January Night English Literature Class 7: Study Notes

January Night is a short story, originally written by Munshi Premchand, and later translated by David Rubin. It is a chapter in English Literature for Class 7 students. Find study notes, and question and answers.

About the Story

The story is set in a small village. It is the story of a tenant farmer named Haiku and his difficulty against the landlord system. This system was prevalent during the British Rule in India. The story has been translated from Hindi to English.

Haiku is the protagonist of the story. He is a tenant farmer struggling to make ends meet. Munni, who is Haiku’s wife, wants Haiku to give up tenant farming and work as a labourer instead as they would be able to save some money and her husband would not have to be out in the cold.

Haiku is a victim of tenant farming and Zameendaris. and he feels that he would rather face the biting cold January nights as opposed to the Landlords insults. Munni dislikes the idea of tenant farming and wants Haiku to work as a labourer instead.

The fields and crop signify Haiku’s source of income therefore his need to guard it from being destroyed, but also is the reason for his problems as the land does not belong to him therefore he is unable to support himself or his wife.

In the end, Haiku feels a sense of happiness due to the destruction of his field, and he now seems to want to follow his wife’s advice and work as a labourer.

Questions and Answers

Question: Why did Munni want Halku to pay the landlord only after the harvest?

Answer: Munni wanted Halku to pay the landlord only after the harvest because they had only three rupees which Halku had saved up to buy a blanket for the cold January nights. If he gave that money to the landlord he would not have been able to buy a blanket. Therefore, Munni wanted Halku to pay the landlord only after the harvest.

Question: What was the ‘other plan’ that Halku tried? Was it successful?

Answer: The other plan that Halku tried was to pass the January Nights without having a blanket. No, it was not successful because he could not tolerate the coldness of the January Nights. Even he has lost his ripen crops.

Question: Why did Munni want Halku to give up tenant farming?

Answer: According to Munni , the tenant farming is very harmful to Halku. Whatever Halku harvest goes to pay up the arrear and taxes. Moreover, it didnt bring any betterment for them as they had no money to feed themselves. So, Munni wanted Halku to give up tenant farming as farming for another’s land was a bad choice.

Question: What does Munni mean when she says “ Fine work, farming someone else’s land’?

Answer: Munni advised Halku to give up the tenant farming because whatever Halku harvests goes to pay up the arrears. If he works as a hired labourer, then at least some money will remain. So according to Munni farming another person’s land is a bad choice.

Question: Why did Halku look as though ‘he were tearing his heart out and giving it away’?

Answer: There were only three rupees and if Halku give the Rupees to the landlord they will not be able to buy a blanket for the cold January Nights. He had saved the rupees from his work, piece by piece, for his blanket and now he was going to use that money to pay the landlord because he felt that he could do without the blanket but could not stand the landlords insults.

Question: How do we know that Halku loves his dog a great deal? Give two examples of how he shows his love?

Answer: Two examples of showing how Halku loved his dog Jabra are: a) he would put some straw for his dog so that he would not feel cold and b) he hugged his dog tight even though he gave off a kind of smell it didn’t bother Halku. These are two examples that show us that Halku loved his dog a great deal.

Question: Why did Jabra probably think he was in heaven?

Answer: When they could no longer bear the cold weather Halku gently picked Jabra and got him to fell asleep in his lap. The dog’s body gave off some kind of stink but Halku, hugging him tight, experienced a happiness he hadn’t felt for months. So Jabra probably thought he was in heaven.

Question: Why did Halku look up to the skies?

Answer: Halku looked up at the skies to see how much of the night was left. According to Halku since the dipper had not yet climbed half the sky, it would last another three hours or so.

Question: Why did Halku feel proud when he lit the fire?

Answer: Halku felt proud when he lit the fire because it warmed his entire body and he felt as though he could challenge the cold.

Question: How did Halku know that there were some animals in the field? How does he react?

Answer: Halku was warming himself sitting by the side of the burning leaves and became drowsy. Meanwhile, Jabra gave a loud bark and ran towards the field. Halku heard the munching and crunching of the animals but because he felt so warm near the fire he found himself unable to get up to tend to his field. He also thought that with Jabra around no animal to harm the field.

Question: The whole field was ruined. How did Halku feel about it? How did Munni feel?

Answer: Since Halku had dozed off the entire field was ruined. When Munni came in the morning she saw that the entire field had been ruined and that Halku had gone off to sleep. Her face was shadowed with grief because she knew that they would not be able to pay off their debts and they would have no crop for the harvest. Halku on the other hand was content because he knew that he could now work as a hired labourer, pay off his debts and save some money for them to eat.

Question: How do we know that Halku loves his dog a great deal? Give two examples of love he shows his love?

Answer: Halku patted Jabra’s cold back and said “ee will get through the night somehow. This is the reward you get for farming”. From the above sentence, we know that Halku loves his dog.

Two examples that shows Halku loved Jabra very much are given below:

1. ‘You have to put up with just one more cold night. Tomorrow I’ll spread some straw. You won’t feel the cold”.
2. The dog’s body gave off some kind of stink but Halku, hugging him tight, experienced a happiness he hadn’t felt for months.

Question: Why did Halku feel proud when he lit the fire?

Answer: During January nights, the cold was unbearable so to become warm Halku collected some leaves and lit it on fire. Before, his hands would get frozen and his bare feet would feel numb. But after making the fire, he felt warm and was able to take of his shawl as if he was challenging the cold to do its worst. So Halku feel proud when he lit the fire.

Question: Fill in the Blanks

• The landlord had come to collect money from Halku.
• Munni wanted to pay the money after the harvest.
• Halku embraced Jabra with the same affection he would have felt for a brother.
• Close to Halku’s field there was a mango grove.
• Wild animals/ Bluebuck were eating his field.
• Munni’s face was shadowed with grief but Halku was content.
• Munni wanted Halku to work as a hired labourer.

Question: reference to context

‘Tell him we’ll pay him after the harvest, not right now”.

a. Who is speaking and to whom?
Answer: Munni is speaking to Halku

b. Who is the ‘him’ the speaker refers to?
The landlord is being referred to as ‘him’.

c. What is the payment the speaker refers to?
The payment the speaker is referring to is the rent.

a. Who says this and to whom?
Answer: Halku is speaking to Jabra

b. When does the speaker make this statement?
The speaker makes this statement when he and Jabra go to guard the field on a cold January night.

c. What is the reward that the speaker mentions?
Answer: The speaker is making a sarcastic remark about having to guard the field on a cold night at the same time not being able to reap any income or savings as he looks after someone else’s field. There is actually no reward in his work apart from suffering the cold nights and making no money therefore he makes this statement.

“In the flickering light the immense trees of the grove looked as though they were carrying a vast darkness on their heads.”

a. Where was the light coming from?
Answer: The light was coming from the fire that Halku lit.

b. Where was the grove?
The grove was just beside Halku’s field.

c. Who was in the grove at this time and what were they doing?
Only Halku and his dog Jabra were in the grove collecting leaves to build a fire.