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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The Errors of Santa Claus by Santa Claus is a humorous short story. There are 9 characters and the plot is set on the eve of Christmas day. Two families- The Browns and The Joneses are dining with each other at the house of the later. Jones and Brown Jones and Brown are discussing with each other abRead more

    The Errors of Santa Claus by Santa Claus is a humorous short story. There are 9 characters and the plot is set on the eve of Christmas day. Two families- The Browns and The Joneses are dining with each other at the house of the later.

    Jones and Brown

    Jones and Brown are discussing with each other about the gifts that they are going to give to their children (as Santa Claus). Jones tells Brown that he will gift his son Edwin an automatic train. Brown tells him that he will gift his son Willy an aeroplane.

    Both of them think that their sons believe in Santa Claus. Saying that Jones starts showing Brown how the train moves automatically on the track and thus they start playing with it.

    Mrs Jones and Mrs Brown

    Upstairs, Mrs Jones and Mrs Brown are talking to each other about the gifts that they will be giving to their daughters. Mrs Jones tells that she will gift a beautiful doll to her daughter Clarisse. Mrs Brown also thinks of gifting a doll to her daughter Ulvina.

    Mrs Brown asks Mrs Jones to sew clothes to make doll more beautiful and in a moment both the ladies get busy stitching clothes of the doll. Both of them think that their daughters believe in Santa Claus.

    Edwin Jones and Willie Brown

    In Edwin’s bedroom, he is sitting with Willie. Jones says that he will gift his father hundred rupees with a box. Willie says that he will gift cigars to his father. As both of them too love cigars, they begin smoking. Both of them think that their fathers believe in Santa Claus.

    Clarisse and Ulvina

    Clarisse shows cards to Ulvina which she is going to give as a gift to her mother. Soon they start playing cards as they like it very much. Both of them think that their mothers believe in Santa Claus.

    Grandfather Jones

    Upstairs, Grandfather Jones is looking at whisky that he is going to gift to his son Mr Jones and a big nickel-plated Jew’s harp that he will gift to his grandchild.

    Later on except Grandfather Jones, all others gather and watch Bible which they are going to gift to Grandfather Jones.

    In the night, Santa Claus does everything wrong. He gifts train to Mr Jones and Mr Brown, the doll to Mrs Jones and Mrs Brown, Cigars to Edwin Jones and Willie Brown, cards to Clarisse and Ulvina and whisky and harp to Grandfather Jones and still everything is normal.

    Everybody is busing enjoying their gifts.

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  1. The story touches on the themes of destitution, deprivation, rejection, happiness, death, and life after death. The little girl of the story does not have a life of luxury or comfort. She loiters the streets to sell matchsticks in order to procure a single meal. Motherless, she is a victim of domestRead more

    The story touches on the themes of destitution, deprivation, rejection, happiness, death, and life after death. The little girl of the story does not have a life of luxury or comfort. She loiters the streets to sell matchsticks in order to procure a single meal.

    Motherless, she is a victim of domestic abuse and she braves all that suffering, every day. She does not get happy holidays or joyous Christmas or New Year. Eventually, she freezes to death on the very streets she called home, alone and unloved.

    However, through the light of matchsticks and fantastical images in that light, she has some respite and comfort. For the World, she died cold and painfully, but for her, she dies in the warm embrace of her grandmother.

    Her death brings her sweet release from the pains of a tortuous and cruel life. Maybe she was not dead after all, but a new beginning in the world of the divine.

    Read summary of The Little Match Girl

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  1. This answer was edited.

    The first vision was that of a burning stove which symbolizes the want for a safe and complete home. The second vision was that of a roasted goose which symbolizes her need for basic necessities like food which seemed impossible for her in this life. The third vision was that of a Christmas tree whiRead more

    The first vision was that of a burning stove which symbolizes the want for a safe and complete home. The second vision was that of a roasted goose which symbolizes her need for basic necessities like food which seemed impossible for her in this life. The third vision was that of a Christmas tree which symbolizes the little girl’s want for a family to celebrate Christmas together. The last vision was that of her dead grandmother whom she loved the most. This vision symbolizes her desire to leave the world to be reunited with her grandmother.

