One Centimetre – Class 12 English Chapter 5 Notes & NCERT PDF

About the Author

Bi Shu-min (born 1952) has worked as a doctor in China for over twenty years and holds a Master's degree in literature from the Beijing Teacher's College. She is "one of the best known writers currently working in China", has been widely translated, and has won many literary awards in China and Taiwan. The book calls "One Centimetre" "a fine example of a mature artist working at the height of her powers." It is the second long story of the section.

Summary

Tao Ying and bus tickets. The story opens: "When Tao Ying rides on the bus alone, quite often she does not bother to buy a ticket." Her reasoning is that the bus runs anyway. She buys a ticket if the conductor looks "the responsible type" and skips it if he seems careless, "a small punishment for him and a little saving for herself." She works as a cook in a factory canteen, baking "screw-shaped wheat cakes with sesame butter."

One centimetre on the bus. Today she is with her son, Xiao Ye. The height mark on the door reads 1.10 m, and Xiao Ye is "still one centimetre away". He insists: "Mama! I'm tall enough... You don't keep your word!" Twenty cents could buy "a cucumber, two tomatoes" or some radishes or spinach. But his face is "raised up like a half-open blossom", and "To be able to purchase self-esteem with twenty cents is something that can only happen in childhood". She buys two tickets. She does not keep the stubs to claim back later, because her smart son might ask about it, and "In front of the child, she would never lie."

The perfect mother. Tao Ying is determined to be "the ideal mother". It is "not unlike carrying an audience with you wherever you go." She once scolded Xiao Ye for eating melon down to the rind, the way she herself did. From then on she realised that "Children are the best imitators in the world" and never failed in her example, which felt "like 'shooting down aeroplanes with a small gun'".

The temple. Lao Chiang from the meat counter, who shows off a "Big Reference" magazine, gives her a complimentary temple ticket worth five dollars that expires today. "Children under 110 centimeters do not need a ticket." Xiao Ye runs ahead and hands over the only ticket. The guard, "a young man dressed in a red top and black trousers", stops Tao Ying. Confident, she reads out the rule on the back of the ticket, and he says the boy "just ran past the mark", a red line "like an earthworm". When Xiao Ye stands against it, "the worm comes to Xiao Ye's ear." In a panic she slaps his head, meaning to smooth his hair. The crowd condemns her ("She can't be his natural mother..."). The guard sneers about "The International Standard Ruler... in Paris, made of pure platinum" and demands an apology and a ticket. She agrees to buy one, but then Xiao Ye asks, "Mama, did you really not buy a ticket?" She realises that if she pays now she "would never be able to explain herself to her son." She pulls him away. "Xiao Ye has suddenly grown up."

The flattering scales. Xiao Ye pays an old woman with "flattering scales" to measure him: "One metre eleven." He runs off without looking back. The old woman admits that her scales make people seem lighter and taller, because "mine are fitness scales!" At home Xiao Ye refuses to be measured: "I don't trust you! I don't trust you!" Her tape measure turns "into a poisonous viper."

The letter. Tao Ying is distracted at work and her cakes come out burnt. At night she measures the sleeping boy: "one metre nine centimetres". "In order to melt the ice in her son's eyes, she must do something." She writes to the temple administrators, taking advice from a man at the factory called "the Writer", who suggests an opening about the Buddha making the boy grow "two centimetres". She thanks him with cakes "with extra sugar and sesame." Then "comes the long wait."

Vindication. Two elderly officials arrive: the local newspaper has forwarded her letter. They measure Xiao Ye against the wall: "One metre ten, just so." She points out that "There was a delay of one month and nine days". They offer five dollars and then two free tickets, and she refuses both, because "That day's happiness can never be bought again." She asks them not to punish the guard, "he was only doing his job...". What she really wants is this: "Gentlemen, would you be so kind as to explain to my son exactly what happened on that day. Please tell him that his mother has not done anything wrong..."

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Board Exam Focus

The Understanding questions ask how Xiao Ye influenced Tao Ying's life, for instances of arbitrary rules, why she refused compensation, and why her final vindication mattered. The Appreciation questions cover the first sentence, whether the portrayal of Tao Ying is sympathetic, critical or realistic, the ambivalent ethics, and unity of thought.

Outline 1: Why she refused compensation. Money or tickets cannot restore "that day's happiness". The temple now holds unhappy memories. What she wants is not a refund but her son's trust: officials telling him that his mother did nothing wrong.

Outline 2: Significance of the first sentence. It shows her everyday ethical flexibility. The irony is that on the one day she is completely honest, she is accused of cheating. The theme is the gap between the private self and the ideal self shown to her child.

Outline 3: Arbitrary rules. The 1.10 m line decides the fare. The guard trusts a wrongly drawn mark over the mother. He invokes a platinum ruler in Paris. The height changes with scales and time. The officials settle the matter by measuring a month later.

Language Work covers simile, metaphor, and stress shift between nouns and verbs (object, conduct, permit).

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