Answer the following questions briefly.
(a) Do you think the Bishop was right in selling , the salt-cellars? Why/Why not?
(b) Why does Persome feel the people pretend to be sick?
or
Why did Persome feel that people pretend to be ill?
© Who was Jeanette? What was the cause of her death?
(d) The convict says, “I am too old a bird to be caught with chaff.” What does he mean by this statement?
(e) Why was the convict sent to prison? What was the punishment given to him?
(f) Do you think the punishment given to the convict was justified? Why/Why not?
(g) Why is the convict eager to reach Paris?
(h) Before leaving, the convict asks the Bishop to bless him. What brought about this change in him?
or
How was the convict transformed into a man again?
(a) Yes, the Bishop was right in selling the salt-cellars.
This shows that people mattered more to him than worldly things. Moreover, the Bishop was a kind-hearted man, who always helped needy people.
(b) Persome is not as kind-hearted as the Bishop. She thinks that people pretend to be sick, so that the Bishop can help them financially or they can extract money from him.
© Jeanette was the wife of the convict. She was ill and died due to starvation as her husband could not bring food for her. At that time, the convict had neither work nor money. He stole for buying food, but the police caught him and sent him to prison.
(d) The convict meant that he has spent a long period of his life in jail. He has learned all the tricks and now he cannot be cheated by any softness of words, which may hide some deception. He was too experienced to be fooled.
(e) The convict was sent to prison for ten years for stealing for buying food. He was chained like an animal and beaten like a hound (a dog of a breed used for hunting). He was not given proper food^ and had vermin (insects and rodents) on his body. He was beaten mercilessly when he complained about the food.
(f) The punishment given to the convict was definitely not justified. The convict had only stolen for buying food for his ill wife. At the most, the law should have fined him or imprisoned him for a short time. But severe imprisonment for ten years was too much for a man who has stolen only for buying food to eat.
(g) The police was after the convict to arrest him again as he had not completed his sentence. He was eager to reach Paris because he would not be easily traced by the French police in the city.
(h) The Bishop’s love, large-heartedness, care and kindness brought about a change in the convict. The Bishop had saved him from the police. The convict changed into a gentleman from an animal and started believing in religion again. Therefore, he asked the Bishop to bless him so that he could stay like this forever.