A Day in The Country: Answers, Meanings Summary

‘A Day in the Country’ is a short story by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, a renowned Russian playwright and short-story writer. This section provides word meanings, a summary, and answers related to the chapter ‘A Day in the Country’.

Summary

‘A Day in the country’ is written by Anton Chekhov. The story is about a homeless cobbler named Terenty and how he is caring toward the other two orphan children.

In the beginning of the story a beggar girl named Fyokla, who is six years old comes running through a village. The village is preparing for an approaching storm. She addresses everyone as ‘uncle’. She is searching for some particular person. She finally finds Terenty in the kitchen-garden. He is a ‘tall old man with a thin, pock-marked face, very long legs, and bare feet, dressed in a woman’s tattered jacket’. He does not look like a hero. But Fyokla is searching desperately for someone to help in freeing her brother Danilka, whose hand is stuck in a tree. Terenty does not give importance to the approaching storm and talking reassuringly in fatherly tones he goes to free Fyokla’s brother. The story tells us that Terenty ‘answers all questions, and there is no secret in Nature which baffles him. He knows everything’. The writer further adds that indeed ‘all the villagers, generally speaking, know as much as he does. But the difference is that Terenty is willing to share his knowledge and time with the two orphan children. The children love him for this reason. The two children retire to a deserted barn after spending the day with Terenty. And Terenty goes to the tavern. Chekhov further talks about Terenty’s sincerity and love for the two orphan children. Terenty comes back later and places bread under their heads making the sign of the cross while they are asleep. In this way Terenty tries to make the lives of Fyokla and Danilka, a little better than his own.

Meanings

eulogise– praise; delights – joy, pleasure; whiff – smell; beam – a flash or glow of light; refuge – shelter; frolics – play happily, blows; spurt – a burst or gush; preoccupied – thinking and worrying continuously about, lost in thoughts; pock – a spot on the skin like a blister or pimple; tattered – old and torn, ragged; drowsy – sleepy and sluggish; shove – to push roughly; pursue – to follow; grim – serious looking; lisping – fault in pronouncing letters like pronouncing ‘s’ as ‘th’; copse – a small area of trees or bushes growing together; speck – mark or spot; mutter – utter words in quiet voice; spite – malice, feeling to hurt or upset or humiliate somebody; peal – a loud noise; strides – to walk with long steps; gust of wind – a sudden increased rush of wind; stumble – to hit things on the way unknowingly while walking or moving; stump – the left bottom part of a tree; slacken – loosen or make slower; snap off – break; abates – to become less intense or less strong; rogues – someone who behaves badly but in a harmless way; downpour – heavy rainfall; drenched – completely wet; huddled – sitting crowded and packed together; fall in – drop or come down; vigorously – with strength and energy; tremendous – great; random – with no objective, purpose or aim; baffle – to confuse or puzzle; frail – weak and thin; unceasingly – without stopping; lagging – remaining behind or walking slow; tripping – falling; inexhaustible – very great, that cannot be used up or finished; mashed – crushed and soft; whisk – moving suddenly and quickly; barn – a large farm building for storing grain and keeping animals; tavern – an inn; lanky – tall and thin; impressions – marks and effects; longs – wishes; haunted – came to the mind and feelings again and again; agitate – move, upset or disturb; caressingly – touching gently with love, affection and tenderness.

Textbook Exercise Q&A

Comprehension

A. Answer these questions briefly.

1. Why was Fyokla looking for Terenty?
2. Why does no one answer her question, ‘Where is Terenty’?
3. ‘Don’t be afraid! It is not from spite that it thunders’, said Terenty. What does this statement tell us about him?
4. What is the immediate reaction of Danilka when he sees Terenty?
5. What is the effect of rain on the ant heap?
6. What does Terenty do when he sees the sleeping children in the barn?

Answers

1. Her brother Danilka’s hand was stuck in a tree and she wanted help.
2. They are all busy as a storm was approaching.
3. He loves and values all aspects of Nature.
4. He gives a sickly smile and comments about the thunder seeing the cobbler.
5. It bursts open and all the ants scatter.
6. He draws a cross over them and puts some bread under their heads.

