By Chandranna NS 
1. Don Anselmo and the Americans were generous in their own ways. Explain.
Ans.: I think that there are two important events in the lesson which prove the Americans and the old man are generous. The one thing is that the Americans informed Don Anselmo that after survey, they found that he owns more than eight acres and were willing to pay double the agreed amount. This shows that the Americans were generous and they did not want to cheat him. The second one is that once again when the old man stuck to his words that the trees belonged to the children, they bought the trees individually from the villagers Don Anselmo, however was a man of principles and refused to take anything more than the amount agreed upon and expressed his generosity.
2. What might be the reason for taking a long time to resolve the problem of ownership
Ans.: After buying the property from Don Anselmo the Americans moved to the property. The children of Rio en Medio, began to trespass and overrun the Orchard and spend most of their time playing under the trees. This was brought to the notice of Don Anselmo and he was asked to stop the children and let them to enjoy the property according to the sale agreement. Don Anselmo clearly said that he had sold the land to the Americans but not the trees. He had planted a tree for each while the child born in the village and the trees belonged to the children, not to him. The owners were left with no choice. They had to buy the trees individually from the villages and this took a long time.
3. “I did not sell the trees because I could not, they are not mine”. How did the old man
support this statement?
Ans.: The old man explained that he was the oldest person in the village. Almost everyone there was related to him and all the children of Rio en Medio were his neices and nephews.His property came to him from his mother. He planted a tree for every child was born in the village. So the trees in the Orchard belonged to the children. Hence there was no way he could sell the trees along with the land. He committed himself to his thought.
4. Don Anselmo’s reaction to the offer of more money was not expected. Justify this statement.
Ans.: Don Anselmo agreed to sell his land for twelve hundred dollars. After the survey the Americans found that the land was more than 8 acres and they were willing to offer twice the amount for the extra land. The old man could have been happy but as he heard this the old man hung his head for a moment and stared at the story teller. He felt that he was being insulted. He told them that he had agreed to sell his property for twelve hundred dollars to the Americans because they are good and stuck to his words. This reaction of the old man is truly unexpected for the real-estate people.
