NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English Supplementary Reader Chapter 4: The Cop and the Anthem

This story, "The Cop and the Anthem", depicts the life of a jobless man and his struggles. In this story, a man, Soapy, a vagabond, is searching for shelter as the winter season approached. Soapy neither had a job nor a home. He is restless and tired of winter and unable to bear the cold as he doesn't have shelter. He saw the birds flying towards the south, trees shedding the leaves, and men opted for winter clothes.

He was very much worried about the upcoming winter season. He decided to get the shelter to beat the winter. He came to choose Blackwell's Island prison instead of the southern skies or Bay of Naples.

So, he thought of Blackwell Island prison for shelter. He decided to get arrested for the winter season. At first, he made a plan of eating in a fine restaurant without paying. Soapy thought that it would get him to spend three months in Blackwell's prison. He came to a wealthy restaurant to execute the plan, but he was not allowed inside by the head waiter as he was wearing broken shoes.

So, he went to the next restaurant. He executed the plan, thereby eating without paying. The waiter threw him out rather than calling the police. He made another plan of breaking a glass window with a stone. As usual, a policeman arrived there. But instead of arresting him, the policeman thought wrongdoers didn't escape from the crime scene, so he didn't arrest Soapy. He thought of another plan. He started yelling like a drunken man in front of a theatre and decided to steal the umbrella of a man buying the newspaper, but these two acts also didn't get him arrested.

His attempts failed, and he decided to change his life and find a job from the very next day. But the next day, he got arrested and was prisoned in Blackwell's prison for three months for arguing with the policeman.