Iswaran the Storyteller Summary & Notes - CBSE Class 9 English Moments

Summary of Iswaran the Storyteller

Chapter 3 of the Class 9 English Supplementary Reader ‘Moments’ is a short story titled Iswaran the Storyteller. It is a story about a junior supervisor, Mahendra and his cook, Iswaran. One day, he tells his master a ghost story. Does Mahendra get scared? Read the prose summary of CBSE Class 9 English Prose Notes – Iswaran the Storyteller in CBSE English Notes Class 9 format here to find out what happens in the story. We hope this prose summary will help students to have a better understanding of the chapter and refer to it while preparing for their exams.

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CBSE Class 9 English Iswaran the Storyteller Summary

Iswaran the Storyteller is an interesting story written by R. K. Narayan about Mahendra, a bachelor and junior supervisor in a firm who stays with his cook, Iswaran. Mahendra had a transferable job, so he used to keep moving from one place to another very often, as per the orders of his head office. However, Iswaran would always accompany him wherever he went. He took great care of his master and shared interesting stories with him.

Iswaran would buy fresh vegetables and cook delicious meals for Mahendra. While his master was away at work, Iswaran would clean up the house, wash utensils and take a bath leisurely. He was very fond of reading popular Tamil thrillers during his free time. As a result, he often invented his own thrillers and would tell those stories to Mahendra when he returned from work. Mahendra enjoyed listening to his cook’s stories.

Once Iswaran told him a story of a wild elephant and how he controlled the menacing animal that had gone mad. He told Mahendra that he was originally from a place that was famous for timber. He had seen logs of wood carried by elephants. These animals were fed a huge amount of food, but when they went wild, they could not be tamed even by the most experienced mahout. One fine day, an elephant entered the school premises where children were playing and broke through the brick wall. All the children and teachers were terrified of the wild tusker and rushed to a safe place to save themselves. When the wild tusker saw Iswaran, it lifted its trunk and rushed towards him menacingly. Mustering up all his force and courage, Iswaran quickly whacked its third toenail, and the elephant shivered head to foot and collapsed. Mahendra was astounded at his cook’s courage after listening to his story.

On another occasion, Iswaran had prepared a special meal for dinner on an auspicious day. He told Mahendra that he prepared several delicacies to feed the spirits of their ancestors. Mahendra enjoyed the meal and complimented his cook on his culinary skills. As usual, Iswaran began with his story-telling. But this time, he talked about supernatural elements. He said he was not afraid of ghosts as he was brave enough to deal with them.

Iswaran told his master that the place they stayed in was once a burial ground, and he had also seen ghosts around. He particularly mentioned a gruesome ghost of a woman, which appeared on and off at midnight during a full moon night. She moaned in a shrill tone and carried a foetus in her arms. Hearing this, Mahendra was scared and shivered at the description and rebuked Iswaran stating that ghosts don’t exist. Soon, he retired to bed but could not sleep as the discussion about the ghost woman was hovering in his mind.

From that day onwards, Mahendra would go to sleep feeling uneasy thinking about the female ghost. One night as Mahendra was sleeping, he suddenly woke up from his sleep by a low moaning sound coming from his window. Out of curiosity, he looked out of the window and saw the night sky was filled with moonlight outside and noticed a dark cloud-shaped structure that was clutching a bundle. Seeing this, Mahendra started sweating profusely and fell on his pillow, gasping. The next morning, Iswaran enquired his master about the female ghost and moaning sound that was coming from his room. A chill ran down Mahendra’s spine, and he decided to leave the haunted place immediately and forever.

Conclusion of Iswaran the Storyteller

The chapter – Iswaran the Storyteller illustrates a lesson that we should not get carried away by stories shared by other people or assume them as reality. We should apply our own wit and intelligence before we see it with our own eyes. Don’t be quick to believe what you hear because lies or rumours spread faster than the truth.

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