The Hundred Dresses Part 1 Class 10 Questions and Answers
Oral comprehension check :
Question 1.
In what way was Wanda different |from the other children?
वान्डा दूसरे बच्चों से किस प्रकार से भिन्न थी?
Answer:
Wanda was different from the other children as she did not have any friends, she had a funny name, she came to school and went back home all alone, she always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right and never been ironed properly. She liked watching small girls playing hopscotch.
Question 2.
Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did ?
क्या वान्डा के पास एक सौ पोशाकें थीं? आपको क्या लगता है उसने ऐसा क्यों कहा होगा?
Answer:
No, Wanda did not have a hundred dresses rather she had only one faded blue dress which was never ironed and that didn’t hang right. I think she said so in order to make her position among the girls or may be she was aware that everyone knows the truth and were making fun of her and thus she didn’t want to interrupt them in having fun with her.
Question 3.
Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda ? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different ?
पैगी द्वारा वान्डा से प्रश्न पूछे जाने पर मैडी शर्मिन्दगी क्यों महसूस करती थी? क्या वह भी वान्डा के जैसी थी या वह उससे भिन्न थी?
Answer:
Maddie felt embarrassed by the questions Peggy used to ask Wanda because she was also poor and used to wear somebody’s hand-me-down clothes. She was not like Wanda rather was different because she didn’t live up on Boggen’s heights and didn’t have a funny name. She was not as poor as Wanda. Moreover if such questions were asked from her as were asked from Wanda, she would never say she had a hundred dresses.
Question 4.
Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
वान्डा कक्षा में कहाँ पर बैठती थी और क्यों?
Answer:
Wanda used to sit in the next to the last seat in the last row in room thirteen in the corner where the rough boys who did not make good marks used to sit. Nobody knew exactly why she used to sit on that seat, may be because she used to come from Boggins Heights and her feet were aked with dry mud….
Question 5.
Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
वान्डा कहाँ रहती है ? वह स्थान किस प्रकार का है ?
Answer:
Wanda lived at Boggins Heights. That place must be full of dry mud.
Question 6.
When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence ?
पैगी और मैडी ने वान्डा की अनुपस्थिति कब और कैसे ‘ महसूस की?
Answer:
Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence on the third day of her absence when they waited for her to have some fun with her but she didn’t turn up.
Question 7.
What do you think ‘to have fun with her’ means?
‘उसके साथ मजाक करने के लिए’ से क्या समझते हो?
Answer:
‘To have fun with her’ means to make fun of her and to tease her.
Question 8.
Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda ? What was she afraid of ?
मैडी, पैगी से वान्डा को छेड़ने से रोकने के लिए क्यों नहीं कह पाई? उसे किसका डर था?
Answer:
Peggie was the best friend of Maddie. She didit’t want to loose her friend by asking her so. Secondly, Maddie was also poor and she thought if she would ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda then she would be the next target to be teased by Peggie and other girls. Maddie was afraid to be the next target for Peggie and the girls. She was afraid of the questions Peggie would ask her regarding her dresses as she used to wear the old dresses of Peggie.
Question 9.
Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?
मैडी के विचार से चित्रकारी प्रतियोगिता कौन जीत सकता। था? क्यों?
Answer:
Maddie thought Peggy would win the drawing contest as she drew better than anyone else in the room. She could copy picture in a magazine or some film star’s head so that one could almost tell who it was.
Question 10.
Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?
चित्रकला प्रतियोगिता किसने जीती? उसने क्या बनाया था?
Answer:
Wanda Petronski won the drawing contest. She had drawn almost hundred sketches- all different and all beautiful.
Textbook Questions
Thinking about the Text :
Question 1.
How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?
वान्डा.दूसरी लड़कियों से भिन्न किस प्रकार थी? वे सब उससे कैसा बर्ताव करती थीं?
Answer:
Wanda is seen as different by the other girls because first she had a funny name, secondly she was poor and lived at Boggins Heights and her shoes were usually caked with dry mud. The girls used to make fun of her. They used to stand in groups and ask her about her dresses.
Question 2.
How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she make up the story about the dresses ?
वान्डा पोशाकों के खेल के बारे में क्या सोचती थी? उसने पोशाकों के बारे में ऐसी कहानी क्यों बनाई?
Answer:
Wanda did not feel bad about the dresses game. She used to answer the girls questions stolidly, everytime they asked her. She made up the story about the dresses because she had designed a hundred dresses and she had piled all of them in her closet. So, according to her story, the hundred dresses she used to tell, lined up in her closet were the hundred designs of the dresses she had drawn.
Question 3.
Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything ? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie ? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this ?)
मैडी क्यों चुपचाप खड़ी रहती थी और कुछ नहीं कर सकती थी? वह पैगी से किस प्रकार भिन्न थी? (क्या मैडी के लिए पैगी की दोस्ती महत्त्वपूर्ण थी? क्यों ? किन पंक्तियों से यह पता चलता &?)
Answer:
Maddie stood by and did not do anything because she didn’t want to loose her only best friend, Peggy. Moreover, she was afraid of to be the next target of Peggy and other girls, if she would stop them teasing Wanda.
Maddie was different from Peggy, as Maddie was poor and usually wore somebody’s hand-me-down clothes. She used to wear Peggy’s old clothes which her mother tried to disguise with new trimmings. Maddie was different from Peggy in other sense also. She didn’t like teasing Wanda. She wanted Peggy to stop teasing her.
Peggy and Maddie were best friends. Peggy’s friendship was important to Maddie because Peggy was the most liked girl in the room. Maddie’s closeness to her perhaps made others notice her. All considered them inseparable friends. The lines which tell this are-(1) Peggy and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave. (2) Slowly Maddie take into bits the note she had started. She was Peggy’s best friend and Peggy was the best liked girl in the whole room.
Question 4.
What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings ? What do the children think of them ? How do you know?
मिस मेसन वान्डा की चित्रकारियों के बारे में क्या सोचती है? बच्चे उनके बारे में क्या सोचते हैं ? आप कैसे जानते हैं ?
Answer:
Miss Mason is very happy with Wanda’s drawings. She says that she is the only girl who has actually drawn one hundred designs all different and all beautiful and according to the judges, any one of the drawings is worthy of winning the prize. Children also feel happy because they burst into applause and get the chance to stamp on the floor and whistle. Even Maddie and Peggy also like the drawings.
Thinking About Language
Combine the following to make sentences like those above
Question 1.
This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra. (use which or that)
Answer:
This is the bus that goes to Agra.
Question 2.
I would like to buy (a) shirt (which shirt ?), (The) shirt is in the shop window. (use which or that)
Answer:
I would like to buy the shirt which is in the shop window.
Question 3.
You must break your fast at a particular time (when ?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)
Answer:
You must break your fast when you see the moon in the sky
Question 4.
Find a word (what kind of word ?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that)
Answer:
Find a word that begins with the letter Z.
