Mijbil the Otter Question Answer – Class 10 English

Before You Read — Activity

2. Imagine someone has gifted you a pet. With your partner's help, make a list of the things you need to know about the pet in order to take good care of it. One has been done for you.

(i) The food it eats.

(ii) How often and how much it should be fed, and how much water it needs.

(iii) The vaccinations it needs and the name of a good vet nearby.

(iv) How much exercise and play it needs every day, and how to toilet-train it.

(v) How to groom and bathe it, and where it should sleep so that it is safe and comfortable.

You may also add: whether it needs a licence, how it behaves with strangers and other animals, and the common illnesses it can suffer from.

3. Otters are found in large numbers in the marshes (i.e. wet areas near lakes, rivers or seas) near Basra, a town in Iraq. Imagine you wanted to bring an otter from Iraq to London, as a pet. What special arrangements would you need to make for your pet otter? You would need to find a place with lots of water, for example. What other points should you think about? The information about Iraq and London given below may help you.

To bring an otter from Iraq to London, I would need to think about the following points:

• Water: An otter lives in marshes, so it would need a pond, a large tub or a bathtub where it can swim and play every day.
• Climate: Iraq has hot, dry summers, while London is mild and rainy with cold winters. The otter would need a warm, dry place to sleep, especially in January, the coolest month.
• Food: Otters eat fish, so I would need a regular supply of fresh fish.
• Space and exercise: London is crowded, with multi-storeyed buildings, but it has parks. I would need to walk the otter on a lead in open spaces, away from heavy traffic.
• Travel and law: I would need to find an airline that carries animals, a proper travelling box, and the permits needed to take an animal out of Iraq and into Britain.
• Health: A vet in London who knows about wild animals would be needed for check-ups.
• Safety of others: People in a busy city may be frightened by an unknown animal, so the otter must be kept under control.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 106)

1. What 'experiment' did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?

Maxwell wanted to keep an otter as a pet instead of a dog. He thought Camusfearna, his cottage in the West Highlands of Scotland, was "an eminently suitable spot for this experiment" because it was "ringed by water a stone's throw from its door", and an otter needs plenty of water.

2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?

Maxwell went to Basra with a friend to collect and answer his mail from Europe at the Consulate-General. His friend's mail had arrived, but his had not. He cabled England, waited three days, then tried for three days to telephone, but the call failed each time. His friend left, and Maxwell's mail finally arrived five days later. So he waited for more than a week because his letters had not come.

3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.

Maxwell's friend arranged the otter for him. Two Arabs brought it to Maxwell's bedroom in a sack, with a note from the friend saying, "Here is your otter…" Maxwell liked it very much. He says that the opening of the sack began "a phase of my life that has not yet ended", and calls it "a thraldom to otters, an otter fixation".

4. Why was the otter named 'Maxwell's otter'?

Mijbil belonged to "a race previously unknown to science". Since Maxwell was the one who brought this new kind of otter to the notice of the world, zoologists named the species Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell's otter, after him.

5. Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was

• aloof and indifferent
• friendly
• hostile

In the beginning, the otter was aloof and indifferent. For the first twenty-four hours he was "neither hostile nor friendly" and chose to sleep on the floor as far from Maxwell's bed as possible.

6. What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that?

When Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom on a lead, the otter "went wild with joy in the water" for half an hour. He plunged and rolled, shot up and down the bathtub underwater, and made "enough slosh and splash for a hippo". Two days later, Mij escaped from the bedroom, ran to the bathroom, climbed onto the bathtub and fumbled at the taps. In less than a minute he turned a tap on, first producing a trickle and then the full flow of water.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 108)

1. How was Mij to be transported to England?

The British airline to London would not carry animals, so Maxwell booked a flight to Paris on another airline and from there to London. The airline insisted that Mij be packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square, which would be carried on the floor at Maxwell's feet.

2. What did Mij do to the box?

Mij hated being shut in the box. He struggled so hard to get out that he tore the lining of the box to shreds and hurt himself. When Maxwell returned, blood had trickled and dried around the airholes and the chinks of the lid, and Mij was "exhausted and blood-spattered".

3. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?

Maxwell put Mij back into the box because there was no other way to take him on the plane. Only ten minutes were left before the flight, and the airport was five miles away. He must have felt very sad, guilty and helpless, as he could see that the "miserable Mij" was frightened and hurt, yet he had to lock him up again and hold the lid down with his hand.

4. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was "the very queen of her kind"?

