Answer:
D. encompassed
Explanation:
This is the excerpt from James Joyce's "Araby".
The word bazaar might also be confusing, so let's just say it's a kind of open market.
So, we have a boy who rushes into that market and finds him self in a hall around which is a gallery with lots of empty, closed stalls.
That can be enough to infer the meaning of the word "girded" which is "surrounded", "encompassed" or "encircled".
The subject sets the idea/topic of the story whilst the theme alters and sets the mood for the subject of the story.
A critic is someone who expresses a reasoned opinion on ny matter, especially involving a judgement on it’s quality, truthfulness, beauty or tehnique.
A cynic is a captious, fault -finding critic, often holding a belief that human conduct is always motivated by self-interest.
