Discover a comprehensive summary of “With the Photographer” by Stephen Leacock, suitable for ICSE Class 10 and B.A. 1st Year students. Gain insights into the story’s themes of identity and societal expectations, accompanied by a line-by-line analysis, and the story’s moral for a deeper understanding.
Short Summary of With the Photographer by Stephen Leacock
Stephen Leacock’s “With the Photographer” explores the narrator’s keen desire to have their photograph taken, but the photographer, portrayed as a disinterested and drooping figure, reflects on their intrusion into their domain.
स्टीफ़न लीकॉक की “विथ द फ़ोटोग्राफ़र” वर्णनकर्ता की अपनी तस्वीर लेने की तीव्र इच्छा का पता लगाती है, लेकिन फ़ोटोग्राफ़र को एक उदासीन और झुके हुए व्यक्ति के रूप में चित्रित किया गया है, जो उनके डोमेन में उनकी घुसपैठ को दर्शाता है।
The photographer enters the studio, directing the narrator to sit down. The process is described as restless, with the photographer constantly adjusting the scene, despite the narrator’s attempts to converse. The photographer’s focus is on capturing the desired shot.
फोटोग्राफर स्टूडियो में प्रवेश करता है और वर्णनकर्ता को बैठने का निर्देश देता है। इस प्रक्रिया को बेचैन करने वाली बताया गया है, जिसमें वर्णनकर्ता के बातचीत करने के प्रयासों के बावजूद, फोटोग्राफर लगातार दृश्य को समायोजित कर रहा था। फोटोग्राफर का ध्यान वांछित शॉट कैप्चर करने पर होता है।
As the session progresses, the photographer’s dissatisfaction with the narrator’s appearance becomes evident, as he criticizes features and instructs them to pose in unnatural ways, despite their protestations and attempts to assert ownership.
जैसे-जैसे सत्र आगे बढ़ता है, वर्णनकर्ता की उपस्थिति के प्रति फोटोग्राफर का असंतोष स्पष्ट हो जाता है, क्योंकि वह विशेषताओं की आलोचना करता है और उनके विरोध और स्वामित्व का दावा करने के प्रयासों के बावजूद, उन्हें अप्राकृतिक तरीकों से पोज़ देने का निर्देश देता है।
The narrator takes a photograph, and upon seeing the present proof, they discover extensive retouching and alteration. The photograph, taken abruptly, does not accurately represent the narrator’s true appearance, as the features like eyes and eyebrows have been modified.
वर्णनकर्ता एक तस्वीर लेता है, और वर्तमान साक्ष्य को देखने पर, उन्हें व्यापक सुधार और परिवर्तन का पता चलता है। अचानक ली गई तस्वीर, वर्णनकर्ता की वास्तविक उपस्थिति का सटीक रूप से प्रतिनिधित्व नहीं करती है, क्योंकि आंखों और भौंहों जैसी विशेषताओं को संशोधित किया गया है।
The narrator rejects the photographer’s attempts to enhance their true likeness, expressing their desire for authenticity. They reject the notion of artificial enhancement and demand a photograph that reflects their genuine self.
कथावाचक ने प्रामाणिकता की इच्छा व्यक्त करते हुए फोटोग्राफर की वास्तविक समानता को बढ़ाने के प्रयासों को अस्वीकार कर दिया। वे कृत्रिम वृद्धि की धारणा को अस्वीकार करते हैं और ऐसी तस्वीर की मांग करते हैं जो उनके वास्तविक स्वरूप को दर्शाती हो।
Ultimately, the narrator leaves the studio in tears, feeling disillusioned and betrayed by the photographer’s disregard for their wishes. The experience serves as a poignant commentary on the nature of photography and the quest for authenticity in an increasingly artificial world.
