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Home » Class 10 » English » First Flight » Mijbil the Otter, Class 10, English, First Flight – Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings

Mijbil the Otter, Class 10, English, First Flight – Summary, Explanation, Word Meanings

Last Updated on February 16, 2023 By Mrs Shilpi Nagpal

Mijbil the Otter, Class 10, English, First Flight

Detailed explanation of “Mijbil the Otter”, including definitions of difficult words. In addition, the explanation is followed by a lesson summary. Also, NCERT Question and Answers are also provided to help students understand this Chapter and do well in their exams.

☛ NCERT Solutions – Mijbil the Otter

Contents

  • 1 Introduction 
  • 2 Summary
  • 3 Word Meanings

Introduction 

Gavin Maxwell lived in a cottage in Camusfearna, in the West Highlands in Scotland. He was fond of keeping pets. After the death of his pet dog Jennie, he was too sad to think of a dog again. The author was in Basra city of Iraq on a visit. There, one of his friends presented him an otter. He took his otter to England where he had a flat of his own. He had some interesting experiences during his air journey from Basra to Paris and London.

Summary

Early in 1956, Gavin Maxwell went to Southern Iraq. He decided to keep an otter as a pet instead of dog. His home in Scotland had much water around it. So, it would be suitable for an otter. The author’s friend suggested that he should get one from ‘The Tigris Marshes’ as there were plenty of otters there. He and his friend decided to go to Basra for an Otter.

His friend’s mail had arrived but the author’s mail was late. In the mean time, his friend left. At last, the author’s mail came. He went to his room in order to read it. There he found two Arabs .They had brought an otter for him.

The otter which looked more like a dragon, completely changed his life. It was covered with mud from head to tail. Under the mud , it had soft velvet skin. It took the author many days to completely remove the mud from his body. The author named it Mijbil. At first Mijbil was neither hostile nor friendly. He was simply aloof and indifferent. On the first night , it slept on the floor .The next night , he slipped on to the author’s bed and slept between his knees.

Soon Mijbil started taking an interest in his surroundings. When Mijbil was taken to the bathroom , he enjoyed playing with water in the bath tub. The author knew that the Otter are fond of water. Two days later, Mijbil escaped from the bedroom. He went to the bathroom. Mijbil soon started answering to his name. He spent most of his time playing with a rubber ball. He would often lie on his back and juggle with small objects between his paws.

Days passed peacefully at Basra. Then , it was time for the author to come back. The author feared how he would fly with Mijbil to England as the British Airlines would not allow animals. Finally, he booked a flight to Paris and from there to London. The airlines insisted that Mijbil should be packed in a box. The author put Mij into the box an hour before he started for the airport, so that Mij would become accustomed to it.

Mijbil was not used to that and tried to get out by tearing the inner lining. In the process, he had cut himself badly and was covered with blood.It was just ten minutes to the flights and the airport was five miles away. So , the author put him back in the box and hurried to the airport.

He took air hostess in his confidence and she advised him to keep Mijbil on his knee. But Soon Mijbil disappeared from his box and created a chaos in the plane as people thought it was a rat. The author saw the otter beneath the legs of an Indian man. When he tried to catch  the otter, his face got covered in curry. The air hostess assured him that she would find the otter. After some time , the otter came to him and sat in his lap.

Mijbil and the author stayed in London for a month. Mijbil used to play  for hours with toys like ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber, fruits, etc. The author place the ball on the sloping top of the suitcase. Then he would hurry and catch it before the ball fell off the suitcase. The author used to take otter out for exercise and walk. Mijbil would often take the author towards a primary school and gallop on its outer wall, much to the amusement of the pupils and distraction of the teacher. People wondered what kind of animal he was. Some thought it was a seal, others a squirrel or walrus, a hippo, a leopard etc. The author, however, awarded the highest marks to a labourer who stared at Mijbil and demanded to know exactly what it supposed to be.

Word Meanings

Word Meaning
Crossed my mind come into my mind
ringed by surrounded by
stone’s throw a very short distance
eminently extremely
tamed made calm or pet
cabled sent a telegram
breakdown fault
Squirmed twisted about
thralldom being under the control of
fixation a very strong attachment
Spacious wide and open
medievally-conceived imagined the middle-ages
dragon an imaginary animal
symmetrical well proportioned
pointed scales sharp thin pieces of hard skin
mud armour shield of mud
mole an animal
at length at last
christened named
hostile unfriendly
aloof and indifferent keeping a distance
crook bend
apathy absence of interest
plunging diving
slosh splash of water
so to speak as it were
static fixed
provoking causing anger on some other reaction
fumbling trying to do something in a clumsy way
chitter to make a twittering or chattering sound
lead (here) a string
continuous barrage of
conjectural question
questions full of guesses
upright standing straight
frontage front side
shuffling to move things into different positions
flick a light, quick movement
juggle to keep several objects in motion in the air
dreaded the prospect feared something that would happen
in the future
transporting taking
accustomed get used to
appalling spectacle a shocking scene
whipped off quickly took off
blood spattered covered in blood
whimpered cried softly
shreds small pieces
ricochetting something that changes direction
infuriated very angry
took her into my confidence told her everything
retained kept
in a flash very quickly
squawks and shrieks cries and high pitched sounds
portly fat
curry dish
craning my neck raising my neck
distressed chitter unhappy sound
bounded on to climbed up quickly
nuzzle rub gently with nose
terrapin shell shell of small turtle found in
North America
native one’s place of birth
engrossed busy
dash run
ambush to attack suddenly
crouching keeping low
trot off to leave
compulsive habits habits that are impossible to control
affront in an offensive manner
gallop to walk or run in a particular manner
growled to speak angrily
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