Two Stories about Flying

 

Liam O'flaherty

Story excellently explains the importance of things like independence, self courage and confidence. Also, it shows the need for motivation to reach our goals. Necessity is the mother of invention, but it sometimes needs an initial spark from outside.

Part 1 :- His First Flight

Summary

Mother reaches near him with food

The seagull closed his eyes standing on one leg. He had the other leg hidden under his wing. He pretended to sleep. But his parents didn’t look at him. However, his mother was looking at him. He saw her tear at a piece of fish at her feet. He gave out a sound to get it. His mother replied in a sound and looked at him. His mother picked a piece of the fish. She flew across to him with it. He leaned out tapping the rock with his feet. His mother flew across trying to get nearer to him. The sight of food made him mad as he was very hungry. But he could not get at it. Dives for food The seagull waited a moment in surprise. He wondered why his mother did not come nearer. He was so mad with hunger that he dived at the fish. He fell outwards with a scream and downwards into space. His mother had swooped upwards. As he passed beneath her he heard the swish of her wings.

Flight begins Then a great fear caught him. His heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only lasted a moment. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards. He felt the wind rushed against his breast feathers. Then it rushed under his stomach, and against his wings. He was not falling headlong now. He was soaring slowly downwards and upwards. He was no longer afraid. He could fly on his own.

Joy of flight The seagull gave out a joyous scream. He soared higher calling ‘ga, ga, ga’. His mother gave out ‘gaw-col-ah’. Then his father flew over him screaming. Then he saw his brothers and sister flying around him. They were roaring and diving.

The scene around Then he completely forgot that he had not always been able to fly. He commended himself to dive and soar. He was near the sea now, flying straight over it. He saw a vast green sea beneath him. His parents and his brothers and sister had landed on this green surface of water ahead of him. They were calling him to do the same thing.

Lands on the surface of the water He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. But his legs sank into it. He cried with fear. He tried to rise again flapping his wings. But he was tired and weak with hunger. He could not rise. His feet sank into the green sea. His belly touched it. He sank no further. He was floating on it. Around him was his family, crying and praising him. They were offering him scraps of  dog-fish. He had made his first flight successfully. 

Word Meaning

Pretended -  excused ,बहाना किया | to take  notice of – showing-carelessness ध्यान ना देना |  Dozing- half  sleeping  | Sunk  hidden छुपाई हुई  |  Preening- making effect to move a wings पंख चलाने की कोशिश करना | Hump Mound एक टीला  |  Thrust-  moved आगे करना | Scrapped-  making pieces  टुकड़े टुकड़े करना | Maddened- to make mad दुखी होना पागल होना | Whet- to sharpen the Desire of food   भोजन के लिए इच्छा तेज करना | Screamed-cried  चिल्लाई | Derisively-mocking उपहास करते हुए | Plaintively- expressing sorrow moving - करुणा से  |  Uttered- said  कहां | Leaned out- act of learning झुका | Eagerly- anxiously -उत्सुकता से  |  Tapping- touching with the sound थपथपाना | Halted -stopped रुका |  Motionless- still- स्थिर | Wondering- surprising- हैरान | Monstrous-fearful भयानक | Terror- fear डर  |  Seized - caught पकड़ा  | Soaring- flying downward and upward  ऊपर नीचे चढ़ना | Dizzy- feeling of losing once  अपना संतुलन खोने का आभास होना | Swooped - falling on and seizing  एकाएक कूद पड़ना और पकड़ना  | Curveting -  leaping like a horse घोड़े की तरह कूदना | Banking-flying with one wing एक पंख से उड़ना  | Commanded - ordered - आदेश दिया  |   Ridges - mountain range किनारा |  Cowed - made a cry like a crow कौवे की तरह बोलना | Amusedly- happily प्रसन्नता से |   Exhausted - tired थकना  | Floating - swimming  तैरना |  Dog -fish - kind of fish एक प्रकार की मछली |

 

QUESTIONS/ANSWER

1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their    first  flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?

 Answer: It is very well said that challenges make you strong and let you face your fear.The young seagull also had a challenge to face, and he was afraid because it was his first flight.I think mostly all young birds must be afraid to make their first flights but exceptions are always there as they might not find it much challenging. Similarly, a human baby would also find it a challenge to take their first step.

 

2.“The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly? 

Answer: The young seagull was very hungry. It was this hunger that ultimately compelled and encouraged him to fly. When he saw his mother tearing at a piece of fish that lay at her feet, his hunger intensified .He cried and begged her to give him some food. When he saw her coming towards him with food in her beak, he screamed with joy and anticipation. However, she stopped midway. Not being able to resist his hunger any longer, he dived at the food in her beak. At that moment, his hunger overpowered his fear of the great expanse of sea beneath the cliff. Finally, this plunge was followed by the seagull's first flight.

3. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly. “Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?

 Answer: The young seagull was afraid to fly. Even when he saw his parents, teaching and helping his brothers and sisters to fly ,he still could not gather enough courage to make that first flight. That is why his father and mother were scolding and taunting him of his cowardice.They threatened to let him starve on the ledge if he did not fly. They did so because they wanted him to overpower his fear and take his first flight.

Moral

'His first flight' story excellently explains the importance of things like independence, self courage and confidence. Also, it shows the need for motivation to reach our goals. Necessity is the mother of invention, but it sometimes needs an initial spark from outside.

                               Fredrick Forsyth 

                     Part 2 :- The Black Aeroplane

The story oscillates or shifts between Miracle and Mystery. The main character of the story is a pilot and he is flying at night in his old Dakota (DS 088) aeroplane to travel from France to England.

Summary

The story “Black Aeroplane” is about a pilot who feels happy and contended to fly over a city that is sleeping (at the night time). He is flying from Paris to London. While taking his flight, he dreams about the long holiday with his family. He also fantasizes about the scrumptious breakfast he would have upon landing. As soon as he crosses Paris, he gets a look of the dark clouds that were a sign of the upcoming storm. The right decision would have been to turn back to Paris for the sake of safety. But he being overshadowed by his dreams and not wanting to delay them, risks the life of his passengers and heads straight into the storm. Everything gets dark, he is unable to see, all his direction instruments stopped functioning and he lost control of the plane. When all hope was lost, he saw another plane whose pilot was more than willing to rescue them. The author was panicking as there was very less amount of fuel left. The anonymous pilot guided them out of the storm and disappeared as soon as they saw light.  Upon landing, when he asks the lady in the control room about the other pilot, he is left in shock when she says that his was the only plane in the sky.

 Word Meaning

In front of-    before   सामने | switched on-  started चलाना | Huge-  heavy  भारी | Suddenly-  all of a sudden अचानक | Impossible-   not possible असंभव |Twisted-  moved मुड़ना | Dead-    lifeless, useless बेकार, मुर्दा |Waved-  moved हिलाया | Follow-  going back and back   पीछे पीछे चलना |Behind  -  backward पीछे |Obedient- full of abiding the orders       आज्ञाकारी Frightened- fearful डरना | Straight-  direct  सीधी |Runway- way to run  उड़ने का स्थान | look for- searched तलाश किया |Empty-  vacant खाली | Landed- moved down नीचे उतरा |Strangely-  in a surprising हैरानी से | Radar  - in a  system for detecting The ship,s directions  रडार |Fuel-material for burning  ईंधन | Compass- instrument for indicating the direction  दिग्दर्शक जो चारों दिशाओं की  जानकारी देता है |

 

Thinking about the Text

1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?

Answer: The risk is to fly through the black storm clouds. The narrator takes the risk because he wanted to reach Paris to celebrate Christmas with his family.

 

2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.

Answer: As he flew into the storm, everything went black. It was impossible to see anything outside the plane. It jumped and twisted in the air. When he looked at his compass, he saw that it was turning round and round. It was dead. Along with it, the other instruments, including the radio, were also dead. Suddenly, he saw another aeroplane. Its pilot waved at him, asking him to follow. He was glad to find a helper. He was using his last fuel tank and there was only enough fuel to fly five or ten minutes more. Then, the other pilot started to go down and he followed. He suddenly came out of the clouds and saw the runway, on which he then landed his plane safely.

 

3. Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”?

Answer: He was delighted to land safely out of dark stormy clouds, so, he was not sorry to walk away from his plane. He felt bad, when he was no able to thank his guide, who guided and saved him from that frightening situation, but he was so happy after landing that he didn't feel sorry for not being able to thank the guide pilot.

 

4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?

Answer: The women in the control room was surprised and looked at him strangely ,when the narrator asked about the other aeroplane and its pilot. She said that no other areoplane was seen on the radar during that time as the storm had already begun.

 

5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.

Answer: Probably, it was the narrator’s own self that helped him through the storm. There was no other plane in the storm as the woman at the control centre could see only his plane on the radar. Also, no other plane was flying that night. In his fear, he might have been hallucinating. He was a good pilot, and it might have been his own self that came to his help

 

Moral

We should not lose hope in life. Even in the worst possible scenarios we should be able to see light at the end of the tunnel. If we take risks and face challenges with grit, determination and perseverance, we can face any storm and get rewarded with a rainbow. The Almighty sees everything but at times He waits

                                   

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