Maxwell praises the air hostess because she was kind, calm and understanding. She kept Mij's parcel of fish in a cool place and listened to Maxwell's story about the box. She even suggested that he might prefer to keep his pet on his knee. Later, when Mij caused chaos, she smiled and offered to find the otter herself. Her helpfulness made Maxwell deeply grateful.

5. What happened when the box was opened?

When the box was opened, Mij shot out "in a flash" and raced down the aircraft. Passengers squawked and shrieked, and a woman stood on her seat screaming, "A rat! A rat!" Maxwell dived after Mij's tail under the legs of a portly Indian but missed and got his face covered in curry. The air hostess asked him to return to his seat. Soon Mij came back with "a distressed chitter of recognition and welcome", bounded onto Maxwell's knee and nuzzled his face and neck.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 110)

1. What game had Mij invented?

Mij invented a game with a ping-pong ball and a damaged suitcase whose lid sloped from one end to the other. He placed the ball on the high end and let it roll down. Then he dashed to the other end, hid there crouching, sprang up to "ambush" the ball, grabbed it and trotted back to the high end to start again. This game kept him busy for up to half an hour.

2. What are 'compulsive habits'? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of (i) school children (ii) Mij?

Compulsive habits are habits which a person or animal feels a strong urge to repeat and finds impossible to control.

(i) School children, on their way to and from school, must place their feet squarely in the centre of each paving block, must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or must pass to the outside of every second lamp post.

(ii) Mij, on his way home but never on his way out, would pull Maxwell to the low wall of a primary school opposite the flat. He would jump onto it and gallop along its full thirty yards, to the "hopeless distraction" of the pupils and staff.

3. What group of animals do otters belong to?

Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines. The badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat and mink also belong to this group.

4. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?

Londoners guessed that Mij was almost every Mustelline except an otter. They also called him "a baby seal" and "a squirrel". One person asked, "Is that a walrus, mister?" and outside a dog show someone said "a hippo". Others guessed a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard and even a "brontosaur". But the guess Maxwell gave "the highest score" came from a labourer digging a hole in the street, who growled, "Here, Mister — what is that supposed to be?"

Thinking about the Text

1. What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?

Mij shows his intelligence when he learns, within two days, to turn on the bathroom tap, and when he invents his own game with a ping-pong ball and a sloping suitcase. He is fun-loving: he spends hours dribbling a rubber ball "like a four-footed soccer player", juggles marbles on his belly and splashes joyfully in water. He is friendly and needs love: after the first day he sleeps "in the crook" of Maxwell's knees, soon follows him without a lead and comes when called. On the plane, after the frightening chase, he returns to Maxwell with "a distressed chitter of recognition and welcome" and nuzzles his face and neck, showing how much he depends on his master's love.

2. What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?

From the text we learn that otters:

• live in marshes and can be tamed, as the Arabs of the Tigris marshes often did;
• love water and must keep it moving — "a bowl must at once be overturned" or splashed in until it overflows;
• are playful and love to juggle small objects between their paws while lying on their backs;
• are intelligent enough to learn things like turning on a tap and inventing games;
• become deeply attached to their owners and seek comfort from them;
• belong to a group of animals called Mustellines, along with badgers, mongooses, weasels, stoats and minks;
• are not well known to most people, which is why Londoners could not recognise Mij.

3. Why is Mij's species now known to the world as Maxwell's otter?

Mij was "of a race previously unknown to science". No zoologist had described this kind of otter before Maxwell brought Mij from the marshes of southern Iraq and wrote about him. To honour the man who introduced this new species to the world, zoologists named it Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, which means Maxwell's otter. That is why the species carries his name.

4. Maxwell in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter feels and thinks on different occasions. Given below are some things the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwell says about what Mij feels and thinks.

5. Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter. Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true.

Maxwell's description
(i) makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.
(ii) shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does.
(iii) shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does.
(iv) of Mij's antics is comical.
(v) shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.
(vi) shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.
(vii) shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual.

Statements (i), (iii), (iv), (v) and (vii) are true. Statements (ii) and (vi) are not true: Maxwell is never irritated with Mij (it is Mij who gets irritated with the tap), and he never thinks of Mij as ordinary.

(i) Almost human, like a small boy

• "Very soon Mij would follow me without a lead and come to me when I called his name."
• "He spent hours shuffling a rubber ball round the room like a four-footed soccer player…"
• "Mij quickly developed certain compulsive habits on these walks in the London streets, like the rituals of children who on their way to and from school…"

(iii) Often surprised by what Mij does

• "I watched, amazed; in less than a minute he had turned the tap far enough to produce a trickle of water…"
• "…and he could also throw it, with a powerful flick of the neck, to a surprising height and distance."

