CBSE Class 11 English The Summer Of The Beautiful White Horse William Saroyan Worksheet

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The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse

William Saroyan

This is a story of two tribal Armenian boys who belonged to the Garoghlanian tribe. For their family, even at times of extreme poverty nothing could match the importance of honesty. They never did anything wrong and never lied or never even stole anything. The story talks about an incident that revolves around two cousins Aram who is nine years old and Mourad who is thirteen. The world, for Aram, at that time, seemed to be a delightful and extremely joyous yet mysterious dream. People believed in every imaginable kind of magnificence. Mourad was considered to be crazy by everybody he knew.

The story opens with Mourad coming to Aram's house at four in the morning one fine day. When Aram looked out of the window, he was taken aback and startled to see Mourad riding a beautiful white horse. In fact, he was so dazed that Mourad had to say “Yes, it's a horse. You are not dreaming.” All this was too unbelievable because Aram knew that they were too poor to be able to afford to buy a horse. The only way Mourad could possess it could be by stealing. They were too honest to lie and yet too crazy to ride a horse.

Thus, they kept the horse for two weeks, enjoying its ride in cool air and singing to their heart's content on the country roads. They hid it from the rest of the world by keeping it in a barn of the deserted vineyard. Meanwhile, Aram came to know that the horse was stolen from John Byro. They planned not to return it to him so soon although it pricked their conscience to steal, which was completely their ethics and tribal norms.

One fine day they came across John, the farmer. Such was the boys' family famous for their honesty that the thought of his horse being stolen by the boys never crossed John's mind. He was just amazed at the resemblance and said: “I would swear it is my horse if I did not know your parents.”

This moving experience led the boys towards John's vineyard the very next morning. They left the horse in the barn after patting it affectionately. Later that day, John seemed to be very pleased and shared the news of the return of his horse with Aram's mother. The story teaches us the importance and necessity of honesty even in the face of greed and passion.

THEME

This story acquaints us with Garoghlanian Tribe of Armenia. They are famous for their honesty. In terms of honesty they are the wealthiest tribe in the world. But in terms of money they are nothing. They go through what we know commercial poverty. They do not have any perfect and fixed earning source. Yet they meet the regular necessities of life. They themselves are even amazed with the fact. The story revolves around the two boys – Mourad and Aram who stole a horse against the reputation of their tribe. They realized the fact and to protect and sustain the reputation of the tribe decided to return the horse to the owner sacrificing their desire.

Example of Verbal Irony

Saroyen in his story uses Uncle Khosrove verbal ironies to show the contrast between the character’s personalities. For example, for John Byro, horse is an important part of his life and losing it, makes his life uneasy. He is sad and angry at the theft. In contrast, Uncle Khorsove reacts differently when he hears of the story; “ It’s no harm. What is the loss of a horse ?” His reaction might be provocative; he sees no value in a horse. His reaction makes him look “crazy”, but when we look closer, he shows something deep and meaningful. By using Uncle Khosrove verbal ironies, the author wants us to pay attention to different values like : patriotism, identity, or solidarity. He makes the point, that the appreciation of life is more valuable than to prize the material things.

Short Answer Questions:

Question. Why was it difficult for Aram to believe the sight of his cousin Mourad with the beautiful white horse?
Answer: When Aram looked through the window, he saw his cousin Mourad with a beautiful white horse and it was a sight which was very difficult for him to believe for two reasons:
First, the whole of the Garoghlonian family to which the two boys belonged were extremely poor and therefore it was not possible for Mourad to buy that horse. Secondly, in that case, it would mean that Mourad had stolen that horse. But that was also not possible, because the Garoghlonian family was also very much famous for their honesty and therefore Mourad could not steal that horse either.

Question. Where had Mourad been hiding the horse?
Answer: Mourad had been hiding the horse in the barn of a deserted vineyard which was owned by a farmer named Fetvajian.

Question. What did the farmer John Byro tell the two boys when one day they accidentally met him with his horse in their custody?
Answer: The farmer examined the horse when one morning he found it with the two boys and he told them that he could swear that the horse was his very horse which had been stolen from him many weeks before if he did not know about their parents. He added that the fame of their family for honesty was very well known to him and therefore he liked to say that the horse could be the twin of his stolen horse.

Question. What did John Byro tell Aram’s mother and Uncle Khosrove when he got his horse back?
Answer: After John Byro got his horse back mysteriously one day, he came to Aram’s house and told Aram’s mother and Uncle Khosrove that he did not know what to think about the whole matter. It was because the horse was stronger that ever and was better tempered too and therefore he thanked God.

