West Bengal Board Class 10 English Our Runaway Kite Summary, Lesson Explanation with difficult word meanings from Bliss Book
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Our Runaway Kite West Bengal Board Board Class 10 English
Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Our Runaway Kite Introduction
- Theme of the Lesson Our Runaway Kite
- Our Runaway Kite Summary
- Our Runaway Kite Summary in Hindi
- Our Runaway Kite Lesson Explanation
Our Runaway Kite Introduction
The lesson “Our Runaway Kite” by Lucy Maud Montgomery tells us about a family living on Big Half Moon Island. The story revolves around Father, Claude, Philippa (the narrator), and their newfound family members Aunt Esther, Dick, and Mimi. They live a quiet life on the island, where Father tends the lighthouse. The children, Philippa and Claude, often long for companionship and adventure, especially during their favorite pastime of kite-flying. When a special kite, patched with a significant letter, flies away to the mainland, it sets off a chain of events that brings them unexpected joy—new family members who enrich their lives in wonderful ways.
Theme of the Lesson Our Runaway Kite
The theme of “Our Runaway Kite” by Lucy Maud Montgomery revolves around family and belonging. The story portrays Father, Claude, and Philippa’s initial isolation on Big Half Moon island and their longing for familial connections. Through the kite’s journey and the discovery of Aunt Esther, Dick, and Mimi, the theme of unexpected connections emerges, explaining how chance events can bring transformative relationships. The arrival of their newfound family members fills a void, emphasizing the joy and fulfillment that come from embracing both biological and chosen family ties.
Our Runaway Kite Summary
The lesson “Our Runaway Kite” by Lucy Maud Montgomery talks about a family living on Big Half Moon island. The family includes Father, Claude, Philippa, and later Aunt Esther, Dick, and Mimi. They live in a lighthouse and enjoy their quiet life on the island, although Philippa and Claude sometimes feel lonely without other children to play with. Their favorite time is summer when they engage in hobbies like kite-flying. One summer, they make a special kite decorated with red paper and their names. During a kite-flying session, Philippa accidentally tears the kite, but they patch it up using an old letter they find in their home. However, the patched kite gets caught in the wind and flies away to the mainland. There, Aunt Esther discovers it while out with her children, Dick and Mimi. She recognizes the names on the kite as belonging to her long-lost family members. This discovery leads Aunt Esther to write a letter to Big Half Moon island, reaching Father. Father receives the letter and is deeply moved. He explains to Philippa and Claude that he had quarreled with his brother long ago and left home, losing touch with his sister. Aunt Esther’s letter reveals that she is a widow who lives far inland with Dick and Mimi.
Filled with joy, Father goes to bring Aunt Esther, Dick, and Mimi to the island. They are warmly welcomed, and Aunt Esther, Dick, and Mimi become cherished members of their family. The story ends happily with the family finally feeling complete, celebrating the newfound relationships and the joy of having relatives on the island.
Our Runaway Kite Summary in Hindi
लुसी मौड मोंटगोमरी का पाठ “हमारा भगोड़ा पतंग” बिग हाफ मून द्वीप पर रहने वाले एक परिवार के बारे में बात करता है। परिवार में पिता, क्लाउड, फ़िलिपा और बाद में चाची एस्तेर, डिक और मिमी शामिल हैं। वे एक प्रकाशस्तंभ में रहते हैं और द्वीप पर अपने शांत जीवन का आनंद लेते हैं, हालांकि फिलिपा और क्लाउड कभी-कभी अन्य बच्चों के साथ खेलने के बिना अकेलापन महसूस करते हैं। उनका पसंदीदा समय गर्मी है जब वे पतंग उड़ाने जैसे शौक में व्यस्त रहते हैं। एक गर्मियों में, वे लाल कागज और उनके नामों से सजी एक विशेष पतंग बनाते हैं। पतंग उड़ाने के सत्र के दौरान, फिलिपा गलती से पतंग फाड़ देती है, लेकिन वे अपने घर में मिले एक पुराने पत्र का उपयोग करके इसे ठीक कर देते हैं। हालाँकि, पैच वाली पतंग हवा में फंस जाती है और मुख्य भूमि की ओर उड़ जाती है। वहाँ, आंटी एस्थर को अपने बच्चों, डिक और मिमी के साथ बाहर रहने के दौरान इसका पता चलता है। वह पहचानती है कि पतंग पर लिखे नाम उसके लंबे समय से खोए हुए परिवार के सदस्यों के हैं। यह खोज आंटी एस्तेर को बिग हाफ मून द्वीप पर एक पत्र लिखने के लिए प्रेरित करती है, जो पिता तक पहुंचती है। पिता को पत्र मिला और वे बहुत प्रभावित हुए। वह फ़िलिपा और क्लाउड को समझाता है कि उसका अपने भाई से बहुत पहले झगड़ा हो गया था और वह घर छोड़कर चला गया था, और अपनी बहन से उसका संपर्क टूट गया था। आंटी एस्तेर के पत्र से पता चलता है कि वह एक विधवा है जो डिक और मिमी के साथ बहुत दूर रहती है।
खुशी से भरकर, पिता आंटी एस्तेर, डिक और मिमी को द्वीप पर लाने जाते हैं। उनका गर्मजोशी से स्वागत किया जाता है, और आंटी एस्तेर, डिक और मिमी उनके परिवार के प्रिय सदस्य बन जाते हैं। कहानी ख़ुशी से समाप्त होती है जब परिवार अंततः पूर्ण महसूस करता है, नए रिश्तों का जश्न मनाता है और द्वीप पर रिश्तेदारों के होने की खुशी मनाता है।
Our Runaway Kite Lesson Explanation
Unit 1
Passage:
Of course, there was nobody for us to play with on the Big Half Moon. We just had to make the most of each other, and we did.