Question 5.
Now find a person (what kind of person). His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)
Answer:
Now find a person whose name begins with the letter Z.
Question 6.
Then go to a place (what place ?). There are no people whose name beings with Z in that place. (use where)
Answer:
Then go to that place where there are no people whose name begins with Z.
The Narrative Voice :
1. Here are two other sentences from the story. Can you say whose point of view the italicised words express?
i. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there.
ii. Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in Room Thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen.
Answer:
i. Peggy and Maddie’s
ii. Children of room no. 13.
2. Can you find other such sentences in the story? You can do this after you read the second part of the story as well.
Look at this Sentence the italicised adverb expresses an opinion or point of view :
Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue one she wore every day. (This was obvious to the speaker.)
Other such adverbs are apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly, luckily. Use these words as appropriate in the blanks in the sentences below. You may use a word more than once, and more than one word may be appropriate for a given blank.)
- …………., he finished his work on time.
- ……………, it will not rain on the day of the match.
- …………, he had been stealing money from his employer.
- Television is ……………. to blame for the increase in violence in society.
- The children will ………….. learn from their mistakes.
- I can’t ………… lend you that much money.
- The thief had …….. been watching the house for many days.
- The thief …………escaped by bribing the jailor.
- …………….., no one had suggested this before.
- The water was …………… hot.
Answer:
- Surprisingly
- Hopefully
- Evidently
- Apparently
- Hopefully
- Possibly
- Evidently
- Apparently
- Luckily possibly
- Luckily/possibly
Additional questions extract based questions
Answer the questions that follow the extracts in 30-40 words :
1. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet.
Question i.
Who is being described here? Describe her nature.
Answer:
Wanda Petronski is being described here. She is a Polish girl who is studying in an American school. She did not have any friends since the other children found her name to be funny. She always wore a blue dress that did not hang right on her.
Question ii.
Why do you think she chose to sit in the corner of the room?
Answer:
Wanda sat in the corner of the room along with the rough boys who did not make good marks. Those were the backbenchers who were ignored by the teachers. Perhaps Wanda too did not want to have any attention and so sat there.
2. The reason Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence was because Wanda had made them late to school. They had waited and waited for Wanda, to have some fun with her, and she just hadn’t come.
Question i.
How did Wanda make Peggy and Maddie late to school?
Answer:
Peggy and Maddie always waited for Wanda to have fun with her when she came to school. Peggy would stop her to ask how many dresses she had in her closet. Wanda would always reply she had hundred dresses. At this, the other girls there would break into peals of laughter.
Question ii.
Why did not Wanda turn up to school?
Answer:
Wanda did not come to school because her family had shifted to a bigger city where they would not be insulted or ignored for having funny names.
3. “Don’t you think that is a cruel way to treat Wanda ?” She would have been very are surprised. Cruel? Why did the girl say she had a hundred dresses? Anybody could tell that that was a lie.
Question i.
How cruelly was Wanda treated by Peggy and Maddie?
Answer:
Everyday Peggie and Maddie waited for her arrival at school. Then they walked up to her. Peggie asked her how many dresses she had in her closet, and Wanda replied that she had a hundred dresses. At this, the other girls around went into peals of laughter.
Question ii.
Why do you think Wanda said she had a hundred dresses?
Answer:
Wanda said she had a hundred dresses in her closet because she actually had the paintings of hundred different coloured dresses hung up in her closet.
4. Goodness! Wasn’t there anything she could do ? If only she could tell Wanda she hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. She turned around and stole a glance at Peggy, but Peggy didn’t look up. She seemed to be studying hard.
Well, whether Peggy felt badly or not, she, Maddie had to do something. She had to find Wanda Petronski. May be she had not yet moved away. May be Peggy would climb the Heights with her, and they would tell Wanda she had won the contest, that they thought she was smart and the hundred dresses were beautiful.
Question i.
What made Maddie regret and desperate to meet Wanda?
Answer:
Two things made Maddie regret and feel desperate. One was Wanda’s family shifting to a big city, and the other was her realization that Wanda actually had the paintings of hundred dresses lined up in her closet.
Question ii.
Do you think Peggy too regretted her action? Justify your answer.
Answer:
Yes. Peggy too regretted her act of insulting Wanda every day. This could be understood by her silence. Peggy seemed to be in a deep thought, and desperate to meet Wanda and tell her that she had won the contest, that she was smart and her hundred dresses were beautiful.
5. Sometimes when Peggy was asking Wanda those questions in that mocking polite voice. Maddie felt embarrassed and studied the marbles in the palms of her hand, rolling them around and saying nothing herself. Not that she felt sorry for Wanda, exactly.
She would never have paid any attention to Wanda. If Peggy hadn’t invented the dresses game. But suppose Peggy and all the others started in on her next ? She wasn’t as poor as Wanda, perhaps but she was poor of course she could have more sense than to say she had a hundred dresses. Still she would not like for them to begin on her. She wished Peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski.
Question i.
What questions did Peggy ask Wanda? Why did she ask such questions?
Answer:
Peggy asked Wanda how many dresses she had in her closet, knowing very well that she had just that one faded blue dress. That way Peggy wanted to show her snobbish attitude.
Question ii.
What fear lurked in Maddie that did not allow her to stop Peggy from asking such questions to Wanda?
Answer:
Maddie also hailed from a poor family. So she feared that if she stopped Peggy from asking such questions to Wanda, she and others would then start on her too!
6. “As for girls”, she said, “although just one or two sketches were submitted by most, one girl – and Room Thirteen should be proud of her – this one girl actually drew one hundred designs – all different and all beautiful. In the opinion of judges, any one of the drawings is worthy of winning the prize.”
Question i.
Whose words are these and what is being discussed here?
Answer:
These words are of Miss Mason, the teacher. She was announcing the result of the drawing competition that was held among the students.
Question ii.
Who won the competition? How did bring a change in the attitude of Peggy and Maddie?
Answer:
Wanda won the competition. But before the announcement of the result her family had shifted to a big city, unable to bear with the insults. When Peggy and Maddie realized this and that Wanda really had the pictures of hundred dresses in her closet, they regretted their act.
7. Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right.
Question i.
What do you know about Wanda ?
Answer:
Wanda was a Polish girl who attended an American school. She came from a poor family. Other children thought her name was funny. So she had no friends. Even in her class, she sat in a corner with other backbenchers.
Question ii.
What impression did Wanda create among the other children due to her appearance?
Answer:
Wanda always wore a faded blue dress that did not hang right and had a strange name because she was Polish. Therefore other children did not become friends with her. It was due to her appearance that Peggy and Maddie made fun of her.
8. Maddie remembered her telling about one of her dresses, pale blue with coloured trimmings. And she remembered the another that was jungle green with a red sash. “You’d look like a Christmas tree in that,” the girls had said with pretended admiration.
Question i.
