Packing Class 9 English, Beehive – Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings

Jerome , the narrator , felt pride on his packing. The narrator was going on a trip with his friends, George and Harris. As the narrator felt proud of his packing skills, he offered his friends that he would do the packing. They readily accepted his offer and relaxed while the narrator started his Work. The narrator did not want to do the packing. Rather, he wanted that his friends would do the packing. He would only supervise them and teach them the proper way to do it. However, his friends has wrongly interpreted his offer. George relaxed on the easy chair and Harris put his legs on the table. The narrator was left alone to do packing. By seeing his relaxed friends, the narrator got irritated. The narrator hated people who did nothing, when he was working.

 

The narrator started the packing. It took him a bit longer than he had expected. As he finished the packing, he was told by Harris that he had forgotten to put their boots inside. So, the narrator reopened the bag and packed the boots. When the narrator was closing the bag, suddenly a thought came to his mind. He did not remember whether he had packed his toothbrush or not.

The Narrator’s toothbrush always created trouble for the narrator just before he started his journey. Sometimes he would forget to pack it or he would pack it in the morning before he had used it. This time also, because of his toothbrush, he had to reopen the bag and search for it. He had found George’s and Harris’s toothbrush more than eighteen times but could not find his toothbrush. Finally, he found his toothbrush inside a boot.

The narrator finished packing the bag. This time, George asked the narrator if he had packed the soap. By this time, the narrator got angry and he refused to open the bag tor the soap .However, the narrator had packed his spectacles unknowingly in the bag, so he had to reopen and repack the bag again.

George and Harris were not good packers. They offered to complete the rest of the packing. There were piles of plates, cups, tomatoes, etc. left to be packed. The narrator knew that packing would become exciting. The situation became worst when George and Harris started packing. They committed a lot of mistakes. They broke a cup, squashed a tomato by putting the strawberry jam on it and squashed the pies by putting heavy things on top. They stepped on things and put them behind. As a result, they could not find what they wanted. All this time, the narrator sat and watched his friends creating a mess.

The narrator had never seen anyone creating a mess with butter. George walked over the butter while packing. After he got it off from his slipper, George and Harris tried to put it into the kettle. However, they were unsuccessful to do so and put it down on a chair. Harris sat on the chair and the butter got struck to his back. Then they look for it all over the. room. Later, George found the butter and they packed it in the tea pot.

The narrator’s dog, Montmorency was a part of the mess made by George and Harris. According to the narrator, Montmorency would always be present at a place where he was not expected. He loved to make people angry. While George and Harris were packing, he came and sat on things which were left to be packed. He put his leg into the jam and scattered the teaspoons.

In addition, he went into the hamper and attacked three lemons by thinking that they were rats. Finally, he was sent away by Harris who believed that the narrator encouraged the dogs nuisance.

The packing finished at 12:50 am. The three friends were very tired and were ready to go to sleep. But before sleeping they had an argument about when to wake up in the morning. Finally, they decided to wake up by 6:30 am. They gave George, the duty to wake them up but he was asleep. So, the narrator along with Harris put a bath tub near him such that when George wakes up, he falls into it.

 

(1) Why did the author pride himself on his packing?

(2) What did Jerome , intend to mean when he said that he prided himself on his packing?

(3) What did Harris and George do when Jerome asked them to leave the matter of packing to him?

(4) What did Jerome do to find his toothbrush?

(5) Were George and Harris good at packing? Explain?

(6) How was butter lost and found by George and Harris?

(7) How did the dog add to the excitement and confusing of packing?

(8) When did George and Harris start packing? How did they do it ?

(9) What did they all decide to do after packing was done?

(10) Describe how the author packed the bags?

(11) Who was Montmonercy? How did Montmonercy contribute to the packing?

(12) How many times and why did the author have to open his bag while packing it?

(13) What happened when the narrator offered to do packing?

(14) How was Jerome caught into his own words of packing?

(15) Describe the incident related to the butter in the story?

(16) How did George and Harris create confusion in packing things? What was Jerome’s reaction?

(17) Montmorency and Jerome shared a bond of friendship. Explain?

(18) What happened to the pies while packing?

(19) Why did Jerome and Harris place a bath tub near George’s bed?