B. Answer these questions with reference to the context.

1. The barefoot child is pale. Her eyes are wide open, her lips are trembling.
   a. Who is the child?
   b. What state of mind is she in?
   c. What does she want to know and why?
2. The party comes out of the copse, and walks along the edge of it towards the darkened road.
   a. Who are the ‘party’ here?
   b. What were they doing in the copse?
   c. Why is the road ‘darkened’?
3. ‘They have been flooded, the rogues!’…
   a. Who is the speaker?
   b. Who are ‘they’ here?
   c. Why does the speaker call them rogues?

Answers

1. a. The child is Fyokla.
   b. She is anxious and in deep turmoil.
   c. She wants to know the whereabouts of Uncle Terenty as he would help her brother Danilka, whose hand was stuck in the hollow of a tree.
2. a. Terenty, Danilka and his sister Fyokla.
   b. Danilka’s hand was stuck in a tree. So Terenty and Fyokla came to the copse to help him.
   c. It was ‘darkened’ because of the storm
3. a. Terenty
   b. The ants
   c. He calls them rogues affectionately as they are running helter-skelter when their ant heap is flooded.

C. Answer these questions.

1. Describe in your own words the scene between eight and nine o’clock in the morning.
2. Was Danilka very concerned about his arm stuck in the tree? Give reasons.
3. What does Terenty know about the bees?
4. What puzzles the children about the engine? How does Terenty explain it to them?
5. How is Fyokla different from her brother?
6. What does the writer appreciate about the villagers?
7. Explain the line: The grass and the trees are fed by the rain, as we are by bread.
8. There is no secret in Nature which baffles him. Discuss how it is true of Terenty.
9. Describe the relationship between Danilka and Terenty.
10. Why do you think Terenty helped the orphans?
11. Do you agree that Terenty is completely in tune with Nature? Give examples from the text.
12. Write a character sketch of Terenty.

Answers

1. A storm was gathering, there was lightning, there was thunder in the distance, a warm wind was blowing, and anytime it would begin to rain.
2. He doesn’t seem to be very concerned as the first thing he says to Terenty is about the thunder.
3. He knows that when a swarm is flying one needs to sprinkle water over them to settle them and how to take them all into a sack.
4. They want to know how a thing without life and no horses to pull it can move dragging weights. Terenty explains how the steam gives it power to do so.
5. Fyokla is emotional, a little weaker than her brother. Her brother is strong, interested in all aspects of Nature.
6. They all know a lot which they have not learnt from books but from life and being close to Nature.
7. The rain provides nutrition to the trees just as bread to us.
8. Terenty has grown close to Nature and observed the minutest happenings in Nature by keeping his eyes and ears open.
9. Danilka looks up to Terenty and laps up whatever he tells him about anything about Nature. He wants to be like him.
10. He is basically a good and kind soul. He too is poor and no one else in his life. He understands the plight of the homeless children.
11. Yes, Terenty is completely in tune with nature as he answers all the questions asked by Danilka mostly about nature. He explains the reason behind the thunder, tells as why the bees were sitting huddled together on the tree, gives a lesson to Danilka through the flooded ant heap and proves his knowledge of medicinal plants when he tells as how the plant leaves could cure the bleeding nose.
12. Terenty was homeless but a very kind and generous person. He cared for the orphan children Fyokla and Danilka. He had a great knowledge of nature and medicinal plants. He knew the psychology of children and had patience to answer the queries by giving the children company and time. He did not disappoint Fyokla and despite bad weather he helped Danilka getting his hand out of the hole.

Vocabulary

A. Identify the words used in the text in place of speak.
B. Make sentences using the words given below. You may use a dictionary.

