Deep Water, Explanation, Line by Line, Meaning of Difficult Words, English CBSE Class 12 NCERT Flamingo Chapter 3
DEEP WATER
(Explanation and Meaning of difficult words)
Author – William Douglas
| Phrase | Meaning |
| Treacherous | Dangerous, Unpredictable |
| Misadventure | Accident, Bad luck |
| Subdued my pride | Reduced or lowered self-respect |
| Bob to the surface like a cork | Float quickly to the surface like a cork |
| Flailed at the surface | Strike repeatedly at the surface |
| Curtain of life fell | Life ended |
| Fishing for landlocked salmon | Catching salmon fish in a lake not connected to sea |
| Back and forth across the pool | One end to opposite end of the pool |
| Word | Meaning |
| YMCA | Young Men’s Christian Association |
The writer talks about of the time when his age was ten or eleven. He wanted to learn swimming. There was a swimming pool in Yakima town. The pool belonged to YMCA. This pool was ideal for learning swimming.
| Word | Meaning |
| Treacherous | Dangerous, Unpredictable |
| Continually | Regularly |
The Yakima river was dangerous and unpredictable. His mother had warned the writer not to go into the river. She used to regularly tell him about every case of death due to drowning in the river. She had told him so many times that each incident was always fresh in his mind.
The YMCA pool was safe. The pool was three feet deep at one end and nine feet deep at the opposite end. The increase in depth was gradual. The slope at the bottom of the pool was gradual.
| Word | Meaning |
| Water wings | Airbags worn to keep a swimmer afloat |
| Skinny | Thin |
| Subdued | Lowered |
| Pride | Self respect |
Writer (Douglas) purchased new water wings. He did not like to walk in his swimming costume. Because it showed his thin legs. He lowered (comprised) his self-respect. Wore his swimming costume and went to the pool.
| Word | Meaning |
| Aversion | Dislike, Hatred |
Douglas had a dislike or hatred towards water whenever he went into water. This dislike had started when he was about of three years’ age. That time his father had taken him to a sea beach in California.
| Word | Meaning |
| Surf | Waves of sea |
| Hung on | Held tightly, Gripped |
| Knocked down | Threw down, |
| Buried | Submerged |
Douglas and his father stood in the waves. He was tightly holding his father. But a wave threw him down. The wave went over him. He was completely submerged in water.
| Word | Meaning |
| Overpowering | Powerful to overcome |
Douglas could not breathe. He was afraid. His father laughed at him. But Douglas was very much afraid. The wave was very powerful. Douglas was overcome by the force of wave.
| Word | Meaning |
| Revived | Refreshed |
| Stirred | Revived, Rekindled, |
| In a little while | In short period of time, Very soon |
When Douglas went to YMCA swimming pool, he remembered his previous bad experience. (of getting knocked down by a powerful wave) . His fears of childhood came back to him. But very soon he became confident.
| Word | Meaning |
| Paddled | Swam |
| Aping | Copying |
| Feel at ease | Confident, Comfortable |
| Misadventure | Accident |
Douglas used his water wings to swim in the pool. He was watching other boys and tried to learn by copying them. He swam with his water wings two-three times on different days. He had started gaining confidence. Just at that time an accident occurred.
| Word | Meaning |
| Timid | Afraid, Scared |
One day when Douglas reached swimming pool, no one else was there. The place was calm. There was no movement of water. The pool was very clean. He could clearly see white tiles at bottom of the pool. Douglas was scared to go into the pool alone. So he decided to wait for others to come. He sat at the side of the pool.
| Word | Meaning |
| Bruiser | Strong and aggressive person |
Douglas had not spent much time sitting at the side of the swimming pool. Then a big, strong and aggressive boy came. His age was about 18 years. He had lot of hair on his chest.
| Word | Meaning |
| Rippling | Well built, Strong |
| Skinny | Thin |
| Yelled | Shouted |
| Ducked | Pushed under or into water |
The boy had very good physique. His arms and legs were well built, very strong. He shouted at Douglas. Hey thin boy, would like to be pushed into water?
| Word | Meaning |
| Wits | Intelligence, Inventive thoughts |
| Out of my wits | Not able to think |
The boy picked up Douglas and threw him into the pool at deep end. Douglas landed in sitting position. Water went into his mouth. He immediately went to the bottom of the pool. He was frightened but still he could think.
