The Summary of the Chapter 4: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

The Summary of the Chapter 4

Mr. Cuss Interviews the Stranger

Dear students, up to now, you have made an impression about the stranger’s odd personality. He was an eccentric type of person, who remained busy for most of his time in doing experiments in his room usually locked from inside.

During this time, there were a number of quarrels with Mrs. Hall on the issue of breaking domestic discipline. But every time he settled the issue by paying her money as compensation.

Mr. Hall did not like the stranger since the day Teddy had created doubts in his mind. So he always tried to advise his wife, Mrs. Hall, to get rid of the stranger who was staying in her inn. He also tried to conceal his dislike for the stranger so that she would not think it interference in her matters. She also told Mr. Hall to wait till summer comes, when more guests start coming to the village.

The stranger remained so much busy in his experiments that he did not even visit the church. There was no difference for him between Sundays and the other days of the week. There was irregularity in his activities. Sometimes he would remain busy while some other day, he would rise late and walk in his room feeling weary, speaking to himself for hours together. He would smoke for some time and then sleep in his armchair. His temperament was also uncertain.

For once or twice, the things were snapped, torn, crushed or broken because of his deep chronic irritable nature. He also kept talking to himself in a very low voice. He avoided going out when it was broad daylight. He preferred going out muffled up after the sunset not caring for the weather hot or cold outside.

Q1. What irregularities do you notice in the Invisible Man’s activities as mentioned in the chapter 4 of the novel?

He chose the loneliest paths, overshadowed by trees and banks. His goggling spectacles and bandaged face seemed unusual to the home-coming labourers.

One night, Teddy Henfrey was scared to see the stranger’s skull-like head. He was walking lost in his thoughts by keeping his hat in his hand. Then suddenly the light came from the opened door of the inn fell on his head and revealed it. Thus he became the topic of the town.

The children who happened to see him started dreaming of ghosts in their sleep.

The opinion of the people was divided on the issue of his occupation. Mrs. Hall would very cautiously tell the people that he was an ‘experimental investigator.’ When asked by people as to what he experimented about, she would answer in a round-about way that he ‘discovered things’. She would also defend the stranger that he had met with an accident which temporarily discoloured his face and hands. As he is man of sensitive nature, he avoided showing himself to the people.

Mrs. Hall did not know that the people had also different opinions about the stranger.

According to a view which was generated by Teddy Henfrey, he was a criminal who was running away from being caught by the police. That was the reason he concealed his identity from the public.

Mr. Gould, the probationary assistant in the National School was of the view that the stranger was an anarchist in disguise preparing explosives and waiting for the appropriate time for his operation.

Mr. Fearenside, the cart-man, also created a group of people who believed in his piebald view in ditto or with the same view with some modifications.

Yet there was another view about the stranger. According to this view, people thought him a harmless lunatic.

Another group of people included the waverers and compromisers who had some superstitions about him. The idea was first whispered in the village of Iping after the events that happened in the early April.

Q1.What stories about the invisible Man were invented by Teddy Henfrey, Mr. Gould, Mr. Fearenside and some other people?

But the people in Iping on the whole disliked him. His irritable nature was also an amazing thing for these  quiet loving Sussex villagers. His strange activities i.e. his dramatic gestures and his walking after the nightfall were not acceptable to the public. People would close the doors, pull down the curtains, put out the candles and lamps if they saw him coming. If people met him on the way, they would get aside and let him pass by. The young boys humorously would keep their coat collars up in the same fashion as the stranger did. They also kept their hat brims down. They would also follow him nervously imitating his odd habits.

A song ‘The Bogey Man’ became very much popular in the village. Mrs. Statchel sang it at the school-room concert. Since then, whenever two or more villagers gathered at one place and the stranger appeared there, they whistled the tune of the song. Some children also started calling ‘Bogey man’ after him.

Q2. How did the young men and children of the village Iping do in imitation of the Invisible Man?

