(First Flight)
Chapter 3
Two Stories About Flying
His First Flight by Liam O’ Flaherty
“The journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step”
The story by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is an account of a young bird that is afraid to fly for the first
time. He believes that his wings would not support him. Despite his younger siblings flying
fearlessly with much shorter wings, he could not gather the courage to do the same. He was
punished to stay hungry if he did not try. Thus, it was his mother that compelled him to fly by
using food as a trap. The lesson reflects how one hesitates to take the first step and that fear is all
in the mind. One should trust one’s abilities because “the fear of suffering is worse than the
suffering itself”.
Theme of the Lesson
The topic of “His First Flight” is bravery and self-assurance. It emphasises the value of tackling
one’s concerns head-on and emphasises the need to instil a never-give-up mentality in order to
succeed. The story gives an important lesson that fear exists only in one’s mind.
His First Flight Summary
The story “His First Flight” by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is about a young seagull who is afraid to fly.
All his younger siblings despite their much shorter wings flew fearlessly while he could not
gather the courage to trust his own wings. The young seagull became sad when he saw his
parents perfecting his younger siblings in the art of flying. His parents scold and taunt him for
not even trying. They even call him a “coward”. They tell him a lot to at least try and also
threaten him to leave him alone and hungry if he does not. The following day, he is left in
isolation and upon feeling hungry; he tries to seek the attention of his family members. Only his
mother, who is withering a fish in an attempt to eat it, notices his son. The young seagull cries
out of starvation hoping his mother would help. On seeing his mother come to him with the fish,
he gets excited. But on noticing that his mother stopped mid-way, he gets maddened out of
hunger and takes a dive at the fish, forgetting for a moment that he is afraid to fly. Finally, he
took his first flight. All the family members celebrate his victory by cheering and dancing around
him. He also attempts at floating in the sea that he was once afraid of. Thus, he overcomes his
fear and realizes that it is all in the mind.
His First Flight Lesson Explanation
Passage: THE young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had already
flown away the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them. Somehow when he had taken a
little run forward to the brink of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings he became afraid. The
great expanse of sea stretched down beneath, and it was such a long way down — miles down.
, He felt certain that his wings would never support him; so he bent his head and ran away back to
the little hole under the ledge where he slept at night.
Word Meaning
Seagull– a bird that lives near the sea and has short legs, long wings, and white and grey feathers
Ledge- a narrow horizontal shelf projecting from a wall (or here) a cliff
Brink– the extreme edge of land before a steep slope or a body or water
Expanse– a wide continuous area of something
Explanation of the above Passage: The story is about a young seagull who is at that stage of
life where he has to learn to fly. Unlike his younger brothers and sisters, he is too afraid to fly.
When all of them went for flying for the first time near the edge of the sea, all of them except
him, succeeded. He could not trust his wings. He got terrified by the vast sea and got convinced
that he could never fly. As a result, he was ashamed and disheartened and thus, went inside the
ledge where usually he slept.
Passage: Even when each of his brothers and his little sister, whose wings were far shorter than
his own, ran to the brink, flapped their wings, and flew away, he failed to muster up courage to
take that plunge which appeared to him so desperate. His father and mother had come around
calling to him shrilly, upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew
away. But for the life of him he could not move.
Word Meaning
Flapped– (of a bird) move (its wings) up and down when flying or preparing to fly
Muster– gather
Plunge- jump or dive
Shrilly- with a high pitched and piercing voice or sound
Upbraiding- scold
Explanation of the above Passage: His younger siblings managed to take their first flight
despite their wings being shorter than his, but he could not summon the courage though he tried
so desperately. He was scolded by his parents for not trying again but he was so afraid, that he
could not even move.
Passage: That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The day
before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sister,
perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for
fish. He had, in fact, seen his older brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a
rock, while his parents circled around raising a proud cackle. And all the morning the whole
family had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him with
his cowardice.
Word Meaning
Herring– a soft-finned sea fish
Devour– eat quickly
Cackle- laugh in a loud, harsh way
Cowardice- lack of bravery
Explanation of the above Passage: Now, he had been alone for a day after he tried because his
parents were busy focussing on his siblings. They helped his siblings master the art of flying and
diving for food (fish). His older sibling even caught his first fish which he proudly ate at a rock
Chapter 3
Two Stories About Flying
His First Flight by Liam O’ Flaherty
“The journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step”
The story by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is an account of a young bird that is afraid to fly for the first
time. He believes that his wings would not support him. Despite his younger siblings flying
fearlessly with much shorter wings, he could not gather the courage to do the same. He was
punished to stay hungry if he did not try. Thus, it was his mother that compelled him to fly by
using food as a trap. The lesson reflects how one hesitates to take the first step and that fear is all
in the mind. One should trust one’s abilities because “the fear of suffering is worse than the
suffering itself”.