अंततः, फोटोग्राफर द्वारा उनकी इच्छाओं की उपेक्षा करने से निराश और ठगा हुआ महसूस करते हुए, वर्णनकर्ता आंसुओं के साथ स्टूडियो छोड़ देता है। यह अनुभव फोटोग्राफी की प्रकृति और बढ़ती कृत्रिम दुनिया में प्रामाणिकता की खोज पर एक मार्मिक टिप्पणी के रूप में कार्य करता है।
The moral of ‘With the Photographer ‘by Stephen Leacock
The moral of “With the Photographer” is to be yourself and value your natural appearance. It teaches us not to change who we are just to please others or fit society’s standards of beauty. Instead, we should accept ourselves as we are and appreciate our uniqueness. Trying to alter ourselves to meet unrealistic expectations only leads to disappointment and loss of identity.
“फ़ोटोग्राफ़र के साथ” का नैतिक अर्थ यह है कि आप स्वयं बनें और अपनी प्राकृतिक उपस्थिति को महत्व दें। यह हमें सिखाता है कि केवल दूसरों को खुश करने या समाज की सुंदरता के मानकों में फिट होने के लिए हम जो हैं उसे न बदलें। इसके बजाय, हमें खुद को वैसे ही स्वीकार करना चाहिए जैसे हम हैं और अपनी विशिष्टता की सराहना करनी चाहिए। अवास्तविक अपेक्षाओं को पूरा करने के लिए खुद को बदलने की कोशिश से केवल निराशा और पहचान की हानि होती है।
Para-wise Summary of With the Photographer by Stephen Leacock and Word Notes
Explore para-wise summary of “With the Photographer” by Stephen Leacock with word notes, unraveling the narrative’s depth and themes concisely.
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 1
Text Passage: “I WANT my photograph taken,” I said. The photographer looked at me without enthusiasm. He was a drooping man in a gray suit, with the dim eye of a natural scientist. But there is no need to describe him. Everybody knows what a photographer is like.
Summary:The narrator expresses a desire to have their photograph taken by the photographer, who appears unenthusiastic. The photographer is described as a drooping man in a gray suit with the demeanor of a natural scientist, but the narrator suggests there’s no need for further description as photographers are universally recognized.
Word Nest:
enthusiasm – interest or pursuit – उत्साह
drooping – bend – लटकते
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 2
Text Passage: “Sit there,” ” he said, “and wait.”
I waited an hour. I read the Ladies Companion for 1912, the Girls Magazine for 1902 and the Infants Journal for 1888. I began to see that I had done an unwarrantable thing in breaking in on the privacy of this man’s scientific pursuits with a face like mine.
Summary: The narrator is instructed by the photographer to sit and wait. During the hour-long wait, the narrator passes the time by reading old magazines. As time passes, they begin to realize that interrupting the photographer’s scientific work with their appearance might have been inappropriate.
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 3
Text Passage: After an hour the photographer opened the inner door.
“Come in,” he said severely.
I went into the studio.
“Sit down,” said the photographer.
Summary: After waiting for an hour, the photographer allows the narrator into the inner room with a stern demeanor. Inside the studio, the photographer instructs the narrator to sit down.
Word Nest:
severely – strongly कठोरता से
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 4
Text Passage: I sat down in a beam of sunlight filtered through a sheet of factory cotton hung against a frosted skylight. The photographer rolled a machine into the middle of the room and crawled into it from behind.
Summary: The narrator sits down in a beam of sunlight that is diffused through a sheet of factory cotton covering a frosted skylight. Meanwhile, the photographer moves a machine into the center of the room and enters it from behind by crawling.
Word Nest:
crawled – creep – घुटनों के बल चलना
frosted – having frost. जमा हुआ रोशनदान
skylight – an opening in a roof or ceiling – छत या छत में खुला स्थान
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 5
Text Passage: He was only in it a second,-just time enough for one look at me, and then he was out again, tearing at the cotton sheet and the window panes with a hooked stick, apparently frantic for light and air.
