The Axe by R K Narayan

 



The Axe 

by R.K. Narayan

An astrologer passing through the village foretold that Velan would live in a three-storeyed house surrounded by many acres of garden. At this everybody gathered round young Velan and made fun of him. For Koppal did not have a more ragged and godforsaken family than Velan’s.

His father had mortgaged every bit of property he had, and worked, with his whole family, on other people’s lands in return for a few annas a week . . . A three-storeyed house for Velan indeed! . . . But the scoffers would have congratulated the astrologer if they had seen Velan about thirty or forty years later. He became the sole occupant of Kumar Baugh—that palatial house on the outskirts of Malgudi town.

When he was eighteen Velan left home. His father slapped his face one day for coming late with the midday-meal, and he did that in the presence of others in the field. Velan put down the basket, glared at his father and left the place. He just walked out of the village, and walked on and on till he came to the town. He starved for a couple of days, begged wherever he could and arrived in Malgudi, where after much knocking about, an old man took him on to assist him in laying out a garden. The garden existed only in the mind of the gardener. What they could see now was acre upon acre of weed-covered land.

Velan’s main business consisted in destroying all the vegetation he saw. Day after day he sat in the sun and tore up by hand the unwanted plants. And all the jungle gradually disappeared and the land stood as bare as a football field. Three sides of the land were marked off for an extensive garden, and on the rest was to be built a house. By the time the mangoes had sprouted they were laying the foundation of the house. About the time the margosa sapling had shot up a couple of yards, the walls were also coming up.

The flowers—hibiscus, chrysanthemum, jasmine, roses and canna—in the front park suddenly created a wonderland one early summer. Velan had to race with the bricklayers. He was now the chief gardener, the old man he had come to assist having suddenly fallen ill. Velan was proud of his position and responsibility. He keenly watched the progress of the bricklayers and whispered to the plants as he watered them, ‘Now look sharp, young fellows.

The building is going up and up every day. If it is ready and we aren’t, we shall be the laughingstock of the town.’ He heaped manure, aired the roots, trimmed the branches and watered the plants twice a day, and on the whole gave an impression of hustling nature; and nature seemed to respond. For he did present a good-sized garden to his master and his family when they came to occupy the house.

The house proudly held up a dome. Balconies with intricately carved woodwork hung down from the sides of the house; smooth, rounded pillars, deep verandas, chequered marble floors and spacious halls, ranged one behind another, gave the house such an imposing appearance that Velan asked himself, ‘Can any mortal live in this? I thought such mansions existed only in Swarga Loka.’ When he saw the kitchen and the dining room he said, ‘Why, our whole village could be accommodated in this eating place alone!’ The house-builder’s assistant told him, ‘We have built bigger houses, things costing nearly two lakhs.

What is this house? It has hardly cost your master a lakh of rupees. It is just a little more than an ordinary house, that is all . . .’ After returning to his hut Velan sat a long time trying to grasp the vision, scope and calculations of the builders of the house, but he felt dizzy. He went to the margosa plant, gripped its stem with his fingers and said, ‘Is this all, you scraggy one? What if you wave your head so high above mine? I can put my fingers around you and shake you up like this. Grow up, little one, grow up. Grow fat. Have a trunk which two pairs of arms can’t hug, and go up and spread. Be fit to stand beside this palace; otherwise I will pull you out.’

When the margosa tree came up approximately to this vision, the house had acquired a mellowness in its appearance. Successive summers and monsoons had robbed the paints on the doors and windows and woodwork of their brightness and the walls of their original colour, and had put in their place tints and shades of their own choice. And though the house had lost its resplendence, it had now a more human look. Hundreds of parrots and mynas and unnamed birds lived in the branches of the margosa, and under its shade the master’s great-grandchildren and the (younger) grandchildren played and quarrelled.

The master walked about leaning on a staff. The lady of the house, who had looked such a blooming creature on the inauguration day, was shrunken and grey and spent most of her time in an invalid’s chair on the veranda, gazing at the garden with dull eyes. Velan himself was much changed. Now he had to depend more and more upon his assistants to keep the garden in shape. He had lost his parents, his wife and eight children out of fourteen. He had managed to reclaim his ancestral property, which was now being looked after by his sons-in-law and sons. He went to the village for Pongal, New Year’s and Deepavali, and brought back with him one or the other of his grandchildren, of whom he was extremely fond.

