The Stalled Ox

 

1. Why Theophil Eshley is called a cattle painter by force of environment?

Eshley was a talented painter. He started painting cattle not because of his love for cattle, but because of the circumstances and environment in which he lived. His home was in a villa dotted, semi-suburban, park-like area. A neighbor's cows grazed in a nearby meadow. Eshley saw cows, gardens, flowers, grass and walnut trees and started painting cows. Thus Theophil Eshley was called a cattle painter by force of environment.

2. What did Adela expect Eshley to do? Was it fair of her to expect so? Give reasons.

Adela was a neighbor of Eshley. She knew that Eshley painted cows. One day an ox strayed into her garden and started eating her flower plants. She was alone and she went to Eshley seeking help in driving away the stray ox. She expected Eshley to remove the ox from her garden. It was not fair of her to expect so. Eshley was only a painter of dairy cows and he had no experience in managing stray ox.  

3. What was Theophil Eshley's connection with cows and oxen?

Theophil Eshley lived in a villa dotted, semi suburban, park-like area. A neighbor's cows grazed in a nearby meadow. Eshley saw cows, gardens, flowers, grass and walnut trees and started painting cows. He became a well-known painter of dairy cows. He has no experience of any king with ox.

4. Theophil Eshley studied the ox like an artist. What all did he notice?

Theophil Eshley was an artist. He took to painting cows. One day his neighbor asked him to remove an ox from her garden. He went to her garden and saw a huge spotted ox in the garden. The ox was dull red about the head and shoulders. The ox's flanks and hindquarters were dirty white. The ox had shaggy ears and large blood-shot eyes.

5. What efforts did Theophil Eshley make to drive the ox away? What was the reaction of the ox?

Theophil Eshley tried to drive away the ox by making sound by clapping and shooing. The ox hadn't given any indication of moving. Then Eshley picked up a pea stick and flung it towards the ox. Realizing that he had to move the ox pushed its way through the French window into Adela's morning-room. 

6. Why was Adela disappointed at having sought help from Eshley?

Adela thought that Eshley could be good at changing an ox away as he paints cows. She had mistakenly assumed that Eshley would know about managing an ox. She realized her mistake when Eshley failed to remove the ox from her garden. So, she was disappointed at having sought help from Eshley.

7. The episode was the turning point in Eshley's artistic career. Which episode is being talked about here? How was it a turning point?

The episode of Eshley's efforts to drive the ox away from Adela's garden resulted in the remarkable picture, "Ox in a morning-room, late autumn," It  was one of the sensations and successes of the next Paris Art Exhibition, and when it was later exhibited at Munich it was bought by the Bavarian Government.  From that moment, his success was continuous and assured. 

8. Discuss the title of the story.

The title of the story, 'the stalled ox' is quite appropriate. The word 'stalled' means to stop suddenly. In the story an ox had stalled in a neighbor's garden. The ox enters Adela Pingsford's garden and starts eating her flower plants. The ox refuses to leave in spite of Eshley's efforts to shoo him away. Instead of going out, the ox enters the morning-room and stays there long enough for Eshley to paint his masterpiece.