The Artist By Shiga Naoya
The Artist, Shiga Naoya Born 20 February 1883
Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan
Died 21 October 1971 (aged 88)
Atami, Shizuoka, Japan
Resting place Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo, Japan
Occupation Novelist, short story writer
Language Japanese
Literary movement Novel
The Artist Explanation In English
Seibei was a twelve years old boy and he was still in primary school. He lived with his parents in a small harbor town in japan. He was passionately fond of collecting gourds. On his way back home from school.
He would wander along the streets of the town looking for a ground of his choice. He had come to know of every place in the town where gourds were sold.
If he found a gourd he liked, he bought it for a few son. and brought it home. He liked only even symmetrical gourds.
Preparing a Gourd
In the evening Seibei would sit cross-legged in the corner of the living room. He would first make a neat hole in the top of the gourd, and take out the seeds, Then he applied tea leaves to get rid of the unpleasant gourd-smell.
When he had finished treating it, he poured in a little sake and stopped the hole with a cork-stopper. Then he would wrap it in a towel and put it in a tin. Then he put all of this in the charcoal foot warmer.
Next morning he would take out the gourd and hang it in the sun to dry. Then he spent days polishing its surface with a little sake.
The bekin gourd
One evening while seibei was polishing one of his gourds, his father and his father’s friend were discussing gourds. They talked of Bekin’s gourd. It was kept at the agriculture fair. It had been a sensation.
Seibei’s father and his friend had been to see it. He remarked it was a clumsy big thing. His father rebuked him for making these comments and discouraged him too.
His father’s friend advised him to collect one or two unusual gourds. Just making a collection was of no use.
Seibei finds a gourd of his choice
One day Seibei saw an old woman selling fruit and vegetables. She had a string of gourds too. Seibei saw among them a small gourd. He was excited , The woman offered it for ten Sen.
Seibei did not have the money. He asked the woman to hold the gourd for him and ran home to bring the money. He bought the gourd.
The gourd causes trouble
Seibei was engrossed with polishing the gourd all the time. He even took it to school. It was a lesson of ethics but Seibei was polishing the gourd under his seat.
The Teacher belonged to another part of Japan. He disapproved the collection of gourds. He was angry with Seibei and confiscated the gourd.
Seibei’s father smashes all the gourds
The teacher went to Seibei’s home. Seibei’s father worked in a carpenter’s shop. He had not come home yet. The teacher complained about Seibei to his mother. He told her that it was parents responsibility to keep children away from stupid pastimes.
When Seibei’s father came home, he learned what the teacher had said. He rebuked Seibei and beat him. Then he smashed all the gourds that Seibei had polished with great care. This was the end of Seibei’s passion for collecting gourds.
The confiscated gourd
The teacher gave the gourd to a porter. The Porter sold it to a Curio-dealer for fifty yen. Later the Curio-dealer sold the gourd to a wealthy collector for six hundred yen.
Seibei takes to painting pictures
Seibei could not collect gourds any longer. He now took to painting pictures, though his father often discouraged him and rebuked him.
The Artist Question & Answer
Q. 1 Why did the conversation of his father and his friends make Seibei laugh inwardly?
Ans.- The conversation of his father and his friend made Seibei laugh inwardly because his father commented on baking gourd that they had at the agricultural show last spring.
The baking gourd had made quite a stir at the time, but when he(Seibei) had gone to see it he had found it rather a stupid-looking object and had walked out of the show.
Q. 2 Why did Seibei’s father shout at him?
Ans.- Seibei’s father and his friend were talking about baken gourd, they had seen in the agricultural show held in the last spring, which according to him was most beautiful.
But Seibei found it stupid-looking, when we had gone in that show, as such he had walked out of it ( the show). So he said that he didn’t think so much of it, because it was just an awkward thing. Seibei’s interruption made his father angry. So he shouted at him.
Q.3 Why did Seibei wander about the town?
Ans.- It was Seibei’s hobby to wander about the town almost daily looking for gourds. He was deeply interested in buying and collecting if from the market and arranged it on the walls of his house.
Q.4 What made Seibei’s heart beat faster?
Ans.- When Seibei was examining the gourds, suddenly he caught sight of one which was about five inches long and something about it made Seibei’s heart beat faster.
Q.5 Which is called effeminate pastime in the story?
Ans.- The teacher came from another part of Japan and found it most offensive that children should indulge in such womanish pastime as collecting gourds. As such it is called effeminate pastime in the story.
Q.6 How did Seibei’s father react to the teacher’s complaint?
Ans.- Seibei’s father reacted to the teacher’s complaint when he knew Seibei’s teacher and became angry at this matter.
As soon as he heard, he grabbed his son by the collar and gave him a sound beating. He chided his son that he would never get anywhere in the world, the way he is carrying on.
Q.7 What did Seibei do after he was forced to give up collecting gourds?
Ans.- The father of Seibei fetched his hammer and systematically smashed the gourds to pieces, one after the other. It brought a change in his hobby, Seibei is now engrossed in his pictures.
The Artist Objective Questions
1. Who has written the story ‘The Artist’ ?
a) John Donne
b) Shiga Naoya
c) J.L Nehru
d) M.G Gandhi
2. Shiga Naoya is ……………….writer.
a) a British
b) a Chinese
c) a Japanease
d) an American
3. “The Artist” is…………………..
a) a short story
b) an essay
c) a drama
d) a play
4. Seibei was a …………………. Japanese boy.
a) 10 years
b) 12 years
c) 15 years
d) 5 years
5. Seibei was fond of…………………
a) money
b) gourds
c) cars
d) sweets
6. Seibei bought a………….inch gourd from an old woman.
a) 2
b) 3
c) 4
d) 5
7. The price of the five inches gourd was …………
a) ten yen
b) ten sen
c) nine yen
d) nine sen
8. One day Seibei was caught by his ………… teacher.
a) Physics
b) Ethics
c) Hindi
d) English
9. “You are an idiot!” ……………. Shouted.
a) the teacher
b) his father
c) the officer
d) his mother
10. The teacher became very …….. with Seibei for neglecting his studies.
a) angry
b) friendly
c) sad
d) happy
11. Seibei lived in a …………. Town.
a) central
b) posh
c) remote
d) harbour
12. Seibei read in a ……………..school.
a) small
b) primary
c) private
d) local school
13. Seibei’s father worked at……. Shop.
a) grocery
b) carpenter’s
c) plumbers
d) goldsmith’s
14. The teacher gave Seibei’s confiscated gourd to an old……………
a) Porter
b) professor
c) shopkeeper
d) curio-dealer
15. The porter sold it to the curio dealer for …………..
a) 50 yen
b) 20 sen
c) 20 yen
d) 50 sen
16. The curio-dealer sold it to the collector for …….
a) 500 yen
b) 600 sen
c) 600 yen
d) 500 sen
17. Shiga Naoya is famous for ………………
a) Novel
b) essay
c) short story
d) drama
18. Shiga Naoya was born in……………………….
a) 1883
b) 1892
c) 1872
d) 1890
19. Shiga Naoya died in………………
a) 1971
b) 1920
c) 1970
d) 1900
20. Shiga Naoya is writer of…………………century.
a)21th
b)20th
c)19th
d)17th
21. ………… was done to Seibei .
a) justice
b) injustice
c) argument
d) cheating
22. We should admire the inherent qualities present in the…………
a) children
b) adult
c) old
d) young
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