The Frog And The Nightinagle by Vikram Seth: CBSE Class X

The Frog And The Nightinagle by Vikram Seth: CBSE Class X

Detailed line-wise paraphrased

Once upon a time, a frog had the craze to croak every night from the evening to the morning of the next day in Bingle Bog. The poet has given the name Bingle to a bog (a piece of land that is muddy). It is an imaginary place here. The frog had an illusion that his voice was very sweet and he sang very well and all the creatures there listened to his songs with rapt (full) attention. But the reality was that all of them had become fed up with his rough voice. They loathed (disliked) his continual croaking. They had no choice but to tolerate his harsh voice.

His crass(stupid) cacophony (loud and unpleasant voice) blared out (came out at a high-pitch) from the sumac tree (a tree of the cashew-nut species). The frog

minstrelled (sang) his song every night from the foot of the tree where he used to live.

The frog was so much determined to make a show of his heart’s elating (joy/happiness) that stones, sticks, insults, complaints and prayers could not stop his craziness about singing.

One night it so happened that a nightingale happened to perch (rest/sit on) that tree. It was a pale and moonlit winter night. As the nightingale started singing her sweet melodious song, all the creatures of that marshy (muddy) land were full of praise for the bird and the frog was also dumbstruck (extremely surprised. He gaped (kept mouth opened in surprise) at the sweet musical notes that flowed from the throat of the nightingale.

 All the creatures of the bog listened to the song with rapt (full) attention. As she finished singing, all of them clapped in appreciation. Ducks came swimming, herons came wading (moving with difficulty) to her as she serenaded (sang at night). A lonely (feeling alone) loon (a bird that eats fish) also heard the nightingale’s song. It was so much moved by the song that it started weeping. Other creatures were toads( A toad is also like a frog), teals (wild ducks that are small in size) and toddlers (very small fish) were so much enraptured (filled with great pleasure and joy) that tey cheered the nightingale by saying: “Bravo”, Too divine”, “Encore! (Once more)”

Lines 33-56

The next night, the nightingale sat on the tree, shook her head and twitched (jerked suddenly) her tail. Then she closed her eyes, fluffed (spread) her wing and cleared her throat to get ready for singing. At that very moment, she heard croak and was startled (surprised very much). After some moments, she saw a frog hopping (jumping) towards her from the bog marshy ( land. She enquired if he was the one who spoke. The frog replied in positive and said that he was the frog who owned that tree. He further said that in that bog, he had been known for his splendid (excellent) baritone (male singing voice). He keeps on boasting of himself saying that, sometimes he writes songs for the musical group named Bog Trumpet. The nightingale seemed to be impressed by him and asked if he liked her song. He commented that it was not too bad but it was far too long. He added that the technique was fine but it lacked a certain force. The nightingale was agreed and also impressed by the way the frog gave his critical comments on her art of singing and the voice by such a famous singer.

The nightingale modestly said that she did not think that her song had anything divine about it, but she was proud that it belonged to her.

Lines 57-68

The heartless frog told the nightingale that there was nothing in her song about which she could feel proud. In his pride, the frog thought himself to be the best trainer called the nightingale a mere beginner and she needed training for her voice. He also suggested to her that she could be a winner if she got training from him. The nightingale was impressed by the frog and she imagined that it was all like a fairytale for her. She thought him to be the Mozart in disguise who had come down on the earth in front of his eyes.

After that, the frog told her that he charged a modest (small) fee for the training. It made the nightingale a little bit sad. Seeing her in sad mood, the clever frog suggested to her that she would not be a loser if she got training.

Lines 69-76

Now the nightingale felt very much inspired, excited and confident about herself because the frog was going to train her voice in the art of singing. She was filled with great expectations about her art of singing and the appreciation she would get through it. She began singing. Her magical sound created so much sensation in the surroundings that the animals from distant places started moving towards the place from where the sweet notes of music were flowing. The frog precisely (exactly, accurately) counted the number of the visitors and also charged fee from them.

Lines 77-86

The next morning, in spite of raining, the frog started training nightingale’s voice. The nightingale expressed her inability to sing in that weather, but the frog insisted upon her to continue singing. He advised her to put on her scarf and sash (a long strip of cloth worn around waist or put over one shoulder as a part of dress) to avoid rain. Thus, both of them started singing up and down the musical scale. Both of them continued singing in that manner for six hours. At last, it was found that the nightingale caught cold and it started shivering. Her voice also became hoarse (rough) and quivering (shaky)

Lines 87-98

The nightingale had been for six hours and she was also not able to sleep, so her enthusiasm was at a low level. But at night, her throat regained energy. The sumac tree bowed down with the burden of birds who had perched on its branches to listen to the sweet music sung by the nightingale. The listeners included Owl od Sandwich, Duck of Kent, Mallard (a wild duck) and Milady Trent (here they are used to show respectable guests), Martin Cardinal Mephisto and Coot of Monte Cristo. Among them, their females sat wearing shining tiaras(a jeweled ornamental band on the front of a woman’s hair) and twittering in joy. The frog also sat there observing them with mixed feelings of joy and jealousy.

Lines 99-110

The frog continued training the nightingale’s voice and at the same time he sold his songs also to her to get money. Like a strict music teacher, he scolded her from time to time to make her realize that her voice not trained and she needed a lot of training for it. He would say, “You must practice even longer/Till your voice, like mine, grows stronger.” He reminded her that she had become nervous in the middle of the song while singing her second song the previous night.

He also admired her to add more trills (techniques used in singing) in her songs because such additions were liked by the audience. He further added that she should make her audience happier by giving them something sharp and snappier (more lively). The greedy and cunning frog did not forget to mention that she owed him sixty shillings at that time and she should aim at for selling more tickets for her song.

Lines 111-122

The nightingale grew pale and sorrowful as the days passed by one after the other. In spite of that, she continued singing night after night with full speed and energy. (zipped: sang with energy and speed: trilled: sang in a vibrating sound)

Her song had grown dull by continuous singing. It no more remained fresh. The result was that the audience (other birds and animals) grew fed up with the song. Even Nightingale was not happy with her own voice. It had nothing inspiring in her song now. The income of the ticket office also fell down (decreased). The nightingale grew sad because she was habitual of listening to her appreciation in excess (unrestricted). She felt no delight in singing song all alone at night.

123-140

The decrease in income infuriated the frog. He called the nightingale ‘Brainless Bird’. He reminded her that she was on the stage at that time. He also advised her to use her intelligence so as to attract more and more audience by introducing the latest style in her singing. The frog grew so much greedy to raise income by her singing that he forced the bird to sing with full passion and by pressing her lungs with breath.

The obedient nightingale trembled in fear. She was afraid of her failure. She silently tried to use maximum force of breath while singing. Her vein burst in that attempt and she died.

The frog was responsible for the death of the innocent and obedient bird. But the cruel frog expressed no sympathy in his words. He said that he was trying to teach her the techniques of music and called her a stupid creature. He blamed her for death and said that she was very much nervous and under tension. So she was unable to influence others. He also delivered a piece of advice that the nightingale should have sung her own songs and boasted of himself by saying that he always sang his own songs.

The frog again started croaking in the same harsh and rough voice after removing his competitor from the tree.