While Douglas was going down in the water, he made his plan for escape. He planned that when his feet touch bottom of the pool, he would try to make a jump to come to surface of water. He would lie flat on surface of water and swim towards edge of the pool. [His plan is a bit ambitious. Coming to the surface of water is fine. But he does not know swimming. How can he lie flat? How can he swim to the edge?]
| Word | Meaning |
| Long way | Very far |
Douglas felt that his downward journey to bottom of the pool was taking long time. The nine feet distance seemed to be ninety feet. Before he reached bottom of the pool his lungs were full of air. Douglas felt his lungs could burst anytime.
| Word | Meaning |
| Hit bottom | Touched bottom |
| Summoned | Gathered |
| Spring | Jump |
| Bob to the surface like a cork | Float quickly to the surface like a cork |
At last feet of Douglas touched bottom of the pool. He gathered all his power and made a jump. He thought it was a powerful jump. He expected to quickly come to surface like a cork does.
| Word | Meaning |
| Tinge | Light shade of colour |
| Panicky | Frightened |
| Grab | To catch |
| Clutch | To hold, To catch |
But Douglas came up very slowly. Midway he opened his eyes. He could see only water. The water had a light shade of yellow colour. [Small amount of Chlorine gas is mixed in water of swimming pool for disinfecting water. It gives yellow tinge to water.] He was frightened. When he reached at the surface he tried to catch something. But his hands could only catch water.
| Word | Meaning |
| Suffocate | Not able to breathe |
Douglas was not able to breathe. He tried to shout but no sound came from his mouth. His eyes and nose came out of water. But his mouth remained in water.
| Word | Meaning |
| Flailed | Repeatedly moved hand and legs |
| Chocked | Suffocated |
| Dead Weight | Heavy, Not moving |
Douglas repeatedly moved his hands and legs at the surface of water. He swallowed water and felt suffocated. He tried to move up his legs. But he could not. He felt his legs had become heavy and rigid. They felt very heavy.
| Word | Meaning |
| Screamed | Shouted |
A big force started pulling Douglas down the water. He shouted. But there was nobody to hear his voice. [This is meaning of ‘only water heard me’.] He once again started going down the pool. The journey to bottom of pool seemed very long.
| Word | Meaning |
| Expending | Spending, Wasting, Utilising |
| Nightmare | Horror, Very bad experience |
| Irresistible | That cannot be opposed or overcome |
While going down Douglas struck at the water. Spending his strength against a horror that could not be overcome.
| Word | Meaning |
| Throbbed | Feel pain in series of beats |
| Dizzy | Feeling of spinning around, To faint |
| Strategy | Plan |
Douglas was not able to breathe. His lungs were paining. He was feeling series of pain in his head. His head was spinning. He was getting faint. But he remembered his plan. He would jump from bottom of the pool and quickly come to the surface of water.
| Word | Meaning |
| Strike out | Move to make a cross |
| Thrash | Beat |
Douglas would lie flat on surface of water. He will move his hands to make cross. He will move his legs to beat water. This way he had planned to reach edge of the pool and be safe.
Douglas went down the water. There seemed to be no end to the journey. He could see only water of yellow tinge. He could not see through water so he says it was dark water.
| Word | Meaning |
| Sheer | Complete, Perfect |
| Stark | Clear cut, Sharp |
| Terror | Horror, Fear |
| Seized | Captured, Overcame |
Then Douglas was completely in the grip of sharp terror. A terror no one can understand. A terror that cannot be controlled. No one can understand this terror if he has not experienced it himself. (Douglas wants to say that he was totally frightened )
| Word | Meaning |
| Shrieking | Shouting |
| Screams | Shouts |
| Pounding | Beating |
Douglas was trying to shout under the water. But voice did not come out of his mouth. He was not able to make any movement. His whole body felt stiff and rigid as if he was paralysed. Beating of his heart and throbbing in his head indicated that he was alive.
| Word | Meaning |
| Midst of | Middle of |
| Reason | Logic, Ability to think |
| Grab | To catch, To hold |
| At last | Finally |
Even in the middle of terror, Douglas had maintained his ability to think logically. He recalled that he had to jump when his feet touch bottom of the pool. Finally his feet touched the tiles at the bottom of the floor. His toes tried to catch the floor. He then jumped with all his strength.
