Read the following passage and try to answer the questions given below:
Another hour and the sound was very near now. Dantes heart was beating fast. He was filled with joy because his friend was coming. At the same time, he was full of fear. If the keeper came. He prayed again and again, “Oh God! Have pity on us! Oh God, have pity on me! Bring my friend safely here. Give me a friend, my God!”
His prayers were heard. After two hours, the earth fell away from the floor near the hole in the wall. A man’s arms appeared. Then a man’s head looked out. Dantes pulled his friend into his cell. He held him in his arms. “Thank God! Oh, thank God!” he cried again and again. Tears of joy ran down his hot cheeks.
Dantes carried his friend to the window in order to examine his face. He saw then how small and thin the man was. His hair was snow-white and he had a long, black beard. He too was weeping. His tears also were tears of joy. For a time both men were silent. Their feelings were too strong for words.
From “The Count of Monte Cristo”
by Alexandre Dumas
Questions
- Why was Dantes filled with joy?
- Where do you think Dantes was? How do you know?
- Why did Dantes cry?
- Describe Dantes’ friend.
- Why were both of them silent?
Answers
- Dantes was filled with joy because his friend was coming.
- Dantes was in a prison. We know this because of the sentence—”If the keeper came.”
- Dantes cried with joy because his friend had come to him safely.
- Dantes’ friend was small and thin. He had white hair and a black beard.
- Both of them were silent for some time because their feelings were too strong for words.
