THE LUNCHEON
Word Meaning
1.
Luncheon a formal lunch
2.
Consequences result, effect, outcome
3.
Attentive alert
4.
Anticipation expected, predicted
5.
Overloading an excessive eating
6.
Awkward troublesome,
uncomfortable
7.
Hospitable welcoming, friendly
8.
Appetising tasty, mouth watering, stimulating
one’s appetite
9.
Revenge retaliate
10.
Beckoning signalling
11.
Senators members of senate
12.
Imposing impressive
13.
Startled surprised
14.
Salmon large fish
15.
Caviare a salty relish
made from eggs of fish
16.
Effusive unrestrained,
enthusiastic
17.
Champagne an expensive wine
18.
Asparagus a plant whose
shoots are used as a vegetable
19.
Mortifying humiliating
20.
Succulent juicy
21.
Stone a unit of weight
Q1. Give
two pieces of evidence from the story to justify the following statements.
1.
The
narrator was still a struggling writer.
a)
I had a tiny apartment in the Latin Quarter
overlooking a cemetery.
b)
I
was earning barely enough money to keep body and soul together.
2.
He
promptly said ‘yes’ to the woman’s proposal for lunch at the Foyot’s.
a)
I
was flattered and I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman.
b)
I
had eighty francs to last me the rest of the month and a modest luncheon should
not cost more than fifteen.
3.
The
woman did not approve to the narrator’s choice of eating meat.
a)
I
don’t know how you expect to work after eating things like chops.
b)
I
don’t believe in overloading my stomach.
4.
The
narrator planned ways to face to bill beyond his means.
a)
I
made up my mind that I would put my hand in my pocket and with a dramatic cry start
up and say it had been picked.
b)
Then
the only thing would be to leave my watch and say I would come back and pay
later.
5.
The
asparagus were tempting and easy to resist.
a)
I
had seen them in shops and I know that they were horribly expensive.
b)
My
mouth had often watered at the sight of them.
6.
The
narrator was shocked to see the head waiter carry a basket full of peaches.
a)
They
had the blush of an innocent girl; they had the rich tone of an Italian
landscape.
b)
But
surely peaches were not in season then, lord knew what they cost.
Question/Answers –
1.
How
did the woman know the narrator? Why did she want to meet him?
The woman had read one
of his books and had written to him about it. She wanted to meet him because
she was passing through Paris and would like to have a chat with him.
2.
What
impression did the narrator gather of the woman when he met her?
She was not so young as
he expected and in appearance quite imposing rather than attractive. She was in
fact a woman of forty. She was a very talkative woman.
3.
Why
was the narrator panic-stricken while they were waiting for the asparagus to be
cooked?
The narrator was
panic-stricken while they were waiting for the asparagus to be cooked because
he had seen the asparagus in the shops and knew that they were horribly
expensive.
4.
Why
did the narrator order coffee for himself also?
The narrator ordered
coffee for himself also because he began to feel past caring.
5.
What
is the waiter’s contribution in allowing the woman to have a gorgeous meal?
The waiter plays an important
role in allowing the woman to have a gorgeous meal because he presented all the
eatables meanwhile which were of high quality and price.
HOTS
A)
The
narrator’s meeting with the woman begins with his being flattered and
hospitable and ends with being mortified and disgusted. Discuss his different
states of mind.
The narrator received a
letter from a female fan of his. Passing through Paris she wished to see him.
Though he could ill- afford to visit Foyot’s, he didn’t mind treating her to
lunch. However he suffered his first setback when he saw that the woman was not
so young and attractive. She was a very talkative lady who was very greedily
ordering one costly dish after the other. A stage came when he started worrying
whether eighty francs would be enough to pay the bill.
Finally, when he paid
the bill, he left a tip of just three francs for the waiter with a great sense
of guilt and shame. He bid goodbye to the woman fully disgusted, mortified and
worried as to how he would manage the whole month without a penny in his
pocket.
