Important Question and Answers
Q. Why did Jerome offer to pack?
Ans. Jerome, the narrator, took pride in himself on his packing. When, he along with his friends, George and Harris decided to go on a holiday, he offered to do the packing as he felt it would be an easy task.
Q. The author had to find his toothbrush. What did he do to get it?
Ans. The toothbrush was the thing that always haunted the author while travelling. He had to unpack all his things to search for the toothbrush. He put the things back one by one and held everything up and shook it. At last, he found it inside a boot.
Q. How did Montmorency, the dog, create troubles while packing?
Ans. Montmorency’s purpose was to disturb the work and got scolded for it. He poked his nose during packing as well. He sat on the things that had to be packed, put his leg into the jam, disturbed the teaspoons and destroyed the lemons thinking them to be rats.
Q. Do you think the author packed better than George and Harris? Give reasons in support for your answer.
Ans. No, the author was careless in packing. He forgot to pack the boots, packed the brush before brushing, and also packed his tobacco pouch by mistake. This way, he kept forgetting the things and kept on packing and unpacking the luggage.
Q. What did George and Harris do with the butter?
Ans. George first trod on the butter. After George had got it off his slipper, they tried to put it in the kettle. It neither went in nor came out. After scrapping it, put it down on a chair. Harris sat on it, and it stuck to him. After looking for it all over the room, they met again in the centre. Then George got round at the back of Harris and saw the butter stuck to his back.
Q. Were George and Harris good at packing? Support your answer with examples.
Ans. No, George and Harris were not at all good at packing. They broke a cup, and squashed a tomato during packing. George even walked over the butter while he was packing.
Q. What did Harris and George do, when Jerome asked them to leave the matter of packing entirely to him?
Ans. Since Jerome asked Harris and George to leave the matter of packing entirely on him, George put on a pipe and spread himself over the easy-chair and Harris cocked his legs on the table and lit a cigar.
Q. Write three incidents which made the ‘packing’ a humorous story. Describe the incidents in the order in which they took place.
Ans. Packing by three friends has made the story very humorous. They did many foolish things and unpacked the bag several times. The author forgot to pack the boots, he reopened it. Harris and George offered to pack the hamper. They broke the cup, walked on the butter and stepped on the things, upsetting everything. Tomatoes were squashed and Harris sat on the butter. Montmorency, the dog, added to the confusion by destroying the lemons thinking them to be rats.
Q. While doing the packing, the author and his friends did many foolish things. Give the details of any four things.
Ans. The three friends were absent-minded, careless and confused people who carried out the job of packing in an unplanned way. None of them was a good packer. They packed things, forgot about them and again unpacked them to search for the things. They forgot to pack the boots, again unpacked to keep it and to make sure that the tooth-brush was kept or not, they unpacked while making a chaos of the things. They stepped on the things. They made a mess of soft items like butter and jam.
Q. Who was Montmorency? How did he contribute to the packing?
Ans. Montmorency was the author’s dog. His purpose in life was to meddle in other people’s work and create trouble for them. He was very active and troublesome; had the habit of moving everywhere and troubling people around him. At the time of packing, he sat on the things when they were needed; got into the hampers, put his legs into the jam, ran all over the room, took lemons to be rats thereby spoiling them completely, disturbed the teaspoons and overall delayed the packing.
Q. Do you find this story funny? What are the humorous elements present in it? Explain any three such incidents.
Ans. This story is quite humorous and funny. The funniest episode in the story is that of packing and especially Montmorency’s contribution towards it. Jerome got confused about whether he had packed his toothbrush or not. He unpacked everything only to find it in a shoe. Then, he packed his tobacco pouch and had to undo it again. They squashed tomatoes, sat on the butter. Montmorency’s contribution by considering the lemons to be rats and destroying them, leaves the reader in splits.
Q. Who was the worst packer according to you? Justify your answer.
Ans. According to me, the author is the worst packer. He didn’t make a checklist of things he needed to pack. He first forgot to pack his boots. Then as soon a he had stuffed the boots in after a good struggle, he remembered if he had packed his toothbrush. He never learnt a lesson from his previous packing experiences. Toothbrush continued to haunt his life. Though he had travelled innumerable times, he had again forgotten to pack his toothbrush. When he rummaged the things up to a state which resembled chaos before the world was created, he found in it another boot. Finally, when he slammed and strapped the bag, he found that he had packed his spectacles. He had professed in the beginning that packing was one of the many things he knew more than anyone else. But the truth was anything but that.
Q. How did Montmorency spoil their packing?
Ans. Montmorency’s highest ambition of life was to can squirm anywhere where he particularly is not wanted, and be a perfect nuisance, and make people mad, and have be sworn at. George, Harris and the author were already in a chaotic mess while packing, Montmorency’s getting in their way made everything more maddening. He came and sat down on things, just when they were wanted to be packed. He had a fixed belief that, whenever Harris or George reached out their hand for anything, it was his cold damp nose that they wanted. He put his leg into the jam, and he worried the teaspoons. He pretended that the lemons were rats, and got into the hamper and killed three of them before Harris could land him with the frying-pan.
Q. How does author’s experience of packing for the trip become memorable ?
Ans. When a common activity like packing is laced with humour, eccentricity and laughter, it does become memorable. The same is true for the author’s experience of packing for the trip. Whether it was the author or his friends, Harris and George or their dog, Montmorency, each one was eccentric in his or its own way. The author’s forgetfulness left him rummaging through the bag to get his toothpaste only to find it in his boots. When he had slammed the bag, he remembered to have left his spectacles in the strapped bag. Harris and George had a heartful of laughter at the author’s state while lolling on the sofa. When Harris and George were packing, the author had his share of laughter and solace. They started with breaking a cup, squashing a tomato by placing the strawberry jam on it and the butter getting stuck at the back of Harris left the author split into laughter. Finally, Montmorency, being a ‘perfect nuisance’ made them mad with his eccentricities. All these made the experience of packing much more than just ordinary packing and a memory to cherish.