Summary: The photographer entered the machine for a brief moment, taking just enough time to glance at the narrator, before hastily exiting. He then frantically tore at the cotton sheet covering the window and the window panes with a hooked stick, seemingly desperate for more light and air in the room.
Word Nest:
window panes – a plate of glass for filling a window sash within the frame.खिड़की के शीशे
apparently – evidently – जाहिरा तौर पर
Frantic – panic-stricken – उन्मत्त
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 6
Text Passage: Then he crawled back into the machine again and drew a little black cloth over himself. This time he was very quiet in there. I knew that he was praying and I kept still. When the photographer came out at last, he looked very grave and shook his head.
Summary: The photographer returned to the machine and covered himself with a small black cloth. This time, he remained very quiet inside. The narrator inferred that he was praying and remained silent. When the photographer finally emerged, he appeared solemn and shook his head, suggesting a sense of disappointment or concern.
Word Nest:
grave – serious – गंभीर
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 7
Text Passage: The face is quite wrong”, he said.
“I know,” I answered quietly; “I have always known it.” He sighed.
“I think,” he said, “the face would be better three-quarters full.”
Summary: The photographer remarked that the face in the photograph was incorrect. The narrator acknowledged this, stating they were aware of the issue. The photographer sighed and suggested that a three-quarters angle would improve the appearance of the face.
Word Nest:
Sighed – emit a long, deep, audible breath – एक लंबी, गहरी, श्रव्य सांस छोड़ें
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 8
Text Passage: “I’m sure it would,” I said enthusiastically, for I was glad to find that the man had such a human side to him. “So would yours. In fact,” I continued, “how many faces one sees that are apparently hard, narrow, limited, but the minute you get them three-quarters full they get wide, large, almost boundless in–“
Summary: The narrator enthusiastically agrees with the photographer’s suggestion, expressing gratitude for the photographer’s human side. They suggest that many faces appear different when photographed from a three-quarters angle, becoming wider and almost boundless in appearance.
Word Nest:
Enthusiastically – energetically – उत्साहपूर्वक
Boundless – unending – असीम
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 9
Text Passage: But the photographer had ceased to listen. He came over and took my head in his hands and twisted it sideways. I thought he meant to kiss me, and I closed my eyes.
Summary: The photographer stopped listening to the narrator and approached them. He then took the narrator’s head in his hands and turned it to the side. The narrator, misunderstanding the photographer’s intentions, thought he was going to kiss them and closed their eyes.
Word Nest:
Twisted – crumpled – घुमाया हुआ
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 10
Text Passage: But I was wrong.
He twisted my face as far as it would go and then stood
looking at it.
He sighed again.
“I don’t like the head,” he said.
Then he went back to the machine and took another look.
“Open the mouth a little,” he said.
I started to do so.
“Close it,” he added quickly.
Then he looked again.
Summary: The photographer twisted the narrator’s face to one side and examined it, expressing dissatisfaction. He returned to his machine and instructed the narrator to open their mouth slightly, then quickly told them to close it. After another look, he continued to assess the situation.
Word Nest:
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 11
Text Passage: “The ears are bad,” he said; “droop them a little more. Thank you. Now the eyes. Roll them in under the lids. Put the hands on the knees, please, and turn the face just a little upward. Yes, that’s better. Now just expand the lungs! So! And hump the neck-that’s it-and just contract the waist-ha!- and twist the hip up toward the elbow – now! I still don’t quite like the face, it’s just a trifle too full, but–
Summary: The photographer directed the narrator on various adjustments for the pose, including drooping the ears, rolling the eyes under the lids, positioning the hands on the knees, tilting the face slightly upward, expanding the lungs, hunching the neck, contracting the waist, and twisting the hip toward the elbow. Despite these adjustments, the photographer still found the face slightly unsatisfactory.
Word Nest:
Expand – Enlarge – बढ़ाना
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 12
Text Passage: I swung myself round on the stool.
