His First Flight | English | Class 10th

His First Flight 

Liam O' Flaherty

# Summary

‘His First Flight’ written by Liam O’ Flaherty is a story of a young seagull who is afraid of flying. A family of seagulls lived on a ledge. A young seagull is left alone as he is afraid to fly and is one among the slow learners. All that this young seagull needed was motivation. By way of punishment, his family left him alone on the ledge and flew away. They upbraided him, taunted him for cowardice, and even threatened to let him starve. He remained hungry for twenty-four hours and was unable to shed off his fright of flight. He cried begging his mother to bring him some food.

She picked up a piece of fish in her beak and flew across him and stood just in front of him. The piece of fish in her beak was almost within the reach of his beak. The young seagull was mad with hunger. He dived at the fish. The next moment he found himself falling outwards and downwards into space. Instinctively, he spread his wings and flapped them. He soared upwards and all his fear is gone. It was a joyous moment for his family. He forgot that he was ever afraid of flying.

# Important Extra Questions

Question 1.
With a loud scream he fell outwards and downward into space. Then a monstrous terror seized him and his heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only lasted a minute. The next moment he felt his wings spread outwards. The wind rushed against his breast feathers, then under his stomach and against his wings. (1×4=4)
(a) How did the young seagull learn to fly ?
(b) How long did the young seagull’s fear last ?
(c) Find the word from the passage which means the same as ‘terrible’.
(d) Who fell outwards and downward into space ?
Answer:
(a) The young seagull tried to dive at the fish and fell outwards and downwards into the space. His wings spread and the wind helped him in flying.
(b) The young seagull’s fear lasted for a short while—just after a minute the seagull’s mother wanted him to follow her.
(c) ‘Monstrous’ means the same as ‘terrible’.
(d) The young seagull.

Question 2.
He stepped slowly out to the brink of the ledge, and standing on one leg with the other leg hidden under his wing he closed one eye, then the other and pretended to be falling asleep. Still they took no notice of him. (1×4=4)
(a) Who is ‘they’ in the above lines ?
(b) What was the seagull afraid of ?
(c) Trace a word from the passage which means ‘the edge of land before a steep slope’.
(d) What did the seagull pretended.
Answer:
(a) ‘They’ refer to the seagull’s parents.
(b) The seagull was afraid of flying.
(c) ‘Brink’ means the ‘edge of land before a steep slope’.
(d) The young seagull pretended be falling asleep.

Question 3.
They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly. He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His legs sank into it. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise again flapping his wings. But he was tired and weak with hunger and he could not rise, exhausted by the strange exercise. His feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and he sank no farther. He was floating on it, and around him his family was screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of dog-fish. He had made his first flight. (1×4=4)
(a) What was the ‘green flooring’ on which his brothers and sister had landed ?
(b) How was the young seagull’s first experience of the sea ?
(c) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘summoning or luring by silent signal ?
(d) Why was the seagull exhausted ?
Answer:
(a) The green flooring on which the young seagull’s brothers and sisters had landed was the sea.
(b) He thought the sea was hard like land. He tried to stand on it but his legs sunk into it.
(c) The word ‘beckoning’ means the same as ‘summoning or luring by silent signal.
(d) Due to the strange exercise.

Question 4.
He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. His legs sank into it. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise again flapping his wings. But he was tired and weak with hunger and he could not rise, exhausted by the strange exercise. His feet sank into the green sea, and then his belly touched it and he sank no further. He was floating on it, and around him his family was screaming, praising him and their beaks were offering him scraps of dog fish. (1×4=4)
(a) Why could ‘he’ not rise ?
(b) Why was his family praising him ?
(c) Find out a word from the passage which means the same as ‘tired out’.
(d) What was his family offering him ?
Answer:
(a) He couldn’t rise as he was tired and weak with hunger.
(b) His family was praising him because he had made a successful flight and conquered his fear.
(c) ‘Exhausted’ means the same as ‘tired out’.
(d) Scraps of dogfish

Question 5.
He waited a moment in surprise, wondering why she did not come nearer and then maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. With a loud scream he fell outwards and downwards into space. (1×4=4)
(a) Who waited in surprise for whom ?
(b) What did he think she would offer to him ?
(c) Which word in the passage means the same as ‘cry as of fear’ ?
(d) Who is referred as ‘He’ in the passage ?
Answer:
(a) The young seagull waited in surprise for his mother.
(b) He thought that she would offer him a fish to eat.
(c) ‘Scream’ means the same as ‘cry as of fear’.
(d) The young seagull.

Question 6.
His father and mother had come around calling to him shrilly, upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew away. But for the life of him. he could not move. That was twenty four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him, The day before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sister, perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for fish. He had, in fact, seen his older brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a rock, while his parents circled around raising a proud cackle. (1×4=4)
(a) Why were his parents reproaching him ?
(b) Why could the young seagull not move from the ledge ?
(c) Find a word from the extract that means ‘to eat’.
(d) What did the parents do in pride ?
Answer:
(a) His parents were reproaching him because he was not ready to fly.
(b) The seagull could not move from the ledge because he was afraid of losing his life.
(c) ‘Devour’ means to eat.
(d) They were raising a proud cackle.

