Pret in the House
Ruskin Bond
This is the story of a family’s experience with a naughty ghost. The speaker begins by telling
us about a ghost that used to live in the peepul tree that grew through the compound wall of
his grandfather’s house and onto the road. The Pret enjoys harassing passers-by in many
ways—he scares the horses of tonga carts, gets into the engines of cars and buses and spoils
them or blows away the topis of the white sahibs. Thus, he keeps himself entertained and
doesn’t bother the speaker and his family. However, one day, the tree is cut down to widen
the road, and the Pret, having no place to stay, moves into the speaker’s bungalow. His first
act of mischief is to hide the speaker’s grandmother’s glasses. The speaker’s family blames
him for the act but later on, when the spectacles are discovered hanging on the parrot’s cage,
the family realises that someone else is responsible. Right after, grandfather discovers that
his prize sweet peas are destroyed. On another occasion, the speaker’s uncle spends a
sleepless night because someone keeps pulling off the bedclothes all night. This confirms the
Pret’s presence. When the speaker’s aunt comes visiting, she appears in the morning foaming
at the mouth because someone has switched her toothpaste with shaving cream. When a fruit
came flying across the hall and hits her on the nose, the speaker’s grandmother declares that
they must move homes. Just as they are packed and ready to leave the bungalow, the
speaker’s grandfather hears someone chuckling and talking but mistakes it for the parrot. But
just as he drives some distance, they all hear the Pret say in a gleeful voice that he is eagerly
waiting to see the new house.
This is a humourous account of a family’s encounter with a naughty ghost. The writer’s
descriptions of the Pret’s mischief as well as the speaker’s comments on the happenings in
the household make us laugh. The story is full of action and although we know who is
responsible for the mischief, we wait eagerly to see what will happen next. The writer’s use
of Indian words in English gives us a clear idea of the setting and background of the story.
This helps us to relate to the story and thus we enjoy it more.
GRAMMAR DETERMINERS Definition of Determiners - Determiners are those words that are prefixed before nouns to determine their meaning. They can be divided into the following types: 1) Articles- a, an, the 2) Demonstratives- this, that, these, those 3) Possessives- my, your, our, his, her, its, their 4) Indefinite Adjectives- some, any, much, many, little, few, less 5) Others- all, each, every, both, neither, either, other, another, enough, most, several, one, two, etc. 1. ARTICLES (TYPE OF DETERMINER) (1) The Definite Article (The) "The" is called the definite article . It defines its noun as something specific (e.g., something previously mentioned or known, something unique, something being identified by the speaker). This is the lake. (This is a previously specified lake, i....
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