A Horse and Two Goats Summary of the Story

The story opens with a clear picture of the poverty in which the protagonist Muni lives.
Only one Big House out of thirty houses in the village is made up of brick. The others
including Muni are made up of bamboo’s thatch, straw, mud and other materials. There
is no running water or electricity supply. Muni’s wife cooked food over a fire in a mud
pot. One day Muni has shaken down six drumsticks from the tree growing in front of his
house and asks his wife to prepare them in a sauce for him. She agrees, provided he
can get the other ingredients like rice, dhaal, spices, oil and a potato.

Muni has not been so poor since the beginning. Once he owned a flock of forty sheep
and goats which he used to graze every day. But years of drought, famine and an
epidemic had destroyed all and he is left with only two goats. And because he belongs
to a lower caste, he was never allowed to go to school. He and his wife have no children
to take care of them in their old age. They run their house from the odd jobs his wife
does at the big house.

Muni has taken so much credit from every shop that when he asks for the ingredients
his wife requires for cooking the drumsticks, he is refused. There is nothing in the house
to cook so his wife asks him to fast till evening and graze the goats. Muni goes to his
usual place on the outskirts where he would sit on the pedestal of the old horse statue
and his goats meandered. The horse statue is made up of clay and is brightly coloured.

As Muni waits for the evening, he notices a yellow coloured wagon from which a red
faced American wearing khaki gets down and asks him for a nearby gas station. Then
he notices the statue and exclaims ‘Marvelous’.

Muni mistakes him as a policeman or a soldier and he wants to run away but finds it
difficult due to his old age. The two starts conversing in their own language without
understanding each other. The American offers him a cigarette and then gives him his
business card which Muni thinks to be warrant card. He gives innocent explanation that
he knows nothing about the crime the man is investigating.

A Horse and Two Goats Summary

American put forth his desire to buy the horse statue as he thinks Muni is the owner of
it. The two talk about their own life. Muni tells him about the statue what his father and
grandfather had told him. The American listens with fascination and appreciates his
sound. Muni tells him that he has never been to school and only Brahmins went to
school in those days therefore he doesn’t know Parangi language. He further describes
the horse as their guardian. At this the American replies that he assures that the statue
will have the best home in the U.S.A.
This way trying to understand each other’s language, they continued their conversation.
Ultimately, the American waved a hundred rupee note and hand it over to Muni. Muni
thinks it is an offer for the goats. He happily runs back home leaving his goats. But his
wife suspects him of theft and threatens to leave him. On the other hand, the American
gets the help to detach the horse from its pedestal and place it in his station wagon.

A Horse and Two Goats Summary Theme

The story is about a misunderstanding between an Indian and an American. A major

theme is clash of cultures as exhibited by the wealthy American and the poor Hindu,
Muni. Main focus is on miscommunication. Narayan used humor in place of anger to
demonstrate how the two worlds are entirely differing from each other: the two cultures
exist in the same time and space but speak different languages either literally or
metaphorically.

The two main characters in the story are equally different: Muni is a poor, rural, illiterate,
Hindu, dark complexioned whereas the American is wealthy, urban, educated, Christian
and white. Behaving like a religious man, Muni accepts his fate while the American is
willing and determined to take major steps to change his life. Both are unaware of each
other’s lifestyle.

The inability to understand one another’s language leads only to confusion but does not
harms anyone. Both the men are dissatisfied conversing with each other but still finds
company while talking. Each gives details of his life without realizing that the other
hears and understands nothing. At the end of their meeting each man gets what he
wants or needs without any loss. The selection of words is mind blowing. While the
reader may find this conflict painful at times, but it’s amusing altogether. One can say
that it’s a fine example of comic masterpiece.

A Horse and Two Goats Summary Characters

Muni

He is the protagonist of the story. He is old and extremely poor. But he had not always
been poor. He had a large flock of sheep and goats but fortunes declined and now he
was left only with two goats. He and his wife had no source of income and besides they
had no children to take care of them in old age.

His usual work was to set out every day to graze his goats on the outskirts of the town
whereas his wife earned something by doing different jobs in the big house. While the
goats meandered along to the foot of the horse statue on the edge of the village, he sat
on its pedestal for the rest of the day and crouched under its belly for shade.
There he remembers his olden days when life was tough but they were never short of
food. He was uneducated and illiterate because he was not Brahmin and only Brahmins
were supposed to acquire education. Overall he created humor in the whole story
through his accents and assumptions.

