Grade 9 Short Stories & Folk Tales Notes

The story is about the author's experience encountering death for the first time when their grandmother fell gravely ill.
The author reflects on the love between their grandparents and how it stood the test of time.
The author believes that love is the true goal of our existence.

Mathilde Loisel, born into a family of clerks, dreams of luxuries she cannot afford and is deeply unhappy with her ordinary life.
She borrows a diamond necklace from a rich friend to attend a party at the Ministry of Education.
Madame Loisel is a success at the party, feeling admired and happy.
She loses the necklace and she and her husband are forced to replace it, plunging them into debt and a life of poverty.
After ten years of hardship, they finally repay their debts. Madame Loisel admits to Madame Forestier that she replaced the necklace. Madame Forestier reveals that the original necklace was an imitation worth very little. The contrast in value highlights the theme of deception and the destructive power of appearances.

Mary Maloney, six months pregnant, is waiting for her husband, Patrick, to come home from work.
Patrick reveals he is leaving her, which shocks and devastates Mary.
In a daze, Mary retrieves a frozen leg of lamb from the freezer and kills Patrick with it.
Mary realizes she needs an alibi to protect herself and her unborn child.
She places the lamb in the oven to cook, practices a cheerful demeanor, and goes to the grocery store to buy vegetables and cheesecake.
Mary returns home, pretends to discover her husband's body, and calls the police.
The police arrive and investigate the scene, treating Mary with kindness and sympathy. The police, friends of Patrick's, discuss the murder weapon while searching the house.
Mary suggests they eat the lamb that is cooking in the oven. Unknowingly, the police consume the evidence, and Mary giggles at the success of her plan.

The narrator describes a chaotic Monday morning commute on the Dube train in South Africa.
The train journey is filled with the struggles and interactions of various passengers.
A tsotsi (thug) harasses a young girl on the train, leading to a confrontation with a woman who berates the other passengers for not intervening.
A large man, who had been quietly humming, steps in to defend the woman, leading to a violent altercation in which the tsotsi is thrown from the train.
The passengers are left stunned, but quickly return to their mundane concerns.

Mzala discusses with a man how to kill his wife, detailing the pros and cons of various methods.
The man turns out to be a contract killer named C.J., who reveals that Mzala's wife, Susan, has hired him to kill Mzala.
Mzala, in disbelief, asks what his plan of action will be. And C.J tells him to write a cheque to protect his life.

A childless couple is approached by a talking crow who instructs them to give their seeds to the birds in exchange for happiness and prosperity.
Following the crow's instructions, the couple slaughters their cow, places specific organs inside the hide, and invites their neighbors for a feast.
The couple must stay silent in their hut until morning when a gust of wind broke into the hut. It seemed that the skin began moving as if there was a living being in it like sunflower opening in the morning.
The couple cuts open the cowhide and finds eight healthy babies inside.
The crow instructs them to burn cow dung in their garden which becomes a tree with fruits. The crow instructs that they are not to eat the seeds; the birds are to consume them.
The couple and their children live off the fruits and scatter the seeds for the birds, leading to prosperity and the farmer becoming a great chief.