when he found another man who looked exactly like him living in his house. The confrontation began when the ghost aggressively challenged him, asking who he was and what business he had coming to its house. The real Brahman, equally surprised, replied by asking the ghost who it was, and then asserted his own identity, stating that this was his house, his mother, and his wife.
The ghost dismissed the Brahman’s claims, calling the situation a strange thing. It argued that everyone knew the house, wife, and mother belonged to it, as it had lived there for years. The ghost then insulted the real Brahman, saying his head must have gotten turned. Following this exchange, the ghost drove the real Brahman away from his own house, leaving the Brahman mute with wonder and unsure of what to do.
6. How did the ghost justify its claim to the house? What did it say to the real Brahman?
Answer: The ghost justified its claim to the house, wife, and mother by citing its long-term residency and the acceptance of the community. The ghost’s argument was that its presence was an established fact. It stated that every one knows that this is its house, that is its wife, and yonder is its mother. It further supported this claim by adding that it had lived there for years, making its position seem legitimate to anyone who did not know the truth.
The ghost spoke to the real Brahman in a dismissive and insulting manner. It called the Brahman’s rightful claim a strange thing. It directly accused the Brahman of dishonesty and delusion, saying that he was pretending the house and woman were his. To undermine him completely, the ghost told the Brahman that his head must have got turned, suggesting he was mad. After making these claims and insults, the ghost drove the Brahman away.
7. Why was the king of the country unable to decide the quarrel between the Brahman and the ghost?
Answer: The king of the country was unable to decide the quarrel because the Brahman and the ghost-Brahman were perfectly identical in appearance. When both appeared before him, the king saw that the one was the picture of the other. This complete physical resemblance put the king in a fix, as he had no way to distinguish the real Brahman from the impostor. Without any evidence to tell them apart, he did not know how to decide the quarrel.
Because of his inability to make a judgment, the king resorted to delaying the case. Not knowing what to say each time the Brahman came to him for justice, the king would simply put him off to the following day. He would tell the Brahman to come to-morrow, effectively avoiding the responsibility of making a decision he felt incapable of making. This shows that his judgment was limited by what he could see on the surface.
8. What was the king’s response each time the Brahman came to him? How did the Brahman react to this?
Answer: Each time the Brahman went to the king to seek justice, the king’s response was to postpone the decision. Day after day, the king, who was in a fix and did not know how to solve the case, would simply tell the Brahman to come to-morrow. He put the Brahman off repeatedly because he could not tell the real man from the ghost and was unable to make a fair ruling.
The Brahman reacted to the king’s inaction with great sorrow and frustration. Every day, he would go away from the palace weeping and striking his forehead with the palm of his hand in a gesture of despair. As he walked away, he would lament his situation, saying what a wicked world it was where he could be driven from his own house and have his wife taken by another. He also criticized the king directly, exclaiming what a king this is who does not do justice.
9. Describe the game of royalty that the cowboys played. What roles did they assign themselves?
Answer: While letting their cows graze on the meadow, a great many cowboys used to meet together under a large tree to play. The game they played was a game of royalty, where they imitated the structure of a real king’s court. They would gather together and create their own make-believe kingdom as a form of entertainment and play while they watched over their herds.
In their game, the cowboys assigned specific royal and official roles to one another. These roles were:
(i) One cowboy was elected king, holding the highest position.
(ii) Another was chosen to be the prime minister or vizier, acting as the king’s chief advisor.
(iii) Another cowboy was given the role of kotwal, or prefect of the police.
(iv) The other cowboys took on the roles of constables.
10. How did the cowboy king become aware of the Brahman’s sad story?
Answer: The cowboy king and his friends became aware of the Brahman’s problem through daily observation. For several days together, as they played their game of royalty, they saw the Brahman passing by weeping after leaving the real king’s court. This repeated sight of the sorrowful Brahman sparked the curiosity of the cowboy king. He asked his vizier if he knew why the Brahman wept every day, but the vizier could not answer.
To find out the reason for the Brahman’s sadness, the cowboy king then ordered one of his constables to bring the Brahman to him. The constable did so, and the neat-herd king directly asked the Brahman why he went away weeping every day. It was then that the Brahman told the cowboy king his entire sad story about the ghost who had taken over his home and his life.
18. How does the story illustrate that appearances can be deceiving? Use examples from the text.
Answer: This story powerfully illustrates that appearances can be deceiving, as the entire conflict is built on a case of mistaken identity. The main example is the ghost, which assumes the “exact appearance of the Brahman.” The two were described as being “exactly like each other in everything, like two peas,” a phrase meaning they were identical. This perfect disguise is what allowed the deception to occur and be maintained for years.
This deceptive appearance fooled everyone. The Brahman’s own wife and mother were tricked into accepting the ghost into their home, believing it was their husband and son. The “people in the neighbourhood all thought that the ghost was the real Brahman.” Even the king, the highest authority, was deceived. He saw that “the one was the picture of the other” and was left “in a fix,” unable to tell the truth from the lie. The story shows the danger of judging by sight alone and is only resolved when the wise neat-herd king creates a test that forces the impostor to reveal its true, non-human nature, proving that what one sees is not always the truth.
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