A Story

-Dylan Thomas

Theme

“A Story” written by a Welsh poet and short story writer Dylan Thomas presents events from the perspective of a small boy. The boy narrates those happenings which he came across in his childhood. His description is full of humor and satire. The aged people are shown as if they are stupid stuff. The writer has created the world of absurd people through a boy’s perspective.

Detailed Summary:

This is a humorous story told by the narrator from a child's point of view. It is about a day's picnic trip to Porthcawl with a great deal of comic activities. Porthcawl is a place in Wales in the UK. But the participants never reached there. The characters in the story appear to play casual role insignificantly. The story simply reads like a humorous commentary about a trip. The story can be studied dividing it into 3 parts. The first part describes the boy's uncle and aunt. The second part gives every detail of the participants of the trip. The final part of the story describes the outing where 30 people participated.

The narrator was a small boy. He used to live with his uncle and aunty. His uncle (Mr. Thomas) was very big, but the house was small. He used to drop a lot of food on his clothes when he ate. He was a dirty man. He was red hairy and he was so big that he used to occupy every each of his room like an old buffalo squeezed into an airing cupboard. He has a small shop at the front of his house. On the other hand, his aunt was small and quiet. She was so small that every Saturday night at 10.30, his uncle used to lift her up under his arm, onto a chair and then she used to hit him with whatever was handy, specially the Chinese dog. The boy compares her to a mouse and a cat because she used to walk quietly. His aunt was always busy in household work. The relationship between his uncle and aunt was lovely, wonderful and contrastive. They were fantastic couple though sometimes they used to quarrel.

One day, in the evening, the boy was sitting on a bag of rice in his uncle's tiny shop and reading an advertisement for sheep-dip. His uncle was also there. Meanwhile, some of his uncle's friends like Mr. Benjamin Franklyn, Mr. Weazley, Noah Bowen and Will Sentry arrived there. Franklyn (the treasurer) informed that he collected enough money, 20 cases of pale ale (alcohol) and other necessary things for the trip by a Charabanc (old bus). He complained that he would be sick of being followed by Will Sentry.

The next Sunday evening after prayer, the boy and his uncle were taking sardines in the kitchen. Meanwhile Franklyn came and showed the list of the participants for the decided annual trip to Porthcawl. His uncle saw the list and described each participant in detail. His aunty was somewhere in the kitchen. She heard their conversation and being very angry, threatened her husband to choose either her or the trip. Very simply the Uncle Mr. Thomas chose the trip.

Finally the day for the trip arrived. It was the Saturday morning. The boy's aunt had already left her home to go to her mother's. She had written her husband a note in which she had advised him to put off his shoes before going to bed and eat eggs kept in pantry. There was no one to take care of the boy. So his uncle agreed to take him to the trip despite the objection of his friends.

The bus Charabanc came outside the uncle's tiny shop. When all got in the bus it moved. It was now out of the village and over a bridge. Frankly found that Old O, Jones was left behind. The bus returned to pick him up from the Prince of Wales (a place) where he was waiting patiently. As they drove off, the women of the village peeped out from windows and boys bid them good-bye. No sooner had they crossed the village than they came to a public house. The uncle asked the boy to look after the charra and they went inside. A little later a man came and the boy followed him to the pub. Inside the pub he saw his uncle and his friends drinking, breaking the glasses and talking nonsense. The boy did not remain there. He was afraid of the situation. Afterwards the uncle and his friends came out and got into the charra.

While travelling towards Porthcawl, the members of the trip stopped at different pubs like The Blue Bull, The Dragan, The Star of Wales, The Twll in the Wall, The Sour Grapes, The Shepherd's Arms, The Bells of Aberdovey and The Druid's Tap Bar for drink. The craziest person for drink was Mr. Weazley who insisted on stopping the bus everywhere.

Then they reached a river where they all got down and played with water. They forgot the idea of going to Porthcrawl. By the evening, they reached the place called Hermit’s Nest, where they decided to rest and enjoy drinking again. They drank so much rum that they could not control their sense. Then they decided to return home. On the way home, they rested in an open field and sat in a circle. They continued drinking there            too.     Being overtired, the boy slept against his uncle's big waistcoat. Suddenly Will Sentry shouted looking at the moon in the sky "who goes there?" Thus the story ends with a humour.

Question-answers:

1. Describe the boy’s uncle in a paragraph.

The boy’s uncle was tall, big and red-hairy. He used to occupy every inch of his room. He was just like a buffalo squeezed into an airing cupboard. His voice was hoarse. He used to drop food and drink on his waistcoat. His waistcoat looked like a picnic spot recently left by picnic-goers. He was very crazy for drink. Whenever asked, he chose his trip, but not his wife.

2. The plan was to go to Porthcawl for the outing. Did they ever reach there? Why?

=> The members of the outing never reached their destination. Though they had honest intention to reach there, they didn't reach there because there were plenty of public houses selling ale (alcohol) on their way to porthcawl. As they were crazy for drink, they stopped at almost all public houses and quenched their thirst of wine. At the Mountain Sheep, where they began their gypsy drinking session, drank for 45 minutes until they were overdrunk. They didn't stop drinking at other public houses too. They even drank behind locked bars. Mr. Weazley coughed and stopped the bus wherever he liked for drink. The members on the charabanc sang and talked of reaching Porthcawl but they didn't reach there. When it was dusk, they entered the Hermit's Nest for rum to keep them warm. Finally, they got out of the charabanc for one last drink session. They sat in a circle in the open, moonlit field and drank the remaining cases of alcohol. They continued to sing and enjoy the evening in the field. They returned from there without reaching Porthcawl.