What made Maddie remember the blue and green dresses?
Answer:
Maddie remembered the blue and green dresses which were actually the paintings of Wanda when she came to know that Wanda had gifted her and Peggy each of these.
Question ii.
What was special about the pale blue and the jungle green dresses?
Answer:
Those dresses were actually the paintings that Wanda had done and hung up in her closet along with those of the other ninety eight dresses. These two paintings actually featured Peggy and Maddie, to whom they were later on gifted by Wanda.
Short answer type questions
Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words.
Question 1.
Which two dresses did Maddie and Peggy specially notice at the display of Wanda’s drawings?
Answer:
The two dresses, they specially noticed were: a blue with coloured trimmings and a brilliant jungle green with a red sash. These were the two dresses which Wanda had described while playing the game of hundred dresses.
Question 2.
Who won the girls’ medal ? What was special about her entries ?
Answer:
Wanda Petronski had won the girls’ medal. She alone has given one hundred entries. Each one of her drawings was worthy of winning the prize.
Question 3.
What shows that everyone among her class appreciated Wanda’s drawings ? What did they do when Miss Mason announced the result and praised Wanda’s drawings?
Answer:
Everybody stopped and whistled or murmured admiringly to see Wanda’s drawings. When Miss Mason announced the result and praised Wanda’s drawing, they burst into applause. The boys whistled and stamped on the floor.
Question 4.
‘Peggy was not really cruel.’ Give two facts from the text which prove this stater
Answer:
She protected small children from berllies. And she cried for hours if she saw an animal mistreated. Both the above facts prove that she was not really cruel.
Question 5.
Why was Maddie sure Peggy would win the dress designing contest?
Answer:
Maddie was sure that Peggy would win the dress designing contest because according to her, and everyone in class, Peggy was the best artist in class.
Question 6.
What was the opinion of judges about Wanda’s drawings ?
Answer:
Wanda had submitted hundred drawings for the Drawing contest. All drawings were beautiful and different from each other. The judges opined that each of her drawings was worthy of winning the first prize.
Question 7.
Why did Peggy and Maddie not wait for Wanda, on their way to school on the day when the result of drawing competition was to be announced ? Give two reasons.
Answer:
They did not wait for Wanda because it was drizzling that day. Moreover, they were excited to know the result of the competition and did not want to be late specially when they were expecting Peggy to win the medal.
Question 8.
Why did Maddie write a note to Peggy and then tore it?
Answer:
Maddie wanted Peggy to stop teasing Wanda. She thought it was cruel. She could not dare to say all this verbally so she wrote a note to Peggy But then she pictured herself as a new target for Peggy and other girls, making fun of her for wearing hand-me-down clothes. She shuddered and tore the note.
Question 9.
What was the game of hundred dresses’? Who invented it ?
Answer:
Wanda used to wear a faded blue dress everyday. Just to tease her when Peggy once asked her how many dresses she had. She replied that she had a hundred dresses, all lined up in her closet. Her confident way and vivid description of the dresses amused the girls. This game became a constant source of their entertainment.
Question 10.
How did Peggy and Maddie try to amend for their behaviour towards Wanda ?
Answer:
Both Peggy and Maddie felt guilty for their behaviour towards Wanda. Maddie felt very sad to know that Wanda and her family were leaving the town. Both of them wrote a friendly letter to Wanda telling her that she had won the contest. They asked her if she liked the place where she was living. They wanted to say sorry to her.
Question 11.
Did Wanda have a hundred dresses ? Why did she say so and how did she prove that?
Answer:
No, she did not have the actual dresses. She had only the drawings of hundred dresses on papers. All had different designs and colours. She had lined them up in her closet. She proved herself right by submitting hundred drawings of dresses in the drawing and painting competition of her school.
Question 12.
How was Wanda different from the other children ?
Or
Why did other girls see Wanda different from them ? How did they treat her ?
Answer:
Wanda had a different and difficult name as compared to other children. She had no friends. She sat next to the last seat-quietly. She rarely said anything. The other girls made fun of her because she said she had hundred dresses of different designs and colours-all lined up in her cupboard but she wore the same faded blue dress daily.
Question 13.
How did Peggy make fun of Wanda Petronski ?
Answer:
Peggy would wait to make fun of Wanda at school. She would most courteously ask her, how many dresses she had hanging in her closet. Wanda would reply that there were a hundred. Peggy would then ask about the dress material, and when Wanda walked away, would burst into laughter, sarcastically making fun of her.
Question 14.
How did the children respond to Wanda’s drawings?
Answer:
The children burst into applause and even the boys were glad to see her drawings. They stamped on the floor, put their fingers in the mouth and whistled though they were not interested in dresses. Peggy and Maddie also appreciated her drawings.
Long answer type questions
Answer the following questions in about 100-150 words :
Question 1.
At the end of the story, how does Wanda succeed in winning the love and confidence of her classmates ?
Answer:
Wanda Petronski was a poor Polish girl who was studying in the American school. Peggy and Maddie were her classmates. Wanda always sat in the last row, among the backbenchers, as she did not want to be noticed prominently.
She did not have any friends and always wore a faded blue dress that did not hang right. Peggy was rich and pretty. Maddie was her closest friend. Every day, they both waited for Wanda’s arrival in school to make fun of her.
Peggy would ask her how many dresses she had and Wanda would say a hundred dresses of all colours in her closet, and all laughed. Wanda actually meant the drawings she had made. Finally, when there was a drawing and colouring competition, Wanda won the medal.
But she had already shifted to another city. Peggy and Maddie regretted their attitude and wrote to Wanda a letter apologetically. Wanda wrote a letter to her teacher requesting her to give the green dress picture to Peggy and the blue one to Maddie. The girls realized that she had drawn their faces on those pictures.
Question 2.
‘Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone.’ : Wanda had no friends and nobody liked to talk to her. Do you think such attitude of children towards Wanda is justified ? Is it right to judge people on the basis of their social status? If not, then what values should such people imbibe?
Answer:
Wanda was a quiet girl who rarely laughed out aloud. She didn’t have any friend and always came to school alone and went home alone. Children made fun of her because she had a funny name. And also because she came to school wearing the same faded blue dress although she claimed she had had hundred dresses.
This type of attitude is not justified. It is not at all right to judge people on the basis of their social status. Although Wanda did not have the actual dresses she had had the drawings of the dresses on papers-all of different colours and designs.
She proved herself right by submitting hundred drawings of dresses in the drawing and painting competition of her school. People who judge others with their socioeconomic background, need to learn that such things are not the parameters to judge a person’s capabilities. They should respect others.
Question 3.
‘Not that she felt sorry for Wanda, exactly. She would never had paid any attention to Wanda if Peggy hadn’t invented the dresses game. But suppose Peggy and all the others started in on her next?’ Maddie loathed the business of asking Wanda about her dresses but she found it difficult to stop Peggy to do so. Why could she not stop Peggy? Was she afraid of losing the friendship of Peggy ? Write about the values one must possess in a true friendship in about 100-150 words.
