Lesson 2 (Class IX): A Dog Named Duke by William D Ellis
Brief
Summary of the Lesson
Charles
Hooper, nicknamed Chuck was a zonal manager in a company of chemicals.
He is the owner of Duke, a Doberman dog. One day, Chuck met with an accident.
He was taken to a hospital where he stayed for about two months. His left side
was paralysed. After that, he was sent home and put in a wheelchair. His dog,
Duke remained sitting beside him for the whole time. Duke was very sensible and
came to know about the difficulty of his master. It was difficult for Charles
Hooper to resume his work in the company in that condition. So he became
depressed. His wife was much worried about him. She had to go to her office.
During the whole day, he was alone with his dog Duke. After some days, Chuck
started moving with the help of his dog. They continued this practice for more
time. At last, the day came when Chuck improved considerably with the dog’s
help. He started going to his company and resumed his work as usual. But, as ill-luck would have it, one day, the dog got wounded very badly in an accident. He
was taken to the hospital, but could not be saved.
Detailed
Summary of the Lesson
1. Charles
Hooper, nicknamed Chuck was a very popular zonal salesman in a chemical
company. His broad and real smile used to make his extremely competitive nature
more attractive. He was six feet in height and he used to play in the football
team of his university. At present, he was considered to be a very strict
salesman of his company.
2. All was
going well until he had a severe accident when he was driving home one autumn
evening. He was immediately taken to the hospital. He suffered from subdural
hemorrhage (heavy bleeding) in the motor section of his brain. It completely
paralysed his left side.
3. One
of his district managers took his wife Marcy to the hospital. She noticed that
her husband was unable to speak. He could breathe, see and his vision was
double. Marcy thought of Duke as he was alone at home. She requested her
neighbour to put Duke in the kennel.
4. Hooper
had to remain with the patients of critical condition in the hospital for a
month. After the fifth week, some employees of his company came there and
suggested to him that he should take one month’s leave. They also said that they
would create a job that could be done while sitting at a place in the office.
5. After
six weeks, the hospital put him in a wheelchair. There was an attendant, who
used to move his paralysed affected arm and leg movements. That activity was
followed by a bath, exercises, and a wheeled –walker. In spite of all these
activities, Chuck did not improve much.
6. After
staying for about two months in the hospital, Chuck was discharged in March. Some time passed in the excitement of the homecoming, but, after that, he went
down in a state of depression. At the hospital, he was not alone; there were
other injured persons. But now, each morning Mary had to go out of the house
and after that, he had to face loneliness in the house.
7. Finally,
Duke was brought home from his kennel.
When
Duke was to be brought in the house, Chuck wanted to stand up. So he was made
to stand up. Duke’s nails had grown much in the four months of his
confinement. When he saw Chuck, he stood quivering vigorously, and then he
released a deep cry, spun his long-nailed paws, and sprang up to three meters in
height. He was like a twenty-three kg powerful missile of joy just ready to hit
his master. It made Chuck stagger to maintain his balance.
8. Those
who were the eyewitnesses said that the dog had understood at once Chuck’s
physical condition and never jumped on him afterwards. From that time, he sat
at a place round the clock near his master’s bed.
9. Even
Duke’s presence near his bed did not improve Huck’s state of mind. The muscles
which used to be so strong started losing grip on the bones.
Marcy
would secretly cry as she watched her husband’s smile fade away. He would stare
fixedly for hours together at the ceiling, then out of the window, and then at
his dog, Duke.
While
doing so, hard linings would emerge on his face and stay there continuously.
10. The whole day would pass in boringly as he and Duke would stare at each other in
silence. Finally, the dog could not bear it. He would spring to his feet,
quivering (shaking) in impatience.
11.
“Ya-ruff”
12.
“Lie-down. Duke!”
13.
Then Duke would move in a proud manner to the bed, put his pointed nose under
Chuck’s elbow and lift it. After that, he would nudge (push gently), needle
(tease) and snort (release breath noisily).
14. “Go
run around the house. Duke.”
15. But
Duke was not ready to leave the place. He would keep on watching as if it
wanted to motivate Chuck to walk and talk with him. After one hour, he would
come over to the bed again and bark and push him. The dog didn’t leave the
bedside of Chuck and kept sitting there.
One
evening, Chuck hooked the leash onto duke’s collar to make him still. But he
created a lightning effect in Duke. He stood up at once and readied himself
anticipating (hoping) something good. What was to follow next was difficult to
explain for Chuck.