But the jump did not cause any difference. Water was still around Douglas. (means he was still under the water). He started searching for ladders, ropes and water wings. (he was desperately moving his hands to hold something to give him support). But he felt only water. The water with yellow tinge was not allowing him to move out.
| Word | Meaning |
| Stark terror | Lot of terror, Harsh Terror |
| Deeper hold | Stronger hold |
| Trembled | Quivered, Shook |
| Fright | Fear |
The terror became more intense. It took a stronger hold on me. (means I was very afraid). The terror caught Douglas as if he was caught by an electric current. Douglas was shaking and shivering because of fear.
Douglas could not move his arms. He could not move his legs. He tried to shout for help. He tried to call his mother. But he could not.
| Word | Meaning |
| Strangely | Peculiarly |
| Awful | Terrible, Frightful |
Then Douglas saw light. He found it strange because he thought he would never come out of water. He was coming out of yellow tinged frightful water. His eyes had come out of water. His nose was almost out of water.
Then Douglas started going into the water for the third time. He wanted to breathe air. But water got into his mouth. The light was now disappearing. (means his eyes were closing)
| Word | Meaning |
| Ceased | Stopped |
| Legs felt limp | Legs became weak, Legs had no sensation |
| Wiped out | Removed, Erased |
| Panic | Fear, Terror |
Then all efforts stopped. Douglas relaxed. His legs became weak. He had no sensation in his legs. A darkness came into his brain. (Everything had become dark.) All the fear was gone. There was no terror.
| Word | Meaning |
| Drowsy | Feel like sleeping, Heavy eyed |
| Tender | Soft |
Douglas describes his condition.
It was calm and peaceful. All the fear had vanished. It was good to feel like sleeping. It was good to go to sleep. It was nice to float in the space. Douglas felt soft arms of his mother. He says to himself to go to sleep.
| Word | Meaning |
| Oblivion | Unconscious |
| Curtain of life fell | Died |
Douglas became unconscious. He thought he is dead.
| Word | Meaning |
| Beside the pool | On the side of pool |
| Chap | Person |
| Fooling | Having fun, For fun |
When Douglas gained consciousness, he was lying on his stomach near the pool. (Somebody had taken him out of the pool and saved his life) He was vomiting. The person who had ducked Douglas into the pool was saying that he had thrown Douglas into the pool just for fun.
Someone scolded the bruiser boy that the kid (Douglas) almost died. Now behave like a good person. Let us take him to locker room.
Many hours after being taken out of the pool, Douglas went home. He was weak. He was shivering. He was upset. He cried in his bed. He could not eat anything that night.
| Word | Meaning |
| Haunting | Unforgettable, Coming to memory repeatedly |
| Wobbly | Shaky, Trembling |
| Exertion | Stress, Tiredness |
| Sick to stomach | Likely to vomit |
For many days the fear stayed in the heart of Douglas. The fear used to repeatedly come to him. His knees used to tremble because of even small amount of hard work. He used to vomit because of small stress or small work.
After this incident Douglas never went into the swimming pool. He remained fearful of water. He avoided going into water.
| Word | Meaning |
| Cascades | Series of small waterfalls |
After some years Douglas heard about cascades. He wanted to go there and take bath in these.
| Word | Meaning |
| Wading | Walking with great efforts |
Whenever Douglas walked in a river or took bath in a river, the terror of the swimming pool would come back to him.
| Word | Meaning |
| Icy horror | Chilling horror |
| Grab | Catch, Occupy |
| Handicap | Disadvantage |
Douglas would be completely under the influence of fear. He would not be able to move his legs. And the horror would come back to his heart and make him very cold. The disadvantage of fear of water remained with Douglas during coming years as well. He could not overcome his fear when he grew.
| Word | Meaning |
| Canoe | Boat |
| Salmon | Type of fish |
| Landlocked salmon | Salmon fish in a lake not connected to sea |
| Bass | Type of fish |
| Trout | Type of fish |
Douglas went in a boat for fishing in Maine lakes. He also went to other places for fishing. He went to waterfalls. Everywhere the unforgettable fear of water came to him.
| Word | Meaning |
| Ruined | Destroyed, Irreparable damage |
| Deprived of | Removed, Took away |
The fear destroyed joy of fishing trips. It removed all the joy of boating and swimming.
Douglas used every method to overcome his fear. But it did not go away. At last in the month of October he decided to hire services of one coach to learn swimming. (One October means – month of October, he does not remember the year). Douglas practised for one hour in a day for five days in week.