Answer:
Maddie did not approve of Peggy’s teasing of Wanda because she was as poor as Wanda was. But she could not stop Peggy as she did not have the courage to do so because Peggy was her best friend and thought that if she asked her to do so she might lose her friendship. Secondly, she thought that once the students stop teasing Wanda, they might ask her similar questions. I think a true friend should stop his/her friend from doing wrong things. She should guide him/ her towards the right direction.
Question 4.
Though Peggy and Maddie were good friends, they differed greatly in their thinking. Substantiate giving references from the story “The Hundred Dresses’.
Answer:
Peggy and Maddie were classmates and close friends. Peggy was rich, pretty and the most popular girl of her class. Maddie was poor and wore hand-me-down clothes mostly of Peggy with a little innovation. Other students knew her because she was always with Peggy.
Peggy used to enjoy teasing Wanda, a Polish girl by asking her about her hundred dresses. Maddie would become a part of the fun unwillingly. She used to feel uncomfortable, perhaps it reminded nur of her own poverty. She remained silent as she feared that Peggy might pick on her if she opposed. Thus, Peggy and Maddie, inseparable friends, had different personalities.
Question 5.
What made Maddie feel uncomfortable and uneasy when Peggy and other girls made fun of Wanda Petronski ?
Answer:
Peggy and other girls used to make fun of Wanda by asking her about her hundred dresses. In fact, Wanda said that she had hundred dresses but wore the same faded blue dress everyday. Maddie who was herself poor and wore hand-me-down clothes mostly of Peggy with a little alteration, felt uncomfortable when others teased Wanda.
Perhaps it reminded her of her own poverty. She could not see Wanda in that miserable condition. She thought it was cruel to make fun of anyone’s poverty. She used to feel uneasy but remained a silent spectator. She feared that if she opposed she could be the next target.
Introduction :
This is a story of a poor polish girl who joins an American School in an American town. Her unusual name, the same clean but poorly ironed dress everyday, her quiet behaviour and story about 100 dresses, make her different from the other girls in her class.
Her classmates consider her to be an ordinary girl, a laughing stock but she turns out to be a very talented, creative artist. People, mostly try to judge a person from his/her outward appearance which could be misleading.
यह एक गरीब पोलिश लड़की की कहानी है जो अमरीका के एक कस्बे में अमरीकन स्कूल में दाखिला लेती है। उसका असाधारण नाम, साफ परन्तु ढंग से प्रेस न की हुई रोज वही पोशाक, चुप स्वभाव और 100 पोशाकों की कहानी उसे अपनी कक्षा की दूसरी लड़कियों से अलग करती है। उसकी कक्षा के साथी उसे एक साधारण खिल्ली उड़ाई जाने वाली लड़की समझते हैं परन्तु वह एक प्रतिभावान, रचनात्मक कलाकार निकलती है। अक्सर, लोग व्यक्ति को उसकी बाहरी रूपरेखा से आंकते हैं जो गलत लक्षित हो सकता है।
Complete text with hindi translation :
Text (Page 64) : Today, Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Madeline, the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence. Usually Wanda sat in the next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, most roars of laughter when anything funny was said, and most mud and dirt on the floor.
Vocabulary :
- Scuffling of feet (स्वफलिंग ऑफ फीट) – noisy, dragging of feet, पाँव जूतों को घसीटना/शोर करना।
अनुवाद : आज, सोमवार को वान्डा पेन्त्रोस्की अपनी जगह पर नहीं थी। परन्तु किसी ने भी, न ही पैगी और मेडीलीन ने, वे लड़कियाँ जिन्होंने यह मजाक शुरु किया था, उसकी अनुपस्थिति को महसूस किया। अधिकतर, वान्डा कमरा न. 13 की आखिरी कतार की आखिरी सीट से अगली वाली सीट पर बैठती थी। वह कमरे के कोने में बैठती थी जहाँ पर कम अंक पाने वाले बुरे लड़के बैठा करते थे, कमरे का वह कोना जहाँ जूते के घिसटने की सबसे ज्यादा आवाज और यदि कुछ मजाकिया बात होती थी तो हंसी के ठहाकों की सबसे ज्यादा आवाज आती थी। और जहाँ पर फर्श पर कीचड़ और धूल सबसे अधिक होती थी।
Text (Page 64) : Wanda did not sit there because she was rough and noisy. On the contrary, she was very quiet and rarely said anything at all. And nobody had ever heard her laugh out loud. Sometimes she twisted her mouth into a crooked sort of smile, but that was all.
Nobody knew exactly why Wanda sat in that seat, unless it was because she came all the way from Boggins Heights and her feet were usually caked with dry mud. But no one really thought much about Wanda Petronski, once she sat in the corner of the room.
Vocabulary:
- Contrary(कान्ट्रेरी) – opposite विपरार्थक
- Twisted (टविसटिड) – wind around one another, टेढ़ा-मेढ़ा मोड़ना
- Crooked (क्रू क्ड) – bad, unpleasant धोखेबाज
- Caked (केक्ड) – to be covered entirely भरे/सने होना
अनुवाद : वान्डा वहाँ पर इसलिए नहीं बैठी थी क्योंकि वह बहुत रूखी और शोर मचाती थी। इसके विपरीत, वह बहुत शान्त थी और शायद ही किसी को कुछ कहती थी। और किसी ने भी उसे जोर से हँसते हुए नहीं सुना था। कभी-कभी वह अपने मुँह को टेढ़ा-मेढ़ा घुमाकर एक शातिर मुस्कुराहट देती थी, बस केवल इतना ही वह करती थी।
कोई भी असल में यह नहीं जानता था कि वान्डा उस सीट पर क्यों नहीं बैठती थी। शायद इसलिए कि वह बौगिन्स हाइट्स से आई थी और उसके पैर हमेशा सूखी मिट्टी से सने होते थे। परन्तु एक बार जब वह कमरे के कोने में बैठने लगी तो किसी ने भी वान्डा पेन्त्रोस्की के बारे में वास्तव में नहीं सोचा।
Text (Pages 64-65): The time when they thought about Wanda was outside of school hours-at noontime when they were coming back to school or in the morning early before school began, when groups of two or three, or even more, would be talking and laughing on their way to the school yard. Then, sometimes, they waited for Wanda-to have fun with her.
The next day, Tuesday, Wanda was not in school, either. And nobody noticed her absence again. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there. Peggy was the most popular girl in school.
