The Disk 

About the author

Jorge Luis Borges is an Argentinian short story writer, poet, essayist, and translator. He won the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

About the story

• Publication: The original title of “The Disk” is “El Disco” that is written in Spanish, and published in El Libro de Arena in 1975. This story was translated into English by Paul Blackburn and published in English in The Book of Sand in 1977.

• Form: It is a fictional short story in which the protagonist wanted to  own an item called “The Disk of Odin.”

• Setting: The story  is set against the background of a deep forest in old England.

• Characters: The story has only two characters- the woodcutter and Isern.

• Plot: The plot of the story is simple. At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to a woodcutter who lived in a hut. In the middle of the story Isern who entered the woodcutter’s hut, introduced himself as a king and claimed he had a disk which had one side. At the end of the story, the woodcutter killed Isern to own the disk.

• Theme: The main theme of the story is the consequence of greed and moral degradation.

• Narrative Technique: The story is written in the first-person narrative technique, and the narrator is omniscient.

• Moral: The story enriches us with moral values. It tells us how harmful greed is. In the story, the narrator became greedy to own the disk that was an impossible object on the earth. His greed made him unaware of what he was doing and he went through moral degradation which turned him to be an immoral person who could take destructive decisions.

Word meaning :

♦stretches-extends, ♦vow-promise, ♦chop-cut, ♦fish-using your hand to find something, ♦treasure-assets, ♦venture-explore, ♦threadbare-thin, ♦frailty-physical weakness, ♦staff-stick, ♦pallet-bed of straw, ♦testified-proved, ♦Secgens-an area comprising 26 European countries, ♦Norse-Norway, ♦fateful-decisive

Summary 

In the story, the narrator was a woodcutter who used to live in the middle of a deep forest which was situated in old England. People said that the forest went on right to the sea, but he had never seen the sea and the other part of the forest. His elder brother made him promise that they would cut down the whole forest without leaving a single tree. But after his elder brother died, he found out something different. Without counting years, he knew that he had been old. His eyes became weak to see, so he did not go to the village to explore anything.

Once a strange person came into his hut for lodging. He was old, tall, and had a scar on his face. He was covered with a threadbare blanket. He told that he did not have a home, so he slept anywhere. He also said he traveled throughout the land of Saxons which was called England afterwards.

 The next day the woodcutter and the stranger left the hut. The stranger ordered the woodcutter to pick up the stick. The narrator wanted to know why he would obey him. Then the stranger introduced himself as Isern and claimed that he was a King and he was descended from Odin also. He told the woodcutter that he was exiled, but that he would always be a king because he carried the disk of Odin.

The stranger claimed that he had the disk of Odin, the only thing in the world with one side, and he would remain a king as long as he had the disk of Odin with him. He opened his hand and showed the disk to the woodcutter. The woodcutter saw only an empty palm, but when he touched it, he saw glitter and felt something cold.

Listening to the stranger, he thought to own the disk to be a king. He lied that he had a full chest of gold and wanted to trade it for the disk, but Isern did not agree with his proposal. So, the woodcutter ordered him to leave. When the stranger turned to leave, the woodcutter killed him with an axe and saw the glitter in the air. He marked the spot of the glitter in the air with his axe, dragged the body, and threw it into the stream. Then he came back and searched for the disk for several years.

Multiple Choice Questions

a) In the forest the narrator did not become afraid of –i)wolves ii)tigers iii)insects iv)strangers

b)The Disk was translated in English by-i)Jorge Luis Borges ii) Paul Blackburn iii) Rabindranath Tagore iv)J B Priestey

c)Nowadays the Saxon land is called-i) Secgens ii)England iii) the strange land iv)Argentina

d) After killing the stranger , the woodcutter threw him in-i)the sea ii) the stream iii)the ocean iv) the way

e) The forest stretches —i) as far as the sea ii) as far as the ocean iii) as far as the river iv) as far as the wide green field

f) The stranger told that his name was-i) Isern ii) Secgens iii) Saxony iv)Odin

g)Isern belonged to the race of -i) Odin ii) Thor iii) Cupid iv) Jesus

h)The woodcutter worshipped -i) Odin ii)Christ iii) Thor iv)Flora

i)Isern hailed from-i) Land of Saxons ii)China iii)Rome iv)Paris

j)There was a scar on the face of -i)the woodcutter ii)Isern iii) Tan iv)Rahim

k) Jorge Luis Borges is an-i)Russian writer ii) American writer iii) Indian writer iv)Argentinian writer

