Short Questions
1. Who is the writer of “The Snake and the Mirror”?
Answer: Vaikom Muhammad Basheer.
2.What was the doctor’s profession?
Answer: He was a homeopath.
3.Where did the doctor live?
Answer: In a small rented room that was not electrified.
4.What did the doctor have in his suitcase?
Answer: About sixty rupees, some shirts, dhotis, and one black coat.
5.What was the doctor doing before the snake fell on him?
Answer: He was sitting in front of a mirror, admiring himself.
6.What did the doctor decide while looking into the mirror?
Answer: To shave daily and grow a thin moustache.
7.What was the second “earth-shaking” decision he made?
Answer: To always keep an attractive smile on his face.
8.What did the doctor want in his future wife?
Answer: A rich, fat lady doctor.
9.Why did he want his wife to be fat?
Answer: So that she could not run after him if he made a mistake.
10.What landed on the doctor’s shoulder?
Answer: A snake.
11.Where did the snake coil itself?
Answer: Around his left arm above the elbow.
12.What did the snake look at?
Answer: Its reflection in the mirror.
13.What did the doctor do when the snake moved away?
Answer: He ran out of the room.
14.What happened to his things the next morning?
Answer: A thief had stolen most of them.
15.What did the thief leave behind?
Answer: The doctor’s dirty vest.
Long Questions
1. Describe the doctor’s room and his life at that time.
Answer: The doctor lived in a small rented room without electricity. It had a tiled roof and many rats running on the beam. He had little money and only a few clothes. He had just started his medical practice and earned very little.
2.What did the doctor do before the snake fell on him?
Answer: He sat before the mirror, combed his hair, admired himself, and thought about becoming handsome. He decided to shave daily, grow a thin moustache, and always smile attractively.
3.What kind of woman did the doctor want to marry?
Answer: He wanted to marry a woman doctor who had money and was fat so that if he made a mistake and needed to run, she could not catch him.
4.What happened when the doctor turned around?
Answer: A snake fell from the roof and landed on his shoulder. It coiled itself around his arm and raised its hood near his face.
5.How did the doctor feel when the snake was on his arm?
Answer: He was very frightened but could not move or cry out. He sat like a stone and prayed silently to God.
6.What did the snake do after some time?
Answer: The snake looked into the mirror and seemed to admire its own reflection. Then it slowly uncoiled and slithered onto the table.
7.How did the doctor escape from the snake?
Answer: When the snake moved away towards the mirror, the doctor quietly got up, went out into the veranda, and ran away as fast as he could.
8.What did the doctor do after escaping?
Answer: He went to a friend’s house, bathed with oil and soap, put on clean clothes, and stayed there for the night.
9.What did the doctor find when he returned to his room the next morning?
Answer: Most of his belongings had been stolen by a thief. Only his dirty vest was left behind.
10.Why is the story “The Snake and the Mirror” humorous?
Answer: It is funny because the doctor thinks he is very handsome and dreams of marrying a rich, fat lady, but ends up facing a snake and a thief. His pride turns into fear, and his foolish thoughts make the story both scary and amusing.
Leave a Reply