Velan was perfectly contented and happy. He demanded nothing more of life. As far as he could see, the people in the big house too seemed to be equally at peace with life. One saw no reason why these good things should not go on and on for ever. But Death peeped around the corner.

From the servants’ quarters whispers reached the gardener in his hut that the master was very ill and lay in his room downstairs (the bedroom upstairs so laboriously planned had to be abandoned with advancing age). Doctors and visitors were constantly coming and going, and Velan had to be more than ever on guard against ‘flower-pluckers’. One midnight he was awakened and told that the master was dead. ‘What is to happen to the garden and to me? The sons are no good,’ he thought at once.

 And his fears proved to be not entirely groundless. The sons were no good, really. They stayed for a year more, quarrelled among themselves and went away to live in another house. A year later some other family came in as tenants.

The moment they saw Velan they said, ‘Old gardener? Don’t be up to any tricks. We know the sort you are. We will sack you if you don’t behave yourself.’ Velan found life intolerable. These people had no regard for a garden. They walked on flower beds, children climbed the fruit trees and plucked unripe fruits, and they dug pits on the garden paths. Velan had no courage to protest.They ordered him about, sent him on errands, made him wash the cow and lectured to him on how to grow a garden. He detested the whole business and often thought of throwing up his work and returning to his village. But the idea was unbearable: he couldn’t live away from his plants. Fortune, however, soon favoured him. The tenants left. The house was locked up for a few years. Occasionally one of the sons of the late owner came round and inspected the garden. Gradually even this ceased. They left the keys of the house with Velan.

Occasionally a prospective tenant came down, had the house opened and went away after remarking that it was in ruins—plaster was falling off in flakes, paint on doors and windows remained only in a few small patches and white ants were eating away all the cupboards and shelves . . . A year later another tenant came, and then another, and then a third. No one remained for more than a few months. And then the house acquired the reputation of being haunted.

 Even the owners dropped the practice of coming and seeing the house. Velan was very nearly the master of the house now. The keys were with him. He was also growing old.Although he did his best, grass grew on the paths, weeds and creepers strangled the flowering plants in the front garden. The fruit trees yielded their load punctually. The owners leased out the whole of the fruit garden for three years.

 Velan was too old. His hut was leaky and he had no energy to put up new thatch. So he shifted his residence to the front veranda of the house. It was a deep veranda running on three sides, paved with chequered marble. The old man saw no reason why he should not live there. He had as good a right as the bats and the rats.

When the mood seized him (about once a year) he opened the house and had the floor swept and scrubbed. But gradually he gave up this practice. He was too old to bother about these things.

 Years and years passed without any change. It came to be known as the ‘Ghost House’, and people avoided it. Velan found nothing to grumble about in this state of affairs. It suited him excellently. Once a quarter he sent his son to the old family in the town to fetch his wages. There was no reason why this should not have gone on indefinitely. But one day a car sounded its horn angrily at the gate. Velan hobbled up with the keys.

 ‘Have you the keys? Open the gate,’ commanded someone in the car.

‘There is a small side-gate,’ said Velan meekly.

 ‘Open the big gate for the car!’  

Velan had to fetch a spade and clear the vegetation which blocked the entrance. The gates opened on rusty hinges, creaking and groaning.

They threw open all the doors and windows, went through the house keenly examining every portion and remarked, ‘Did you notice the crack on the dome? The walls too are cracked . . . There is no other way. If we pull down the old ramshackle carefully we may still be able to use some of the materials, though I am not at all certain that the wooden portions are not hollow inside . . . Heaven alone knows what madness is responsible for people building houses like this.’

They went round the garden and said, ‘We have to clear every bit of this jungle. All this will have to go . . .’ Some mighty person looked Velan up and down and said, ‘You are the gardener, I suppose? We have not much use for a garden now. All the trees, except half a dozen on the very boundary of the property, will have to go. We can’t afford to waste space. This flower garden . . . H’m, it is . . . old-fashioned and crude, and apart from that the front portion of the site is too valuable to be wasted . . .’

 A week later one of the sons of his old master came and told Velan, ‘You will have to go back to your village, old fellow. The house is sold to a company. They are not going to have a garden. They are cutting down even the fruit trees; they are offering compensation to the leaseholder; they are wiping out the garden and pulling down even the building. They are going to build small houses by the score without leaving space even for a blade of grass.’

