"Engine Trouble" by R.K. Narayan

 

The short story “Engine Trouble” is written by R.K. Narayan. The story is narrated by the talkative man who is the protagonist of the story. He recalls an incident that brought many struggles and pain to him some years ago. The title of the story is suitable, as the story describes the troubles the engine creates for the narrator. He talks about Gaiety Land, a fair that took place at a municipal ground named Gymkhana ground. The show attracted people from nearby districts, and for a couple of annas, people could watch any one performance. The narrator of the story (a talkative man) brought a ticket for the lucky draw by spending eight annas. His number was 1005, and he won a road engine as a prize. He was stunned by the prize, and people gathered there gazed at him as if he were some curious animal, and some giggled at him. He asked the showman to help him transport the engine. But he refused to show a notice that mentioned that the winners should remove the prizes immediately. However, they agreed to keep the road engine on the Gymkhana ground till the show ends.

The talkative man’s friends congratulated him on the prize he won. Though they did not know how much money it could fetch, they all believed that such a big road engine would get more money. Some of his friends suggested that it could be sold as scrap iron for a few thousand. Every day, he visited the Gymkhana ground to see his road engine and believed that all his financial problems would be solved by the road engine. The fair was over and the narrator received a notice from the municipality to take his road engine from the ground. Again, he received a notice to pay a rent of ten rupees per month. After paying for three months, he had to pledge his wife’s jewels to pay further. He requested the Municipality and Cosmopolitan Club for buying the road engine, but they refused to buy.

The Municipality asked him to remove the road engine from the ground in 24 hours as another fair was about to begin. He tried hard to find a driver to move the engine to his friend’s field. He spoke to the temple priest and engaged a temple elephant and fifty coolies for the task. He also booked Joseph, a dismissed bus driver, to move the engine. Joseph did not know how to drive the road engine, but he assured that he could steer the engine if it was kept in motion. The temple elephant was tied to the engine with a thick rope. It was pulling the rope from the front, the coolies were pushing the engine from the back, and Joseph was steering the wheels. A huge crowd gathered to see this, and slowly, the road engine was moved to the road. The engine moved in zig-zag. As the elephant dragged the engine in one direction, the fifty men pushed the engine in another direction, and Joseph steered in the opposite direction. As a result, the engine broke the opposite compound wall. The crowd made a joyous yell, and the irritated elephant trumpeted loudly and broke the compound wall further. The owner of the house slapped the narrator, and later he was arrested by the police.

When the narrator was released from the lock up, more problems were waiting for him. He had to build the broken compound wall, pay the wages for the injured elephant. His wife was upset about this incident and decided to go to her parents’ house. At that time, a Swamiji came to the town for a performance in the town hall. The whole place was crowded to see the performance of the yogi. He ate glass pieces, drank acid and swallowed sharp nails and buried himself underground. He wanted a road engine to perform his last act, and he asked the Municipal chairman for it. As he did not have it, the narrator offered it with the condition that it had to be driven to his friend’s field. The crowd moved near the broken compound wall to see the performance. A disciple was about to drive the engine on the chest of the Swamiji. Suddenly, a police inspector stopped the performance by stating that the magistrate had declined permission for this performance. Angered, Swamiji left the place with his disciples and the road engine stood in the same spot.

The narrator decided to leave his town by morning to escape from his troubles. That night earthquake affected the place and nature came as a rescuer. The next morning, before leaving the place, he wanted to have a last glimpse of his engine. The road engine moved from the place and covered a disused well in the house. The panicked narrator prayed the God to save him from the new troubles. At that moment, the owner of the house showed up and said that the municipality had sent a notice to him to close the well due to the dirty water. The road engine covered the well and he asked the narrator to leave the road engine there with a promise that he would withdraw his complaints for the broken well and pay the money he had spent till then for the road engine. With this, the problems of the talkative man came to an end.