    Read summary of The Little Match Girl

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  1. Hamid, a four year boy is the hero or protagonist of the short story Idgah. He lives with his grandmother Amina. Hamid recently lost his parents; However, his grandmother told him that his father had left to earn money, and his mother went to Allah to bring him a beautiful gift. This makes Hamid hopRead more

    Hamid, a four year boy is the hero or protagonist of the short story Idgah. He lives with his grandmother Amina. Hamid recently lost his parents; However, his grandmother told him that his father had left to earn money, and his mother went to Allah to bring him a beautiful gift. This makes Hamid hopeful. Although Amina is concerned about her poverty and the happiness of her grandchildren, Hamid is a happy and active girl.

    The story begins on the morning of Eid al-Fitr, Hamid and the other boys from the village go to Eid al-Fitr. Hamid was extremely poor with his friends, wearing threadbare clothes, and seemed very hungry, since Eddie’s vacation was only three years old. Other kids spend their pocket money on attractions, candy, and beautiful clay toys, and Hamid will scoff at him when he thinks this is a waste of money for temporary happiness. When his friends were having fun, he overcame the temptation, went to the hardware store to buy a pair of tongs and remembered that his grandmother burned her finger while making kebabs.

    When they returned to the village, Hamid’s friends mocked him for buying his toys, complimenting the advantages of his toys over his tweezers. Hamid presented several ingenious arguments to refute. Soon after, his friends were more fascinated by the pliers than their own toys and even offered to trade their items for their own, but Hamid refused. When Hamid gave the tongs to his grandmother, the story ended on a poignant note. At first, she blamed him for buying things instead of buying things to eat or drink at the market, until Hamid reminded her of how he burned his fingers every day. She burst into tears and blessed him for his kindness.

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  1. The Clay Mother-in-law is a folk tale famous in Tamil Nadu . This tale was translated into English by A.K. Ramanujan. This is a story of a submissive and loyal woman who used to consult her mother-in-law for all types of household tasks. Her mother-in-law was quite old and finally died one day. NowRead more

    The Clay Mother-in-law is a folk tale famous in Tamil Nadu . This tale was translated into English by A.K. Ramanujan. This is a story of a submissive and loyal woman who used to consult her mother-in-law for all types of household tasks.

    Her mother-in-law was quite old and finally died one day. Now the woman had no one to give instructions. She started asking silly questions about the measurement of amount of rice she would cook to her husband.

    Her husband could not bear her silly questions. Hence he made a clay statue of his mother for his wife. However she took open fingers of the clay statue as measure and started cooking more food. This made the rice bag get empty quickly which enraged her husband. Being furious, he threw his wife and the statue out of his home.

    Having nowhere to go, the sorrowful and hopeless wife went to forest. When it grew dark she was frightened and hence climbed a tree with the statue. Under the tree, some thieves came to take rest along with a big loot. She mistook them to be devils and being scared, the statue slipped off her hands and fell on the thieves. The thieves got frightened and ran away leaving the looted money.

    She remain on the tree till next morning and found the loot. She went back to home. Initially her husband scolded her for returning back. However when she told him about the loot, both of them went to the forest. They collected all the money and things and returned back to home happily.

    At home, her husband asked her to bring a big vessel from the neighbours for measurement and also warned her not to tell anybody about the loot. Wife agreed and went to her neighbour’s house. However the latter became suspicious and pasted tamarind gel in the bottom of the vessel to know what exactly are the going to measure.

    The wife came back to home with the vessel. After measuring the loot, she gave back it to the neighbours. However a rare gem got stuck to the bottom of the vessel. Hence the neighbours compelled the lady to tell everything and the latter narrated the whole story.

    Hearing the story, the neighbours made plan to do the same. Neighbour’s husband made a sculpture and asked his wife to go to the same place and do the same. When the thieves came, neighbour husband’s wife threw the sculpture on them. This time, the thieves did fear but they hid themselves behind the tree to find out who has done this.