There was much bustle and activity, much coming and going, and Velan retired to his old hut. When he felt tired he lay down and slept; at other times he went round the garden and stood gazing at his plants. He was given a fortnight’s notice. Every moment of it seemed to him precious, and he would have stayed till the last second with his plants but for the sound of an axe which stirred him out of his afternoon nap two days after he was given notice. The dull noise of a blade meeting a tough surface reached his ears. He got up and rushed out. He saw four men hacking the massive trunk of the old margosa tree. He let out a scream: ‘Stop that!’ He took his staff and rushed at those who were hacking. They easily avoided the blow he aimed. ‘What is the matter?’ they asked.

 Velan wept. ‘This is my child. I planted it. I saw it grow. I loved it. Don’t cut it down . . .

‘But it is the company’s orders. What can we do? We shall be dismissed if we don’t obey, and someone else will do it.’

Velan stood thinking for a while and said, ‘Will you at least do me this good turn? Give me a little time. I will bundle up my clothes and go away. After I am gone do what you like.’ They laid down their axes and waited.

Presently Velan came out of his hut with a bundle on his head. He looked at the tree-cutters and said, ‘You are very kind to an old man. You are very kind to wait.’ He looked at the margosa and wiped his eyes. ‘Brothers, don’t start cutting till I am really gone far, far away.’

The tree-cutters squatted on the ground and watched the old man go. Nearly half an hour later his voice came from a distance, half-indistinctly: ‘Don’t cut yet. I am still within hearing. Please wait till I am gone farther.’

I Multiple Choice Questions:

Q.1. The author of the story The Axe is .............

 (a) R.N. Tagore

 (b) R.K. Narayan

 (c) Mulk Raj Anand

 (d) Raja Rao

 Ans: (b) R.K. Narayan

 Q. 2. Velon belonged to a village named .......

 (a) Rampur

 (b) Lalgudi

 (c) Koppal

 (d) Malgudi

 Ans: (c) Koppal

 Q. 3.  .............foretold that Velan would live in a big house:

 (a) Father

 (b) Villagers

 (c) An astrologer

 (d) Friend

 Ans: (c) An astrologer

 Q. 4. Velan left home when he was ...........

 (a) Sixteen

 (b) Seventeen

 (c) Eighteen

(d) Twenty

Ans: (c) Eighteen

 Q. 5. In Velon's opinion, big mansion existed only in...............

 (a) Dreams

 (b) Hell

 (c) Swarga Loka

 (d) Zannat

 Ans: (c) Swarga Loka

 Q. 6. .............  was the dearest tree to Velan.

 (a) Banyan

 (b) Pipal

 (c) Margosa

 (d) Bargad

 Ans: (c) Margosa

 Q. 7. Velan shifted to the verandah of the bungalow because .........

 (a) He wanted to keep the bungalow for himself

 (b) His hut started giving way

 (C) He liked comforts and luxuries.

  (d) His hut was small.

 Ans. (b) His hut started giving way.

 Q. 8. Velan's father …………..

 (a) was a farmer.

 (b) worked on other people’s land

 (c) was owner of a big house.

 (d) was a domestic servant

 Ans: (b) worked on other people’s land

 Q. 9. Velan says to workers “Cut this tree when I have gone.” Why?

 (a) He knew that they would cut the tree.

 (b) He raised the tree so he could not bear the thought of cutting it.

 (c) He knew the workers very well.

 (d) He also wanted that they should cut the tree.

 Ans: (b) He raised the tree so he could not bear the thought of cutting it.

 Q. 10. After leaving the village, Velan reached .............

 (a) Rampur

 (b) Lalgudi

 (c) Koppal

 (d) Malgudi

 Ans: (d) Malgudi

 Q. 11. For the new owners of the bungalow, the garden tenderly raised by Velan........

 (a) was very valuable

  (b) was of no use

  (c) was very beautiful

  (d) was not very beautiful

 Ans. (b) was of no use.

 Q. 12. At what age did Velan leave home?

 (a) Sixteen

 (b) Eighteen

 (c) Seventeen

 (d)  Twenty

 Ans. (b) Eighteen

 Q. 13. Which one of the following is not the work by R.K. Narayan?

 (a) The English Teacher

 (b) The Dark Room

 (c) The Last Leaf

 (d) The Guide

 Ans. (c) The Last Leaf

 Q.14. ......... later became the sole occupant of Kumar Baugh?

