Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Morning Fish Market
The town is still asleep when they arrive,
their baskets heavy from the early van.
They take their places on the wet cement:
a crate, a knife, a scale, a dented pan.
Rani sorts the prawns in heaps of ten.
Lata breaks the ice with a wooden pin.
Silver sardines slide across the slab,
and Mariamma dresses them, fin by fin.
By seven the market fills. The buyers come
with cloth bags and a frown at every rate.
They poke a gill and argue for a rupee.
The women laugh, and add one to the weight.
By ten the baskets hold just melting ice.
They hose the floor and count the coins again,
then stretch their aching backs, tie up their hair,
and walk home, side by side, down the sunlit lane.
What does the line “The women laugh, and add one to the weight” suggest?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → The women take the bargaining in good humour and give a little extra.
The line shows how the women answer the buyers who argue.
- The buyers come “with a frown at every rate” and “argue for a rupee”.
- The women do not get angry. They “laugh” and “add one to the weight”: they put one more fish on the scale for the buyer.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The women trick the buyers by pressing down on the scale. — Incorrect. Misread: They add a fish, so the buyer gets more, not less.
Option 2: The women make fun of the buyers who bargain too much. — Incorrect. Misread: Their laugh comes with a gift of one more fish. It is friendly, not mocking.
Option 4: The women lose patience and give in just to end the argument. — Incorrect. Contradicted: People who lose patience do not laugh. Nothing in the poem shows them annoyed.