She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her closest friend. The reason Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence was because Wanda had made them late to school. They had waited and waited for Wanda, to have some fun with her, and she just hadn’t come. ‘
Vocabulary:
- Noticed (नोटिस्ड) – to identify, पहचानना।
अनुवाद : स्कूल का समय समाप्त होने के पश्चात्-दोपहर में स्कूल से वापस आते समय या सुबह स्कूल शुरू होने से पहले, जब दो या तीन या उससे भी अधिक बच्चों का झुण्ड, बातें करते और हंसते हुए स्कूल के रास्ते में, उस समय पर उन्हें वान्डा का ध्यान आता था। तब कभी-कभी, वे वान्डा का इन्तजार करते थे-उसका मज़ाक उड़ाने के लिए। अगले दिन, मंगलवार को भी वान्डा स्कूल में उपस्थित नहीं थी। और किसी ने फिर से उसकी अनुपस्थिति महसूस नहीं की।
लेकिन, बुधवार को, पैगी और मैडी ने जो अच्छे अंक पाने वाले बच्चों के साथ आगे बैठती थीं और जिनके ऊपर मिट्टी का जरा सा भी निशान नहीं था, वान्डा की अनुपस्थिति को पहचाना। पैगी स्कूल की सबसे मशहूर लड़की थी। वह खूबसूरत थी, उसके पास सुंदर कपड़े थे और उसके बाल घुघराले थे। मैडी उसकी सबसे करीबी दोस्त थी। वान्डा की अनुपस्थिति पैगी और मैडी ने इसलिए पहचानी क्योंकि वान्डा ने उन्हें स्कूल के लिए देर करवा दी थी। उन्होंने उसका मज़ाक उड़ाने के लिए उसका इंतजार किया और वह नहीं आई।
Text (Page 65) : They often waited for Wanda Petronski-to have fun with her.
अनुवाद : वे वान्डा, पेन्त्रोस्की का मज़ाक उड़ाने के लिए कई बार उसका इंतजार करती थीं।
Text (Page 65) : Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in Room Thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen. There was one boy named Bounce, Willie Bounce, and people thought that was funny, but not funny in the same way that Petronski was.
Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right. It was clean, but it looked as though it had never been ironed properly. She didn’t have any friends, but a lot of girls talked to her. Sometimes, they surrounded her in the school yard as she stood watching the little girls play hopscotch on the worn hard ground.
Vocabulary :
- Hopscotch (हॉपस्कॉच) – a kind of game in which children hop into and over squares, प्रकार का खेल
- Ironed (आयरन्ड) – topress something स्त्री करना
अनुवाद : वान्डा पैट्रोन्सकी। कमरा न. 13 के अधिकतर बच्चों के नाम इस प्रकार के नहीं थे। उनके बोलने में आसान नाम थे जैसे, थौमस, स्मिथ या ऐलन। उनमें से एक लड़के का नाम बाउन्स, विली बाउन्स था और लोग उसे बहुत मजाकिया समझते थे परन्तु पेन्त्रोस्की के नाम से ज्यादा मजाकिया नहीं था।
वान्डा का कोई दोस्त नहीं था। वह स्कूल अकेले आती थी और घर भी अकेले जाती थी। वह हमेशा एक फीके नीले रंग की पोशाक पहने रहती थी जो सही तरीके से फिट भी नहीं थी। वह साफ थी परन्तु ऐसा प्रतीत होता था मानो उसे कभी स्त्री नहीं किया गया हो। उसके कोई दोस्त’ नहीं थे परन्तु बहुत सारी लड़कियाँ उससे बात करती थीं। कभी-कभी, उसे वे लोग स्कूल के मैदान में घेर लेते थे जब वह छोटी लड़कियों को सख्त मैदान पर सटापू का खेल खेलते देखती थी।
Text (Pages 65-66): “Wanda,” Peggy would say in a most courteous manner as though she were talking to Miss Mason. “Wanda,” she’d say, giving one of her friends a nudge, “tell us. How many dresses did you say you had hanging up in your closet ?”
“A hundred,” Wanda said.
“A hundred!” exclaimed all the little girls incredulously, and the little ones would stop playing hopscotch and listen.
“Yeah, a hundred, all lined up,” said Wanda. Then her thin lips drew together in silence.
“What are they like ? All silk, I bet,” said Peggy.
“Yeah, all silk, all colours.”
“Velvet, too?”
“Yeah, velvet too. A hundred dresses,” Wanda would repeat stolidly. “All lined up in my closet.”
Vocabulary :
- Courteous (कोरटियस) – polite, respectful शिष्ट, भद
- Nudge (नज) – to push gently टहोका देना
- Closet (क्लोजट) – a small or private room कोठरी
- Exclaimed (एक्सक्लेम्ड) – to utter sharply चिल्लाना
- Incredulously(इनक्रेडयुलेसली) – showing unwillingness to believe this, किसी बात पर यकीन न करना;
- Stolidly (स्टोलिडली) – not showing any feeling, भाव शून्य।
अनुवाद : “वान्डा”, पैगी इतनी भद्रता से बोलेगी मानो वह किसी मिस मेडन से बात कर रही हो। “वान्डा”, अपने एक दोस्त को इशारा करते हुए, वह बोलेगी, “हमें बताओ। तुमने कितनी पोशाकें, हमें बताई थीं जो तुम्हारी अलमारी में टंगी हुई हैं ?”
“एक सौ”, वान्डा बोली।
“एक सौ” सभी छोटी लड़कियाँ बात पर यकीन न करते हुए चिल्लाईं, और छोटे बच्चे उछल कूद खेलना बंद करके उसको सुनने लगते।
“हाँ, एक सौ, सभी एक कतार में”, वान्डा ने कहा। तब उसके पतले होंठ चुप्पी से चिपक जाते।
“वे सब किस तरह की है ? सभी रेशमी होंगी, शर्त लगाती हूँ।” पैगी ने कहा। –
“हाँ, सभी रेशमी हैं, सभी रंगों की हैं।”
” “मखमल की भी हैं?”
“हाँ, मखमल की भी हैं। एक सौ पोशाकें,” वान्डा ने भाव शून्य तरीके से दोहराया। “सभी मेरी अलमारी में एक कतार में लगी हैं।”
Text (Page 66): Then they’d let her go. And then before she’d gone very far, they couldn’t help bursting into shrieks and peals of laughter.
A hundred dresses! Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue one she wore every day. So why did she say she had a hundred ? What a story!
“How many shoes did you say you had ?”
“Sixty pairs. All lines up in my closet.”
Cries of exaggerated politeness greeted this. “All alike?” “Oh, no. Every pair is different. All colours. All lined up.”
Vocabulary:
- Bursting (बर्सटिंग) – फटना, to explode
- Shrick (शीक) – to make ashrill piercing cry, कान भेदने वाली चीख
- Exaggerate(एग्जैरिट) – बढ़ा-चढ़ाकर, to over emphasize
- Politeness (पोलाइटनेस) – नम्रता, to speak softly
अनुवाद : तब वे सभी उसे जाने देते। और जब वह ज्यादा दूर तक नहीं गई होती, वे कानभेदी और जोर की हँसी से फट पड़ने से अपने आप को नहीं रोक पाते।
एक सौ पोशाकें ! वास्तव में, वान्डा के पास जो केवल पोशाक थी वह थी नीली वाली जो वह हर रोज पहनती थी। तो वह क्यों कहती थी कि उसके पास एक सौ हैं? क्या कहानी है !
