The Snake and the Mirror is Chapter 5 of the Class 9 English Beehive textbook, written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. The story is humorous yet meaningful, highlighting human pride, fear, and self-realization.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 5 are designed to help students understand the story’s message, characters, and writing style in a simple and exam-oriented manner.
These solutions follow the latest NCERT guidelines and are useful for quick revision and concept clarity.
With well-structured The Snake And The Mirror Questions And Answers, students can easily prepare long and short answers, extract-based questions, and value-based questions asked in examinations.
The Snake And The Mirror Questions And Answers
This section provides detailed The Snake And The Mirror Questions And Answers based strictly on the NCERT textbook.
Each answer is written in clear language, focusing on key points required for exams. These answers help students understand character traits, themes, and the moral of the story.
Along with textbook questions, Snake And The Mirror Question Answers also help students prepare for competency-based and analytical questions.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Chapter 5 The Snake and the Mirror
Thinking about the Text
I. Discuss in pairs and answer each question below in a short paragraph (30–40 words).
Question 1. “The sound was a familiar one.” What sound did the doctor hear? What did he think it was? How many times did he hear it? (Find the places in the text.) When and why did the sounds stop?
Answer: When the doctor opened the door, he heard a disturbance upstairs. He assumed the noise to be that of rats. The sound, he heard as he opened the door, he heard it four times:
“Again, I heard that sound from above.” “Again, came that noise from above.” “Suddenly there came a dull thud as if a rubber tube had fallen to the ground…” The sounds stopped when the snake appeared in front of the doctor.Question 2 . What two “important” and “earth-shaking” decisions did the doctor take while he was looking into the mirror?
Answer:
The following are the two crucial and significant choices the doctor made when he observed himself in the mirror: To look more gorgeous, he would grow a thin moustache and shave every day. ii. He would never take his gorgeous smile off his faceQuestion 3 . “I looked into the mirror and smiled,” says the doctor. A little later he says, “I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself.”
What is the doctor’s opinion about himself when: (i) he first smiles, and (ii) he smiles again? In what way do his thoughts change in between, and why?Answer:
(i) The doctor thought his smile was really lovely when he first smiled. (ii) He was thinking that he was a poor, foolish doctor when he grinned once more. Between the two situations, his ideas shifted from being an attractive doctor to being an idiotic doctor. Now that his life was in danger, his viewpoint shifted.Question 1. (i) The kind of person the doctor is (money, possessions)
(ii) The kind of person he wants to be (appearance, ambition)Answer:
(i) The physician was a low-paid individual. His rental room was a little home. He had a black coat, a few shirts, and dhotis, but only sixty rupees. (ii) He thinks he can make himself appear attractive. He decides to grow a thin moustache and shave every day.Question 2 . (i) The person he wants to marry
(ii) The person he actually marriesAnswer:
(i) He desires to wed a wealthy, fat woman physician. (ii) He weds a thin, undesirable woman who can run quickly.Question 3. (i) His thoughts when he looks into the mirror
(ii) His thoughts when the snake is coiled around his arm Write short paragraphs on each of these to get your answer.Answer:
(i) He believes he has a really lovely smile when he looks in the mirror. He decides to always have a smile on his face and to shave every day. When he looks in the mirror, his expression seems satisfied. (ii) He sits there holding his breath while the snake coils around his arm. He views himself as a weak and foolish physician. The presence of the snake scares him.Thinking about Language
I. Here are some sentences from the text. Say which of them tells you that the author: (a) was afraid of the snake, (b) was proud of his appearance, (c) had a sense of humour, (d) was no longer afraid of the snake.
