The Snake and the Mirror Notes: Class 9 English Chapter 5
Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 5 The Snake and the Mirror covers the humorous story of a young homoeopathic doctor's encounter with a snake, the theme of vanity and fear, and important questions and answers.
Overview of Topics & Subtopics (Click to Jump)
1. Story Summary
Short Note:
• The narrator is a young, jobless homoeopathic doctor living in a rented room, who spends his time admiring his own good looks in a mirror.
• One night, a huge snake enters his room while he is lying in bed, and in his fear he keeps very still, watching it with growing terror.
• The snake accidentally knocks over a bottle of hair oil, mistakes its own reflection for another snake in the mirror, gets frightened, and finally leaves the room, much to the doctor's relief.
2. Character Sketch
Short Note:
• The Narrator (Young Doctor): A poor but proud man who is vain about his appearance yet turns out to be genuinely afraid when faced with real danger.
• The Snake: A large snake that enters the room by accident and is itself frightened by its own reflection, adding a humorous twist to the tense situation.
3. Theme & Message
Short Note:
• The story uses humour to explore how fear can override vanity, and how self-obsession is contrasted with a genuine life-threatening situation.
• It also gently mocks the narrator's excessive pride in his looks, showing that appearances matter little when survival is at stake.
Reading With Insight (Textbook Questions)
Q1: Why does the narrator like to admire himself in the mirror?
Answer: The narrator is vain about his handsome appearance and, having little else to occupy his time as an unemployed doctor, enjoys looking at his reflection and imagining how attractive he appears to others.
Q2: How did the snake enter the narrator's room, and how did he react?
Answer: The snake glided into the room through a hole and climbed onto the cot where the narrator was lying; terrified, he remained absolutely still, afraid that any movement would provoke the snake to bite him.
Q3: How did the snake finally leave the room?
Answer: The snake knocked over the hair oil bottle, and when it moved towards the mirror and saw its own reflection, it mistook the reflection for another snake and became frightened, eventually fleeing from the room through the way it had entered.
Extract-Based / Short Answer Questions
Q4: What is ironic about the snake being frightened by its own reflection?
Answer: It is ironic because the snake, a creature the narrator fears intensely, itself gets scared of an imaginary threat - its own image - highlighting how fear can be based on misunderstanding rather than real danger, much like the narrator's own exaggerated vanity.
Q5: What does the story reveal about the narrator's character beyond his vanity?
Answer: Beyond his vanity, the story reveals that the narrator is genuinely timid when faced with real danger, showing a gap between his self-image as a confident, attractive man and his actual behaviour under pressure.