16. He
asked his wife, Marcy to help him stand up to his feet. Duke jumped forward
while Chuck struggled for balance. He took the leash in his left hand and tried
to grip it with his paralysed fingers. Then he bent forward and Marcy supported
him by the elbow. First, he moved his right leg out in front.
17. He
had to drag his left foot forward along
with
the right. But it could not be called a step.
Duke
felt that the leash was suddenly loosened, so he pulled and made it tight. It made
Chuck somewhat swayed, but he saved himself from falling with the help of his
right leg. After that, he straightened himself and struggled to keep standing
three times, but fell exhausted into the wheelchair.
18. The next day, the dog came running and stood near Chuck’s healthy side. He pushed
his nose under the elbow and raised his head up. Hooper’s healthy arm reached
to grab the leash. As Hooper stood up, the dog walked up to the end of the
leash and pulled it steadily. He took four steps on that day.
19.
Hooper learned to balance himself against the pull without Marcy by leaning
against the pull. On Wednesday, he took five steps, and on Thursday six steps.
On Friday, he could not take more than two and felt exhaustion. But both of
them could reach the front porch in two weeks.
20. The
neighbours would daily see Chuck progressing with the help of the dog in front
of the house. They saw the dog pull the leash tight and then stand and wait.
Hooper would drag himself near the dog. After that, the dog would move forward
to the end of the leash and wait again. Both of them used to set their new
targets and touched them.
21. One
day, Marcy told Hooper’s doctor about what the dog was doing for her husband.
Then, the doctor prescribed a course of physiotherapy with weights, pulleys and
whirlpool baths (special bath in which water moves in a circular current) and
also walking with Duke every day on a limited slow level.
22. It
was a routine scene for the neighbours to see them walk on the same pattern. On June 1, news spread that Duke and Hooper had reached the crossing. It was very
far away from there.
23. Very
soon, Duke started moving out with Hooper twice a day and they kept lengthening
the targets also. It was one road at one time.
24. On
January 4, Hooper succeeded in taking a big leap. He walked for 200 meters from
the clinic to the local branch office of his company. That office was also
under him and the staff was amazed by the visit. Hooper Chuck told Gordon Duke,
the manager, that he should tell him about the progress of the work till then
so that he could start working. The manager kept watching him quite amazed. He
continued saying that he would work for an hour every day. He would use an
empty desk lying in the warehouse and he needed a dictating machine for that
purpose.
25. When
the company came to know about it, there arose some problems. When an employee
struggles so much to make his comeback in his company, it would be difficult to
say that he would not be able to handle his job. It would be difficult also for
Chuck because he was unable to move around in the field as a salesman. Another
difficulty for the company was that he would work for only one hour daily.
26. After
March 1, Hooper did not need any physiotherapy. He depended on on Duke, who
pulled him along the street faster and faster making him more balanced in
walking.
He also
started walking after dark. He would stumble and fall. After that time, Duke
would keep standing still like a rock and watch his master struggling to stand
up.
27. For
thirteen months, Hooper worked full days and then he was promoted to regional
manager and more than four states came under him.
28. In
March 1956, Chuck, Marcy and Duke shifted the house. The area in which Hooper
bought a house did not know the story of Duke and his master. They knew only
that their new neighbor walked with the help of the dog.
29. On
the evening of October 12, 1957, Hooper had some guests in the house. Over some low voices, Chuck heard the screech of brakes outside. He
looked for Duke as if feeling some intuition.
30. The
people carried the big dog inside the house. Marcy understood at once the
critical condition of the dog.
“Phone
the Vet,” she said, “Tell him, I’m bringing Duke.”
The
people present there jumped to lift the dog. But she herself lifted the big
dog, put him into the car and at once drove to the hospital of the animals.
31.
Duke was kept under the effect of drugs until 11 o’clock the next morning. But
he was badly injured.
32.-33.
After some weeks, the chemical company’s headquarters sent some words that
seemed to be a tribute to Duke.
“…therefore,
to advance our objectives step by step, Charles Hooper is appointed Assistant
National Sales Manager.”
Word-meanings:
1. Grin: to give
a wide smile or a wide smile
2.
Hard-charging: one who
works or performs with too much energy
3.
Twilight: the dim light at the time of sunset
4. Subdural hemorrhage: very much bleeding in
the brain
5.
