The Midnight Visitor
Introduction to the lesson
Ausable, a secret agent, is expecting a very important report. Another secret agent, Max, threatens
him with a pistol, demanding the report. Does Ausable outwit him?
The story is about a secret agent, Ausable who has spent an evening with a writer named Fowler who
had expected that as he would be meeting a secret agent he would be looking into a lot of
adventure. But instead, he rather gets bored when he meets Ausable as the things that happened
were exactly the opposite of what he had imagined. How Ausable gets rid of his unexpected guest
proves his expertise as a secret agent.
The Midnight Visitor Summary
The story is about Ausable, a witty secret agent. He was with a writer named Fowler throughout
the evening as Fowler was interested in spending time with a secret agent but when he spends
time with Ausable he realizes that he is exactly the opposite of what he had imagined and that
he was a bore. Ausable then told Fowler that he had been thinking wrong and that soon he
would be looking at a report that would change the country’s future. Then Ausable takes Fowler
to his room and when they entered the room a guy with a gun named Max was standing in the
room. He asked them to be comfortable until the reports about the missiles arrived in 30
minutes as he was there to steal the reports. This was the first adventure out of many that
Fowler had expected when he had thought of meeting a secret agent. While they were talking,
Ausable started with a story about how a guy had entered from the balcony last month below
his room. While this talk was going on, a sudden knock was heard at the door. Ausable said that
it must be the police as he wanted them to check on him after sometime because he wanted to
make the reports that were coming in extra secure. Max, pointing his gun towards them, said
that he would be waiting in the balcony and that Ausable should send away the police
otherwise he would shoot them and even take the risk of being caught by the police. As the
doorknob is turned, Max jumps out of the window and a loud scream is heard. The door opens
and a waiter comes in and says that he has brought the wine that Mr. Ausable had ordered. He
keeps the bottle, tray and glasses on the table and leaves. Fowler is surprised and asks him
about the police to which Ausable replied that there was no police. Then Fowler asked what
about the person who was waiting in the balcony outside the window to which Ausable replied
that the person would not return and that there was no balcony there. This shows the quick wit
of Ausable as he took advantage of the situation and made Max nervous due to which he
jumped out of the window without thinking and looking down. He had jumped from the top
floor of the hotel and would have possibly died. This is how Ausable outwitted Max and saved
himself from a very dangerous situation.
Theme of the Lesson
The theme of The Midnight Visitor’s narrative is that knowledge is a more effective
weapon than other things. The main thesis is that Ausable’s brilliance enabled him to
fabricate the cops and a balcony that didn’t exist. He was able to do this because his adversary
had threatened him with a gun.
, Hindi Explanation: https://youtu.be/oiRiKltt7os
The Midnight Visitor explanation
Passage: AUSABLE did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read. Following
him down the musty corridor of the gloomy French hotel where Ausable had a room, Fowler
felt let down. It was a small room, on the sixth and top floor, and scarcely a setting for a
romantic adventure. Ausable was, for one thing, fat. Very fat. And then there was his accent.
Though he spoke French and German passably, he had never altogether lost the American
accent he had brought to Paris from Boston twenty years ago. “You are disappointed,” Ausable
said wheezily over his shoulder. “You were told that I was a secret agent, a spy, dealing in
espionage and danger. You wished to meet me because you are a writer, young and romantic.
You envisioned mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, drugs in the wine.” “Instead,
you have spent a dull evening in a French music hall with a sloppy fat man who, instead of
having messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties, gets only a prosaic telephone call
making an appointment in his room. You have been bored!” The fat man chuckled to himself as
he unlocked the door of his room and stood aside to let his frustrated guest enter. “You are
disillusioned,” Ausable told him. “But take cheer, my young friend. Presently you will see a
paper, a quite important paper for which several men and women have risked their lives, come
to me. Some day soon that paper may well affect the course of history. In that thought is
drama, is there not?”
Word meaning :
Musty- having a stale, mouldy, or damp smell.
Corridor- a long passage in a building from which doors lead into rooms.
Gloomy- dark or poorly lit, especially so as to appear depressing or frightening.
Scarcely- only just; almost not.
Accent- a distinctive way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular
country, area, or social class.
Passably- just well enough; tolerably well
Espionage- spying
Envisioned- imagine as a future possibility; visualize.
Sloppy- carelessly dressed
Prosaic- : ordinary
Chuckled- : laughed quietly, without opening his mouth
Disillusioned- disappointed in someone or something that one discovers to be less good than
one had believed.
Important Videos Links
Explanation of the above passage: Fowler felt that Ausable did not look like a secret agent at all.
He was following Ausable to his room through a smelly and a bit scary corridor. His room was on the
top floor which was the sixth floor of the hotel. Ausable was a very fat man and his accent was
American although he had been living in Paris for the last twenty years and could speak a bit of
French and German. Then Ausable tells Fowler that although he was told that he was going to meet a
Introduction to the lesson
Ausable, a secret agent, is expecting a very important report. Another secret agent, Max, threatens
him with a pistol, demanding the report. Does Ausable outwit him?