  (a) The old master

  (b) The tree cutter

  (c) The lady

  (d) Velan

 Ans. (d) Velan

 

II. Say whether the statements given below are True or False:

 

1. Velan left home because of the villagers. 

 2. After coming to Malgudi Velan never went back to his ancestral home. 

 3.  Velan's father worked on other people's lands he had mortgaged every bit of his property. 

 4. In Malgudi, Velan was first employed by an old man to help him in laying out a garden. 

 5. The garden was built on all the four sides of the land. 

 6. Velan thought that houses like Kumar Baugh existed only in the Swargaloka. 

 7. Velan was happy to leave the garden. 

 8. The Banyan tree was very dear to Velan. 

 9. An astrologer foretold that Velan would live in a big house. 

 10.  The tree-cutters cut the margosa tree before Velan. 

Answers:

 1. Velan left home because of the villagers. False

 2. After coming to Malgudi Velan never went back to his ancestral home. False

 3.  Velan's father worked on other people's lands he had mortgaged every bit of his property. True

 4. In Malgudi, Velan was first employed by an old man to help him in laying out a garden. True

 5. The garden was built on all the four sides of the land. False

 6. Velan thought that houses like Kumar Baugh existed only in the Swargaloka. True

 7. Velan was happy to leave the garden. False

 8. The Banyan tree was very dear to Velan. False

 9. An astrologer foretold that Velan would live in a big house. True

 10.  The tree-cutters cut the margosa tree before Velan. False

III Short Answer Type Questions

 Q1. What did the astrologer predict about Velan?

 Ans: The astrologer predicted about Velan that he would live in a three-storeyed house surrounded by many acres of garden.

 Q2. What was the reason behind Velan's leaving home?

 Ans: The reason was that one day, Velan's father slapped on Velan's face for coming late with the midday-meal in front of everybody.

 Q3. How much did Velan's father earn in a week ?

 Ans: Velan's father earned a few annas in a week.

 Q4. Velan starved for a couple of days. Where did he arrive at last?

 Ans: Velan arrived in Malgudi at last.

 Q5. What work was assigned to Velan by the old man?

 Ans: The old man assigned Velan the work of destroying the weed.

 Q6. Name some of the summer flowers that grew in the garden.

 Ans: The summer flowers that grew in the garden were hibiscus, chrysanthemum, Jasmine, roses and canna.

 Q7. Why was Velan proud of his position?

 Ans: Velan was proud of his position because he was the chief gardener of an excellent garden.

Q8. What did Velan request the tree cutters in the end?

Ans: In the end Velan requested the tree cutters not to cut the trees until he was far away from that place.

 Q9. What was the reaction of the people after the prediction of the astrologer?

 Ans: The people made fun of Velan after the prediction of the astrologer because they thought it impossible for Velan to own a big house.

 Q10. What had Velan's father done?

 Ans: Velan's father had mortgaged every bit of his property he had.

 Q11. Which were the flowers that were grown by Velan in the front part of Kumar Baugh.

 Ans:  Velan grew the flowers like hibiscus, chrysanthemum, Jasmine, roses and canna in the front part of Kumar Baugh.

 Q12. On which occasions did Velan go to his ancestral village?

  Ans: Velan went to his ancestral village on the occasion of Pongal, New Year and Deepavali.

 Q.13. What was the main business of Velan when he was serving as a gardener?

 Ans: The main business of Velan was to destroy all the weeds where garden had to be planted.

 Q.14. Why did Velan have to shift his residence to the front verandah of the mansion?

 Ans. Velan had to shift his residence to the front verandah of the mansion because his hut was leaking and he could not repair it.

 Q. 15. After a few years, why did the house acquire the name of haunted house?

 Ans. After a few years, the house was abandoned and nobody came to visit it so it acquired the

name of haunted house.

 

IV. Long Answer Questions

 

Q. 1.  Why is 'margosa tree' is given so much importance in the story?

Answer: We come to know in the story that 'margosa' tree is very dear to dear to Velan, the protagonist of the story. He plants this tree along with others but at the end of the story, this tree is destined to be felled.He requests the fellers to fell the tree after he has left. It is not simply 'margosa' tree but anything that is created. We do the creation with the hope that it will remain forever but the truth is that creation is associated with destruction also.