Now the stranger became the talk of the town. At this time a public practitioner, Mr. Cuss became curious to talk to him. The bandages excited his professional interest and also one thousand and one bottles also aroused his interest in the stranger.He had to wait for the opportunity to meet him through April and May, but could not get any. At last towards Whitsuntide (the seventh Sunday after Easter), he could not stop himself. He invented an excuse to meet the stranger. It was about collecting subscription for the village nurse.

Mr. Cuss was surprised to note that Mr. Hall did not know his guest’s name. At this, Mrs. Hall tried to defend her husband saying that the stranger had told her his name. But she had not heard it properly.Cuss was determined to interview the stranger, so he rapped at the door of the parlour and entered. There was a fairly audible curse that came from the room as he stepped in. Mr. Cuss, first of all, asked for forgiveness for entering the room in that way. But then, the door was closed and that made Mrs. Hall unable to listen to the rest of the conversation that went on between them. She could hear only the murmuring sound for some minutes. Then she heard a cry of surprise, a stirring of feet, a chair that was flung aside, a crazy laughter and the quick steps running towards the door. Cuss appeared out of the room quite white faced, his eyes staring back over his shoulders. He left the door opened behind him and without looking at Mrs. Hall, who was standing outside the room, walked across the hall taking long strides and went down the steps. Mrs. Hall also heard the sound of his feet hurrying along the road.

The stranger carried his hat in his hand stood behind the door, looking at the open door of the parlour. Then Mrs. Hall heard the stranger laughing quietly. She could not see the stranger’s face and then the parlour door was slammed and the place was silent again. After that Cuss went to the village priest, Mr. Bunting, to tell about his strange experience. He told the priest that he had entered the stranger’s room to get subscription for the Nurse Fund. He also told the priest that he saw bottles, chemicals, test tubes and other equipments everywhere in his room. Then he asked the stranger if he would subscribe for the fund. At this, he replied in positive. After that, he asked the stranger a direct question if he had been researching. He again replied in yes. Then the stranger accidentally took his hand out of his pocket and then he was able to see down the empty sleeve to the elbow. Next he questioned the stranger if he was moving the empty sleeve. At this he had laughed and then extended his empty sleeve towards his face and pinched his nose. After hearing this Bunting began to laugh.

Q3. Who was Mr. Cuss? Why was he so much curious about meeting the stranger? Tell something about his experience of meeting with the stranger and what story did he tell to Mr. Bunting about his interview with the Invisible Man?

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After Twenty Years by O Henry

After Twenty Years by O Henry

(About the author: William Sydney Porter known as O Henry was an American writer. His short stories are well known for their wit, characterization, and suspenseful endings. Some of these are: The Last Leaf,  The Gift of the Magi, and The Cop and the Anthem.)

As the chapter opens, we find a policeman moving up the street of his beat (area of duty) in a very impressive manner. It was his natural style, not an artificial one to make a show-off because at that time people were very few. The time was hardly 10 p.m., but the chilly (very cold) gusty (blowing hard) winds prevented people from making a rush in the streets.

The policeman’s duty was to ensure protection to the houses and shops there in the street, so he was checking the doors of the houses if they were properly closed or locked.

He also kept twirling (spinning) his staff (stick) in a very artistic way while doing his duty i.e. moving from one door to the other.

Also, he was keeping his alert eyes at the people’s movements on the main road. His strong figure with a slight swagger (to walk in a very showy and proud manner) made him a fine picture of a guardian of peace.

After that, the writer tells that the lights of a cigar store and of an all-night lunch counter were on, but the majority of the business stores were closed because of the chilly weather conditions at that time.

After sometime, the policeman again became visible and his eyes fell on a man who stood in the doorway of a hardware store with an unlighted cigar in his mouth. The policeman went to him and before he could make a question, the man assured the cop that he was not going to do any illegal activity there. He was just waiting for a friend who had made a promise to meet him there after twenty years back. He also told the policeman that it might seem funny to him and he also spoke about a restaurant “Big Joe” Brady’s restaurant’ that used to be at that place where a store stood at that time.

