Class 11 English The Summer of The Beautiful White Horse.. Snapshots.

Class 11 English (Snapshots book) Chapter 1 The Summer
of the Beautiful White Horse

By William Saroyan
"The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" is a short story by William Saroyan, published
within the collection My Name is Aram. It tells the story of two boys, Aram and Mourad, who
belong to a very poor fictional tribe called the Garoghlanian tribe. This is an interesting adventure
story of two poor Armenian boys . The Summer of the Beautiful Horse: About the Author
William Saroyan, an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer, lived from
August 31, 1908, to May 18, 1981. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and for the
movie The Human Comedy, he earned the Academy Award for Best Story in 1943. His first 240-
page treatment was rejected by the studio, so he turned it into a book called The Human
Comedy.... Read more at: https://www.adda247.com/school/the-summer-of-the-beautiful-horse/
Plot summary
“The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse” is narrated by a nine-year-old Armenian boy named
Aram, a member of the Garoghlanian tribe, living among the lush fruit orchards and vineyards of
the San Joaquin valley in California. One morning Aram is awakened at four in morning by his
thirteen-year-old cousin Mourad, who is thought to be demented by everyone except Aram, and
has a way with animals. Aram is astonished to see that Mourad is sitting on a beautiful white
horse. Aram had always wanted to ride a white horse, but his family is too poor to afford one.
However, in spite of being poor, the Garoghlanian tribe is noted for its honesty and trust, as a
result, it is unthinkable that Mourad would have stolen the horse. Aram felt that his cousin
couldn't have stolen the horse.
Mourad's crazy behavior was considered to be of natural descent from their uncle Khosrove,
even though his father, Zorab, was a practical man. Uncle Khosrove was an enormous man who
was always furious, impatient, and irritable. He would roar for everyone to stop talking and say It
is no harm, pay no attention to it. In fact, one day, when his son came and told them that their
house was on fire, Khosrove silenced him by roaring "Enough. It is no harm".
Aram was invited to ride on the horse with Mourad. The idea of Mourad stealing the horse
drained away from Aram's mind as when he felt that it wouldn't become stealing unless they offer
to sell the horse. They enjoyed rides on the horse for a few hours.
After a short time of riding, Mourad wanted to ride alone on the horse. Aram had the same
longing, but when he sat on the horse and kicked its muscles it reared and snorted and raced
forward, eventually dropping Aram off its back. After half an hour they found the horse and hid it
in the barn of a deserted vineyard of a farmer named Fetvajian which had once been his pride.
That afternoon, an Assyrian farmer named John Byro—an Assyrian friend of the Garoghlanians
—came to Aram's house. He reported to Aram's mother that his white horse which had been
stolen a month ago was still missing. Hearing this, Aram concludes that, Mourad must have had
the horse for a long time. Khosrove, who was at Aram's house when Byro came, shouted -“it's no
harm" to such an extent that Byro was forced to leave to avoid responding.
Aram ran to Mourad to inform him about Byro's arrival. Aram also pleads with Mourad not to
return the horse until he could learn to ride. Mourad disagrees saying that Aram would take at
least a year to learn, but promises he would keep it for six months at most. This became a
routine. Mourad came daily to pick Aram to ride, and Aram continuously fell off the horse's back
after every attempt. Two weeks later, when they were going to take the horse back to its hiding
place, they met John Byro on the road. The farmer was extremely surprised. He recognized his
horse but refused to believe that the boys had stolen it. Later the boys return the horse quietly.
That afternoon Byro came to Aram's house to inform that the stolen horse has been returned. He
thanks God because the horse has become better tempered and well behaved too.
Word meanings-
1. Alfalfa – a flowering plant

2. Armenian – official language of Armenia branch
3. Capricious kuh·pri·shuhs – inconsistent change of mood
4. City Dweller – a person who lives in a city
5. Comical – funny
6. Consequently – as a result
7. Dawned – appeared
8. Daybreak – dawn
9. Descendant – a system that develops from an earlier simple version
10. Enormous – huge
11. Fury – anger
12. Garoghlanian गारोग्लानियन – an Armenian tribe
13. Irrigation ditches – manmade channel used to deliver water to homes, industries
and other uses
14. Leap out – jump out from a place
15. Longings – an aching desire
16. Magnificence mag·ni·fuh·sns – extremely beautiful
17. Orchards – a piece of land of the plantation of fruits
18. Parlour– a sitting space in a house
19. Pious pai·uhs – religious
20. Reared – raised
21. San Joaquin Valley – one of the long interior valleys of California
22. Snorted – breathed out
23. Streak – race
24. Surrey suh·ree – a country in South-East England
25. Trot – proceed with something
26. Vagrant – a person without a settled home or work
27. Vazire – a name
28. Vineyard – plantation of grapevines used in winemaking

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Class 11 English (Snapshots book) Chapter 1 The Summer

of the Beautiful White Horse

1. Alfalfa – a flowering plant

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