1. mumble                         2. ramble                             3. chat

4.  stutter                           5.  utter                                6.  murmur

Answers

A. address, mutter, lisp, whisper, answer, cries, informs
B. Do yourself

Answers

1. h ; 2. i ; 3. a ; 4. g ; 5. b ; 6. e ; 7. c ; 8. d ; 9. j ; 10. f

Grammar

A. Fill in these blanks using have or has. You may change the forms of the verbs given in the brackets.

1. I ………………………… ………………………… only half the essay. (write)
2. Madhu ………………………… ………………………… the milk on the floor. (spill)
3. The peon ………………………… ………………………… the bell. (ring)
4. He ………………………… ………………………… to meet his sister. (go)
5. They ………………………… ………………………… around the world twice. (travel)
6. We ………………………… ………………………… to your teacher. (speak)

Answers

1. have written 2. has spilt 3. has rung 4. has gone 5. have travelled 6. have spoken

B. Fill in these blanks using since or for.

1. You must tell me what you have done ………………………… I last saw you.
2. I have not eaten anything morning.
3. It has not rained ………………………… a month now.
4. As I have been doing a lot of breathing exercises, I have not caught a cold
   ………………………… last winter.
5. Dr Saha’s clinic has been closed ………………………… a week.
6. I have not read a single mystery novel ………………………… a long time.

Answers

1. since 2. since 3. fo 4. since 5. for 6. for

C. Fill in these blanks with either simple past or present perfect forms of the verbs given in the brackets.

1. Salim: ………………………… you ………………………… all the assignments? (finish) Karim: No, not yet. I ………………………… one yesterday. (do)
   I still ………………………… two (leave)
2. I ………………………… ………………………… this play before. (see) I ………………………… it in London. (see)
3. My sister ………………………… ………………………… this fruit before. (taste)
   She ………………………… in my friend’s house. (taste)
4. Anurag ………………………… ………………………… his PhD. (finish) He ………………………… it in 2010. (finish)

Answers

1. Salim:Have you finished all the assignments?
   Karim:No, not yet. I did one yesterday.
   I still have two left.
2. I have seen this play before.
   I saw it in London.
3. My sister has tasted this fruit before.
   She tasted in my friend’s house.
4. Anurag has finished his PhD.
   He finished it in 2010.

D. Fill in these blanks with the correct forms of the verbs given in the brackets.

1. When we entered the tent, the circus ……………………… already (begin)
2. When the child ………………………… into my study, she already
   ………………………… the candy jar. (come, hide)
3. Robinson Crusoe ………………………… alone on the island for many years before he
   ………………………… the footprints in the sand. (live, find)
4. He ………………………… that she ………………………… poorly in the English test. (realise, do)
5. He ………………………… to go, till he ………………………… all the documents. (refuse, see)
6. If I ………………………… you were ill, I would ………………………… you. (known, visit)

Answers

1. When we entered the tent, the circus had already begun.
2. When the child came into my study, she had already hidden the candy jar.
3. Robinson Crusoe had lived alone on the island for many years before he found the footprints in the sand.
4. He realised that she had done poorly in the English test.
5. He refused to go, till he had seen all the documents.
6. If I had known you were ill, I would have visited you.

E. Complete these sentences with the correct forms of the verbs in the brackets.

1. I am saving money every month to buy a laptop. By the end of this year, I
   ………………………… enough to buy one. (save)
2. Our school ………………………… into its new building by June next year. (move)
3. The contractor ………………………… the building by then. (complete)
4. By the end of the year, Tara foreign students for twenty years. (teach)
5. When Jaya comes to India, she ………………………… for more than twenty-two hours. (travel)
6. When I go to England next June, my husband ………………………… his doctorate in Physics. (get)

Answers

1. I am saving money every month to buy a laptop. By the end of this year, I will have saved enough to buy one.
2. Our school will move/will have into its new building by June next year.
3. The contractor will have completed the building by then.
4. By the end of the year Tara will have taught foreign students for twenty years.
5. When Jaya comes to India, she will have travelled for more than twenty-two hours.
6. When I go to England next June, my husband will have got his doctorate in Physics.