"The Unexpected" by Robert Lynd : Questions and Answers

Target Audience: Polytechnic Teachers and Students in Tamilnadu
Subject: English-1, II YEAR MOP, M SCHEME
Objective: Students should be able to interpret and explain a content in English. 
Question Pattern in Exam: II. Answer any FIVE questions  each in 30 words : (5 x 2=10)
Eight questions from 4 lessons will be given in the exam and students should answer FIVE questions in 30 words.
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1. Why does Lynd place together the nightingale and the phoenix?

Lynd longs to see the bird nightingale.  But he lives in a village where he is not able to see a nightingale.  So he compares the nightingale to phoenix.  He says that the nightingale has become a bird of imagination like the mythical bird Phoenix. 

2.  Why does Lynd find the company of hens depressing now? / Why can a hen be never mysteriously beautiful?

As a child, Lynd loved hens very much.  He dislikes them now just because they appear to be slaves content with the slavery.  They just work like slaves without protest - “hens have no souls.”   Familiarity is another reason why he hates.  If a hen were just an imaginary bird in Greek or Roman mythology, it would have been mysteriously beautiful to him.

3. How does the goose retain some of its ancient glory?

The goose appears in a Roman legend.  It is the attendant bird of goddess Juno in “ the legend of the Capitoline Geese.”   It has saved Romans from the attack of Gauls.  Another reason is that they are never entirely domesticated like hens.  Thus the goose retains some of its ancient glory.

4. Explain the reference to Dick Turpin./ What, according to Lynd, is the most compulsive and interesting thing about the wild birds that compel our respect?

The reference is comparison of Dick Turpin and wild birds.  Dick Turpin is a highway robber.  He lived in the 18^th century England.  The writer makes the reference that bull finches and black birds may be black in colour like Dick Turpin in black dress.  But these birds are not as dangerous as Dick Turpin.  People looked down Dick Turpin but not these birds. These wild birds are not slaves.  They come in summer and leave in winter.  They enjoy the freedom that is that compels our respect for them.

5. What is Lynd’s prophesy about the willow-wren?

Lynd knows much about ornithology, the study of birds.  So he makes the prophesy that if another Shakespeare appears in England, he will sing  in praise of the singing bird –Willow Wren.

6. Why was an American poet disappointed with the singing of skylark? / What is the greatest pleasure to be got from the song of birds?

An American poet loved Shelley’s poem “Ode to Skylark” and came to England to really hear the song of skylark.  She got disappointed.  According to Lynd, the lady got disappointed because she forgot to notice that the bird’s song is also the voice of the air, tree and the countryside.  The real pleasure comes when it is unexpected and unasked for.  The greatest pleasure is for those who take things as they come.

7.  How does Lynd want us to approach nature?

Lynd wants us to approach nature without any expectations.  He wants us to accept what comes from nature as it is.  Lynd says that Nature is so charming and has many gifts but only for the unexpected.