The Recurring Dream | Summary | Word Meanings | Question and Answers

Kimberly Clark is a pretty girl living in London and she has a good position in the office. She has a mysterious dream which frequently repeats at night. The dream is mysterious because it is about a person and place, which are completely strange to her and it is a recurring dream.
Her dream begins on a country road which has lane with a white fence and a hedge on each side. At the end of the lane, on the top of a little hill, there is a little white cottage with green shutters. In the dream she goes there, looks around and sees an old man sleeping in a room. The old man is small, with white hair and beard. When Kim goes near the old man he wakes up. When she opens her mouth to talk with him, she finds her in her own apartment.

Kim talks about the dream with her roommate, Janet. She suggests that she should go to her parent's farm in the country which is peaceful where she forgets the dream because the dream is bothering her very much. They leave the city for the country. Janet drives her car and Kim sleep behind. She feels asleep and wakes up immediately after Janet turns the car to a country road and says to Janet that she sees the exact place which appears in her dream. She wants to go there but Janet suggests that it is only her imagination and they should go on. Instead of Janet's request Kim go to the house.

Kim finds everything the same in the house. She goes to the door and knocks on it. She is frightened, her hands tremble. After a minute the old man opens the door and makes his eyes wide and suddenly closes the door. She stops him and asks if the house is on the sale. There is only one difference between the house in the dream and this house. In reality there is FOR SALE sign just in front of the house. The old man opens the door a little and says she can not buy the house because a ghosts haunts the house every night. Kim asks who is the ghost and the old man says with a loud whisper that the ghost is Kim herself. Then he closes the door.

Translation Of 'The Recurring Dream' In Nepali is given below in 'COMMENT' Section. :)

Word Meanings in Nepali of 'THE RECURRING DREAM''

Word	Meaning
recurring (adj)	happening time after time (बारम्बार दोहोरिने)
pretty (adj)	beautiful (राम्री)
mysterious (adj)	strange ( रहस्यमय)
whisper (n)	low speech (साउती)
frequently (adv)	time and again (पटक-पटक)
country (n)	village, remote area (दुर्गम गाउँ)
lane (n)	way (बाटो)
fence (n)	barrier (बार)
hedge (n)	bush (झाडी, झाङ्ग)
shutter (n)	window (बाहिर पट्टि खोल्ने ठूलो झ्याल)
apartment (n)	flat (कोठा)
bother (v)	to trouble (दु:ख दिनु, दिक्क लगाउनु)
roommate (n)	room partner (कोठामा सँगै बस्ने साथी)
constantly (adv)	frequently (लगातार)
exclaim (v)	to express surprise (आश्चर्य व्यक्त गर्नु)
pound (v)	beat (heart) (मुटु ढुक ढुक गर्नु)
tremble (v)	shake (काम्नु)
immediately(adv)	recently (तुरुन्तै)
stammer (v)	speak with difficulty (भकभकाउनु)
haunt (v)	(of ghost) visit someone or appear in a place (बारम्बार आउनु, तर्साउनु)

Question-Answers Of 'THE RECURRING DREAM':

1. In which country does this story take place ? (यो कथा देशको हो ?)
Ans: This story takes place in England.
2. How old is Kim at this time ? (यस समयमा किम कति बर्षकी छिन् ?)
Ans: She is twenty five years old.
3. Who is Kim's roommate ? (किमको कोठामा बस्ने साथी को हो ?)
Ans: Janet is Kim's roommate.
4. Where is the house in Kimberly's dream ? (किमको सपनाको घर कहाँ छ ?)
Ans: In Kim's dream it is in the country on the top of a small hill.
5. Describe the lane and the house. (बाटो र घरको बर्णन गर्नुहोस्।)
Ans: There is a lane with white fence and a hedge on each side. It has white colour at the top of a little hill and green shutters.
6. Describe the man Kim sees in the house. (किमले घरमा देखेको मानिसको बर्णन गर्नुहोस्।)
Ans: The man is small, old with white hair and white beard. He is sleeping in a room.
7. Where, in the house, is the man when she sees him ? (उनले देखेको बेला त्यो मानिस घरको कुन ठाउँमा हुन्छ ?)
Ans: When she sees him, he is sleeping in his room.
8. Where does Janet want to take Kim for a few days ? (केही दिनका लागि Janet किमलाई कहाँ लान चाहन्छिन् ?)
Ans: Janet wants to take Kim in her parent's farm in the country for a few days.
9. Where does Kim see a house like the one in her dream ? (सपनामा देखेको जस्तो घर किमले कहाँ देख्छिन् ?)
Ans: Kim sees a house in the country like the one in her dream.
10. What does she do when she sees the house ? (घर देखे पछि उनले के गर्छिन् ?)
Ans: When she sees the house she requests Jan to stop the car to go there to see.
11. What does the little, old man do when he sees Kim at the door ? (बूढो मानिसले किमलाई ढोकामा देखेपछि के गर्छ ?)
Ans: When the old man sees Kim at the door, he widens his eyes and closes the door.