We live on the Big Half Moon island. ‘We’ are Father and Claude and l and Aunt Esther and Mimi and Dick. It used to be only Father and Claude and I. It is all on account of the kite that there are more of us. This is what I want to tell you about.
Father is the keeper of the Big Half Moon lighthouse. I am eleven years old. Claude is twelve. In winter, when the harbor is frozen over, we all move over to the mainland. As soon as spring comes, back we sail to our own dear island.
Word Meanings:
lighthouse (n): a tower containing a strong beam of light to guide and warn ships near the coast
keeper (n): a person in charge of a building
harbor (n): a protected area of water next to the land where ships and boats can be safely kept
mainland (n): the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it
sail (n): a journey by boat or ship
Explanation: The author begins by explaining the life on Big Half Moon island where Philippa, her father, Claude (Philippa’s brother), and later Aunt Esther, Mimi, and Dick live. Philippa’s father works as the caretaker of the lighthouse there. During winter, when the harbor freezes, they move to the mainland. But when spring comes, they eagerly return to their island home. The family used to be smaller, just Father, Claude, and Philippa. But everything changed because of a kite. The kite plays an important role in bringing more people into their family, which Philippa is eager to share more about.
Passage:
The funny part used to be that people always pitied us when the time came for us to return. They said we must be so lonesome over there, with no other children near us. Of course Claude and I would have liked to have someone to play with us. It is hard to run pirate caves and things like that with only two. But we used to quarrel a good deal with the mainland children in winter. So it was perhaps just as well that there were none of them on the Big Half Moon. Claude and I never quarreled.
To be sure, Father didn’t seem to have any relations except us. This used to puzzle Claude and me. Everybody on the mainland had relations. Why hadn’t we? Was it because we lived on an island? We thought it would be so jolly to have an uncle and aunt and some cousins. Once we asked Father about it, but he looked so sorrowful that we wished we hadn’t. He said it was all his fault. Claude and I didn’t understand what he meant.
Word Meanings:
pitied (n): a feeling of sadness for someone else’s unhappiness or difficult situation
lonesome (adj.): feeling sad and alone
quarrel (n): an angry disagreement between two or more people or groups
jolly (adj.): happy
sorrowful (adj.): feeling of sadness
Explanation: Philippa explains how people used to feel sorry for her and Claude because they lived on Big Half Moon Island with no other children around. Despite wishing for playmates, she mentioned that they used to quarrel with mainland children during winter visits. Reflecting on their family dynamics, Philippa says that it puzzled her and Claude that their father seemed to have no other relatives besides them. They wondered why they didn’t have uncles, aunts, or cousins like other people. When they asked him about it once, he seemed sad and said it was his fault, which confused them because they didn’t understand why.
Unit 2
Passage:
It is always lovely on the Big Half Moon in summer. When it is fine, the harbor is blue and calm, with little wind and ripples. Every summer, we had some hobby. The last summer before Dick and Mimi came, we were crazy about kites. A boy on the mainland showed Claude how to make them. Back on the island we made plenty of kites. Claude would go around to the other side of the island and we would play shipwrecked mariners signaling to each other with kites.