The policeman told him that it was demolished (pulled down) five years ago. At that very time, the man in the doorway struck a match and lit his cigar. The light showed a pale square-jawed face with keen (curious/eager) eyes. There was a little white scar near his eyebrow. He wore a scarf that had an oddly set pin.

After this, the man in the doorway started telling about himself and his friend.

He said that both of them dined together twenty years ago at “Big Joe” Brady’s restaurant. He added that Jimmy Wells was his best friend and the finest person in the world. Both of them were raised (brought up) in New York. They were like brothers and he was eighteen and Jimmy was twenty years at that time. 

The man in the doorway continued saying that the next morning, he was to start for the West to make his fortune. He added that his friend Jimmy did not want to leave New York, so he remained there. Before leaving, both of them agreed that they would meet there at 10 p.m. after twenty years on the same day without caring for any condition.

The policeman said that the whole story was very interesting to him, but the gap of twenty years was a very long time set for a meeting. He also asked the man in waiting if he had any communication with his friend during that period.

The man said that it continued for one year or two, but after that, the connection between them snapped. He also told the policeman that his friend Jimmy would surely fulfill his promise to meet him at that spot if he was alive because he was always truthful. He also said that he had come after covering the distance of thousands of miles and it would be of any value if he met his old friend Jimmy

Then the man in wait pulled out a handsome watch having the lid set with small diamonds. He also said that only three minutes were left for the watch to strike ten.

The policeman asked him if he had done pretty well in the West.

The man didn’t give a straightforward reply to it. Rather he said that he could bet with him on Jimmy’s economical condition by saying that it would be half as compared to that of him because his friend was slow although a good fellow.

The police man moved his stick in the same way as he was doing in the beginning and took a step or two and said that he would be on his way then and he also hoped that his friend would come that night.

The other man said that he would give half an hour more to his friend to reach there.

The policeman bade him goodbye and went away doing his duty of checking the doors in his beat.

After that, a cold drizzling started falling and the wind also started blowing steadily. It made the passengers move hurriedly to their destinations turning their coat collars up and putting their hands in pockets. The man who had come a thousand miles to fill an appointment with his friend of youth smoked cigar and waited there alone.

After twenty minutes, a tall man in a long overcoat with collars turned up to his ears came hurriedly across from the opposite side of the street. He went straight to the waiting man.

“Is that you Bob?” he asked doubtfully.

“Is that you Jimmy wells? cried the man in the door.

Then the new arrival grasped (caught tightly) the other’s hands in his own and said that he was sure that he would certainly find his friend. He added that twenty years was a long time. He also spoke that the old restaurant was not there and wished it would have been there so that both of them could dine again thereafter twenty years. He also inquired of him as to how the West treated him.

The other man waiting in the door told him that the West gave him what he desired and also told the new arrival that he had changed a lot as he grew in height two to three inches more.

The new arrival told the man in wait (Bob) that he grew a little bit in height at the age of twenty. Bob also asked his as to how he was doing in New York.

The new arrival replied that he was doing moderately and he had a job in one of the city departments. Then he suggested to Bob to move to another place where they could talk more about a long time.

The man from the West was showing his egotism (thinking you are better and important) enlarged by success while the other was submerged (not showing off) in his overcoat and listened with interest.

There was a drug store brilliant with electric lights at a corner. When they came in the light, each of them tried to gaze upon the other’s face. The man from the West stopped suddenly and pulled his arm from the other’s grip.

“You’re not Jimmy Wells!” he snapped (spoke suddenly in a sharp tone).

‘Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man’s nose from a Roman to a pug (small & upturned like that of a small dog of a type).

The tall man replied, “It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one.”