B)
The
woman calls the narrator ‘a humorist’. What do you think actually contributes
to the humour in the story? How?
The story ‘The Luncheon’
presents an amusing situation where a woman asserts repeatedly- as many as
fourteen times- one single idea in a variety of words that she hardly eats
anything for luncheon. The reader is left wondering, how a woman despite eating
salmon, caviare, asparagus and giving her a heavy luncheon finishing touches
with coffee and ice-cream and a tempting large peach can be shamefaced as to
say that she does not eat anything for luncheon. The humour in the story
becomes all the more acute when she repeatedly scolds the narrator for eating a
mutton chop, which in her opinion is heavy food. Her parting advice to her host
‘Follow my example and never eat more than one thing for luncheon’ sounds
equally amusing.
LIFE SKILLS
If you come across such
a guest at home, how will you behave?
If I come across such a
guest at home, I will be hospitable to my guest and would prefer to treat him
as the narrator did.
VALUES
A)
Observe
the following remarks made by the woman during the luncheon.
‘I never eat anything
for luncheon.’
‘I never drink anything
for luncheon.’
‘I never eat more than
one thing for luncheon.’
Discuss these statements
in the light of her behaviour during the luncheon.
Her behaviour during the
luncheon was not just. She pretends that she never eats more than one thing for
luncheon or she hardly eats or drinks anything for luncheon. But on that day
she ate all the costly dishes.
B)
Was
the woman considerate or self- centred?
No, she was not a
considerate lady. She was self-centred as she was ordering a dish after dish and
was not bothering about the bill that the narrator had to pay.
WRITING SKILLS
A)Imagine
that you are the narrator. Write a diary entry expressing your plans on how you
hope to manage the budget of the entire month.
Tuesday
7th
July, 2020
8PM
I am in trouble. I don’t know how I will manage the budget of the entire
month. I earn barely enough money to keep my body and soul together. The lunch
with the lady has made a hole in my pocket. I have no source of extra income to
manage my living for the rest of the month. I am wondering what I should do. I
am planning to borrow money from my friend. I also think to take advance from
my publisher. I am sure in this way I would be able to manage the entire month.
I may not have to go hungry. Sometimes, I pray to God to give me strength in
this difficult time.
Narrator
B)Write a
diary entry expressing your satisfaction on observing the woman put on a lot of
weight in second meeting.
Tuesday
7th July, 2020
8PM
Today I am feeling happy and
satisfied on observing the woman who had caused me a lot of trouble twenty years back.
She has become extremely fat and weighs twenty- one stones. In those days when
I was a struggling writer she had written to me and asked me to give her lunch
at an expensive Foyot’s restaurant. I was flattered and agreed for lunch even
though I could not afford it. She was imposing and talkative. She said that she
ate only one thing for lunch but her behaviour and actions were contrary. She
ordered very expensive dishes, some of them were not even registered in menu. I
was worried to pay the will. I had spent all the eighty francs on an
uninteresting luncheon. I had nothing for the rest of the month. I was saved
from an embarrassing situation but had to live in a miserable condition for the
whole of the month. I no longer regret the hardships faced in managing that
month’s budget twenty years ago. I am glad that I have had my revenge at last.
Narrator
EXTRA QUESTION/ ANSWER
1.
What
is the message conveyed through this chapter?
‘The
Luncheon’ gives the message that ‘Gluttony is a sin.’ Those who believe in
enjoying extremely expensive dishes at
the cost of others tend to overeat become victims of the obesity ( fatness).
So, one should avoid excessive eating.
2.
What
plan did the narrator have if he ran short of money at the time of paying the
luncheon bill?
The plan was
he made his mind that he would put his hand in his pocket and with a dramatic
cry start up and says it had been picked. Of course it would be awkward if she
had not money either to pay the bill. Then the only thing would be to leave his
watch and say I would be come back and pay bill later.
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