Jharkhand Board Class 10 English Notes | Mijbil the Otter Solutions Chapter 8
Questions on Extract
1 Read the following passages and answer the questions that
follow each:
Extract-1. Very soon Mij would follow me without a lead
and come to me when I called his name. He spent most of his time
in play. He spent hours shuffling a rubber ball round the room like
a four-footed soccer player using all four feet to dribble the ball,
and he could also throw it, with a powerful flick of the neck, to a
surprising height and distance. But the real play of an otter is
when he lies on his back and juggles with small objects between
his paws. Marbles were Mij's favourite toys for this pastime : 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. (Page 106)
Questions : (JAC 2015 (A))
What did the otter do rubber ball ?
(b) How did he throw the ball ?
(c) What is the real play of an otter?
(d) What did he do to the marbles ?
(e) Find a word from the passage which means 'hobby'.
Answers
(a) He shuffled round the room like a four-footed soccer
player.
(b) He threw the ball with a powerful push of the neck.
(c) It is to lie on its back and juggle with small objects between
its paws.
(d) He would lie on his back and roll two or more of them (the
marbles) up and down his wide and flat belly.
'pastime'.
Extract-2. When I returned, there was an appalling spectacle.
There was complete silence from the box, but from its airholes and
chinks around the lid, blood had trickled and dried. I whipped off
the lock and tore open the lid, and Mij, exhausted and blood-
spattered, whimpered and caught at my leg. He had torn the lining
of the box to shreds : when I removed the last of it so that there
were no cutting edges left, it was just ten minutes util the time of
the flight, and the airport was five miles distant. I put the miserable
Mij back into the box, holding down the lid with my hand.
Q. (a) Where did the author return from?
(b) What was the 'appalling spectacle'?
(c) What had the otter done to the interior of the box?
(d) What worried the author the most?
(e) Find a word from the passage which means 'covered
with'.
Ans.(a) He returned from taking his meal.
(b) The 'appalling spectacle' was that there was blood. It had
trickled and dried from the holes of the box.
(c)He had torn the lining of the box to pieces.
(d) There were ten minutes left for the aeroplane to take off
and the airport was five miles distant.
'spattered,.
Long Type Questions and Answer
Q.1. When did the author decide to have a pet otter thana
pet dog? How did he get one? How did he carry him to England?
Ans. The author travelled to southern Iraq early in the new
year of 1956. By then he had decided that he would keep an otter
as pet than a dog. His place of residence Camusfearna had plenty
of water around it. So keeping that would be good for an
experiment. He mentioned his wish to his friend. His friend replied
that otters were in plenty in Iraq. They were tamed by the Arabs.
The author went to Basra to collect his mail. Five days later he got
his mail. He reached his room with this. There he found two Arabs
with an otter. They gave it (the otter) to him. The author carried the
otter to England by air. He first flew to Prais and then to London.
Q.2. How does the author describe the otter when he sees
him for the fírst time? How does he find the otter in the beginning?
Ans. The author looks at the otter. He says that the otter
resembled a medievally conceived dragon. He had symmetrical
pointed scales of mud armour on his body. Between the tips there
was a soft velvet fur. It looked like that of a chocolate brown mole.
In the beginning he found the otter neither hostile nor friendly. He
was simply aloof and indifferent. He chose to sleep on the floor.
But the second night he came on to the author's bed. He slept in
the crook of the author's knees. He took a keen interest in his
surroundings during the day.
Q. 3. How did Mij behave when the author took him to the
bathroom ? How did he start passing his time thereafter ?
Ans. The author made a body-belt for Mij. He took him to
the bathroom. Mij was mad with joy in the water. He made slosh
and splash like a hippo. He sat inside a water bowl and overturned
it. Two day later Mij again escaped to the bathroom. He was inside
the bathtub. Then he turned the tap. Water started pouring in
trickles. Then it was in full flow. Mij turned the tap the wrong way.
He showed his anger at it with chitter.
Mij spent most of his time in play. He spent hours turning a
rubber ball round the room He would shuffle the ball like a soccer
player. His favourite play was to lie on his back and juggle with
small objects between his paws.
Q. 4. What happened with Mij just before the flight to
Paris? What did Mij do in the aeroplane?
Ans. The author booked his flight with Mij to Paris. Before
that he put Mij in a box so that he could be carried safely. But in
the absence of the author he tore the inner lining of the box. The
author saw the blood had trickled from the air holes of the box. He
opened the box. He found that Mij lay inside tired and blood-
covered. There were ten minutes to his flight. So he hurried down
to the airport. The aeroplane was just to take off. Luckily, the
author had his seat to the extreme front. He covered the place near
his seat with newspapers. But Mij escaped from the box. A woman
cried 'A rat! A rat! The author saw his tail beneath the legs of an
Indian. The air hostess assured him that she would get Mij. Soon
Mij came to the author on his own.
Q. 5. What questions about the otter did the author face
when he took him for a walk in the London streets? To which
questions did he award the highest score?
Ans. The author took Mij for walks in the London streets.
Like children Mij had developed certain compulsive habits. He
would take the author to the primary school outer wall. He would
run on it.
The author found it strange that Londoners did not know
about otters. They displayed a variety of guesses when they saw
They are shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel. stoat, mink and
Mij. Otters belong to the small group of animals called Mustellines.
others. He gave the highest score to a labourer. He was digging a
hole. He stopped and glared at the author and asked, "Here Mister
what is that supposed to be?"
◆