English Summary

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Three Men in a Boat Chapter 14 Summary

Wargrave, Shiplake and Sonning. George cooks stew for supper. Montmorency’s dislike of the tea kettle. George attempts to play the banjo but is discouraged by all. George and the author take a walk and lose their way. Harris feels unwell.

The three friends now moved past Wargrave and Shiplake. The author shared some local information about the beautiful towns. They went on shore at Sonning and took a walk around the pretty village. Later, they decided to go back to one of the Shiplake islands, instead of heading for Reading that night.

Once they were settled, George volunteered to cook an Irish stew for supper. The author and Harris sat down to peel potatoes for it, but found that it was a very tough job. In the end, they just added unpeeled potatoes. They also put in all the leftovers that they had found in the hamper. Montmorency brought a dead water rat for the stew, but they were not sure whether or not it was in a sarcastic spirit.

After they ate, the kettle was put on for tea. Montmorency did not trust the kettle and every day, when it began to boil and sputter, he would growl at it. Now, he sprang at it, burnt his nose and ran away howling in pain. He never attacked the kettle again.

After supper, George took out the banjo, but had to put it away as Harris said he had a headache. Montmorency also never cooperated when George tried to play the banjo. In fact, George never did learn to play, as everyone around seemed very discouraging. The author was reminded of the story of a fellow who faced great discouragement when he tried to play the bagpipes.

Harris was not feeling very well after supper, so the other two left him in the boat and went for a walk. It was almost eleven when they returned, and a light rain had started to fall. However, they could not remember where exactly their boat was moored and did not find it till past midnight, when they had all but given up hope.

When they finally got into the boat, they saw that Harris seemed strange and sad. When the others asked him about it, he explained that they had moored near a swan’s nest. Harris had to fight off the swans, but he was not very clear about the details. He had no recollection of any swans the next morning. George and the author slept well, but Harris had a disturbed night, as he constantly woke up looking for different articles of clothing.

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Three Men in a Boat Chapter 13 Summary

Description of Marlow and Bisham Abbey. The antics of Montmorency and nature offox terriers in general. Shopping for provisions and their dislike of using river water explained. Harris falls into a ditch and blames George and the author for his fall.

The author described the beauties of the area around Marlow. He also described the attractions of the Bisham Abbey, which came to the right bank of the river. The next morning, they woke up early and went for a bath before breakfast.

On their way back to the inn, Montmorency saw a cat crossing the road and sprang after it. Instead of running, the cat sat down in the middle of the street and stared back at Montmorency. This seemed to confuse him and he returned to the author quietly.

The author also explained that the innate nature of fox terriers was to make trouble, and cited an incident where a young lady had brought her fox terrier to the store and had tied it up near the other dogs who were sitting there peacefully. Within minutes the terrier had started a war among the dogs.

The friends spent the morning shopping for food and other necessities and were followed by an impressive procession of shop boys carrying various packages, as they made their way to the boat. The author also explained why he disliked steam launches and how they managed to annoy such boats throughout the trip.

When the three were near Hambledon Lock, they found that their store of water was low, so they asked for water at a house nearby. However, the man simply asked them to take some river water, which they were not keen on doing. The author related an incident later, where they had tried river water to make their tea once, but just as the tea was ready, however, they had seen a peaceful looking dead dog floating down the river and had to throw away the tea.

A while later, they stopped for lunch halfway up the backwater near Wargrave. They were just getting ready to carve a pie, when George and the author looked away briefly. When they looked back, Harris and the pie seemed to have disappeared! Just as they were considering the possibilities of him having been swallowed by the earth, his head became visible. He had fallen into a ditch just behind where he had been sitting. He was convinced that it had all been planned by the author and George, no matter how much they protested their innocence.

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Three Men in a Boat Chapter 12 Summary

A visit to the Magna Charta Island and talk of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. George reminds them of another trip and the predicament that they hadfaced upon reaching Dachet. Tea at Cookham and ramming of the boat into another, with three elderly fishermen aboard. Stopping at Marlow for the night.

The friends then visited the Magna Charta Island, where the document was rumoured to have been signed. Near the picnic point where their boat was moored, were the ruins of an old priory, one of the places where Henry VIII was said to meet
Anne Boleyn. He pointed out that being in the same house as a pair of lovers is very uncomfortable, as they may be found in any of the rooms you enter, or even if you go out for a walk. He thought the situation of the English around the time of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn must have been similar.

The friends continued to sail up the river and when they were passing by Dachet, George reminded his friends of their first boat trip, when they had reached Dachet at ten in the night. They had been unable to find any room at the two inns and, for half the night, kept going from one place to another, till, at last, Harris was exhausted and pronounced himself ready to die.

