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Class 11, Snapshots, The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse, Introduction:, The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse is written by William Saroyan. The story is about two, Armenian boys – Aram and Mourad who belong to the Garoghlanaian family. Their tribe is known for, their honesty. They are poor and can hardly earn money for food. They both long to ride a horse., Mourad had stolen a horse from a farmer a month ago. One early morning, he brought it to the window, of Aram and asked him to come along for a ride. They rode the horse for many days. When Aram gets to, know the horse is stolen, he gets shocked but discounts the stealing in his mind. One day the owner of, the horse, John Byro, comes to his house to complain about his missing horse to Uncle Khosrove., One day on their way back to hide the horse on the deserted vineyard, they meet the owner and feel, guilty at the end. The next morning, they returned the horse back to the owner‘s barn., Summary, Aram and Mourad were two poor boys who belonged to the Armenian Garoghlanian family who were, known for their honesty since the eleventh century. One early morning when Aram was asleep and was, enjoying pleasant dreams, his cousin Mourad showed up to his window with a beautiful white horse., Aram could not believe it and was thinking it was a dream. But since there was a little light outside, he, knew this for sure that the horse was real. As they were poverty-stricken, he couldn‘t believe that the, horse was their own. He was trying to figure out if the horse had been stolen by his cousin. Mourad had, come to invite him for a ride-along. He asked him to make it quick before everyone in the world wakes, up. Aram wore his clothes and jumped out of the window and sat behind Mourad on the horse., They rode on the old countryside of the area where they lived – Walnut Avenue. After some time,, Mourad asked him to get off as he wanted to ride the horse alone. Aram asked him if he could also ride, the horse alone just like him to which Mourad said they will see as it was for his own safety. He got to, know that Mourad had stolen the horse a month ago and was riding it every morning., When Aram got his chance of a ride, the horse took him to the vineyard and threw him off and ran, away. After searching for thirty minutes, Mourad finally managed to find the horse and they hid him in a, deserted vineyard that had some oats and alfalfa. Mourad had a way with everything, especially horses., He knew how to handle every type of animal and also humans. Every morning for two weeks, they, would take the horse for a ride and then hide it again. One day, John Byro came to Aram‘s house to talk, to his uncle Khosrove who was an irritated and loud man who shouted at almost everything. Byro told, him about his missing horse whom he bought at sixty dollars. For one month, he couldn’t find it and he, walked for 10 miles to come to their house. Khosrove roared at him and told him, ‘it’s no harm, pay no, attention to it.‘ Byro became irritated by his attitude and he went away.
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Aram went to Mourad and told him about the missing horse of Byro and asked him not to return the, horse until he learns to ride it. Mourad told him that it would take one year for him to learn to ride the, horse. He further angrily added that they could not be thieves as their tribe is known for honesty and, said that they would return the horse after six months., One day on their way back to hide the horse to the hidden spot, they met John Byro who was going back, to the town. He talked to them and carefully examined the horse. He admitted that the horse looked, exactly like the one he had but since he knew his parents and the honesty of their family, he didn‘t, believe that they had his missing horse. He assumed it was a twin horse. Mourad managed to let Byro, assume that it was not his horse so they went away. The next morning, both of them took the horse, back to Byro’s vineyard and put it in the barn. The dogs followed them all along quietly and they left the, place., The same afternoon, John Byro came back to his house to tell his mother about his horse who had come, back. He was happy and was astonished to see the horse‘s better temper and it was stronger than ever., Uncle Khosrove again roared, ‘Quiet, man, quiet. Your horse has been returned. Pay no attention to it., Vocabulary words, Magnificence – extremely beautiful, Daybreak – dawn, Comical – funny, Garoghlanian – an Armenian tribe, Pious – religious, Vineyard – plantation of grapevines used in winemaking, Orchards – a piece of land of the plantation of fruits, Irrigation ditches – manmade channel used to deliver water to homes, industries and other uses, Trot – proceed with something, Descendant – a system that develops from an earlier simple version, Streak – race, San Joaquin Valley – one of the long interior valleys of California, Capricious – inconsistent change of mood, Vagrant – a person without a settled home or work, Reared – raised
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Snorted – breathed out, Alfalfa – a flowering plant, City Dweller – a person who lives in a city, Surrey – a country in South-East England, Question Answers, Reading with Insight, 1. You will probably agree that this story does not have a breathless adventure and exciting action., Then what in your opinion makes it interesting?, Ans: The story did not have exciting action and breathless adventures‘ yet it had suspense in the story, which made it interesting for the readers. It was a good psychological narration and both the boys, wanted to try something adventurous. As their family was poor and they both wanted to ride a horse., Mourad stole it and they both rode it for quite some time. After they were over their game play, they, took it back to its original place and owner., 2. Did the boys return the horse because they were conscience-stricken or because they were, afraid?, Ans: The boys returned the horse not because they were afraid but because of their conscience. Their, family was known for its honesty yet they had stolen the horse months ago. When they met John Byro, on his way to town, the horse was with them. He carefully examined it and shared that it looked exactly, like the one he had just like a twin. It felt like it was his own horse but since he knew his parents, he, didn‘t believe it was his horse they were carrying. This struck the boys and they decided to take the, horse back to the farmer’s vineyard to put it in the barn., That it looked exactly like the one he had just like a twin. It felt like it was his own horse but since he, knew his parents, he didn‘t believe it was his horse they were carrying. This struck the boys and they, decided to take the horse back to the farmer’s vineyard to put it in the barn., 3. “One day back there in the good old days when I was nine and the world was full of every, imaginable kind of magnificence, and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream…”The story, begins in a mood of nostalgia. Can you narrate some incident from your childhood that might, make an interesting story?, Ans: By reading those lines, no one can stop themselves from traveling back to the memory lane. I, remember when I was twelve years old. I used to visit my grandparent‘s home which was located at a, hill station. I would spend my entire summer vacation with them. We would go to the market to eat, delicious snacks, would go shopping and watch TV together. I remember once going to a summer camp, for a month. They would drop me off to the place and would come to pick me up after the classes got
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over. Sometimes, my grandmother would bring a packed lunch for me. I would eat it as fast as we would, go shopping after that. I always got sad whenever I had to go back to my home to go back to school., 4. The story revolves around characters who belong to a tribe in Armenia. Mourad and Aram are, members of the Garoghlanian family. Now locate Armenia and Assyria on the atlas and prepare, a write-up on the Garoghlanian tribes. You may write about people, their names, traits,, geographical and economic features as suggested in the story., Ans: Garoghlanian tribe is said to be a work of fiction by author William Saroyan in his book of the year, 1940 ‘My name is Aram’. They were Armenian. They were poor people who hardly managed to gather, food to feed their stomach every day but they were known for honesty. Hospitality is one of the, important aspects of the tribe. Most of the Armenian people followed Christianity. They have a huge, variety of food at social gatherings. They focussed on forgiveness of sins and on the spirit of tolerance.