3. Describe the relation between Thomas (the boy's uncle) and his wife. (2060/62/63)

=> Uncle Thomas was a big, noisy, awkward man who ran a shop at the front of his house. He had a voracious appetite too. His wife, on the other hand, was small and quiet like a cat. She would squeak about occasionally like a mouse. The two of them, in spite of having different characters, seem to have enjoyed a good married life most of the time except during the annual outing season. Once his wife, being very angry, asked him to choose her or the outing. Uncle Thomas very simply chose the trip because he was crazy for drink. At home, Uncle Thomas was mostly drunk on Saturdays and Sundays, so he allowed her to beat him on his head with a china dog. He knew he had made a mistake, so he would lift her up, under his arm onto a chair in the kitchen. Most probably aunt had, in fact, broken many china cups on his head. During Uncle Thomas's annual outing, she went to her mother's house. However, she used to leave a note advising him to eat some eggs she had left in the pantry and to take his shoes off before he went to bed. This account proves that she loved him. She was more of a strict and practical woman, who was bothered about neatness. Uncle Thomas was indifferent to all that. She didn't allow him to play draughts on Sundays too. This could mainly be for religious sake as Sunday is considered a holy day. Overall, the two shared a comfortable relationship.

4. What is the reason for which Will Sentry always followed Mr. Franklyn? (2058)

=> Mr. Franklyn was made the treasurer of the Outing Committee because Bob the Fiddle, who had worked in the same position last year, had bought drinks for himself with the money that was collected for the outing. In other words, the fund was misappropriated. Will Sentry suspected a similar episode could happen again. So, he was always at the heels of Mr. Franklyn. Mr. Franklyn even went to the extent of resigning from his responsibility if Will Sentry continued to be with him even in the bed interrupting          him.

5. How does the boy, the narrator, look at his uncle and his aunt? (2059)

=> The narrator is very small and much nicer in his childhood. As a young boy, he finds his uncle big, loud and red haired man, who fills his little house like an old buffalo. Thomas appears to be a sweaty giant who breathes like a brass band and eats a lot never keeping his large waistcoat as clean as his wife likes to have. The boy seems to have a negative attitude towards his aunt. He addresses her as his uncle's wife rather than addressing her as aunt or auntie. He compares her to a cat because she whisks about the rooms on padded paws, cleaning and maintaining household items. Occasionally, she utters high-pitched sounds like a mouse does. The aunt doesn't allow him and his uncle to play draughts on Sundays. He clearly remembers her posture the day when the uncle finalizes the list of would-be outing-goers. She stands in front of the dresser, with a china dog in her hand threatening to go to her mother's if he goes outing. The boy provides a humorous presentation of the contrasting personalities of his uncle and aunt, a loving couple most time of the year except during the annual outing.

 

6. Give a description of the outing as Thomas would describe it. (2066)

=> I am Thomas. I and twenty-nine other friends of mine had decided to go to Porthcawl for the outing. We started on Saturday morning. My strict wife Sarah warned me that she would stay with her mother if I went to Porthcawl with my friends. I chose Porthcawl. I chose the outing. On Saturday morning of the outing, I found a note she had written and left for me. I found nothing new in it. I took my nephew with me in spite of the objection of my friends. When the charabanc came and stopped at our place, all the 29 participants were very happy and got in the bus. We had hardly got out of the village, when Mr. Franklyn said that Old O Jones was left behind. We drove back and picked him from the Prince of Wales, where he was waiting patiently. Mr. Weazley had wanted us to return to his house to get his false teeth, but we didn't realize it necessity for drinking. The charabanc stopped at The Mountain Sheep. All my friends rushed out like eager sheep to the bar. But, I kept my nephew back to look after the charabanc before I entered the bar. There, we spent 45 minutes swilling (drinking large) all the available ale. We came out of it and drove on. We got down at each public house, even locked ones as Mr. Weazley asked the driver to stop to avoid dying of breath. We also had fun in the river as we sang and danced and talked of reaching Porthcawl. When it was dusk, we stopped at Hermit's Nest for rum to keep out the cold. On the way home, Old O' Jones prepared supper on the charabanc but Mr. Weazley had better plan. As usual he got us down the bus onto a moon-splashed field, where we sat in a circle and enjoyed the last remaining cases of ale we had carried with us. My nephew was sleeping against my waistcoat. We didn't reach home before midnight.

7. Write an essay on an outing (actual or imaginary) in which you were a participant. Or, Write an essay about your picnic programme you have recently made.

 A Day Outing to Karnali

 Last Saturday all the students of my class decided to go for picnic to Karnali Chisapani. We were forty students all together. Our bus left Nepalgunj at six o’ clock in the morning. On the way we watched the wild animals like tigers, elephants and birds as well as the crocodiles in the Bardiya National Park. We sang and danced together happily. We enjoyed a lot together Inside  the bus.We reached Karnali Chisapani Bridge at 10 am.         

Our bus stopped by the side of Karnali Bridge. The splendid bridge charmed us and we take photos on it. The green hills, the clear blue water of the river and the beautiful bridge enchanted us and we spent an hour unknowingly with the fast moving wind of Karnali. some of our friends started to prepare food and other friends started to dance with the loud sound of the loudspeaker. We made a lot of fun there. We took our lunch at 1 PM and we went for boating in the river. We enjoyed there for two hour. We took many photos while we were boating in the river. In the evening, we prepared to return. But at that time something bad happened. Two of our naughty friends drank alcohol secretly and they were out of control. They spoke what they liked to our female friends. Then we decided to leave them at a hotel for that evening. We reached to our house in the evening. Poor blamed fellows came next day being ashamed. It was my memorable outing or picnic program I have recently made. 

The End