SUMMARY IN ENGLISH
I. HIS FIRST FLIGHT
Here Liam O’ Flaherty tells us in detail how a sea bird named seagull is made perfect in flying. The little bird has lost all his courage but slowly and steadily the bird learns how to fly.
Young seagull’s parents tried their level best to encourage him to learn how to fly. Even his brothers and sister asked him to learn the art of flying but all their efforts ended in smoke. The young seagull was all alone on the ledge. He tried to flap his wings but failed. He used to think that his wings would never help him in flying. So he runs back bending his head goes under the ledge. His brothers and sister had flown away but he did not have the courage. His parents also threatened him to starve but failed to turn him on. For a long time they did not come near him but this also could not persuade him to fly.
The young seagull went on watching his parents flying about with his brothers and his sister. They were making them perfect in flying. His parents were teaching them how to move lightly over the surface to get the fish. The young seagull saw his elder brother catching the herring. But the young seagull did nothing. The hunger was also troubling the bird.
He felt hungry because he had not eaten since the previous nightfall. The young seagull stepped out to the brink on the ledge. He also pretended to fall asleep. But his family paid no heed to him. Only his mother looked at him. Her mother was on the plateau opposite him where she was tearing a fish. The young seagull also loved to tear food that way. His mother picked up a piece of fish and went near him. The young seagull was mad with hunger. He failed to understand why his mother did not come nearer.
Immediately he dived at a fish and fell into the space. His mother was also behind him. The wind rushed against his breast and feathers. He saw that his feathers were cutting the air and he was in no trouble.
Once more he flapped his wings and moved upwards. His parents too flew over him. The young seagull forgot everything and prepared himself to dive and soar. At this moment he was flying over the sea. He saw his family members there. They were calling him. He dropped his legs to stand on the green sea. He screamed with fright. His belly was touching the sea. At present he was floating on it. All the members of his family were praising him and flattering him. In this way the young seagull made his first flight.
II. BLACK AEROPLANE
It was a very clear night without clouds. The moon and stars were shining. The writer was happy. He wanted to fly alone in the sky. It was one thirty in the morning. The writer was in his old Dakota. He was flying over France and going to England. He switched on the radio and spoke to Paris Control. He informed them that he was on his way to England. After talking to them he turned his plane 12 degrees west towards England. He was thinking of taking breakfast at his home in the morning. All was going well but all of a sudden he saw a storm just before him. The clouds were looking like a huge black mountain. Paris was about 150 km away. He could only move towards north or south to escape the storm. But he had not enough fuel to take another path. So he decided to take a chance and started to fly through the storm. When he was in the middle of the storm, it became so dark that he could see nothing. He tried to take the help of different instruments but all of them were dead. His compass was revolving round and round and the radio was dead. He felt helpless. Now he was repenting his decision. Suddenly he saw another aeroplane. The plane had no lights on the wings. But he could see that plane just before him. He was also able to see the pilot’s face clearly. He was happy to see another person in this dark storm. The other pilot wanted to help him and asked the narrator to follow him. After that the narrator followed that plane for half an hour. There was not enough fuel left in his old Dakota. But he kept following the plane.
All of a sudden the plane of the writer was out of the clouds. He was happy to see two straight lines of lights before him. It was a runway. The writer was now safe. He turned to see his friend in the black aeroplane. There was nothing the black aeroplane also had gone. He could not find it anywhere. The writer landed near the control tower. He asked the woman in the control tower who was the other pilot as he wanted him to thank him.
The woman looked at the writer in surprise. She laughted at him and told him that only his aeroplane was visible in the radar. He was now wondering as who was that pilot on the strange black aeroplane, flying in the storm and even without lights.