It was then that a young child had passed by and told them that his mother could rent out a room for the night. They had viewed the child as an angel, falling upon his neck in joy. Harris had nearly fainted with joy, and had to be revived with half a mug of beer. The rest of the night had then passed happily, as the boy’s mother had fed them a good supper with jam tart afterwards.

Returning to the current boat trip, it was time for lunch, but just as they sat down to eat, they realized that they had no mustard. Usually, neither of them was fond of mustard, but for some reason they all craved it then. After lunch, they enjoyed an apple pie, but when they tried to open a can of pineapples, they found that they had no can opener. After trying a knife, a pair of scissors and a rock, and injuring each other in the process, Harris threw the can into the river.

They reached Maidenhead soon after, but passed through, travelling on to Cookham for tea. They then found that a stiff breeze had sprung up and unfurled the sail. The boat now went along at a quicker pace, steered by the author. Unfortunately, they sailed right into the boat of three old men who were fishing, who got very angry and cursed the three friends very comprehensively. After that, George steered, and they landed at Marlow, where they went to an inn for the night.

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Three Men in a Boat Chapter 11 Summary

The problems of getting up too early. The aversion of the three friends, and Montmorency, to cold water and the author’s fall in the water. Harris attempt to scramble eggs for breakfast. A historical insight on the signing of the Magna Charta.

The next morning, both the author and George woke up at six, and both found it impossible to go back to sleep. George related a story of how the same thing had happened to him some months ago, on a foggy day. He had forgotten to wind his watch, and had woken up thinking it was a quarter past eight in the morning. He got ready and dashed off to work, only to find that the entire town seemed to be asleep. He finally asked a policeman for the time and realized that it was just three a.m. After that, he returned home but could not sleep. He went for a walk, but the policemen found it suspicious that someone would be out at that time of the morning and he had to return home. He had made it a point never to wake up early ever since.

When George had finished his story, the author poked Harris with the oar to wake him up, causing Montmorency, who had been sleeping on Harris’ chest, to jump across the boat. They had thought that they would all take a morning dip in the river, but when it came to it, no one wanted to. Finally, the author went to the bank, intending to splash some water on himself, but the branch on which he was sitting snapped and he fell into the cold water. However, even though he pretended that it was lovely in the water, his friends did not join him.

While dressing, the author’s shirt fell into the water, which George found very funny. However, when the author realized that it was actually George’s shirt, George seemed to lose his sense of humour. For breakfast, Harris suggested making scrambled eggs, implying that he was very good at the job. However, he did not seem to be any good at it as he had trouble breaking eggs into the pan, then burnt himself time and again whereupon he would dance around in pain.

After breakfast, the author was moved by the peaceful beauty of the scene which led him to vividly imagine the same scene, as it must have been, on the day when the historic Magna Charta was signed, in 1215.

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Three Men in a Boat Chapter 10 Summary

Their attempts to cover the boat with canvas. The making of tea and eating supper. The appeal of a deserted island.
Narration of a funny incident by George. Restless night for the author.

By the time the friends decided to stop for the night, all they wanted was to eat and sleep. They drew up in a pleasant spot, but rather than eat immediately, George suggested that they put up the canvas covering on the boat. However, this turned out to be a more difficult task than they had thought. After trying for a long time they managed to get the hoops up, but when it came to putting the canvas cover over them, Harris and George got rolled up in it and could not free themselves.

Finally, after half an hour’s hard labour, the canvas was up and the friends put the tea to boil, while they got supper ready. According to the author, the best way to get the tea ready, while on a boat, was to put the kettle on the stove and ignore it, talking loudly about how one doesn’t actually want any tea. This supposedly inspires the kettle to boil faster.

For more than half an hour, they ate steadily, inspiring the author to discuss the importance of food and how it was the surest path to virtue and contentment. Smoking their pipes afterwards, the friends discussed how nice it would be to live on a deserted island, more so since George assured Harris that it would not be damp if it was well-drained.

George was reminded of a funny incident where his father and his friend stopped at an inn. When they went up to bed, both the friends got into the same bed, one the right way and the other with his feet on the pillow. They both thought there was someone else in their bed and tried to throw the other off, resulting in both of them landing on the floor, with no idea of what had actually happened.

Soon the three friends went to bed, but although he was very tired, the author was not able to sleep. He found the boat a very hard bed to sleep in and seemed to have something digging into his back. Finally, he got up and went out onto the bank, admiring the star-lit night.