“तुमने कितने बताएँ तुम्हारे पास कितने जूते हैं?”
“साठ जोड़े। सभी मेरी आलमारी में कतार में लगे हैं।”
बढ़ा चढ़ाकर नम्र स्वभाव से बोल कर सत्कार किया।”सब एक जैसे?”
“अरे, नहीं। हर एक जोड़ा अलग है। सारे रंगों के। सभी एक कतार में।”.
Text (Page 66): Peggy, who had thought up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave. Finally Wanda would move up the street, her eyes dull and her mouth closed, hitching her left shoulder every now and then in the funny way she had, finishing the walk to school alone.
Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies. And she cried for hours if she saw an animal mistreated. If anybody had said to her, “Don’t you think that is a cruel way to treat Wanda?” She would have been very surprised.Cruel? Why did the girl say she had a hundred dresses? Anybody could tell that that was a lie. Why did she want to lie? And she wasn’tjust an ordinary person, else why did she have a name like that? Anyway, they never made her cry.
Vocabulary:
- Inseparable (इनसैपरेबल) – जिसे पृथकाअलग न किया जा सके, which cannot be separated
- Hitch (हिच) हिचकी
- Bullies (बुलीज) – ताकतवर, strong people who frighten weaker people (with their strength)
- Mistreat (frugte) दुर्व्यवहार, bad behaviour
- Cruel (क्रुअल) – क्रूर, unkind
अनुवाद : पैगी, जिसने यह खेल सोचा था; और मैडी, असकी अपृथक दोस्त हमेशा सबसे आखिर में निकलती थी। अंत में, वान्डा गली में चलना शुरू करती, उसकी आँखें उदास और उसका मुँह बंद, अजीब तरीके से उसका बायां कंधा हिचकोले खाता हुआ, वह बिल्कुल अकेले अपने स्कूल का रास्ता तय करती। पैगी वास्तव में क्रूर नहीं थी।
वह छोटे बच्चों को ताकतवर लोगों से बचाती थी। और वह घण्टों तक रोती यदि वह किसी जानवर के साथ दुर्व्यवहार होते देखती। यदि कोई उससे कहता, “क्या तुम्हें नहीं लगता कि वान्डा के साथ तुम्हारा व्यवहार क्रूर है ?” तो वह हैरान हो जाती। कर? उस लड़की ने ये क्यों कहा कि उसके पास एक सौ पोशाकें हैं? कोई भी यह बता सकता है कि यह एक झूठ है। वह झूठ क्यों बोलना चाहती है? और वह कोई मामूली इन्सान नहीं है नहीं तो उसका इस तरह का नाम क्यों होता? हालांकि, उन्होंने उसे कभी रुलाया नहीं।
Text (Pages 66-67) : As for Maddie, this business of asking Wanda every day how many dresses and how many hats, and how many this and that she had was bothering her. Maddie was poor herself. She usually wore somebody’s.hand-me-down clothes. Thank goodness, she didn’t live up on Boggins Heights or have a funny name.
Sometimes, when Peggy was asking Wanda those questions in that mocking polite voice, Maddie felt embarrassed and studied the marbles in the palm of her hand, rolling them around and saying nothing herself.
Not that she felt sorry for Wanda, exactly. She would never have paid any attention to Wanda if Peggy hadn’t invented the dresses game. But suppose Peggy and all the others started in on her next ? She wasn’t as poor as Wanda, perhaps, but she was poor.
Of course she would have more sense than to say she had a hundred dresses. Still she would not like for them to begin on her. She wished Peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski.
Vocabulary :
- hand-me-down clothes-old clothes, पुराने कपड़े किसी के दान किए हुए
- Mocking (मौकिंग) – meant to make fun of झूठा
- Embarrassed (एम्बैरेस्ड) – शर्मिंदा, ashamed of
- Teasing (टीसिंग) – छेड़छाड़ करना, तंग. करना
- Bothering (बोदरिंग) – disturbing, परेशान करना
अनुवाद : मैडी के लिए वान्डा से हर रोज पूछने के काम कि उसके पास कितनी पोशाकें, कितनी टोपियाँ और कितने ये और वे थे, उसे परेशान कर रही थी। मैडी खुद भी बहुत गरीब थी। वह ज्यादातर दूसरों के पुराने, दान किए हुए कपड़े पहनती थी। भगवान का शुक्र था, कि वह बोगिन्स हाइटस पर नहीं रहती थी या उसका कोई मजाकिया नाम नहीं था।
कभी-कभी, पैगी, जब वान्डा से वह नाटकीय नम्र आवाज़ में वे सवाल पूछती थी, मैडी को शर्मिदगी होती थी और वह अपनी हथेलियों में लिए हुए कंचों को देखती, उन्हें घुमाती और खुद से कुछ नहीं कहती। ऐसा नहीं था कि वह वास्तव में वान्डा के प्रति बुरा मानती थी। उसने
कभी वान्डा की तरफ ध्यान भी नहीं दिया होता यदि पैगी ने वह पोशाकों वाला खेल नहीं इजात किया होता। लेकिन मानो यदि पैगी और बाकी सभी वह खेल अगली बार उससे खेलें तो? वह, शायद वान्डा के जितनी गरीब नहीं थी परन्तु वह गरीब थी। उसके पास, इतनी समझ तो है कि वह एक सौ पोशाकें नहीं बोलेगी। इसके बावजूद वह उनके द्वारा यह खेल अपने ऊपर खेला जाना बर्दाश्त नहीं करेगी। वह दुआ करती थी कि पैगी वान्डा पेन्त्रोस्की के साथ यह छेड़छाड़ बन्द कर दे।
Text (Pages 67-68) : Today, even though they had been late to school, Maddie was glad she had not had to make fun of Wanda. She worked her arithmetic problems absent-mindedly. “Eight times eight-let’s see…” She wished she had the nerve to write Peggy a note, because she knew she never would have the courage to speak right out to Peggy, to say, “Hey, Peg, let’s stop asking Wanda how many dresses she has.”
When she finished her arithmetic she did start a note to Peggy. Suddenly she paused and shuddered. She pictured herself in the school yard, a new target for Peggy and the girls. Peggy might ask her where she got the dress that she had on, and Maddie would have to say it was one of Peggy’s old ones that Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise with new trimmings so no one in Room Thirteen would recognise it.