The coach had put belt around waist of Douglas. He attached a rope to the belt. The rope was taken over a pulley. The coach used to hold the end of rope. This way there was no chance of drowning. Douglas swam across the pool regularly. (Hour after hour, day after day and week after week means that he practices regularly for a long period of time)
| Word | Meaning |
| A bit of | Small amount |
| Relaxed his hold | Loosened the rope |
| Froze | Did not move |
During each journey across the pool, some amount of fear used to come to Douglas. Whenever the instructor loosened the rope, Douglas went under the water. At every such time the old fear came to Douglas and his legs would stop moving.
| Word | Meaning |
| Slack | Reduce |
| Exhale | To breathe out |
| Inhale | To breathe in |
| Bit by bit | Slowly, Gradually |
| Shed | Removed, Threw away |
After about three months, the fear (tension) started reducing. The coach then taught Douglas to breathe out while keeping mouth under the water. He also taught Douglas to raise his nose above water to breathe in. Douglas repeated these many times. Gradually, Douglas was able to remove his fear of putting head under water.
After this exercise, the coach taught Douglas to how to use his legs for swimming. Douglas caught side of the pool with his hands and used his legs to kick water. He did this exercise for many weeks. Initially he could not move his legs. Gradually he learnt the correct method.
| Word | Meaning |
| Piece by piece | Part by part, Step by step |
| Integrated | Combined |
Through step by step instructions the coach taught swimming. When Douglas had learnt every step, instructor combined all the steps into one lesson.
| Word | Meaning |
| Crawl stroke | A style of swimming |
In the month of April the coach told Douglas that he could swim. Coach asked Douglas to dive into the swimming pool and do a crawl stroke. Douglas did that successfully. The work of instructor was completed.
| Word | Meaning |
| Terror stricken | Terrified |
But my work was not completed. I had a doubt if I would get terror when I was alone in the swimming pool. So I swam alone. I swam the length of pool from one end to another and then back to first end.
| Word | Meaning |
| Tiny | Very small, Minute |
| Vestiges | Remainder, Trace |
| Frown | To glare, To face |
Very small amount of terror would sometimes come back to me. But now I could look directly at the terror and tell him that I was not scared of it. Look, I am not scared of you. And then I would swim one more time along the length of pool.
I kept doing that till July. But I was not satisfied. I was not sure every amount of terror had left me.
So Douglas went to a lake in Hampshire. He dived from an edge at Triggs Island. He swam two miles across another lake. He reached Stamp Act island. (He is trying to test himself to be sure that he is fully confident. And that there is no trace of terror left.)
Douglas swam with different styles of swimming. Only on one occasion, he felt terror.
| Word | Meaning |
| Miniature | Very small |
When Douglas was in the middle of the lake, he put his face under the water. He saw water only. The old feeling of terror came to him in very small amount. Douglas laughed and said to himself. Mr Terror, you cannot do anything to me. (It shows his confidence on himself) The terror ran away and he continued to swim.
| Word | Meaning |
| Residual | Remaining, Left over |
| Hurried | Went quickly |
| Meadow | Grass field, Grassland |
| Camped | Stayed temporarily, Stay in tent for short time |
Still Douglas had some left over doubts. So he went to Tieton and other places. He stayed in a tent in a grass field on the side a lake called Warm Lake.
| Word | Meaning |
| Conquered | Won, Overcame |
Next morning he changed to his swimming costume. He dived into the lake to cross its breadth and returned to the starting point. He was very happy. He shouted with joy. There was an echo from the mountain called Gilbert Peak. Now Douglas felt that he had overcome his fear.
| Word | Meaning |
| Deep Meaning | Great importance, Big effect |
| Appreciate | Understand |
The experience had a big effect on Douglas. Those who know the terror, can only understand the joy of overcoming it.
After death everything becomes peaceful. One feels terror because of fear of death. Nobody wants to die. Roosevelt had said that we should fear the fear itself. Meaning that we should be brave. We should not be afraid of.
| Word | Meaning |
| Will | Desire |
Douglas had nearly died. So he had experienced the terror and the feeling of death it causes. Now his desire to live became strong.
| Word | Meaning |
| Released | Relaxed |
| Trail | A narrow path |
| Brushed aside | Neglected, Refused to accept |
Finally Douglas was relaxed. He could now fearlessly walk on narrow paths, climb mountain peaks. His fear was gone. He refused to accept fear.
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1 Comment
Uttkarsh · May 9, 2022 at 4:22 pm
Very nice ? explanation