1. I was turned to stone. 2. I was no mere image cut in granite. 3. The arm was beginning to be drained of strength. 4. I tried in my imagination to write in bright letters outside my little heart the words, ‘O God’. 5. I didn’t tremble. I didn’t cry out. 6. I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile. 7. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood. 8. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor too on top of it! 9. The fellow had such a sense of cleanliness…! The rascal could have taken it and used it after washing it with soap and water. 10. Was it trying to make an important decision about growing a moustache or using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead.Answer:
(a) Was afraid of the snake: Sentences 1, 3, 4, 5. (b) Was proud of his appearance: Sentences 6, 8. (c) Had a sense of humour: Sentences 9, 10. (d) Was no longer afraid of the snake: Sentence 2, 7.II. Expressions used to show fear
Can you find the expressions in the story that tell you that the author was frightened? Read the story and complete the following sentences. 1. I was turned ________________. 2. I sat there holding ________________. 3. In the light of the lamp I sat there like ________________.
Answer:
1. I was turned to stone.
2. I sat there holding my breath.
3. In the light of the lamp I sat there like a stone image in the flesh.
III. In the sentences given below some words and expressions are italicised. They variously mean that one
• is very frightened. • is too scared to move. • is frightened by something that happens suddenly. • makes another feel frightened.
Match the meanings with the words/expressions in italics, and write the appropriate meaning next to the sentence. The first one has been done for you.
1. I knew a man was following me, I was scared out of my wits. (very frightened)
2. I got a fright when I realised how close I was to the cliff edge.
3. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the bull coming towards him.
4. You really gave me a fright when you crept up behind me like that.
5. Wait until I tell his story — it will make your hair stand on end.
6. Paralysed with fear, the boy faced his abductors.
7. The boy hid behind the door, not moving a muscle.
Answers:
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I knew a man was following me, I was scared out of my wits. (very frightened)
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I got a fright when I realised how close I was to the cliff edge. (very frightened)
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He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the bull coming towards him. (to be suddenly surprised or frightened by something)
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You really gave me a fright when you crept up behind me like that. (too scared/frightened)
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Wait until I tell his story — it will make your hair stand on end. (feel shocked or scared)
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Paralysed with fear, the boy faced his abductors. (too horrified to move)
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The boy hid behind the door, not moving a muscle. (too frightened to move)
IV. Reported questions
Report these questions using if/whether or why/when/where/how/which/what.
Remember the italicised verbs change into the past tense.
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Meena asked her friend, “Do you think your teacher will come today?”
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David asked his colleague, “Where will you go this summer?”
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He asked the little boy, “Why are you studying English?”
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She asked me, “When are we going to leave?”
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Pran asked me, “Have you finished reading the newspaper?”
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Seema asked her, “How long have you lived here?”
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Sheila asked the children, “Are you ready to do the work?”
Answer:
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Meena asked her friend if he/she thought his/her teacher would come that day.
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David asked his colleague where he would go that summer.
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He asked the little boy why he was studying English.
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She asked me when we were going to leave.
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Pran asked me if I had finished reading the newspaper.
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Seema asked her how long she had lived there.
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Sheila asked the children if they were ready to do the work.
Writing
Question 2: Read the description given alongside this sketch from a photograph in a newspaper (Times of India, 4 September 1999). Make up a story about what the monkey is thinking, or why it is looking into a mirror. Write a paragraph about it.
Answer: THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL
On a bright day, a monkey was having fun climbing and jumping across trees. Suddenly he saw a shining piece of mirror on the ground. He jumped down and had a close look at the mirror.
At first, he could not understand what it was. After some time, he realised that the thing in his hand showed him his reflection. He looked at his face in the mirror.
He removed twigs and dust that were stuck on his face. He made several faces and kept looking at his reflection. He touched his head and rubbed his hair. He preened himself for long. Then he threw the mirror back on the ground and took a leap onto the next tree.
The Snake and the Mirror Summary
The Snake and the Mirror narrates the experience of a young doctor who lives in a small, poorly furnished room. One night, he admires himself in the mirror, feeling proud of his appearance and future plans. Suddenly, a snake falls on his shoulder and coils around his arm, leaving him frozen with fear.
In a twist of fate, the snake sees its reflection in the mirror and becomes absorbed in admiring itself. This distraction allows the doctor to escape safely. The Snake and the Mirror Summary teaches an important lesson about humility, self-awareness, and how pride can vanish in moments of danger.
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