The Snake and the Mirror — RBSE Class 9 English (Beehive)
A hot night, a small rented room, a doctor admiring his own handsome face in a mirror and dreaming of a rich bride — and then a snake drops from the rafters onto his shoulder. In a few frozen minutes, Basheer turns vanity into comedy and a gentle lesson about how small we really are.
RBSE note (2026-27). Class 9 English follows the NCERT Beehive reader; BSER (Ajmer) sets the exam.
1. Summary
A homoeopathic doctor narrates an incident from his early, struggling days, living in a tiny rented room. One sweltering night he sits before a mirror, admiring his clean-shaven face and planning small touches to look more attractive — for he dreams of marrying a rich lady doctor, plump and prosperous. He is, in short, full of vanity and pride.
Suddenly a snake falls from the roof onto his shoulder and coils around his arm, finally resting on his wrist, its hood inches from his face, both of them seemingly looking into the mirror. Terrified, he sits absolutely still, making frantic silent resolutions — to give up his arrogance and bad habits — sure he is about to die.
After a long while the snake slithers away onto the table, possibly drawn to its own reflection in the mirror. The doctor leaps up and flees to a friend's house. When he returns next day, he finds a thief has stolen almost all his belongings — but, ironically, left the mirror. The doctor ends by gently mocking his earlier vanity.
2. Themes
- Humility vs vanity — pride is punctured the moment real danger appears.
- Human helplessness — before nature/fate, all our self-importance is tiny.
- Humour — the comic tone makes the moral light and memorable.
3. Characters
- The doctor (narrator) — young, poor, vain; humbled by the snake.
- The snake — the agent of fear and, indirectly, of self-realisation.
- The thief (off-stage) — adds the closing irony.
4. Why it matters
Basheer's craft is gentle irony: the doctor's grand plans collapse the instant a snake touches him, and the universe seems to mock him further when the thief leaves only the mirror. The story shows how fear strips away pretence — and how quickly we promise to reform when frightened (and how easily we forget afterwards). For the board, hold the mirror/vanity setup, the snake on the wrist, the resolutions, and the thief–mirror irony.
5. Quick recap
- A vain young doctor admires himself in a mirror, dreaming of a rich bride.
- A snake falls on him and coils on his wrist; he freezes and makes humble resolutions.
- The snake leaves; he escapes; a thief has stolen everything except the mirror.
- Theme: humility — vanity is meaningless before fear and fate; told with humour.
- Paired poem "A Legend of the Northland": a greedy woman is punished (turned into a woodpecker) for refusing to share — generosity matters.
