Hi Everyone!! This article will share A Stranger Walks into Town Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions & answers of The Worth Of A Skill, Swallows Travel To and Fro and Grandfather and The Python so, you can check these posts as well.
A Stranger Walks into Town Questions & Answers
Question 1: What effect did the stranger’s arrival have on the people of the town?
Answer: The inhabitants of the town observed the stranger with a sense of uneasiness and curiosity.
Question 2: Briefly describe the stranger in your own words?
Answer: The stranger was travelling on foot and looked weary and shabby in appearance. He was of medium height, robust, and looked about forty-six or forty-eight years old. He was wearing a leather visor that was weathered by the sun and wind. His face dripping with perspiration was partially concealed by the visor. His hair was closely cropped, yet bristling as it begun to grow back a little.
Question 3: What was the initial reaction of the Inn-keeper towards the stranger’s request?
Answer: The initial reaction of the inn-keeper was polite as he enquired the newcomer as to how can he be served. The host took in the dilapidated appearance of the newcomer and responded that the services of food and lodging would need to be paid for in money.
Question 4: Read and answer the questions:
(a) Who is the host?
Answer: The host was the owner of the inn and also the chief cook.
(b) Who is the newcomer?
Answer: The newcomer at the inn is a weary traveller, who is a stranger to the town.
(c) What had the newcomer come there for?
Answer: The newcomer had come to the inn in search of food and lodging.
(d) How did the host treat the newcomer?
Answer: The host initially responded politely to the newcomer and asked him what services he sought. However, as he observed the stranger’s shabby and ragged appearance and clothing, he added that the services of food and lodging would be available to the newcomer only in exchange for money, as the former doubted if the traveller had sufficient money to pay him.
Question 5: What did the inn-keeper, Jacquin Labarre, do without the stranger’s knowledge?
Answer: Jacquin Labarre, the inn-keeper, wrote down a few lines on a small piece of newspaper and whispered a word in the ear of a young boy, who was his helper and sent the boy running in the direction of the town-hall with the note. This was done without the stranger’s knowledge.
Question 6: What was it that made Jacquin Labarre change his mind suddenly about serving the stranger?
Answer: The written response to his own note from the town-hall made Jacquin Labarre change his mind about serving the stranger.
A Stranger Walks into Town Questions & Answers
Question 7: Read and answer the questions:
(a) Who is the landlord mentioned here?
Answer: The landlord is Jacquin Labarre, who owns the inn.
(b) What did he send the child with to the town-hall?
Answer: He sent the child with a hand-written note to the town-hall.
(c) Who was the traveller and why was he there?
Answer: The traveller was a man who was stranger in that town and he came to the inn in search of food and lodging.
(d) Did the traveller eventually get dinner?
Answer: The traveller was eventually asked to leave the inn though he had money to pay for the services, and he did not get any dinner either.
Question 8: What was it that finally made the stranger leave the inn?
Answer: The landlord told the stranger that he was aware of the man’s true identity and showed the stranger a note of correspondence with the town-hall. This finally prompted the stranger to leave the inn.
Question 9: What would the stranger have noticed had he turned around while leaving the cross of colbas?
Answer: If the stranger had turned around as he walked out from the inn he would have seen the host of Cross of Colbas standing at his threshold, surrounded by the guests in his inn. He would also have noticed passersby in the street talking animatedly and pointing him out, with glances of distrust and hostility.
Question 10: Read and answer the questions:
(a) Who is the ‘man’?
Answer: The ‘man’ was a newcomer at the town, who came looking for food and a place to stay at the inn.
(b) Why did he say these words?
Answer: The stranger said those words because he was tired after a long day of travel and wanted to rest, and in spite of showing that he had sufficient money to pay for meals and lodging at the inn the landlord insisted that he leave the inn immediately.
(c) Why was the host asking the man to go?
Answer: The host came to know that the stranger was Jean Valjean, who served a prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his sister’s children during a time of economic depression and attempted escape numerous times. So, the host refused to provide any services and asked him to leave the inn right away.
(d) What happened immediately after his conversation?
Answer: The stranger was turned out of the inn and as he was walked on he came by the prison. Here he enquired if he could gain admittance and lodging for the night. The response was that the prison does not provide the services of an inn but if Jean Valjean allowed himself to be arrested only then he could get entry into the prison.
A Stranger Walks into Town Questions & Answers
Question 11: Where did the stranger try his luck next and what was the response?
Answer: The stranger tried his luck at the prison but was turned away from there too after being told that it would not provide the services of an inn and if he got himself arrested only then he would be allowed in prison.
Question 12: What did the stranger see inside the cottage?
Answer: The stranger peered through the window and saw a large whitewashed room with a bed draped in printed cotton sheet, a cradle in one corner, a couple of wooden chairs, and a double-barrelled gun hanging on the wall. The room also had a copper lamp that illuminated a white linen tablecloth, a pewter jug filled with wine and a smoking-soup tureen. The stranger then saw a man, with a cheery expression, of about forty seated at the table, dandling a child on his knees. Close by a young woman was nursing another child and the entire scene was of a happy and content family.
Question 13: Read and answer the questions:
(a) Where was the stranger at this point in the story?
Answer: The man had entered a little street in which there were many gardens, some of which were bordered by hedges.
(b) Why had he come there?
Answer: After being turned away from the inn and the prison where he was hoping to get food and lodging for the night the man walked on and he found himself in this street with many gardens.
(c) What was the tender and calming spectacle?
Answer: In the street with the gardens, the man spotted a single-storeyed house with a lighted window. Through the window he sighted a family of four – a man, a woman and two children. There was hot food on the table, in a room that had the comforts of home, and the family members seemed happy and content in each other’s company.
(d) What thought came to his mind when he saw that scene?
Answer: On sighting this family through the window, the man possibly thought that such a joyous home would be hospitable and he would find perhaps a little pity.
So, these were A Stranger Walks into Town Questions & Answers.