Vocabulary :
- Glad (ग्लैड) – happy, खुश
- Absent mindedly (अबसेंट-मान्डिडली) – doing something carelessly or without paying attention to it बेखबरी में, बे ध्यानी में
- Shuddered (शडर्ड) – to tremble with fear थरथराना, कांपना
- Target (टारगेट) – a person deliberately chosen for attack निशाना
- Disguise (डिसगाइज) – to change one’s appearance भेष बदलना
- Trimming (ट्रिमिंग) – decorative accessories लेस रिबन आदि सुन्दरता बढ़ाने की चीजें
- Recognise (रिकोग्नाइज) – to identify पहचानना
अनुवाद : आज, हालाँकि उन्हें स्कूल के लिए देरी हो गई थी, मैडी प्रसन्न थी कि उन्हें वान्डा का मजाक नहीं उड़ाना पड़ा। उसने अपने गणित के सवाल बेध्यानी में किये “आठ गुना आठ-चलो देखते हैं” उसने कामना की कि उसमें पैगी को एक चिट्ठी लिखने की हिम्मत आ जाए, क्योंकि वह जानती थी कि उसमें पैगी के सामने बोलने की हिम्मत कभी नहीं आयेगी कि, “हेय, पैगी, चलो अब वान्डा से यह पूछना बन्द कर दें कि उसके पास कितनी पोशाकें हैं।” जब उसने अपना गणित का सवाल समाप्त किया, उसने पैगी को चिट्ठी लिखनी शुरू की। अचानक वह रुकी और र्थथरा गई।
उसने अपने आपको स्कूल के यार्ड में, पैगी और दूसरी लड़कियों के नए शिकार के तौर पर खड़ा महसूस किया। पैगी शायद उससे यह पूछ लेगी कि जो पोशाक उसने पहनी हुई है वह इसे कहाँ से लाई और मैडी को बताना पड़ेगा के यह पैगी की पुरानी पोशाकों में से एक है जो कि उसकी माँ ने काँट-छाँट कर बदलने की कोशिश की थी ताकि कमरा न. 13 में उसे कोई पहचान न पाए।
Text (Page 68): If only Peggy would decide of her own accord to stop having fun with Wanda. Oh, well! Maddie ran her hand through her short blonde hair as though to push the uncomfortable thoughts away.
What difference did it make? Slowly.Maddie tore into bits the note she had started. She was Peggy’s best friend, and Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. Peggy could not possible do anything that was really wrong, she thought.
As for Wanda, she was just some girl who lived up on Boggins Heights and stood alone in the school yard. She Scarcely ever said anything to anybody. The only time she talked was in the school yard about her hundred dresses.
Maddie remembered her telling about one of her dresses, pale blue with coloured trimmings. And she remembered another that was brilliant jungle green with a red sash. “You’d look like a Christmas tree in that,” the girls had said in pretended admiration.
Vocabulary:
- Accord(अकार्ड) – one’s own wish अपने बलबूते पर, अपनी इच्छा से
- Blonde( ब्लोन्ड) – golden सुनहरा
- Uncomfortable (अनकमफर्टेबल) – not comfortable बेआराम
- Scarcely (स्केरसली) – rarely, hardly कठिनाई से कभी-कभार
- Pretended (प्रीटेन्डिड) – to profess falsely बहाना करना/झूठा दिखावा करना।
अनुवाद : यदि पैगी अपने आप अपनी इच्छा से ही वान्डा से मज़ाक करना छोड़ दे तो। ओह, बढ़िया! मैडी ने अपने छोटे सुनहरे बालों में से अपना हाथ फिराया मानो वह उन बेआराम ख्यालों को दूर करने की कोशिश कर रही हो। उससे क्या अंतर पड़ने वाला था? धीरे-धीरे मैडी ने उस चिट्ठी के छोटे-छोटे टुकड़े कर दिये जिसे उसने लिखना शुरू किया था। वह पैगी की सबसे अच्छी दोस्त थी और पैगी परे कमरे में सबसे ज्यादा पसंदीदा लड़की थी। उसने सोचा, पैगी कोई भी ऐसा काम नहीं कर सकती जो गलत हो।
वान्डा के लिए, वह बस एक ऐसी लड़की थी जो बोगिन्स हाइट्स पर रहती थी और स्कूल में अकेली खडी रहती थी। उसने शायद ही कभी किसी से कोई बात कही होगी। स्कूल के मैदान में वह केवल तब ही बोली थी जब उसने अपनी सौ पोशाकों के बारे में बात की थी। मैडी ने उसको याद किया जब वह उसकी एक पोशाक के बारे में बात कर रही थीं जो कि हल्के नीले रंग की थी जिसमें रंगीन झालरें थी। और उसने उसकी एक और पोशाक याद की जो कि सुंदर जंगली हरे रंग के साथ लाल सस वाली थी।”तुम उसमें बिल्कुल क्रिसमस ट्री की तरह नजर आओगी” लड़कियों ने नाटकीय भाव के साथ कहा।
Text (Page 68) : Thinking about Wanda and her hundred dresses all lined up in the closet, Maddie began to wonder who was going to win the drawing and colour contest. For girls, this contest consisted of designing dresses and for boys, of designing motorboats.
Probably Peggy would win the girls’ medal. Peggy drew better than anyone else in the room. At least, that’s what everybody thought. She could copy a picture in a magazine or some film star’s head so that you could almost tell who it was. Oh, Maddie was sure Peggy would win. Well, tomorrow the teacher was going to announce the winners. Then they’d know.
Vocabulary:
- Probably (प्रोबेबली) – शायद, assumption, perhaps
- Announce (अनाउन्स) – घोषित करना, to speak loudly to declare.
अनुवाद : वान्डा के और उसकी अलमारी में एक कतार में लगी एक सौ पोशाकों के बारे में सोचकर, मैडी हैरान हो रही थी कि रंग और चित्रकला की यह प्रतियोगिता कौन जीतेगा। लड़कियों के लिए, यह प्रतिस्पर्धा पोशाकें रूपांकित करने के लिए थी और लड़कों के लिए मोटर बोट्स रूपाकिंत करने की। शायद पैगी लड़कियों का पदक जीत लेगी।
पैगी कमरे में और सबसे बेहतर थी। शायद यही हर कोई सोचता था। वह पत्रिका से तस्वीर नकल कर सकती थी या किसी फिल्मी कलाकार का सिर इतनी बढ़िया तरह से कि आप उसे लगभग बता सकते थे कि वे कौन थे। मैडी को पूरा यकीन था कि पैगी जीत जाएगी। खैर, कल अध्यापिका जीतने वाले का नाम घोषित करने वाली थी। तब वे सब जान जाएंगे।
Text (Pages 68-69) : The next day it was drizzling. Maddie and Peggy hurried to school under
Peggy’s umbrella. Naturally, on a day like this, they didn’t wait for Wanda Petronski on the corner of Oliver Street, the street that far, far away, under the railroad tracks and up the hill, led to Boggins Heights. Anyway, they weren’t taking chances on being late today, because today was important.
“Do you think Miss Mason will announce the winners today?” asked Peggy.