Kennel: a small house for a dog
6.
Hit a new low: to become depressed again
7.
Confinement: imprisonment
8.
Quivering: trembling/shaking
9.
Bellow: a deep sounded cry
10.
Launch: to start, to make the public know about a new product, to send
something like an airship, weapon in the sky/space, etc.
11.
Slacked: not very tight, became loose
12. Rangy:
having long and thin arms or legs
13. Day
in and day out: every day for a long time
14.
Stalked: here it meant to walk in an angry and proud manner
15.
Nudge: to push somebody gently, especially with your elbow
16.
Snort: to
breathe out air noisily
16.
Reproachful: blaming, accusing
17. Yap: bark
18.
Leash: Bridle restraint
19.
Shimmy: to dance or move in a way that shakes your back and shoulders
20.
Prance: to move with long steps being conscious of the fact that
people are watching you.
21. Taut: tight
22.
Jabbed: pushed
23.
Abreast: near, side by side with
24. Surge out: to move quickly and forcefully in a
direction
25. Physiotherapy: under this treatment, the patient is given a massage and told to do
some physical exercises
26.
Whirlpool bath: it is a
bath in a tub or a big container in which water turns speedily like a whirlpool
27. gradual: slow
28.
pattern: design/style
29. intersection: crossing
30. Jurisdiction: authority,
the area in which a person is authorized to pass judgment
31.
Gape: to open
mouth in surprise
32. Stable: in balance
33. Suburb: an area where people live outside of the centre of the city
34. Rampageous: one who
is violent and ready to cause much damage to life and property
35. Babble: the
confused sound that comes when many people talk together at a low pitch of the sound
36. Stubbornness: the act
of being stubborn, obstinate: one who is not ready to change his/her behavior
or attitude
Instinctively:
in a natural way
====================================
Short-answer
type Question & Answers
1. Q1.
Describe Charles Hooper’s personality.
Ans.
Charles Hooper, nicknamed Chuck was a very popular zonal salesman in a
chemical company. His broad and real smile used to make his extremely
competitive nature more attractive. He was six feet in height and he used to
play in the football team of his university. At present, he was considered to
be a very strict salesman of his company.
Q2. How
did Charles Hooper meet with an accident? What damage was caused to him?
Ans.
He had a severe accident when he was driving home one autumn evening. He was
immediately taken to the hospital. He suffered from a subdural hemorrhage
(heavy bleeding) in the motor section of his brain. It completely paralysed his
left side.
Q3. Who
informed Marcy about her husband’s accident? What did she do at once? What did
she notice about her husband?
Ans. One of his district managers took his wife Marcy to the
hospital. She noticed that her husband was unable to speak. He could breathe,
see and his vision was double. Marcy thought of Duke as he was alone at home.
Q4.
What did the employees of Hooper’s company suggest to him after the fifth week?
What more did they say to him?
Ans. After the fifth week, some employees of his company came there
and suggested to him that he should take one month’s leave. They also said that
they would create a job that could be done while sitting at a place in the
office.
Q5. How
did Hooper’s attendant serve him at the hospital, when he was put in a
wheelchair? Did Chuck improve?
Ans. After six weeks, the hospital put him in a wheelchair. There was
an attendant, who used to move his paralysed affected arm and leg movements. That
activity was followed by a bath, exercises, and wheeled –walker. In spite of all
these activities, Chuck did not improve much.
Q6. Why
did Hooper go down in depression after he was brought back home from the hospital?
Ans. Some time passed in the excitement of the homecoming, but, after
that, he went down in a state of depression. At the hospital, he was not alone;
there were other injured persons. But now, each morning Mary had to go out of
the house and after that, he had to face loneliness in the house.
Q7. Why
did Marcy cry secretly?
Ans.
Marcy would secretly cry as she watched her husband’s smile fade away. He would
stare fixedly for hours together at the ceiling, then out of the window and
then at his dog, Duke.
While
doing so, hard linings would emerge on his face and stay there continuously.
Q8.
Where did Charles get Duke from? How did his wife like it?
Q9. Who
was Marcy/ What was her attitude towards Duke?
Q10.
How was Hooper a favoured young man?
Q11.
Why was Duke put in a kennel?
Q12.
When Duke was brought from the kennel, how did he react to see his master?
Long-answer
type Questions
Q1.How
can you say that everything was going on well before Hooper’s accident?