(iv) Comical antics

• "…shooting up and down the length of the bathtub underwater, and making enough slosh and splash for a hippo."
• "Mij was out of the box in a flash… a woman stood up on her seat screaming out, 'A rat! A rat!'"
• "Diving for it, I missed, but found my face covered in curry."
• "…jump on to it, and gallop the full length of its thirty yards, to the hopeless distraction both of pupils and of staff within."

(v) Careful observation of Mij's antics

• "From the head to the tip of the tail he was coated with symmetrical pointed scales of mud armour, between whose tips was visible a soft velvet fur like that of a chocolate-brown mole."
• "He would dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival, hide from it, crouching, to spring up and take it by surprise…"
• "…he would lie on his back rolling two or more of them up and down his wide, flat belly without ever dropping one to the floor."

(vii) A very unusual otter

• "Mijbil, as I called the otter, was, in fact, of a race previously unknown to science…"
• "The creature that emerged from this sack… resembled most of all a very small, medievally-conceived, dragon."
• "With the ping-pong ball he invented a game of his own…"

Thinking about Language

I. Describing a Repeated Action in the Past

From the table below, make as many correct sentences as you can using would and/or used to, as appropriate. (Hint: First decide whether the words in italics show an action, or a state or situation, in the past.) Then add two or three sentences of your own to it.

Sentences of my own:

1. When I was small, my grandmother would tell me a story every night. (action)
2. There used to be a big banyan tree in front of our school. (situation)
3. My father used to believe that early rising was the secret of good health. (state of mind)

II. Noun Modifiers

1. Look at these examples from the text, and say whether the modifiers (in italics) are nouns, proper nouns, or adjective plus noun.

2. Given below are some nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and modifiers to make as many appropriate phrases as you can. (Hint: The nouns and modifiers are all from the texts in this book.)

(The box prints "termendous"; the correct spelling is tremendous.)

III. Phrases for Quantity

1. Match the words on the left with a word on the right. Some words on the left can go with more than one word on the right.

2. Use a bit of/a piece of/a bunch of/a cloud of/a lump of with the italicised nouns in the following sentences. The first has been done for you as an example.

(i) My teacher gave me some advice.
My teacher gave me a bit of advice.

(ii) Can you give me some clay, please.
Can you give me a lump of clay, please?

(iii) The information you gave was very useful.
The piece of information you gave was very useful.

(iv) Because of these factories, smoke hangs over the city.
Because of these factories, a cloud of smoke hangs over the city.

(v) Two stones rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.
Two pieces of stone rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.

(vi) He gave me some flowers on my birthday.
He gave me a bunch of flowers on my birthday.

Speaking

You have seen how Maxwell describes Mij the otter's feelings and thoughts by watching him. Play the game of dumb charades. Take turns to express a feeling or thought silently, through gestures. Let the class speak out their guesses about the feelings or thoughts you are trying to express.

How to play: Divide the class into two teams. A student from one team picks a slip with a feeling or thought written on it and acts it out without speaking or pointing at objects. The other students guess aloud. Each correct guess within one minute earns a point.

Sample feelings and the gestures that show them:

Sample guessing: "You look frightened… no, you are shocked!" "You are thinking about food — you are hungry!"

Writing

Write a description of a person or an animal (such as a pet) that you know very well and love very much. Questions (4) and (5) in 'Thinking about the Text' will have given you some idea about how to do this. Mention some things the person or animal does, what you think the person or animal feels, etc.

My Dog Bholu

Bholu is our brown-and-white dog, and he has been part of our family for three years. He has floppy ears, a black nose and a tail that never stops wagging. Every morning he wakes me up by pulling at my blanket, as if he feels that the day is wasted if I stay in bed. When I return from school, he runs to the gate, jumps up and licks my hands. I am sure he has been counting the hours till I come home.

Bholu loves to play with an old rubber ball. He pushes it towards me with his nose and barks until I throw it, and then he races after it with great pride. When he cannot find it under the bed, he whines with irritation, just as Mij chittered at the tap. He hates baths and hides behind the sofa the moment he sees the bucket. Yet at night he curls up quietly at my feet, and when I am sad he rests his head on my lap. He seems to understand my feelings better than anyone. To me, Bholu is not just a pet; he is my best friend.

You may also write about a grandparent, a friend or any animal you love.