Unit - 4 : Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory — ENGLISH (NCERT) STD 8 — Question

Life is full of events of all types – some are ordinary, some of special importance; some are pleasant, some unpleasant; some serious, some humorous. Of these, some events fade away from our memory, while we remember some forever. I distinctly remember one such event.

I was then about seven years old. We lived in a small town, where we had a small house of our own, with a verandah and a compound. In summer we usually slept in the compound under the open sky. Though the days were hot, the nights were cool and pleasant.

On one such summer night, I was asleep in my bed with a sheet over me. In the middle of the night, I had a vague feeling ‘ that someone had got into my bed and was lying beside me. In those days, it was usual ! for my kid brother to share my bed, as he was very fond of me. Sometimes he used to creep into my bed at any time of the night. So that night I thought it was he who wanted to sleep by my side. Unconsciously I stretched out my sheet and covered him.

I do not know for how many hours we lay there in the same bed. Early in the morning, a loud barking of dogs in the street disturbed my sleep. But when I heard a bark in my own bed, I woke up with a start. As I sat up and opened my eyes, out leapt a dog from the bed and rushed to the gate to join the barking dogs! A shiver rein down my spine. But it was for a moment only.

The next moment I realized how funny the whole situation was, and burst out laughing. So it was not my younger brother, but a dog who was with me in my bed. He must have entered the compound before the gate was locked at night; At breakfast, I narrated the night’s incident, and the whole family was highly amused. Even now, I chuckle to myself when I remember this hilarious incident. Those who listen to my midsummer night’s adventure roar with laughter.