Short Answer Type Questions (30-40 words & 2 marks each)

Question 1.
What happened when the young seagull dived at the fish picked up by his mother ? [Board Term-1 2016-17 Set-W1W2XLL]
Answer:
When the young sea gull dived at the fish, he fell outwards and downwards with a scream. His monstrous terror siezed him and his heart stood still. Soon his wings spread outwards and he could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air.

Question 2.
How did the seagull feel when his belly touched the green sea ? [Board Term I, 2012; Set-EL2 – 036 / Board Term I, 2011; Set-520010]
Answer:
When the seagull’s belly touched the green sea, he was scared that he would sink. He tried to fly but could not. He was exhausted and weak due to hunger.

Question 3.
Why was the young seagull afraid ? [Board Term I, 2011; Set-520016] [NCERT]
Answer:
The seagull was afraid as he was unable to fly. He felt that his legs were not strong enough.

Question 4.
What did the young seagull do to attract his mother’s attention ? [Board Term I, 2012; Set-EL2 – 043 / Board Term I, 2011; Set-520017]
Answer:
In order to attract his mother’s attention, the young seagull stood on one leg and pretended to be falling asleep on the brink of the ledge.

Question 5.
The young seagull was afraid of flying. Why ? [Board Term I, 2011; Set-520019] [NCERT]
Answer:
The young seagull was afraid of flying as it was a steep fall to the sea, the sea expanse was vast and he thought that his wings would not support him.

Long Answer Type Questions (100-120 words & 8 marks each)

Question 1.
A young seagull is too afraid to fly. His father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly. Don’t you think that such type of strategy is followed by almost all parents to make their children learn ? Substantiate your answer with examples. (80-100 words).
Answer:
The young seagull is scared to fly. He is afraid of the vast exposure of the sea beneath him. His parents cajole him to fly but he is too scared to fly. At the same time, he is desperate with hunger. He expects his parents to feed him. But he is left alone without food. They threaten him that he’ll die of hunger if he doesn’t fly. Then the mother tempts him with a fish within his reach, but not closer to him. He ultimately falls to temptation and dives into the sea and finally succeeds. All the parents should follow such type of strategy to make their children learn. They should not pamper their children by spoon feeding. They should make them independent. Parents strictness in making a child learn a skill shouldn’t be taken as a threat. It is in favour of child as without threat, the seagull won’t have learnt to fly; he would be starved to death.

Question 2.
What role was played by the family of the seagull to train him in the art of flying ?
Answer:
To train the young seagull in the art of flying, the entire family helped out. His sister and brothers encouraged him to muster up courage and try to fly. The parents called out in a shrill voice, along with cajoling and scolding him in turn. Then they threatened to let him starve. When all this proved unsuccessful, his mother tempted him by flying close to his ledge with a piece of fish in its mouth. Maddened by hunger, he dived forward to get that piece and fell into space. To save himself he spread his wings and found that he was able to fly. Thus, the entire family helped him in learning the art of flying.

Question 3.
Imagine you are the seagull’s mother. You wanted him to fly and your plan worked. Write a page in your diary to describe how he ventured into his flight.
Answer:
Monday : 25th June, 20xx 10:30 p.m.
Dear Diary
Today I am feeling very happy. Finally, all my children are able to fly. Coaxing the youngest one was a real ordeal. He just refused to get off the ledge. We tried every method but failed. After nearly 24 hours, I could see that he was feeling really hungry, so I decided to play-trick with him. I took a piece of fish in my mouth and flew close to the ledge. Maddened by hunger, he stepped forward to get the fish, lost his balance and fell outwards. Instinctively, he spread his wings and found that he could fly. It was the proud moment of my life. I shall never forget it.
Good night Diary.

Question 4.
Do you think hunger was a good motivation for the young seagull in his first flight ?
Answer:
Yes, in this case, hunger was a great motivation for the young seagull. He was coward, full of fear. All the efforts of his parents had failed to coax him into flight. For 24 hours, no one went near him and he was almost faint with hunger. Finally, the mother flew near him with a scrap of food in her beak. Unable to resist, he plunged into the air to catch it and fell out. To save himself, he opened his wings, wind rushed to them and he found that he could fly.

Value Based Question

Question 1.
All parental acts are for the betterment of the children. Justify this statement by taking points from the lesson, ‘The First Flight”.
Answer:
The young seagull’s family tried every possible method to encourage him to fly. They cajoled him and even scolded him but to no avail. Finally, they decided to leave him hungry on the ledge for some time. Finally, his mother took a bold but seemingly cruel step. She flew close to the ledge with a scrap of fish in her beak. That made the young seagull fall from the ledge while trying to get the fish. In fright, he opened his wings and then found that he was able to fly. Thus, the purpose was served.

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