The Little Girl — RBSE Class 9 English (Beehive)
To little Kezia, her father is a giant to be feared — all rules, frowns and a big booming voice. Then one stormy night her mother is away and her father, the very person she dreads, becomes her comfort. The story is about how a child slowly learns to read the love hidden inside a stern parent.
RBSE note (2026-27). Class 9 English follows the NCERT Beehive reader; BSER (Ajmer) sets the exam.
1. Summary
Kezia is frightened of her father, a stern, busy man who speaks sharply and seems always to find fault. She is far more at ease with her gentle mother and grandmother. Wanting to please him on his birthday, Kezia makes a pin-cushion and, looking for paper to stuff it, tears up his important papers — a speech for the Port Authority. He is furious and punishes her (a ruler on her hands), leaving her more afraid than ever.
One day her mother falls ill and is taken to hospital, and her grandmother has to go too. Alone at night, Kezia has a nightmare and cries out. To her surprise, her father comes, takes her into his bed, soothes her and tells her to rub her feet against his legs to get warm. Lying there, Kezia realises he works hard all day for the family and has no one to look after him — and that his gruffness hides a tired, caring heart. Her fear turns to love and understanding.
2. Themes
- Parent–child relationships — fear can come from distance and lack of communication.
- Appearances vs reality — a stern exterior can hide deep love.
- Growing understanding — children gradually learn to see parents as people.
3. Characters
- Kezia — the sensitive little girl, frightened of her father.
- Father — stern and busy on the surface, loving underneath.
- Mother & Grandmother — the gentle, comforting figures in Kezia's life.
4. Why it matters
The story's quiet power is in its shift of perception: nothing about the father really changes — only Kezia's understanding of him does. Mansfield shows that communication and warmth matter as much as discipline, and that love is sometimes expressed clumsily by tired, hardworking parents. For the board, hold on to the pin-cushion/torn-papers incident, the punishment, the night of the nightmare, and Kezia's final realisation.
5. Quick recap
- Kezia fears her stern father; loves her gentle mother and grandmother.
- She tears his speech papers to stuff a pin-cushion → punished.
- Mother in hospital; alone at night Kezia has a nightmare → father comforts her.
- She realises he works hard and loves her → fear becomes love.
- Paired poem "Rain on the Roof": rain stirs sweet, sad memories — especially of the poet's mother.