The American

The American was a businessman who entered the story when Muni was grazing his
goats on the outskirts of the town. He wore Khaki and gave Muni the impression of a
policeman or a soldier. He knew only English language but expected Muni to speak the
same language. He was annoyed to know that Muni could speak only Tamil. His entry
was symbolic of a new culture displaying Western culture. He was wealthy in contrast
with Muni. He was very well acquainted with the fact that he was in the remotest of the
Indian villages, still he was looking for the gas station and English speaking people.

He wanted to own the thing whatever he liked without giving a second thought. He
wanted to own the horse statue as a souvenir for his living room at any cost and thought
Muni as the owner of statue by the way Muni was sitting on its pedestal. He knew that
nobody could understand his language still he listened Muni very seriously but very well
acquainted with the fact that money would solve all the problems. He was a materialistic
man who had no value for the cultural or religious importance of the statue.

The Shop man

The shop man is a man whose mood swings frequently. He has given Muni food on
credit in the past, but now is no more willing to lend him anything as Muni has passed
his limit. Muni owes him five rupees too which is a great amount. Sometimes they share
a bit of humorous conversation, but apart from this they have no more connection. He
sends him back disappointed when his wife asks for some ingredients to prepare
drumsticks The Wife Muni’s wife has lived with him since they were children.

Neither of them was sure about their ages. They had spent years through prosperity
and poverty. She was somewhat irritated with him now and had grown tired of him, but
cared also. She was a typical Indian woman who was ready to cook whatever her
husband wanted. At times she scolded him also. Her temper was manageable. She
wanted to fulfill his request for a special meal. She worked hard in the big house as he
did, or harder.

She picked up odd jobs as grinding corn, sweeping, scrubbing, for buying food stuff. In
fact she was not dependent on Muni but Muni was dependent on her. She was ready to
do as much work as she could for her living but was against earning the money by
unfair means. Poverty had drained her down as she accused Muni of stealing after
seeing hundred rupees and threatened to leave the house.
A Horse and Two Goats Summary Word-Meanings

1. dotting – mark with dots

2. grandiose – imposing
3. subcontinent – a large landmark forming a part of continent
4. gorgeous – beautiful, attractive
5. gargoyles – a water spout in the form of a grotesque carved face on a building
6. balustrade – a row of short pillars supporting a rail or coping
7. sallied – set out on a journey
8. pedestal – a base supporting a column or statue
9. crook – a hooked stick
10. snapped – break
11. foliage – leaves
12. avenue – a wide road
13. faggots – a tied bundle of sticks or twigs
14. dawn – the first light of the day, the beginning
15. millet – a cereal plant
16. tethered – tied to a spot with a rope or chain
17. triumph – a great victory
18. precisely – exactly
19. upturned – upside downails – make or become ill
20. inordinately – excessively
21. humor – quality of being amusing
22. debt – something owed
23. mumbled – spoke indistinctly
24. sneered – made a scornful remark or expression
25. famine – extreme scarcity of food
26. parapet – a low wall along the edge of balcony or a bridge
27. unobtrusively – not making oneself noticed
28. recoup – regain
29. fatigue – tiredness
30. conjure – summon, evoke
31. unleashing – releasing
32. weird – uncanny, bizarre
33. accosted – approached and spoke to
34. cronies – companion
35. lounging – sitting
36. hailed – an expression of greeting
37. summoned – ordered to appear in a law court
38. progeny – generation
39. meandered – wandered in a leisurely way
40. crouch – stoop low with knees tightly bent
41. prancing – moving springily
42. scythe – a tool with a curved blade on a long handle for cutting long grass
43. aquiline – curved like an eagle’s beak
44. vandals – a person who damages things willfully
45. gashed – long deep cut
46. lewd – treating sexual matters vulgarly
47. scrounge – borrow
48. sputtered – a spluttering sound
49. fidgeted – made small restless movements
50. slanderers – a false statement made by the people to damage one’s reputation
51. gainsay – to deny
52. inquisitor – curious
53. scruples – doubtful
54. pinioned – restrain by holding
55. obscure – uncertain
56. famished – extremely hungry
57. ruminated – think deeply.