1.

3 The Cop and the Anthem

ICE BREAKERS
 Suppose you have gone to a place where the winter season is very severe,
discuss with your partner the ways in which you would protect yourself in the
cold climate.

Ways to protect
from cold climate

 When you see a cop approaching, you feel either ‘relieved’ or ‘scared’. Discuss
with your partner the situations when you feel ‘relieved’ or ‘scared’.
(a) You are walking alone in a dark street.
Relieved (b)
(c)
(a) You are riding a bike without a valid driving licence.
Scared (b)
(c)

 Discuss some of the motivating things that can change a person’s life. One is
given :
(a) Listening to an inspiring speech
(b)
(c)
(d)

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 O’Henry (1862-1910) William Sydney Porter, an American writer is
better known by his pen name O’Henry. He was a voracious reader
since childhood. He started a humorous weekly, ‘The Rolling Stone’
and when the venture failed, he joined the ‘Houston Post’ as a
reporter, columnist and occasional cartoonist.
The story, ‘The Cop and the Anthem’ is one of O’Henry’s well
known stories. To describe his style of writing, people have often
used the term ‘smile with tears’ which implies his twisted way of
thoughts and endings in almost every story.
In this story the main character, Soapy, is a vagabond and a
person with criminal background. He makes different plans to re-enter
the prison as he has no shelter to protect himself from the severe winter.
The story` ends in an unexpected way. O’Henry has depicted Soapy’s futile attempts to get
arrested in a very humourous vein.
‘The Cop and the Anthem’ is about freedom and confinement. Initially Soapy feels that
there is freedom (from miseries and worries) in confinement (prison). The notes of anthem
transform him from within and he resolves to work hard. Soapy faces the irony of fate as
the moment he realizes the real freedom lies in a virtuous life, he is taken into confinement.

The Cop and the Anthem

Soapy left his bench and strolled out of the square
strolled : walked in a and across the level sea of asphalt, where Broadway and
leisurely way Fifth Avenue flow together. Up Broadway he turned, and
stopped at a luxurious cafe.
Soapy had confidence in himself from the lowest
button of his vest upward. He was shaven, and his coat
Thanksgiving Day: was trim and his neat, black bow had been presented to
The fourth Thursday of him by a lady missionary on Thanksgiving Day. If only
November marked by he could reach a table in the restaurant unsuspected,
religious observances and success would be his. The portion of him that would
traditional meals
show above the table would raise no doubt in the
waiter’s mind. A roasted mallard duck, thought Soapy,
would be about the thing with a bottle of wine and then
some cheese, a cup of coffee and a cigar. One dollar
Guess the meaning of the for the cigar would be enough. The total would not be
expression in the context :
• winter island
so high as to call forth any extreme of revenge from the
• eye fell upon
cafe management; and yet the meat would leave him
filled and happy for the journey to his winter island.
decadent : (here) old and But as Soapy set foot inside the restaurant door,
worn out the head-waiter’s eye fell upon his tattered trousers
and decadent shoes. Strong and ready hands turned

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him about and conveyed him in silence and haste to the
side-walk and averted the ignoble fate of the menaced
mallard. ignoble : dishonourable
Soapy turned off Broadway. It seemed that his route
coveted : greatly desired
to the coveted island was not to be an easy one. Some limbo : border place
other way of entering the limbo must be devised. between heaven and hell
At a corner of Sixth Avenue electric lights and
Soapy took a stone because
cunningly displayed wares behind plateglass made a ........................................
shop window attractive. Soapy took a stone and dashed
it through the glass. People came running round the
coner, a policeman in the lead. Soapy stood still with
his hands in his pockets, and smiled at the sight of brass
buttons.
agitatedly : in a troubled or
“Where’s the man that done that?” inquired the
nervous manner
officer agitatedly.
“Don’t you think that I might have had something
to do with it?” said Soapy, with a friendly voice, as one
greets good fortune.
The policeman refused to accept Soapy even as
a clue. Men who smash windows do not remain to
chat with the police. They take to their heels. The
policeman saw a man half-way down the block running
to catch a car. With drawn club he joined in the pursuit.
Soapy, with disgust in his heart, drifted along, twice Discuss the hidden
meaning in the expression.
unsuccessful.
• It catered to large appetites
On the opposite side of the street was a restaurant and modest purses.
of no great pretensions. It catered to large appetites
Guess the meaning :
and modest purses. Its crockery and atmosphere were
• napery
thick; its soup and napery thin. Into this place Soapy • betook
betook himself without challenge. At a table he sat and
consumed beefsteak, flapjacks, doughnuts and pie. And
then he told the waiter the fact that the minutest coin and
himself were total strangers.
“Now, get busy and call a cop”, said Soapy. “And
don’t keep a gentleman waiting.”
callous : (here) very hard
“No cop for you,” said the waiter, with a voice like pitched : threw
butter cakes and an eye like the cherry in the Manhattan
cocktail. “Hey, Con!”
Neatly upon his left ear on the callous pavement
two waiters pitched Soapy. He arose, joint by joint, as

