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 word “dresses” mean in the line “and Mariamma dresses them, fin by fin”?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → cleans and prepares for cooking
Here dresses means cleans and prepares fish or meat for cooking.
- Mariamma sits with a knife among the fish. She works on the sardines “fin by fin”, cutting and cleaning each one so that the buyer can cook it. Example: The cook dressed the chicken before putting it in the curry.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: puts clothes on — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the everyday sense of dress. Example: Amma dresses the baby in a warm sweater.
Option 2: decorates and arranges for show — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This sense is used for shop windows and stages. Example: The shopkeeper dressed his window with lights for Diwali.
Option 4: covers a wound with a bandage — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This sense is used for injuries. Example: The nurse dressed the cut on his knee.