The story is about a secret agent, Ausable who has spent an evening with a writer named Fowler who
had expected that as he would be meeting a secret agent he would be looking into a lot of
adventure. But instead, he rather gets bored when he meets Ausable as the things that happened
were exactly the opposite of what he had imagined. How Ausable gets rid of his unexpected guest
proves his expertise as a secret agent.
The Midnight Visitor Summary
The story is about Ausable, a witty secret agent. He was with a writer named Fowler throughout
the evening as Fowler was interested in spending time with a secret agent but when he spends
time with Ausable he realizes that he is exactly the opposite of what he had imagined and that
he was a bore. Ausable then told Fowler that he had been thinking wrong and that soon he
would be looking at a report that would change the country’s future. Then Ausable takes Fowler
to his room and when they entered the room a guy with a gun named Max was standing in the
room. He asked them to be comfortable until the reports about the missiles arrived in 30
minutes as he was there to steal the reports. This was the first adventure out of many that
Fowler had expected when he had thought of meeting a secret agent. While they were talking,
Ausable started with a story about how a guy had entered from the balcony last month below
his room. While this talk was going on, a sudden knock was heard at the door. Ausable said that
it must be the police as he wanted them to check on him after sometime because he wanted to
make the reports that were coming in extra secure. Max, pointing his gun towards them, said
that he would be waiting in the balcony and that Ausable should send away the police
otherwise he would shoot them and even take the risk of being caught by the police. As the
doorknob is turned, Max jumps out of the window and a loud scream is heard. The door opens
and a waiter comes in and says that he has brought the wine that Mr. Ausable had ordered. He
keeps the bottle, tray and glasses on the table and leaves. Fowler is surprised and asks him
about the police to which Ausable replied that there was no police. Then Fowler asked what
about the person who was waiting in the balcony outside the window to which Ausable replied
that the person would not return and that there was no balcony there. This shows the quick wit
of Ausable as he took advantage of the situation and made Max nervous due to which he
jumped out of the window without thinking and looking down. He had jumped from the top
floor of the hotel and would have possibly died. This is how Ausable outwitted Max and saved
himself from a very dangerous situation.
Theme of the Lesson
The theme of The Midnight Visitor’s narrative is that knowledge is a more effective
weapon than other things. The main thesis is that Ausable’s brilliance enabled him to
fabricate the cops and a balcony that didn’t exist. He was able to do this because his adversary
had threatened him with a gun.
, Hindi Explanation: https://youtu.be/oiRiKltt7os
The Midnight Visitor explanation
Passage: AUSABLE did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read. Following
him down the musty corridor of the gloomy French hotel where Ausable had a room, Fowler
felt let down. It was a small room, on the sixth and top floor, and scarcely a setting for a
romantic adventure. Ausable was, for one thing, fat. Very fat. And then there was his accent.
Though he spoke French and German passably, he had never altogether lost the American
accent he had brought to Paris from Boston twenty years ago. “You are disappointed,” Ausable
said wheezily over his shoulder. “You were told that I was a secret agent, a spy, dealing in
espionage and danger. You wished to meet me because you are a writer, young and romantic.
You envisioned mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, drugs in the wine.” “Instead,
you have spent a dull evening in a French music hall with a sloppy fat man who, instead of
having messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties, gets only a prosaic telephone call
making an appointment in his room. You have been bored!” The fat man chuckled to himself as
he unlocked the door of his room and stood aside to let his frustrated guest enter. “You are
disillusioned,” Ausable told him. “But take cheer, my young friend. Presently you will see a
paper, a quite important paper for which several men and women have risked their lives, come
to me. Some day soon that paper may well affect the course of history. In that thought is
drama, is there not?”
Word meaning :
Musty- having a stale, mouldy, or damp smell.
Corridor- a long passage in a building from which doors lead into rooms.
Gloomy- dark or poorly lit, especially so as to appear depressing or frightening.
Scarcely- only just; almost not.
Accent- a distinctive way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular
country, area, or social class.
Passably- just well enough; tolerably well
Espionage- spying
Envisioned- imagine as a future possibility; visualize.
Sloppy- carelessly dressed
Prosaic- : ordinary
Chuckled- : laughed quietly, without opening his mouth
Disillusioned- disappointed in someone or something that one discovers to be less good than
one had believed.
Important Videos Links
Explanation of the above passage: Fowler felt that Ausable did not look like a secret agent at all.
He was following Ausable to his room through a smelly and a bit scary corridor. His room was on the
top floor which was the sixth floor of the hotel. Ausable was a very fat man and his accent was
American although he had been living in Paris for the last twenty years and could speak a bit of
French and German. Then Ausable tells Fowler that although he was told that he was going to meet a