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 a acarpenter’s rule opens, and dusted his clothes. Arrest
seemed now but an elusive dream. The island seemed
elusive : difficult to find, very far away. A policeman who stood before a drugstore
catch or achieve two doors away laughed and walked down the street.
rendered : made Soapy was seized with a sudden fear that some
dreadful enchantment had rendered him immune to
arrest. He was in a state of panic, and, when he came
Discuss the meaning in
upon another policeman lounging grandly in front of a
the context : glittering theatre, he caught at the immediate straw of
he caught at the ‘disorderly conduct’.
immediate straw of
‘disorderly conduct’ On the sidewalk Soapy began to yell drunken
gibberish at the top of his harsh voice. He danced,
twirled : turned
something quickly round howled, raved and otherwise disturbed the skies.
and round The policeman merely twirled his club, turned his
back to Soapy and remarked to a citizen :
“Tis one of them Yale lads celebratin the goose egg
they give to the Hartford College. Noisy; but no harm.
disconsolate : very
unhappy
We’ve instructions to let them be.”
Arcadia : a mountainous Disconsolate, Soapy stopped his unavailing racket.
district in the Peloponnese Would never a policeman lay hands on him? In his fancy,
of Southern Greece.
In poetic fantasy it the island seemed an unattainable Arcadia. He buttoned
represents a pastoral his thin coat against the chilling wind.
paradise.
In a cigar store he saw a well-dressed man lighting a
sauntered : walked in a cigar at the swinging light. He had set his silk umbrella
relaxed manner by the door on entering. Soapy stepped inside, grabbed
the umbrella and sauntered off with it slowly. The man
at the cigar light followed hastily.
sneered: gave a
contemptuous or mocking “My umbrella,” he said sternly.
smile, remark or tone
larceny : theft of personal
“Oh, is it?” sneered Soapy, adding insult to petty
property larceny. “Well, why don’t you call a policeman? I took
it. Your umbrella ! Why don’t you call a cop? There
stands one on the corner.”
premonition : a strong
feeling that something The umbrella owner slowed his steps. Soapy did
is about to happen, likewise, with a premonition that luck would again run
especially something against him. The policeman eyed at the two curiously.
unpleasant
“Of course,” said the umbrella man “Well, you
know how these mistakes occur if it’s your umbrella.
I hope you’ll excuse me - I picked it up this morning
in a restaurant if you recognize it as yours, why I hope
you’ll”.
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 “Of course it’s mine,” said Soapy savagely.
The ex-umbrella man retreated. The policeman
hurried to assist a tall blonde in an opera cloak across blonde : a person with
the street in front of a street car that was approaching pale yellow hair
two blocks away.
Soapy walked eastward through a street damaged Soapy was angry because
by improvements. He hurled the umbrella angrily into .........................................
an excavation. He muttered against the men who wear
helmets and carry clubs. Because he wanted to fall into
their clutches, they seemed to regard him as a king who
could do nothing wrong.
At length Soapy reached one of the avenues to the
east where the glitter and turmoil was but faint. He turmoil : a state of great
dragged himself toward Madison Square, for the homing disturbance
instinct survives even when the home is a park bench. quaint : attractively
But, on an unusually quiet corner, Soapy came unusual or old fashioned
to a standstill. Here was an old church, quaint and rambling : (here)
spreading or winding
rambling and gabled. Through one violet-stained irregularly in various
window a soft light glowed, where, no doubt, the directions.
organist loitered over the keys, making sure of his gabled : constructed with
mastery of the coming Sabbath anthem. For there gables (the triangular
upper part of a wall at the
drifted out to Soapy’s ears sweet music that caught and
end of a ridged roof)
held him transfixed against the convolutions of the iron Sabbath : a day of
fence. religious observance and
abstinence from work kept
The moon was above, full and radiant; vehicles by Jews and Christians
and pedestrians were few; sparrows twittered sleepily convolutions : coils or
in the eaves or a little while the scene might have been twists
a country churchyard. And the anthem that the organist
played cemented Soapy to the iron fence, for he had
known it well in the days when his life contained such
things as mothers and roses and ambitions and friends
and immaculate thoughts and collars. immaculate : perfectly
clean and tidy
The conjunction of Soapy’s receptive state of mind
and the influences about the old church brought a sudden
Describe the wonderful
and wonderful change in his soul. He viewed with rising change in Soapy’s soul.
horror the pit into which he had tumbled, the degraded
days, unworthy desires, dead hopes, wrecked faculties
and base motives that made up his existence.
And also in a moment his heart responded thrillingly
to this strange mood. A strong impulse moved him to