Theme of the Lesson
The topic of “His First Flight” is bravery and self-assurance. It emphasises the value of tackling
one’s concerns head-on and emphasises the need to instil a never-give-up mentality in order to
succeed. The story gives an important lesson that fear exists only in one’s mind.
His First Flight Summary
The story “His First Flight” by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is about a young seagull who is afraid to fly.
All his younger siblings despite their much shorter wings flew fearlessly while he could not
gather the courage to trust his own wings. The young seagull became sad when he saw his
parents perfecting his younger siblings in the art of flying. His parents scold and taunt him for
not even trying. They even call him a “coward”. They tell him a lot to at least try and also
threaten him to leave him alone and hungry if he does not. The following day, he is left in
isolation and upon feeling hungry; he tries to seek the attention of his family members. Only his
mother, who is withering a fish in an attempt to eat it, notices his son. The young seagull cries
out of starvation hoping his mother would help. On seeing his mother come to him with the fish,
he gets excited. But on noticing that his mother stopped mid-way, he gets maddened out of
hunger and takes a dive at the fish, forgetting for a moment that he is afraid to fly. Finally, he
took his first flight. All the family members celebrate his victory by cheering and dancing around
him. He also attempts at floating in the sea that he was once afraid of. Thus, he overcomes his
fear and realizes that it is all in the mind.
His First Flight Lesson Explanation
Passage: THE young seagull was alone on his ledge. His two brothers and his sister had already
flown away the day before. He had been afraid to fly with them. Somehow when he had taken a
little run forward to the brink of the ledge and attempted to flap his wings he became afraid. The
great expanse of sea stretched down beneath, and it was such a long way down — miles down.
, He felt certain that his wings would never support him; so he bent his head and ran away back to
the little hole under the ledge where he slept at night.
Word Meaning
Seagull– a bird that lives near the sea and has short legs, long wings, and white and grey feathers
Ledge- a narrow horizontal shelf projecting from a wall (or here) a cliff
Brink– the extreme edge of land before a steep slope or a body or water
Expanse– a wide continuous area of something
Explanation of the above Passage: The story is about a young seagull who is at that stage of
life where he has to learn to fly. Unlike his younger brothers and sisters, he is too afraid to fly.
When all of them went for flying for the first time near the edge of the sea, all of them except
him, succeeded. He could not trust his wings. He got terrified by the vast sea and got convinced
that he could never fly. As a result, he was ashamed and disheartened and thus, went inside the
ledge where usually he slept.
Passage: Even when each of his brothers and his little sister, whose wings were far shorter than
his own, ran to the brink, flapped their wings, and flew away, he failed to muster up courage to
take that plunge which appeared to him so desperate. His father and mother had come around
calling to him shrilly, upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew
away. But for the life of him he could not move.
Word Meaning
Flapped– (of a bird) move (its wings) up and down when flying or preparing to fly
Muster– gather
Plunge- jump or dive
Shrilly- with a high pitched and piercing voice or sound
Upbraiding- scold
Explanation of the above Passage: His younger siblings managed to take their first flight
despite their wings being shorter than his, but he could not summon the courage though he tried
so desperately. He was scolded by his parents for not trying again but he was so afraid, that he
could not even move.
Passage: That was twenty-four hours ago. Since then nobody had come near him. The day
before, all day long, he had watched his parents flying about with his brothers and sister,
perfecting them in the art of flight, teaching them how to skim the waves and how to dive for
fish. He had, in fact, seen his older brother catch his first herring and devour it, standing on a
rock, while his parents circled around raising a proud cackle. And all the morning the whole
family had walked about on the big plateau midway down the opposite cliff taunting him with
his cowardice.
Word Meaning
Herring– a soft-finned sea fish
Devour– eat quickly
Cackle- laugh in a loud, harsh way
Cowardice- lack of bravery
Explanation of the above Passage: Now, he had been alone for a day after he tried because his
parents were busy focussing on his siblings. They helped his siblings master the art of flying and
diving for food (fish). His older sibling even caught his first fish which he proudly ate at a rock
