Notes For All Chapters English Beehive Class 9
Kezia’s fears about her father
Kezia’s father was a figure of fear for her. She avoided him. Before going to work, he would come to her. He would give her a casual kiss. But when he went, Kezia would feel a great relief.
How Kezia comes before father in the evening
In the evening Kezia’s father came home. Kezia would hear his loud voice calling for tea. Kezia’s mother would ask Kezia to be a good girl to take off father’s shoes. When she would take off his shoes, he would ask if she had been a good girl that day. But she was terrified of him. She would stutter due to fear. She, in fact, would try to speak. But she would hesitate due to fear. For Kezia, her father was like a giant.
What happened on a Sunday afternoon
On a Sunday afternoon grandmother asked Kezia to have a nice talk with father and mother. But Kezia always found mother reading and father snoring. So she waited for father. She continued staring at father. She waited till he awoke. When he actually awoke, he asked her not to stare. She looked like an owl.
Kezia makes a birthday gift for father
One day Kezia’s grandmother told her that her father’s birthday was next week. She suggested to Kezia to make him a pin-cushion of yellow silk. So Kezia made a pin-cushion for father. She needed something to stuff the pin-cushion. So she gathered a few sheets of fine paper and put them into it. These sheets belonged to her father. They had an important speech which he was to deliver.
A hue and cry in the house
That night there was a hue and cry in the house. Father’s great speech for the Port Authority had been lost. Rooms were searched. Servants were questioned. Father, went to Kezia’s room. He asked her about them. Kezia didn’t tell a lie. She told him that she had tom those papers.
Father summons Kezia and beats her
Father asked Kezia to come to the drawing-room. He was very angry. He was pacing to and fro. Kezia was greatly frightened. He asked Kezia if she had done that. She whispered. Father asked mother to go to Kezia’s room and fetch those torn papers. Meanwhile he asked Kezia to. hold out her hands. He beat her on her hands. He did so to teach her not to touch anything that didn’t belong to her.
Kezia’s reaction
Kezia heard this. She replied that what she did was for his birthday. Kezia was beaten on her hands. Hours later, her grandmother had wrapped Kezia in a shawl. She clung to her when she was being rocked in the rocking chair. She sobbed, “What did God make fathers for ?”
The Macdonalds, Kezia’s neighbours
The Macdonalds lived next door to Kezia’s house. They had five children. Father played with the children. Kezia thought that there were different fathers.
Kezia’s mother and grandmother at hospital
One day Kezia’s mother fell ill. She had to be hospitalized. Kezia’s grandmother was with her Kezia was all alone with Alice, the cook. Kezia asked Alice what would happen if she had a nightmare. But Alice asked her to sleep. She also asked her not to scream and not to wake up her poor father.
Kezia’s nightmare
But Kezia had a nightmare. She saw a butcher with a knife and a rope. He came near Kezia but she couldn’t move. She screamed and woke up father. Father came to her bed. He asked her what was the matter. After hearing her, he took Kezia with him.
Kezia’s changed opinion about father
Kezia’s father lay down beside her. Kezia crept close to him. He asked Kezia to rub her feet against his legs to get them warm. Kezia felt a funny thing. She thought that father was harder than grandmother. But it was a nice hardness. Everyday he had to work harder. He got too tired to be a Mr. Macdonald. And she had torn up his writing! She stirred. Father asked what was the matter. Kezia told him that her head was on his heart. She told him that he had a big heart. It was beating.
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