VISTAS
CHAPTER-4 : THE ENEMY
Q-1 Who was Dr. Sadao? Where was his house?
Ans. Dr. Sadao was a famous Japanese surgeon and scientist. His house was on a spot of the Japanese coast
where as a little boy he had often played. It was set upon rocks. It was well above a narrow beach that was
outlined with bent pines.
Q-2 What was the chief concern of Sadao's father and what did he do for it?
Ans. Sadao's education was the chief concern of his father. He never joked or played with the boy. He worried
about his education only. When Sadao was twenty-two he was sent to America to learn all he could of surgery
and medicine.
Q-3 Why was Sadao not sent to the battlefield?
Ans. Sadao was a famous surgeon and scientist. He was perfecting a discovery that could make wounds entirely
clean. Moreover, he was treating the old General medically, and the General could need an operation also. That
was why Sadao was not sent abroad with the troops.
Q-4 Who was Hana? Where had Sadao met her?
Ans. Hana was Sadao's wife. Sadao had met her in America at the house of a professor where some foreign
students lived. But he had waited to fall in love with her until he was sure she was Japanese.
Q-5 How did Sadao's marriage with Hana come to take place?
Ans. Sadao met Hana in America. He liked her but he waited to fall in love with her. He wanted to be sure that
she was a Japanese. His father was too very particular in such matters. Both Sadao and Hana came back to Japan
after finishing their studies. Their marriage was arranged in the old Japanese way.
Q-6 In what condition did Sadao and Hana find the wounded man on the beach?
Ans. The man was wounded. The sand on one side of him had a stain of blood soaking through. He lay
motionless. His face was in the sand. He was in wet rags. An old cap stuck to his head. Sadao turned the man's
head. He saw that it was a white man.
Q-7 What did Sadao and his wife want to do with the white man after he had stopped his bleeding? Why?
Ans. Japan was at war with America. Thus if Sadao and his wife sheltered the white man in their house, they
would be arrested. But if they turned him over as a prisoner, he was sure to be killed. Therefore they thought the
best thing would be to put him back in to the sea.
Q-8 Hana told Yumi to wash the soldier. How did Yumi react?
Ans. Yumi refused to wash the soldier. She said that she had never washed a white man and she said that she
would not wash so dirty a man as he was.
Q-9 Why did the servants leave Dr. Sadao's house?
Ans. Dr. Sadao had given an enemy soldier shelter in his house. None of his servants liked it. They looked upon all
white Americans as their enemies. When they saw that Dr. Sadao was not going to hand over the man to the
police they left his house.
Q-10 Who was it that washed the wounded man before the operation?
Ans. Hana herself washed his face and the upper part of his body. But she dared not turn him over. In the
meantime, Sadao came in with his surgeon's bag. With Hana's help, he turned the man over and washed his back
carefully.
Q-11 Why did the general spare the America soldier?
Ans. The General was in great pain and bad to be operated on. In his own pain, he forgot all about the American
soldier. So we can't say that he spared the American soldier. He had only forgotten about him.
Q-12 How did Sadao take the bullet out of the white man's body?
Ans. Sadao performed an operation. His wife helped him with anesthetic. While probing Sadao felt the tip of his
instrument strike against something hard. It was dangerously near the kidney. Then he probed with his fingers
and took the bullet out in the cleanest manner.
Q-13 How was the plan of the prisoner's escape executed in the story 'The Enemy'?
Ans. Dr. Sadao had a boat of his own one night; he put it on the shore. He put in it some food and extra clothes.
There was a little island not far from the coast. Nobody lived there. Dr. Sadao asked the prisoner to row to that
island and thus saved himself.
Q-14 What forced Dr. Sadao to be impatient and irritated with his patient?
Ans. The servants of the house had refused to work while an enemy was being kept hidden in the house. And
then there was the danger of Sadao himself being arrested. That was why he became impatient and irritated with
his patient.