1. What do you think is the reason some people have recurring dream ?(केही मानिसहरुले बारम्बार उही सपना देखिरहनुको कारण के होला जस्तो लाग्छ तपईलाई ?)
Ans: The reason some people have recurring dream is psychological. If someone thinks of anything constantly (लगातार) it recurs into his mind frequently and he dreams.
2. Why do you think Kim has this dream ? (तपाईलाई किमले यो सपना किन देख्छिन् जस्तो लाग्छ ?)
Ans: I think, Kim has this dream because, she takes it as mysterious and strange and thinks of the event constantly.
3. It says in the story that Kim simply goes into the house in her dream, but it does not say how she enters. How do you think she enters ? (किम कोठा भित्र कसरी प्रवेश गर्छिन् होला जस्तो लाग्छ ?)
Ans: In the dream, our spirit goes somewhere and it is not stopped by any physical things so she enters automatically in the dream.

Ans: Janet wants to take Kim to her parent's farm for a few days because she thinks that Kim would forget about the recurring dream in the peaceful environment.
6. When Kim sees a cottage like the one in her dream, Janet does not want her to go see it why ? (Janet ले किन किमलाई त्यो घरतिर नजान भन्छिन् ?)
Ans: When they enter into country road Kim sees a cottage like the one in her dream and Janet doesn't want her to go to see it because she thinks that is only Kim's imagination.

7. Why does Kim's body shake when she sees the little, old man at the door of the cottage ? (त्यो बूढो मानिसलाई देखेपछि किमको शरीर किन काँप्छ ?)
Ans: Because he is like the man of her dream and she becomes nervous.

8. Why does the little, old man close the door when she sees Kim ? (किमलाई देखेको बेला बुढो मानिसले किन ढोका बन्द गर्छ ?)
Ans: Because he thinks she is the ghost.
9. Why does Kim say something about the FOR SALE sign ? (किमले FOR SALE संकेतको बारेमा किन केही भन्छिन् ?)
Ans: Kim says something about the FOR SALE sign since she has become nervous and she does not know what to say.

10. Why do you think the cottage is FOR SALE ? (तपाईको विचारमा त्यो झुप्रो किन बिक्रीमा छ ?)
Ans: The cottage is FOR SALE because it is usually visited by a ghost. 

(Divide the class into small groups.)

1. Tell the story in your words. One person can begin, another continue, and so on. (For practice, can you tell it in present tense ?) (आफ्नै शब्दमा The Recurring Dream को कथा भन्नुहोस्।)
Answer: Kimberly Clark is a pretty girl living in London and she has a good position in the office. She has a mysterious dream which frequently repeats at night. The dream is mysterious because it is about a person and place, which are completely strange to her and it is a recurring dream.

Her dream begins on a country road which has lane with a white fence and a hedge on each side. At the end of the lane, on the top of a little hill, there is a little white cottage with green shutters. In the dream she goes there, looks around and sees an old man sleeping in a room. The old man is small, with white hair and beard. When Kim goes near the old man he wakes up. When she opens her mouth to talk with him, she finds her in her own apartment.

Kim talks about the dream with her roommate, Janet. She suggests that she should go to her parent's farm in the country which is peaceful where she forgets the dream because the dream is bothering her very much. They leave the city for the country. Janet drives her car and Kim sleep behind. She feels asleep and wakes up immediately after Janet turns the car to a country road and says to Janet that she sees the exact place which appears in her dream. She wants to go there but Janet suggests that it is only her imagination and they should go on. Instead of Janet's request Kim go to the house. Kim finds everything the same in the house. She goes to the door and knocks on it. She is frightened, her hands tremble. After a minute the old man opens the door and makes his eyes wide and suddenly closes the door. She stops him and asks if the house is on the sale. There is only one difference between the house in the dream and this house. In reality there is FOR SALE sign just in front of the house. The old man opens the door a little and says she can not buy the house because a ghosts haunts the house every night. Kim asks who is the ghost and the old man says with a loud whisper that the ghost is Kim herself. Then he closes the door. 2. Make up questions of your own about the story to ask others in the class . (If you ask "yes or no" questions, ask also "why?" or "why not") (कक्षाका अरु बिधार्थीलाई कथाका बारेमा प्रश्न गर्न प्रश्नहरु तयार गर्नुहोस्।)

Answer: The questions on UNDERSTANDING-above can be asked to other students in the class.