“Stop,” I said with emotion but, I think, with dignity. “This face is my face. It is not yours, it is mine. I’ve lived with it for forty years and I know its faults. I know it’s out of drawing. I know it wasn’t made for me, but it’s my face, the only one I have” “such as I was conscious of a break in my voice but I went on-” it is, I’ve learned to love it. And this is my mouth, not yours. These ears are mine, and if your machine is too narrow-“Here I started to rise from the seat.
Snick!
Summary: The narrator turns on the stool and tells the photographer to stop. They assert that the face being photographed belongs to them and they’ve lived with it for forty years, acknowledging its faults but expressing love for it. They assert ownership over their features and begin to rise from the seats before being interrupted by a snapping sound.
Word Nest:
Dignity – prestige – गरिमा
Conscious – aware – सचेत
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 13
Text Passage: The photographer had pulled a string. The photograph taken. I could see the machine still staggering from the shock.
Summary: The photographer took the photograph by pulling a string. The narrator could see the machine still shaking from the shock of the photo being taken.
Word Nest:
Staggering – whirl – चक्कर
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 14
Text Passage: “I think,” said the photographer, pursing his lips in a pleased smile, “that I caught the features just in a moment of animation.“
Summary: The photographer, with a pleased smile, said he captured the features at a moment of liveliness.
Word Nest:
Animation – liveliness – सजीवता
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 15
Text Passage: “So!” I said bitingly,-“features, eh? You didn’t think I could animate them, I suppose? But let me see the picture.”
Summary: The narrator sarcastically responds, questioning if the photographer doubted their ability to animate their features. They then ask to see the picture.
Word Nest:
Bitingly – sarcastically – व्यंग्य से
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 16
Text Passage: “Oh, there’s nothing to see yet,” he said, “I have to develop the negative first. Come back on Saturday and I’ll let you see a proof of it.”
Summary: The photographer explains that there’s nothing to see yet because he needs to develop the negative first. He invites the narrator to come back on Saturday to see a proof of the photograph.
Word Nest:
develop – evolve – विकास करना
Summary of With the Photographer Text Passage 17
Text Passage: On Saturday I went back.
The photographer beckoned me in. I thought he seemed quieter and graver than before. I think, too, there was a certain pride in his manner.
Summary: The narrator returned to the photographer’s studio on Saturday. The photographer gestured for them to enter. The narrator noticed that the photographer appeared calmer and more serious than before, and they sensed a hint of pride in his demeanor.
Word Nest:
beckoned – point out – इशारे से बुलाया
seemed – appeared – प्रतीत हुआ
Quieter – calm – शांत
Certain – sure – निश्चित
Pride – vanity – गर्व
Text Passage 18
Text Passage: He unfolded the proof of a large photograph, and we both looked at it in silence.
“Is it me?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said quietly, “it is you,” and we went on looking at it…!
Summary: The photographer showed the narrator a proof of a large photograph, and they both looked at it quietly. The narrator asked if it was them, to which the photographer confirmed it was indeed them. They continued to look at the photograph together.
Word Nest:
unfolded – unfurl – सामने आया
silence – stillness – मौन
Text Passage 19
Text Passage: The eyes,”,” I said hesitatingly, “don’t look very much like mine”
“Oh, no,” he answered, “I’ve retouched them. They come out splendidly, don’t they?”
Summary: The narrator hesitantly remarked that the eyes in the photograph didn’t resemble theirs much. The photographer responded by saying he retouched them, expressing satisfaction with how they turned out.
Word Nest:
Hesitatingly – precariously – दुविधा से
Retouched – renovate – सुधारा गया
Splendidly – gorgeously – महानतापूर्वक
Text Passage 20
Text Passage: “Fine,” I said, “but surely my eyebrows are not like that?”
“No,” said the photographer, with a momentary glance at my face, “the eyebrows are removed. We have a process now the Delphide-for putting in new ones. You’ll notice here where we’ve applied it to carry the hair away from the brow. I don’t like the hair low on the skull.”
