A Triumph of Surgery |Question and Answer |
NCERT | Class 10 | English | Footprints without Feet
Read and Find out
Question 1. Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki?
Answer Mrs Pumphrey is worried about Tricki because he is unwell. His tongue was rolling out of his mouth. He has refused to eat favourite food and had bouts of vomiting. She feels that he is suffering from a serious health issue such as malnutrition. It spends all its time lying on the rug.
Question 2. What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this?
Answer Yes, her decision to call doctor was wise. According to her the only way to help him was to get him out of the house and be hospitalised for a night. She swooned and wailed, but let the dog go with doctor. Ultimately, the doctor was successful in curing in Tricki.
Question 3. Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
Answer ‘I’ refers to the narrator, Mr James Herriot, a veterinary doctor.
Question 4. Is the narrator as rich as Tricki’s mistress?
Answer No, the narrator is not as rich as Tricki’s mistress, Mrs Pumphery. the narrator seems fascinated by how lavishly Mrs Pumphrey spends on the well-being and maintenance of her pet.
The narrator provides Tricki with a warm loose box as a bed, Tricki had a day bed, night bed, cushions, toys, rubber ring, breakfast and lunch bowl, a wardrobe etc. When he arrives to take the dog with him, Mrs Pumphery has her entire staff at her disposal to transfer all of Tricki’s belonging to the doctor’s car.
On hearing from the doctor about Tricki’s recovery, she send two dozen eggs at a time, along with bottles of wine and brandy in order to help in Tricki’s speedy recovery. Finally when she calls upon the narrator to take her recovered dog back home, she came in a chauffeur driven. All these instances point out that Mrs Pumphrey lived a luxurious life.
Question 5. How does he treat the dog?
Answer Tricki was an overweight and lazy dog. The doctor gave Tricki no food and medicine, but plenty of water for two days. Slowly, the dog started showing interest in his surrounding and began mixing with the other dogs. The doctor saw that the Tricki was licking the empty bowls of other dogs. Next day , a separate bowl was kept for it. He was happy to see that Tricki had run to eat its food. From that day he gradually increases Tricki’s food and sets him free for physical activities which improves his health.
Question 6. Why is he tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest?
Answer The narrator and his partners started enjoying the eggs, wines and brandy meant for Tricky. He does not want to lose the luxurious inflow of fresh eggs, wine and brandy. Therefore he tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest
Question 7. Why does Mrs Pumphrey think the dog’s recovery is “a triumph of surgery”?
Answer Mrs Pumphrey think the dog’s recovery is “a triumph of surgery” because of his serious illness but in two weeks, Tricki had recovered completely and had been transformed into a strong dog from a weak dog who was lazy all the time with the tongue out of its mouth. When Tricki saw her it leaped into her lap and licked her face. She was so happy to see this that tears started rolling down from her eyes. To express her gratitude and happiness towards the doctor, She declared that the dog’s recovery is “a triumph of surgery”.
Think about it
Question 1. What kind of a person do you think the narrator, a veterinary surgeon, is? Would you say he is tactful as well as full of common sense?
Answer The narrator, a veterinary surgeon, is a capable and a tactful doctor. He knows how to deal with people. He immediately understood Tricki’s problem. He does not operate upon the dog unnecessarily and cures him by altering his diet and activities. It does not suffer from any sort of illness. The main cause of illness is overfeeding. His decision to inform Mrs Pumphrey to collect Tricki supports his sensibilities even though he was tempted to keep Tricki as a permanent guest.
Question 2. Do you think Tricki was happy to go home? What do you think will happen now?
Answer Yes, Tricki was happy to go back home as it really loved his mistress and the comfort of his lavish life. When Mrs Pumphrey came to take Tricki, it saw her and leaped into her laps and started licking her face. Tricki was brought into the surgery for treatment. But it got cured in two days without any medication. The proper diet and regular exercise helped a lot in its speedy recovery. I think that Mrs Pumphrey will now be careful about Tricki’s diet and health. She may also give him exercise daily as prescribed by the vet earlier.
Question 3. Do you think this is a real-life episode, or mere fiction? Or is it a mixture of both?
Answer The story seems to be a mixture of both i.e. real -life episode and a mere fiction. It is because of Mrs Pumphrey pampering that she overfeeds her dog which which results in its illness. Although she has good intention in her mind but excess of everything is bad. This episode can be treated as a fiction who do not take it seriously.
Talk about it
Question 1. This episode describes the silly behaviour of a rich woman who is foolishly indulgent, perhaps because she is lonely. Do you think such people are merely silly, or can their actions cause harm to others?
Answer This episode describes the silly behaviour of a rich woman who is foolish. This may be because of her loneliness. She was overparenting and overfeeding Tricki in the name of love. This worsened his condition to an extent that he had to be hospitalised. People like Mrs Pumphrey are not just merely silly but their actions can definitely have dangerous consequences for others.
Question 2. Do you think there are also parents like Mrs Pumphrey?
Answer Yes, there are some parents like Mrs Pumphrey who spoil their children by pampering them. There are parents who are over possessive about their kids. They spoil their kids by meeting each and every demand of the child. There are some examples of strict parents who put unnecessary pressure on their child for study and particular behavior pattern.
Question 3. What would you have done if you were:
(i) a member of the staff in Mrs Pumphrey’s household,
(ii) a neighbour? What would your life have been like, in general?
Answer (i) If I were a member of the staff in her household I would have not followed Mrs Pumphrey’s command to feed Tricki blindly. In fact, I would have fed him according to the vet’s advice. I would have also skipped sending the unnecessary stuff like toys, cushions etc to the hospital. My life would have been a very busy one, as I would have had to take care of the household chores and meet Tricki’s demands on time.
(ii) If I were Mrs Pumphrey’s neighbour, I would have advised her to consult a vet and follow his advice strictly keeping in mind Tricki’s deteriorating health. I would have also been supportive in their hard time when Tricki was hospitalised. My life as Mrs Pumphrey’s neighbour would have been full of surprises and gifts as Mrs Pumphrey was a loving lady.
Question 4. What would you have done if you were in the narrator’s place?
Answer If I were in the narrator’s place, I would have treated Tricki with a similar amount of compassion and love. The narrator does the best he could do for his profession. I would have just been a little more stern while advising Mrs Pumphrey to put Tricki on a strict diet knowing her way of showing love. I would have taken Tricki to some open place in countryside and made him run. I would have also not consumed Tricki’s share of eggs, wine and brandy sent by Mrs Pumphrey.
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