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES (शैलीगत योजना)

A. Vocabulary Practice (शब्द अभ्यास)

1. Underline the correct answers. (ठीक उत्तरलाई छुट्याउनुहोस्।)
a. A recurring dream is one which happens (once in a while/once/frequently).
Ans: frequently
b. Kimberly says that she thinks about the dream constantly, which means that she thinks about it (all the time/sometimes/once in a while).
Ans: all the time
c. A cottage is (a little house/house with shutters/a white house).
Ans: a little house
d. A mysterious dream is a dream which is (recurring/strange/in the country).
Ans: strangee.
e. When Kim's roommate says, "You only imagine this place is the same," she means that Kim (thinks/knows/understands) that this place is the same.
Ans: thinks f. The lane in this story is (one side of a freeway/a pathway/an alley).
Ans: an alley (गल्ली)
g. Kim's heart pounds as she stands in front of the cottage because (she has a headache/she is nervous/she has heart trouble).
Ans: she is nervous.
h. A FOR SALE sign in front of a house indicates that the person who owns it wants to (sell it/rent it/buy it).
Ans: sell it.
i. Kim stammers when she tries to talk to the man because (she doesn't know what to say/she wants to buy the house/she sees a ghost).
Ans: she doesn't know what to say.
j. When the man says "A ghost haunts this house,"he means that (a ghost comes to the house/a ghost wakes people up in the house/a ghost scares people in the house).
Ans: a ghost comes to the house. 2. Match the words or phrases which have more or less the same meaning. (शब्दहरु वा वाक्यांशहरु छानी उस्तै अर्थ लाग्ने अरु शब्दहरु वा वाक्यांशहरु सँग जोडा मिलाउनुहोस्।)
Answer: 3. Match the opposites. (बिपरित शब्दहरु मिलाउनुहोस्)
Answer: B. Practice with present tense (वर्तमान कालको अभ्यास)
Choose the correct form of the verb. (क्रियाको उपयुक्त रुप छान्नुहोस्)
(नोट : उत्तरहरु बोल्ड फेसमा दिईएका छन्।) 

Answer:

1. Kimberly (work/works) for a large company.
2. Kim and her roommate (live/lives) in London.
3. The girl (look/looks) at the cottage on the hill.
4. The little house (have/has) green shutters.
5. The girls (go/goes) to the country.
6. Jan does not (dream/dreams) about a little old man.
7. All people (have/has) dreams.
8. The man does not (sleep/sleeps) on the floor.
9. Kim (know/knows) no old man like this.
10. She doesn't (know/knows) this place either.
11. Cottages do not always (have/has) green shutters.
12. Ghosts sometimes (haunt/haunts) houses.
13. I (think/thinks) he wants to sell the house.
14. Do you sometimes (see/sees) strange things ?
15. I think you and I sometime (imagine/imagines) things.

Discussion Questions/ Writing Practice (छलफलमा प्रश्न /लेख्ने अभ्यास)

Question No. 1: Tell about an experience with a strange dream ( a dream of yours or of someone you know). (एउटा अनौठो सपनाको अनुभव बारे भन्नुहोस्।)
Answer: Many years ago, I used to dream about flying from one place to another. I used to go up the stiff and high cliffs. I used to play with my friends and a small goat used to appear in the lawn. I used to beat it but unfortunately, it used to be a great black horse which would chase me. I used to run away but the horse used to follow me. Then I used to fly over the cliff but when I was flying I used to wake up in my room. The dream used to be repeated once a week so I used to be worried about the dream.

Question No. 2: Some people think all dreams have special meanings. What do you think ? Tell about it, using examples if you can. (कोही व्यक्तिहरु सबै सपनाहरुको बिशेष अर्थ हुन्छ भन्छन्, तपाई के सोच्नु हुन्छ ? सक्नु हुन्छ भने उदाहरण प्रयोग गरी यसका बारेमा लेख्नुहोस्।) 

Answer: If we can symbolize (प्रतीकात्मक बनाउनु) all dreams, some of them may have special meanings. Dream is like an imagination (कल्पना), so every dream doesn't have special meaning but sometimes some dreams have special meaning. For example, when I have to fight with someone I dream fire or ploughing. Certainly I have to face some problems after I dream like this but it is unlikely to have special meaning of all dream.

Question No. 3: Tell what you know about people in your part of the country who says that their body can be in one place while the 'spirit' is in another. (जब हँस निस्केर अर्को ठाउँमा जान्छ त्यसबेला जिउ अर्कै तिर रहन्छ भन्ने तपाईको ठाउँमा मान्छेहरुको भनाईको बारेमा साथीहरुलाई बताउनुहोस्।)  
Answer: Many people think that when they sleep, their spirit goes out. It goes somewhere, does something and returns to the body. I think it is not scientifically proved, yet we do not know why and how we dream. But in my country, many people believe in the separation (विभाजन) of the spirit and body. They even say that our spirit goes off the body and we die. As long as the spirit lives into the body, we remain alive. They tell so many stories that the spirit really exists there but the people of the young generation don't believe in the spirit. They can't say what is the reality, however.