We had a kite that was big and covered with lovely red paper. We pasted gold tinsel stars all over it and had written our names full on it—Claude Leete and Philippa Leete, Big Half Moon lighthouse.
Word Meanings:
tinsel (n): strips of shiny material used for decoration
shipwrecked (n): an accident in which a ship is destroyed or sunk at sea, especially by hitting rocks, or a ship that has been destroyed or sunk in such an accident
mariners (n): a person who works on a ship; a sailor
Explanation: During summer on Big Half Moon Island, the weather is usually beautiful. The harbor becomes calm and turns a peaceful blue colour, with gentle winds causing small ripples on the water. Every summer, Philippa’s family would pick up a new hobby to enjoy together. In the summer just before Dick and Mimi joined them, they became obsessed with making kites. A boy from the mainland taught Claude how to craft them, and when they returned to the island, they made many kites. One special kite that they made was large and covered with beautiful red paper. They decorated it with small gold stars and proudly wrote their names on it.
Passage:
One day there was a grand wind for kite-flying. I’m not sure how it happened, but as I was bringing the kite from the house, I tripped and fell over the rocks. My elbow went clear through the kite, making a big hole.
We had to hurry to fix the kite if we wanted to send it up before the wind fell. We rushed into the lighthouse to get some paper. We knew there was no more red paper. We took the first thing that came handy—an old letter lying on the bookcase in the sitting room. We patched the kite up with the letter, a sheet on each side and dried it by the fire. We started out, and up went the kite like a bird. The wind was glorious and it soared. All at once—snap! And there was Claude, standing with a bit of cord in his hand, looking foolish. Our kite had sailed away over to the mainland.
Word Meanings:
glorious (adj.): deserving great admiration, praise, and honor
soared (v): to rise very quickly to a high level
Cord (n): a small rope
Explanation: One day, the weather was perfect for flying kites on Big Half Moon Island. As Philippa was bringing their special kite outside, she accidentally tripped and ripped a big hole in it with her elbow. They hurried to fix it before the wind stopped. Inside their lighthouse home, they found an old letter because they had run out of red paper. They used this letter to patch up the kite, drying it near the fire. When they finally flew the kite, it soared beautifully in the strong wind. However, suddenly the kite broke free from the string, and Claude was left holding just the tiny rope. Their kite flew away all the way to the mainland, leaving them surprised and disappointed.
Unit 3
Passage:
A month later a letter came for Father. After he finished reading it, his eyes looked as if he had been crying. “Do you want to know what became of your kite?” he said. Then he sat down beside us and told us the whole story.
Father had a brother and a sister. He had quarreled with his brother and left home. Years afterward, he felt sorry and when he went back, he found his brother had died and he couldn’t find his sister.
The letter father had just received was from his sister, Aunt Esther, mother of Dick and Mimi. She was a widow who lived hundreds of miles inland. One day when Dick and Mimi were out in the woods, they discovered the kite on the top of a tree and carried it home. When their mother saw the kite patched with the letter, she turned pale. It was the very letter she had once written to her brother. Philippa was her mother’s name and Claude was her father’s. She knew who we must be. So she sat down and wrote to Big Half Moon and Father received her letter.
Next day, Father went and brought Aunt Esther and Dick and Mimi with him. They have been here ever since. Aunt Esther is a dear and Dick and Mimi are too jolly for words.
But the best of it all is that we have relations now!
Word Meanings:
widow (n): a woman whose husband or wife has died and who has not married again
Explanation: A month later, Philippa’s father received a letter that deeply moved him. After reading it, he looked as if he had been crying. He asked Philippa and Claude if they wanted to know what happened to their kite. He then sat down with them and shared a story from his past: he used to have a brother and a sister. He had a falling-out with his brother and left home. Years later, filled with regret, he returned only to find out his brother had passed away, and he couldn’t locate his sister. The letter he received was from his sister, Aunt Esther, who was now a widow living far away inland. One day, Aunt Esther’s children, Dick and Mimi, found the kite stuck in a tree while they were playing in the woods. When their mother saw the kite, patched with the old letter, she became pale. It turned out to be a letter she had written long ago to her brother— Philippa and Claude’s father. Seeing their names on the kite, she realized who they were. Aunt Esther then wrote a letter to Big Half Moon, and that’s how their father received her message. The next day, their father went to fetch Aunt Esther, Dick, and Mimi. They came to live with them on Big Half Moon Island. Aunt Esther became dear to the siblings, and Dick and Mimi brought joy with their cheerful personalities. Philippa concludes, stating this as the best part of the story, that they now have relatives—they are no longer alone on the island.