l)Isern said that he had a disk and it had-i)one side ii)two sides iii)three sides iv) four sides

m)“I do not worship Odin, I worship ….” —i)Flora ii)Cupid iii) Christ iv)Proteus

n) Who is ‘Odin’?-i) friend of Isern ii) a major god in Norse mythology iii) god of flower iv) Stranger

o)The Disk was published in-i) Prelude ii)The Book of sand iii)Paradise iv) Sanctuary Asia

p) Where was the hut of the woodcutter situated?-i) at the end of the forest ii) at the edge of the forest iii) in the middle of the forest iv) across the forest

q) Why did the woodcutter kill the man?-i) The woodcutter killed the man because he did not want to give his property to him. Ii) The woodcutter was greedy to have the disk, so he killed the man. iii) The woodcutter killed the man because he disliked his way of life. Iv) The woodcutter killed the man because he wanted to get his hut.

r) The woodcutter shut the door of his house with a stone because –i) he wanted to keep the cat out ii) he wanted to keep the snow out iii) he did not like to meet anybody iv) he was afraid of danger.

Short Answer Type Questions

1. What did the narrator promise to his elder brother?

Ans: The narrator promised his elder brother that they would chop down the entire wood without leaving In a single tree.

2. What is ‘ingot’?

Ans: An ingot is a solid piece of metal that has the shape of a brick.

3. What did the narrator do to own Odin’s disk?

Ans: The narrator Killed Isern and threw his body into the stream to own the disk.

4. What was the Land of England previously called?

Ans: The land of England was previously called the Saxon land.

5. Who was the king of Secgens?

Ans: Isern who came to the woodcutter’s home was the King of Secgens.

Descriptive or Analytical Questions :

1. Where did the woodcutter live? Who came to the narrator’s hut in the evening? How did he look when he arrived at the door of the woodcutter? What did he explain about himself?

Ans: The woodcutter lived in a hut at the edge of a vast forest.

There was a stranger who came to the narrator’s hut one evening.

 He was very old and tall, he was wrapped in a threadbare blanket. There was a mark of scar on his face. His years seemed to have enriched him with authority without giving him frailty, and he walked with the help of a staff.

The stranger explained that he was the king of the Secgens, of the race of Odin, and had lost his kingdom. He said that he had traveled all over England, which he referred to as the Saxon land and he was still king because he had Odin’s disk, the only thing in the world with only one side.

2.“I touched my fingertips to his palm”-What did the speaker touch? How did the speaker feel to touch his palm? What did the speaker do to own the disk? Did he get it?

Ans: The woodcutter touched his fingertips to Isern’s palm to touch the disk of Odin.

When the woodcutter touched his fingertips to Isern’s palm, he felt something cold and saw a glitter. Then he desired to own it.

The speaker tried to persuade Isern by telling him that he wanted to buy it from him with gold coins, but he failed in his attempt. So he killed Isern with his axe.

 No, the woodcutter did not get the disk of Odin. After killing Isern with an axe the woodcutter saw the glitter in the air. He marked the spot of the glitter in the air with his axe and dragged the body and threw it into the stream, but he could not find the disk of Odin.

3. What does the disk symbolize and why?

Ans: The Disk of Odin symbolizes knowledge.

 When the stranger opened his hand and showed his disk, the woodcutter saw only an empty palm, but when he touched it, he felt a chill in his fingers and saw a flash. After killing the stranger the narrator saw the gleam of the disk in the air, but he could not find the disk.

The woodcutter has been looking for it for years, but the disk of Odin vanishes like a dream as someone’s knowledge vanishes after his death. The one side of the Disk of Odin is the truth that Isern knew. So it symbolizes the knowledge which Isern had.

4.“Because I am a king”-Who said to whom? When did the speaker say this? Why did the speaker claim to be a king?
Ans: Isern said to the woodcutter.

When the old man’s staff fell from his hand and he commanded the woodcutter to pick it up, the woodcutter asked him why he had to obey him. Then Isern said that he was a king.

The stranger said that the Disk of Odin was the sole thing in the world that had only one side. As he carried the disk of Odin, he would always be a king.

5. Justify the title of the story ‘The Disk’.

Ans: In the story, Jorge Luis Borges develops the theme of greed and its consequences.

The narrator of the story knew that as long as Isern had the disk of Odin he would remain a king. So, he tried to persuade Isern to own the disk and after being failed in his attempt he killed Isern.