 Q. 2.  What message does R.K.Narayan  convey through his story?

Answer: The message that R.K. Narayan wants to give the reader is that people have nothing to do with tender things like gardening or beauty of the garden or personal emotions of the people. Everything centers around earning money and people sacrifice such things for money without a second thought.

Q. 3.  Draw a character sketch of Velan.

Answer: Velan, the protagonist of the story is a very self-respecting person. He leavesh is village because his father slapped him before other people. He is very honest and dedicated to his job. He does his job witht he same dedication even after the death of the gardener and when nobody was there to supervise his work. He is highly attached to his garden specially the 'margosa' tree which he raised with great care. He cannot bear thought of his garden specially margosa tree being cut before his eyes so he requests the workmen when he has left the place.

 

V. Use the words and phrases in each of the following in order to bring out  the difference in meaning:

 (i) storey, story

 Answer:

He lives in seventh storey so he uses lift.

He told us a story about ghosts.

(ii) sole, soul

 Answer

My father is the sole distributor of Orient Fans in my city.

The Soul leaves the body after death.

(iii) ragged, rugged

Answer

You are very rich. Why do you come to college in ragged clothes?

My motorcycle is rugged bike. You can drive it on any terrain.

(iv) latter, later

 Answer:

Mohan and Sohan are my friend but latter (Sohan) is my fast friend.

I will talk to you later because I am busy now.

(v) rob, robe

 Answer:

A man with gun tried to rob me of my money but a police van happened to come there and the man ran away.

The king sat on the throne wearing his royal robe.

(vi) mood, mud

 Answer:

I am not in the mood of singing a song.

It was raining and motorcycle skidded in the mud. 

(viii) beside, besides

 Answer

My son was sitting beside me and singing a song.

Besides two trucks, he has five buses also.

(vii) cost, cast

 Answer:

This shirt cost me ten dollars.

He cast the fishing line in the pond

(ix) floor, flour

 Answer

The man fell from the fifth floor and died.

I need corn flour for this recipe.

(x) land, lend

 Answer:

The plane of the PM will land at this place.

Will you lend me five thousand rupees for a week.

 

Summary of the Axe

by

R.K. Narayan

The Axe is a story of a boy named Velan who left his home when he was 18 because his father slapped him in front of village people. He reaches Malgudi where a gardener puts him as his assistant. When he was a child, an astrologer had predicted about him  that he would live in a three storeyed house but people made a fun of him. He assisted the old gardener in his idea of a big garden, It was a very big garden in acres of land and a big house too was being built. Finally a three storeyed house surrounded by a big garden was ready. In the meantime, gardener had suddenly fallen ill and he becomes the chief gardener. He enjoys his position and looks after the garden. He was happy and contented with is life now. The owner of the house was weak and leaned on the staff and his wife was an invalid. One he came to know that the owner of the house had passed away. The sons were no good. They quarreled among themselves and began to live in another house. A tenant settled in the house but he had no regard for the garden and spoiled the plants but  his fortune favoured him, the tenant leaves the home and the house is left abandoned. The sons came occasionally to check the house. They left the key of the house with him. It remained unoccupied for a very long time and began to be called a ghost house. he had become old by now. Since his hut was leaking, he began to live in the front varandah. Occasionally, he opened the house and swept it but since he had become weak, he left it altogether. One day a party comes and carefully examines the house and leaves. Very soon, one of the sons tells him to leave the house because the house was sold to a company and they will pull down the house and rage the garden. Velan had to retire to his old hut. The house began to be pulled down and stared felling of the trees. One day he saw his beloved margosa tree being cut. He had planted this tree with his hands. He requested the workers not to cut the tree but they said it was company's order. The he decodes to leave the place and requests the workers to cut the trees when has gone far away.

 About the Author R K Narayan

 R. K. Narayan (October 10.1906-October 13, 2001) (full name, Rashipuram Krishnawami Iyer  Narayanswami) was born in Chennai. He is one of the finest authors belonging Indoanglian Literature. Reared by his grandfather, he completed his education and worked briefly as a teacher but later devoted himself completely to writing. He had his own publication house. Besides short stories, he has 34 novels to his credits. His novel the Guide was converted into a film also. He was awarded Pdma Vibhushan also in 1964. 

 



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