Question. What were the two things for which the Garoghlonian family was famous?
Answer: The Garoghlonian family was famous for the following two things:
1. Their poverty
2. Their honesty

Question. What points were put forward by Aram in defense of Mourad’s act of stealing the horse?
Answer: Aram argued to himself that stealing a horse for a ride was not the same thing as stealing something else, such as money. And then he went a little ahead by saying that if one was so much crazy about horses the way Mourad and he himself were, it was not stealing at all. It would not become stealing until they offered to sell the horse and he was sure that last thing they would never be doing.

Question. Which excuses were given by Aram to himself for taking a ride on the horse despite knowing fully the truth about the theft of the horse by Mourad?
Answer: Aram dismissed stealing a horse as much grave a crime as stealing money. Secondly, he believed that if it was something like a horse for which both he and his cousin were crazy then it couldn’t be stealing. Additionally, it was not going to become stealing until they offered to sell the horse.

Question. Why was Aram unwilling to return the horse so soon?
Answer: Aram was crazy for horse and he wanted to learn horse riding at all costs. The horse would not let him to ride over it and hence he was unwilling to return the horse at least till he would learn to ride it.

Long Answer Questions:

Question. Why did the two boys ultimately return the horse all of a sudden although they had planned to keep it at least for six months?
Answer: Although the two boys had planned to keep the horse for at least six months, they returned it all of a sudden the morning after they accidentally met the farmer John Byro from whom Mourad had stolen the horse. The farmer examined the horse and told them that he could swear that the horse was his very horse which had been stolen from him many weeks before if he did not know about their parents. He added that the fame of their family for honesty was very well known to him and therefore he liked to say that the horse could be the twin of his stolen horse. What John Byro told them served as an eye opener for the two boys especially Mourad and they became conscious how precious and strong their family’s fame for honesty was and therefore they did not want to tarnish that name and prestige and immediately returned the horse.

Question. Mourad was the natural descendant of the crazy streak of uncle Khosrove. Explain the statement giving instances from the story, ‘The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse’.
Answer: Uncle Khosrove was considered in the Garoghlanian tribe as one of the craziest persons. It was also believed that the tribe that Mourad was the natural descendant of the crazy streak in their tribe. Uncle Khosrove’s craziness was out of the world. He had the largest moustache in the surrounding. His talk was not less than roaring, which was but natural for him. Once when his son came running to tell him about his house on fire, he simply said, ‘It is no harm; pay no attention to it’. The barber who reminded him that it was his own house also got rebukes.
Khosrove also asked John Byro not to worry about the horse or the loss of money or even for his paining legs and answered in the same way.
Mourad was considered the natural descendant of this man though not a biological descendant mainly because of the crazy acts he was involved in. The act of stealing a horse because he was crazy about it is an example to prove the same. Like the punch line of uncle khosrove i.e. ‘It is no harm; pay no attention to it’ Mourad used to say that he had a way with the things, animals and even people. Thus Mourad said that he had a way with the horse, with the dogs and with the farmers too.

Question. ‘I knew my cousin Mourad enjoyed being alive more than anyone else who had ever fallen into the world by mistake.’ Explain the statement with help of the instances from the story.
Answer:
-Mourad’s nature
-His crazy deeds
-Having a way with the things
-Considerate towards animals
-A true member of the tribe

Question. Write a brief note on the Garoghlanian tribe.
Answer:
-The traits of the tribe
-Economic condition
-The members of the tribe
-Its uniqueness

Question. Mourad was the natural descendant of the crazy streak of uncle Khosrove. Explain the statement giving instances from the story, ‘The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse’?
Answer: Uncle Khosrove was considered in the Garoghlanian tribe as one of the craziest persons. It was also believed that the tribe that Mourad was the natural descendant of the crazy streak in their tribe. Uncle Khosrove’s craziness was out of the world. He had the largest moustache in the surrounding. His talk was not less than roaring, which was but natural for him. Once when his son came running to tell him about his house on fire, he simply said, ‘It is no harm; pay no attention to it’. The barber who reminded him that it was his own house also got rebukes. Khosrove also asked John Byro not to worry about the horse or the loss of money or even for his paining legs and answered in the same way. Mourad was considered the natural descendant of this man though not a biological descendant mainly because of the crazy acts he was involved in. The act of stealing a horse because he was crazy about it is an example to prove the same. Like the punch line of uncle khosrove i.e. ‘It is no harm; pay no attention to it’ Mourad used to say that he had a way with the things, animals and even people. Thus Mourad said that he had a way with the horse, with the dogs and with the farmers too.