In this story the disk infused greed in the woodcutter’s mind in such a way that he could not understand that the presence of the disk on the earth was possible or impossible. There was a conflict between the woodcutter and Isern for the Disk. The narrator who was a woodcutter turned into a murderer, forgot his way of life and Isern lost his life because of the disk.

The title of this story hints at the entire content of the story. It was the disk that changed the way of life of the woodcutter as well as Isern. So, the title ‘The Disk’ is appropriate.   

6. Who was Isern? Describe the disk.

or,

What do we know about the disk from the story ‘The Disk’?

or, 

Describe the mystery of the disk.

Ans: Isern was a stranger who came to the narrator’s hut one evening.  

In the story, we get a minute description of a disk through Isern’s conversation. According to him, he was a king as he had the disk which belonged to Odin who is a major god in Norse mythology. After touching his palm, the woodcutter felt something cold and saw a glitter instead of the disk. He described the disk as an object with one side and claimed, “In all the world there is nothing else with one side”. Again, we see the woodcutter kill Isern to own the disk. Later, he saw the gleam of the disk in the air, and could not find the disk. So, this can be said that the existence of the disk as a real object is impossible on earth, and it is a fictional thing as well as a mysterious thing that enriched Isern with confidence but infused greed in the heart of the woodcutter.

 Exercise

A. Answer the following:

1. Why did the woodcutter shut the door of his house with a stone?

2. Who thought that the woodcutter was a miser?

3. What did the woodcutter say about his box?

4. What did the woodcutter think of the stranger when he opened the door?

5.  Whom did the woodcutter worship?

6. Where was the house of the woodcutter situated?

7. Why did the woodcutter shut the door?

9. How did the woodcutter introduce himself?

10. What did the stranger say about Odin’s disk? What would the woodcutter do, if the disk was of his?

11. What was the appearance of the stranger?

13. How is the forest described?

14. What would the woodcutter do, if Odin’s disk was of his?

15. Why did the woodcutter not venture into the forest anymore?

16. Why did the woodcutter mention that he has gone on to hate the ‘vagabond’ to this day?

B. Answer any one of the following in about 80 words :

 1. What did the woodcutter recall about his brother? How was the appearance of the king when he arrived at the door of the woodcutter?

2. What made the narrator greedy? What was the outcome of his greed?

3. “I touched my fingertips to his palm”-What did the speaker touch? How did the speaker feel to touch his palm?

4. Who came into the narrator’s home in the evening? How did he look?

5. Coming back to my hut, I searched for the disk. I did not find it.” Who is the speaker? What is the mystery of the disk?

6. Describe the appearance of the stranger.

7. Describe the moral of the story.

8. Describe the setting of the story.

9. What did the woodcutter see and recall when the king opened his hand? What did the woodcutter say to the
king, to own the disk?

10.”My name is Isern”.-Who is Isern? Describe his physical appearance.

11. Discuss how elements of fantasy weave the content of the story.

 C. Do as directed:

1. I noticed that he was unable to get about without the help of a staff. (Split into two simple sentences)

2. Coming back to my hut, I searched for the disk. (Split into two simple sentences)

3. The stranger said, “My name is Isern and I am of the race of Odin”. (Change the narration)

4. The narrator said to the stranger, “In my hut, I have buried a box of coins”. (Change the narration)

5. My companion’s staff slipped from his hand. (Split into two sentences)

6. I asked him, “Why must I obey you?” (Change the narration)

7. He did not spoke a word during the meal. (Correct the errors)

8. The narrator said to the stranger, “In my hut, I have buried a box of coins”. (Change the narration)

 9. I said, “You may continue your path.” (Change the narration)

10. He spoke with a different voice. (Split into two sentences)

11. When we were boys my elder brother made me vow that between us we would chop down the entire woods unless a single tree was left. (Correct the errors)

12. I am a woodcutter. My name does not matter. (Join into a complex sentence)

13. “I do not worship Odin”, I said. (Change the narration)

14. The hut where I was born and where I shall probably soon die stands at the edge of the forest. (Split into a simple sentence)

15. But how much treasure can a mere woodcutter have lay up? (Correct the error)

16. Rain began to fall. I had bread and fish. (Combine into a complex sentence)

17.“Why must I obey you? (Change the voice)

18. They found the large frame of Rahim lying in the brooding silence of the room, broken only by the fluttering of four sparrows. (Split into Simple Sentences)