“You’ve been under arrest for ten minutes, “Silky’ Bob. Chicago thinks you may have dropped over and wired us she wants to have a chat with you.

 Going quietly, are you? That’s sensible. Now, before we go on to the station here’s a note. I was asked to hand you. You may read it here at the window. It’s from Patrolman Wells.’

The man from the West unfolded the piece of paper he got from the tall man. When he began to read, his hand was steady, but it trembled a little by the time he had finished. The note was rather short.

Bob: I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn’t do it myself, so I went around and got a plain-clothes man to do the job.

A Nation's Strength by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

A Nation's Strength by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Class VIII

Stanza 1: “What makes a nation’s pillar high

And its foundations strong?

What makes it mighty to defy

The foes that round it throng”

In this poem, the poet makes several questions to clarify what he wants to say. In the very beginning he equates a country to a big building. Then he puts a question as to what are the things which make its pillars high and foundation very strong. What are the things that can challenge its enemies who have crowded around it?

Paraphrase: What are the things that make a nation’s pillars high and its foundation strong? What are the things that make a nation strong enough to defy or challenge its enemies that have surrounded it in a large number?

Stanza 2

“It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand

Go down in battle shock;

Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,

Not on abiding rock.”

Paraphrase : In the second stanza, the poet himself answers. He says that it is not gold that makes a country great.  Here gold stands for material progress of a nation. A nation may have large treasures of gold, money, natural resources. It may be having very high per ca-pita income. Material progress is not permanent. Wealth is also not permanent. It may come and it may go. The riches also make a person or a nation proud and rash.  So any battle can ruin the material progress of a person or a nation. We have so many examples in modern world in this context. Even the mighty and richer country may be destroyed. So the riches and material progress do not provide strong foundation to a nation. The building which stands on weak foundation may fall any time. The foundation made on the basis of wealth is like that made on sinking sand, not on durable rock. It may fall any time. It may be defeated by its enemies any time.

Stanza 3

Is it the sword? Ask the dust

Of empires passed away;

The blood has turned their stones to rust,

Their glory to decay.

Paraphrase: In this stanza, the poet again puts a question. Is it the sword that makes a nation strong? Here the sword stands for power. The people who are economically strong threaten others of dire consequences. They even fight and terrorize them to accept their supremacy. Similar is the case with the nations who are strong and powerful. They bully other nations to accept defeat. History is replete (full of) with examples of the fierce battles fought between such rulers. The poet suggests to us to ask the dust of the empires which are no more now about the result of such fierce battles. The bloodshed made the strong pillars of those empires weak as rust forces iron to decay.  The glory of the powerful empires never lasted for long.

Stanza 4.

And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown

Has seemed to nations sweet;

But God has struck its luster down

In ashes at his feet.

Paraphrase: After explaining that battles never made a nation strong, the poet proceeds to say that the pride of wearing glittering crowns also never made their nations powerful. Emperors and kings in the past had been very fond of wearing bright crowns on their heads. They also felt proud of being powerful and owning great empires. But their pride had to fall down. Their glory had to fade away with the passage of time. Kingdoms may have achieved glory by making victories over weak kingdoms. But that glory was not permanent.

Stanza 5.

Not gold but only men can make

A people great and strong;

Men who for truth and honour’s sake

Stand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep,

Who dare while others fly…

They build a nation’s pillars deep

And lift them to the sky.

Paraphrase: In stanza five, the poet explains his points clearly in a straight forward manner. He says that it is not gold or wealth that makes a nation strong. Only the people who can stand by truth and honesty and who can suffer long for these great virtues can make their country great and strong.

These are the brave men who are always alert and active. These are the men who sacrifice their sleep for the safety and security of their country. These are the men who dare to challenge the enemies of their country and never run away from their duty. These are the men who make the pillars of their nation’s deep, strong and take them high in the sky. They provide strong foundation to the edifice of their nation.