• Compare between the character of the Aunt and that of the Bachelor. Explain and justify.

The aunt is a nameless character that Suki does not offer a description of. She accompanies her nephew and two nieces on a train ride. She is not very good with the children. All the kids are fairly small and their aunt is unable to capture their interest. She has trouble answering their questions regarding their surroundings, so she decides to tell them a conventional moral story that fails to entertain them. When a unknown man points out the flaws of her story, she challenges him to tell a better one. The children do indeed enjoy the man's story more, however the aunt finds it improper. The aunt is a rather flat character, posing as a conventional authority figure.

The bachelor is a man who just happens to be in the same carriage as the rest of the characters. He observes the aunt and the children and he cannot escape their conversation. After the aunt finishes telling the children her story with no success at keeping them quiet, he points out her story's flaws. As a result of that, he is challenged to tell a better story. The bachelor's story starts like the story of the aunt, however it develops into a less moralistic and more realistic tale. The story does not finish with a happy ending - as in the case of the aunt's story, it shows that being good is not always rewarded. The children find this story more entertaining and they also appreciate its realness.