Summary: The narrator questioned the appearance of their eyebrows in the photograph. The photographer explained that the eyebrows were removed and replaced using a process called Delphide to create a new look. He pointed out where the process was applied to move the hair away from the brow, expressing a dislike for having hair low on the skull.
Word Nest:
momentary – transient – क्षणिक
Glance – glimpse – झलक
Eyebrows – the strip of hair growing on the ridge above a person’s eye socket – किसी व्यक्ति की आँख के सॉकेट के ऊपर की चोटी पर उगने वाली बालों की पट्टी।
Text Passage 21
Text Passage: “Oh, you don’t, don’t you?” I said.
“No,” he went on, “I don’t care for it. I like to get the hair clear back to the superficies and make out a new brow line.“
Summary: The narrator doesn’t recognize the eyebrows in the photograph. The photographer clarified that they were removed and replaced using a process called Delphide to give a new look. He showed where the process was applied to shift the hair away from the brow, mentioning a preference for not having hair low on the skull.
Word Nest:
superficies – terrain – इलाक़ा
brow line – भौंह रेखा
Text Passage 22
Text Passage: “What about the mouth?” I said with a bitterness that was lost on the photographer; “is that mine?”
“It’s adjusted a little,” he said, “yours is too low. I found I
couldn’t use it.”
“The ears, though,” I said, “strike me as a good likeness;
they’re just like mine.”
Summary: The narrator asked if the mouth in the photograph was theirs, but the photographer adjusted it because the narrator’s real mouth was too low. The narrator then praised the likeness of the ears in the photograph, finding them similar to their own.
Word Nest:
bitterness – unhappiness – अप्रसन्नता
adjusted – rearrange – समायोजित
likeness – similarity – समानता
Text Passage 23
Text Passage: “Yes,” said the photographer thoughtfully, “that’s so; but I can fix that all right in the print. We have a process now-the Sulphide- for removing the ears entirely. I’ll see if–“
Summary: The photographer agreed that the ears in the photograph resembled the narrator’s but mentioned a process called Sulphide for removing them entirely in the print if needed.
Word Nest:
photographer – a person who takes photographs – एक व्यक्ति जो तस्वीरें लेता है
thoughtfully – cogitatively – सोच समजकर
Text Passage 24
Text Passage: “Listen!” I interrupted, drawing myself up and animating my features to their full extent and speaking with a withering scorn that should have blasted the man on the spot. “Listen! I came here for a photograph-a picture-something which (mad though it seems) would have looked like me. I wanted something that would depict my face as Heaven gave it to me, humble though the gift may have been. I wanted something that my friends might keep after my death, to reconcile them to loss. It seems that I was mistaken. What I wanted is no longer done.
Summary: The narrator interrupted, expressing their disappointment and anger. They wanted a photograph that truly resembled them, something natural and humble, to be cherished by their loved ones even after death. They felt that their desires were no longer understood or respected by the photographer.
Word Nest:
Interrupted – obstructed – बाधित
extent – development – विस्तार
Blasted – destroyed – नष्ट
depict – portray – चित्रित
Humble – polite – विनम्र
Reconcile – solve – समाधान करना
Text Passage 25
Text Passage: done. Go on, then, with your brutal work. Take your negative, or whatever it is you call it,-dip it in sulphide,bromide,oxide, cowhide, anything you like,-remove the eyes, correct the mouth, adjust the face, restore the lips, reanimate the necktie and reconstruct the waistcoat. Coat it with an inch of gloss, shade it, emboss it, gild it, till even you acknowledge that it is finished. Then when you have done all that-keep it for yourself and your friends. They may value it. To me it is but a worthless bauble.”
I broke into tears and left.
Summary: The narrator, feeling defeated and disillusioned, gives the photographer permission to manipulate the photograph however he pleases, using various chemicals and techniques. They express their disdain for the process and the final product, considering it a worthless trinket. The narrator then breaks into tears and leaves the studio.
