Answer 5-(a): The narrator was surprised to see the boys shining shoes because he thought that they sold fruits for a living. However, when he questioned the boys regarding this, Nicola said that they also did a lot of other things for a living. The boys hoped that the narrator would ask for their services and in return would earn some good money.
Answer 5-(b):The narrator was astonished to see that boys worked hard day and night and yet lived meagerly. He wanted to know what the boys did with the money they earned. When he questioned Nicola, he appeared uncomfortable. Perhaps the boys were not used to anybody questioning them regarding their earnings, and the narrator’s question embarrassed them.
Answer 5-(c):When the narrator suggested that the boys were saving to emigrate to the States. Nicola responded that how much ever they wished to do that, currently they had other plans, which he was unwilling to and uncomfortable sharing with the narrator. Answer 5-(d):Although the boys were small and innocent, there was a maturity in their demeanour, which was unbelievable at their age. Answer 6-(a): Luigi judged the two boys by their appearance.
He did not approve of the two boys because they were shabbily dressed and he thought that they might sell bad fruit. Answer 6-(b): The narrator and his companion were surprised that the boys were doing so many things at such a young age. Under the hot sun they sold fruits, newspapers, ran errands and were tourist guides as well. They did any odd job that they were asked to do. Their willingness to do any kind of work impressed the narrator and his companion.
Answer 6-(c):The narrator was surprised to see Nicola and Jacopo shining shoes because he thought that selling fruits was their only occupancy Answer 6-(d): The boys did everything the narrator and his companion asked them to do: they showed them around the city, bought tickets for the opera for them, told them about good restaurants and ran all their errands. Answer 6-(e):The boys were waiting for the last bus from Pauda so that they could sell all their papers. This explains the fact that the two boys were very hardworking and dedicated. Answer 6-(f): The boys were very focused and committed. Their only motive was to pay for their sister’s treatment.
They did not care for their comfort but tirelessly worked hard to earn money. Answer 6-(g): The two boys did not want the narrator to know of their problems because they were strong and courageous kids in the face of adversity who did not want a stranger to sympathise with them. They were confident kids who would rather work hard and earn in order to find solutions of the same on their own. Question 7-(a):Appearances are deceptive. Discuss with reference to the two boys.
Answer 7-(a): The narrative began with description of the shabby appearance of the two boys—Nicola and Jacopo. In spite of their appearance, the narrator bought fruit from them. In the following days, the narrator discovered that the boys did a lot of other things apart from selling fruit: they sold newspapers, they were shoeshine boys, tourist guides and ran errands. All this made the narrator think that the boys were working so hard to save money to emigrate to America. However, it is revealed during the course of the story that their only motive was to be able to pay for their sister’s treatment. War had destroyed most of their family and yet it had not filled them with despair.
The boys were working day and night to save whatever was left. Behind their shabby appearances were hidden two noble souls whose dedication and selflessness promises a new hope for mankind. Answer 7-(b):The boys loved their sister. She was the only family left after the war was over. When they realized that their sister had tuberculosis of the spine, they got her admitted to a hospital. They worked hard day and night to pay for her treatment.
They visited their sister every Sunday in the hospital. They could have emigrated to the states but they chose to stay back and look after their sister. They didn’t want to lose her. Answer 7-(c):The war had destroyed everything the boys had. They lost their home and their father was killed in the war as well. Until the war they led a cultured and comfortable life.
The war had led them to the streets, exposed them to bitter cold and driven them to extreme starvation. However, it did not fill them with despair. They set to build what was left after the war. They found their sister suffering from tuberculosis of the spine, got her admitted to a hospital and worked very hard to pay for her treatment.
The boys’ sacrifice, their devotion and the maturity they displayed at such a young age promises a new hope for the society. The destruction caused by the war had not broken their spirit. Rather it filled them with a new energy to rebuild from what was left after the war.