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 battle with his desperate fact. He would pull himself out
of the mire and would make a man of himself again; he
mire : (here) a complicated would conquer the evil that had enslaved him. There was
or unpleasant situation time; he was young yet; he would resurrect his old eager
from which it is difficult to
ambitions and pursue them without faltering. Those
free oneself
resurrect : restore to life solemn but sweet organ notes had set up a revolution in
faltering : losing strength him. Tomorrow he would go into the roaring downtown
district and find work. A fur importer had once offered
him a place as driver. He would be somebody in the
world. He would ----
Describe the end of the Soapy felt a hand laid - on arm. He looked quickly
story in your own words. around into the impassive face of a policeman.
“What are you doin’ here?” asked the officer.
“Nothin’,”said Soapy.
“Then come along,”said the policeman.
“Three months on the island,” said the Magistrate
in the Police Court the next morning.
- O’Henry

BRAINSTORMING

(A1) (i) Discuss with your partner and find out the different ways in which Soapy
tried to get arrested. The first one is given.
(a) Tried to enter a luxurious cafe.
(b)
(c)
(d)
(ii) Describe the atmosphere when Soapy reached near the Church.
(a) A soft light glowed through the violet-stained window.
(b)
(c)
(d)

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(A2) (i) Read the story and match the incidents given in Column A with the
consequences given in Column B.
Column A Column B
(1) Soapy tried to enter a cafe. The cop ran after another man.
(2) Soapy broke a glass window. Suddenly a wonderful change came in
his heart.
(3) Two waiters pitched Soapy on Dream of turning around in life was
the callous pavement. shattered.
(4) Soapy heard the anthem being He stood up slowly beating the dust
played in the Church. from his clothes.
(5) Cop arrests Soapy for hanging Strong and ready hands of the head
around. waiter turned him around.
(ii) Give reasons and complete the following :
(a) Soapy had confidence in himself because
(b) The head waiter of the luxurious cafe did not allow Soapy to enter because

(c) The cop did not arrest Soapy for breaking the glass window because

(d) The cop did not arrest Soapy for shouting and dancing because

(iii) Pick out the lines from the text which show that :
(a) Soapy wants to enter the cafe for two reasons.
(b) Soapy was afraid that he won’t be able to enter the prison.
(c) Soapy was not caught by the cop for throwing stones at the glass.
(d) Soapy actually did not want the umbrella.
(e) Listening to the anthem, Soapy remembered his good old days.
(iv) ‘He would make a man of himself again’ – The word ‘man’ in the sentence
means
(v) Soapy’s earlier life was much different from his present life. Complete the
table to show this contrast. One is done for you.
Earlier life Present life
(a) Contained friends and roses (a) Unworthy desires
(b) (b)
(c) (c)
(vi) After listening to the sweet and solemn organ notes, Soapy decides to :
(a)
(b)

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 (vii) Write an incident in which you did something wrong and repented for it
later. Give reasons.
(A3) (i) O’Henry has used different words to indicate prison where Soapy wants
to reach. Make a list of those words.
(ii) Find out the words used for the ‘degraded state of Soapy’.
(iii) The specific meaning of word ‘anthem’ in the content of the story is.......
(A4) (i) Convert the following sentences into negative without changing their
meanings.
(a) The policeman refused to accept Soapy even as a clue.
(b) Soapy drifted along twice unsuccessful.
(c) Soapy stopped his unavailing racket.
(d) The island seemed very far away.
(e) The island seemed an unattainable Arcadia.
(ii) Convert the following sentences into affirmative without changing their
meanings.
(a) Men who smash windows do not remain to chat with the police.
(b) Why don’t you call a cop?
(c) On the opposite side of the street was a restaurant of no great pretensions.
(d) Noisy; but no harm.
(e) They seemed to regard him as a King who could do no wrong.
(A5) (i) ‘Forgiveness is often better than punishment’. Write two paragraphs – one
for and another against this notion.
(ii) You are the class representative and you have been asked by the Principal
to conduct an interview of a cop. Frame 8-10 questions with the help of
the following points, give introduction and conclusion.
• reasons for joining the department
• special trainings
• developing the skill to identify and locate criminals
• dealing with criminals
• achievements and awards
(A6) (i) Make a list of jobs which would give you an opportunity to help the
society or serve the country. Also mention the different ways in which they
can be beneficial to the people and also the country.
(ii) Go to your school/college library and read some other stories by O’Henry
like, ‘The Gift of the Magi’, ‘The Last Leaf’ and ‘After Twenty years’.
Write the stories in short in your notebook.
qqq
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