“Oh, I hope so, the minute we get in,” said Maddie. “Of course, you’ll win, Peg.”
“Hope so,” said Peggy eagerly.
The minute they entered the classroom, they stopped short and gasped. There were drawings all over the room, on every ledge and windowsill, dazzling colours and brilliant, lavish designs, all drawn on great sheets of wrapping paper. There must have been a hundred of them, all lined up. These must be the drawings for the contest. They were! Everybody stopped and whistled or murmured admiringly.
Vocabulary :
- Drizzling (ड्रिजलिंग) – a very light rain बूंदाबादी, हल्की वारिश
- Eagarly (इगरली) – enthusiastically/excitedly उत्सुकता से
- Gasped (गास्पड – catch breath with open mouth हैरानी, मुँह खुला का खुला रह जाना
- Ledge (लैज) – projected edge उभरा कगार, किनारा
- Windowsill (विन्डोसील) – slab at the foot of window खिड़की की चौखट
- Dazzling (डैजलिंग) – surprising चकाचौंध करने वाला
- Lavish (लैविश) – to spend free handed, very grand (here) उदार
- Murmured (मरमर्ड) – बुदबुदाना
- Admiringly (अंडमाईरिंगली) – praising प्रशंसा करते हुए
अनुवाद : अगले दिन हल्की बारिश हो रही थी। मैडी और पैगी, पैगी के छाते में जल्दी-जल्दी स्कूल की तरफ निकल पड़ीं। स्वाभाविक था, इस तरह के दिन पर वे वान्डा पेन्त्रोस्की का रेल की पटरियों पर और पहाड़ी के ऊपर जो बोगिंस हाइट्स की तरफ जाता था इंतजार नहीं कर सकती थीं। और वह आज देर से पहुंचने का कोई मौका नहीं चाहती थीं क्योंकि आज का दिन महत्त्वपूर्ण था।
“क्या तुम्हें लगता है मिस मेसन आज जीतने वालों के नाम घोषित करेंगी?” पैगी ने पूछा।
“हाँ, मुझे उम्मीद है, जैसे ही हम पहुँचेंगे,” मैडी ने कहा। “यकीनन तुम ही जीतोगी पैग।”
“उम्मीद करती हूँ,” पैगी ने उत्साह से कहा। जैसे ही उन्होंने कक्षा में प्रवेश किया, वे रुकी, उनका मुंह खुला का खुला रह गया। वहाँ पर पूरे कमरे में, हर कोने में, और हरेक खिड़की की चौखट पर चित्रकारियाँ थीं, चकाचौंध करने वाले रंगों और खूबसूरत बड़े-बड़े डिजाइनों वाली, सभी लपेटने वाले बड़े-बड़े कागजों पर बनी हुई। वहाँ लगभग सौ के करीब होगी सभी एक कतार में। ये सभी प्रतियोगिता की चित्रकारियाँ होंगी। हाँ, वे थी। हर कोई रुकता और सीटी बजाता या (हल्की आवाज में) बुदबुदाकर प्रशंसा करता।
Text (Pages 69-70) : As soon as the class had assembled, Miss Mason announced the winners. Jack Beggles had won for the boys, she said, and his design for an outboard motor was on exhibition in Room Twelve, along with the sketches by all the other boys.
“As for the girls,” she said, “although just one or two sketches were submitted by most, one girl–and Room Thirteen should be proud of her-this one girl actually drew one hundred designs—all different and all beautiful. In the opinion of the judges, any one of the drawings is worthy of winning the prize.
I am very happy to say that Wanda Petronski is the winner of the girls medal. Unfortunately, Wanda has been absent from school for some days and is not here to receive the aplause that is due her. Let us hope she will be back tomorrow. Now class, you may file around the room quietly and look at her exquisite drawings.”
Vocabulary :
- Assemble (असैम्बल) – to gather, इकट्ठा होना
- Applause (अपलीस) – to clap, तालिया
- Exquisite (एक्युसिट) – extremely beautiful and well made, बहुत ही खूबसूरत और बढ़िया
- Worthy (वरथी) – capable, deserving योग्य।
अनुवाद : जैसे ही पूरी कक्षा इकट्ठा हुई, मिस मेसन ने जीतने वालों के नाम घोषित कर दिये। जैक बिग्गलस ने लड़कों की श्रेणी का पुरस्कार जीता है, उसने कहा, और उसके द्वारा बनाया गया बाहरी मोटर का डिजाइन बाकी लड़कों द्वारा बनाए गए चित्रों के साथ कमरा नं. 12 में प्रदर्शित है, “लड़कियों की श्रेणी में”, उसने कहा, हालाँकि ज्यादातर ने एक या दो चित्र ही जमा करवाए, परन्तु एक लड़की ने-और कमरा नं. 13 को उस पर गर्व होना चाहिए-इस एक लड़की ने असल में सौ डिजाइन बनाए हैं-सभी अलग और सभी खूबसूरत ।
निर्णायकों के विचार में, उनमें से कोई भी एक चित्रकारी पुरस्कार जीतने के योग्य है। मैं यह कहते हुए बहुत खुश हूँ कि वान्डा पेन्त्रोस्की लड़कियों के पदक की विजेता है। दुर्भाग्यवश, वान्डा स्कूल में पिछले कुछ दिनों से अनुपस्थित है और यहाँ पर उसके हिस्से की तालियाँ सुनने के लिए मौजूद नहीं है। हम उम्मीद करते हैं कि वे कल वापिस आ जाएगी। अब कक्षा के सभी विद्यार्थी, आज कमरे में चुपचाप घूम सकते हैं और उसकी खूबसूरत और अनूठी चित्रकलाओं को देख सकते हैं।
Text (Page 70) : The children burst into applause, and even the boys were glad to have a chance to stamp on the floor, put their fingers in their mouths and whistle, though they were not interested in dresses.
“Look, Peg,” whispered Maddie. “There’s that blue one she told us about. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yes,” said Peggy, “And here’s that green one. Boy, and I thought I could draw.”
Vocabulary :
- Burst into (बस्ट इन टू) – suddenly and spontaneously फूट पड़ना
- Stamp (स्टैम्प) – to jump कदम रखना या कूदना।
अनुवाद : बच्चे अचानक से तालियाँ बजाने लगे, और लड़के भी खुश थे कि उन्हें जमीन पर कूदने का मौका मिला, अपनी अंगुलियाँ अपने मुँह में डाली और सीटियाँ बजाई, हालांकि वे पोशाकों में दिलचस्पी नहीं ले रहे थे।
“देखो, पैग,” मैडी फुसफुसाई। “यह रही वह नीली पोशाक,
जिसके बारे में उसने हमें बताया था। क्या यह खूबसूरत नहीं है?”
“हाँ,” पैगी ने कहा, “और यह रही वह हरी वाली। और मैं सोचती थी कि मैं ही चित्रकारी कर सकती हूँ।”