    Assuming that the thieves have run away, neighbour husband’s wife come down and was caught. She was beaten and tied to the tree. The next morning, neighbour husband went to forest to collect the loot. However, on contrary he found his wounded wife and no loot at all.

    The story ends.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Short Story of Frog and Nightingale by Vikram Seth goes as follows. A frog in the jungle keeps croaking the whole night. The animals are quite irritated because of its ugly and noisy croaking. They try a lot but fail to make the frog stop the noise. The frog, on the other hand, having full confidencRead more

    Short Story of Frog and Nightingale by Vikram Seth goes as follows. A frog in the jungle keeps croaking the whole night. The animals are quite irritated because of its ugly and noisy croaking. They try a lot but fail to make the frog stop the noise. The frog, on the other hand, having full confidence itself keeps the animals awake in the night.
    One day a nightingale visits the jungle and starts living there. Her voice is quite sweet and even the frog stops croaking to listen to it. One day frog meets nightingale and finding that the latter lacks self-confidence, frog talks high about himself and offers to help him sing sweeter.

    He also starts charging for tuitions to the nightingale. Doing this the frog earns a reputed status in the jungle. Nightingale soon makes herself better but loses the happiness that it once had.

    As the frog gets more jealous of the nightingale, it makes the latter to practice more. Ultimately, nightingale dies one day and the frog starts croaking again.

    Read the complete summary of the poem here or explore other questions.

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  1. The character of Hamid is pure and selfless. Despite the fact that he had three paisas to buy anything he wanted to, he chooses to buy a gift for his grandmother who is responsible for his upbringing. Hamid’s selflessness stands out throughout the story. He’s caring and generous towards others and eRead more

    The character of Hamid is pure and selfless. Despite the fact that he had three paisas to buy anything he wanted to, he chooses to buy a gift for his grandmother who is responsible for his upbringing. Hamid’s selflessness stands out throughout the story. He’s caring and generous towards others and especially towards his grandmother. He doesn’t complain of the poverty and neither does he complain when the other children are buying gifts. He’s thoughtful and considerate of his situation which his grandmother need no tell him directly. 

    Idgah Story in English Summary

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Princess September is the 9th and the youngest princess of a King. The king gifts all of the princesses a parrot each. However, the parrot of Princess September dies soon leaving her alone and sorrowful. But one day, a nightingale comes to her and starts singing sweet songs turning her sorrow and grRead more

    Princess September is the 9th and the youngest princess of a King. The king gifts all of the princesses a parrot each. However, the parrot of Princess September dies soon leaving her alone and sorrowful. But one day, a nightingale comes to her and starts singing sweet songs turning her sorrow and grief into joy and happiness.

    Unlike other princesses, she does not encage the nightingale. However, when the latter returns late to her, she finally encages her on the advice of other princesses. But soon she realises that nightingale doesn’t sing. Being wise, she frees it at once and the latter thanks to her.

    As time passes, she enjoys the freedom with the nightingale while other princesses remain dull with their parrots. She grows into a beautiful lady and hence is married to a king while other princesses are married to ordinary officials of the king.

    Read the summary of Princess September.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The Rose That Grew From Concrete is the first line of the poem written by Tupac Shakur. It is a short poem consisting of only 1 stanza and 8 lines. The poet here taking the example of a rose which has come out of a crack in the concrete (which is impossible according to the law of nature), tells theRead more

    The Rose That Grew From Concrete is the first line of the poem written by Tupac Shakur. It is a short poem consisting of only 1 stanza and 8 lines. The poet here taking the example of a rose which has come out of a crack in the concrete (which is impossible according to the law of nature), tells the readers that one should follow his dreams.

    It might seem to be impossible but hard word and consistency leads to success. Just because people say something is impossible does not make it so. If one works hard, everything is possible.

    Read the summary of The Rose That Grew From Concrete here.

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