Mijbil the Otter-Qs-Ans-Gavin Maxwell

 Lesson 8. Mijbil the Otter

Q1. Describe Gavin Maxwell’s experience with the otter in the aircraft.

Ans. Gavin Maxwell wanted to take the otter, Mijbil, to London. But the aircraft authorities suggested to Maxwell to put Mijbil into a box. It should not be more than 18 inches. The air hostess advised the author to keep the box on his knees. But the otter was out of the box in a flash. He disappeared somewhere under the seats. There was a hue and cry in the aircraft. A woman cried, “A rat, a rat!” The writer tried to catch it. But his face was covered with curry. He had to return to his seat. But still, his eyes were searching for the otter. After some time, Mijbil sat on the author’s knees. It began to nuzzle his face and neck. Thus it was taken to London.

 Q2. When did the author decide to have a pet otter instead of a pet dog? How did he get one? How did he carry him to England?

Ans. The author’s pet dog had died It was then the author decided to keep an otter as a pet. His friend told him to go to Iraq to get an otter. . By chance in 1956, he had to go to the Southern part of Iraq. Then the author went to Basra to get his mail. After getting his mail on the fifth day, the author went into his room to read the mail. There he saw two Arabs sitting on the floor. They had an otter in a sack. Actually, those two Arabs were sent by the author’s friend. In this way he got an otter. The author booked a seat on a flight going to Paris. Luckily he got a seat in the front row. Mijbil was packed into a box. From Paris, he reached London along with the otter.

Short Answer-type Qs.

Q1. What experiment did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?

Ans. The experiment was about keeping an otter as a pet.  He thought that Camusfearna was surrounded by water. Otters love to play in the water. So the writer thought to bring an otter and keep it as a pet in place of a dog.

Q2. Why did Maxwell go to Basra? How long did he wait there and why?

Ans. Maxwell went to Basra to get his mail and answer it from there. He had to wait for five days in Basra to get his mail. It was because of a religious holiday and some problems with the telephone lines.

Q3.What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after it?

Ans. Mijbil was very happy in the bathroom. It started playing in the bathtub. It was jumping and rolling in the water. It spent half an hour enjoying in the water of the bathtub. After two days, it escaped from the bedroom and entered the bathroom to play in the water.

Q4. How was Mijbil to be transported to England?

Ans. British Airlines did not allow Maxwell to take Mijbil in the flight. Then he booked his seat on another flight going to Paris. From there he reached London. But he had to pack Mij into a box of eighteen inches.

Q5. What game had Mij invented?

Ans. Mijbil invented a game on the damaged suitcase. Its one side was up making a slope. Mijbil put the ball at the higher end of the slope. It rolled down to the full length of the suitcase. It repeated it and discovered that it would be its pet game.

 Q6.What happened when the box was opened? Or What did the Otter (Mij) do to the box?

Ans. When the author opened the box, there was a shocking scene. Mijbil was covered with blood. He had torn the lining of the box to shreds. In that process, he got injured.

Q7. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter? Or why is Mij’s species known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?

Ans. Since Maxwell made this species of Mijbil, the otter, known to the whole world, it was named ‘Maxwell’s otter’.

Q8.What group of animals do otters belong to?

Ans. Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines. Other animals of this species are: badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink, and others

Q10. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?

Ans. They made several guesses about Mizbil. Some called it a baby seal or a squirrel. Others called it a walrus, a hippo, a bear cub, a beaver, or even a leopard that had changed its spots. All that made the writer amused.

Q11. What did the author give to the air hostess?

Ans. The author gave a packet of fish to the air hostess. It was the food for Mijbil to eat during the flight.

Q12. What were Mijbil’s favourite toys for his pastime? How did he play with them?

Ans. Marbles were his favourite toys for his pastime. He would lie flat. Then he took two or more marbles and moved them up and down on his flat belly with his paws.

Q13. What toys did Maxwell purchase from Mijbil’s native place?

Ans. Ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber fruit, and a terrapin shell were Mijbil’s toys that Maxwell purchased from his native marshes.

Q14. What are compulsive habits? What are Mijbil’s compulsive habits according to the author?

Ans. The habits which force one to do some activities, again and again, are called ‘compulsive habits. Like children, Mijbil also did such activities. It would jump onto the boundary wall of a primary school and then run on it. It was in front of the writer’s flat in London.

 

Father to a Son-Qs-Ans- Elizabeth Jennings

 Father to a Son- Elizabeth Jennings

(A)  Short Answer-type Questions (About 30-40 words each)

Q1.  Explain the lines: “Yet have I killed 
The seed I spent or sown it where
The land is his and none of mine?”

Ans. the father means to say that he has sowed the seeds of his ideas into his son’s mind, but his ideas did not cause any fruitful effect there. The son did not mould his own personality in the frame which his father had desired.

Q2. Explain the lines:“This child is built to my design
Yet what he loves I cannot share. 
Silence surrounds us…..”

Ans. The meaning in the above lines is very much clear. The father says that the son has full physical resemblance with him.

 Q4. What is the reason for this kind of relationship between the son and the father in the poem?

Ans. It is the communication gap that is responsible for such a bad type of relationship between the father and the son. Sometimes fathers behave like a boss. So, sons do not feel comfortable in sharing their ‘joys and sorrows’ with them. They feel more comfortable with their mothers.

Q5. What can be estimated about the son’s state of mind from the lines, “He speaks: I cannot understand
Myself, why anger grows from grief. 
We each put out an empty hand, 
Longing for something to forgive.”

Ans. From the above lines, one thing is clear that the son is confused about ‘something’. A constant struggle may be going on in his mind. It may be about making a type of compromise that is made when one fails or feels helpless to proceed further with the present odd situation.

It is a kind of compromise which takes place when one is defeated. The son may have struggled hard to make his career, but may have failed in this competitive world. Now he might be thinking to come back his father’s house.

Q 6. Explain the lines:  “We each put out an empty hand, /Longing for something to forgive.”

Ans. In the above lines, ‘we’ stands for ‘the father’ and ‘the son’. The father says that each of them extend  his empty hand forward to shake and long to forgive each other. The question arises here as to why the adjective ‘empty’ used in front of the noun ‘hand’.

 When a person shakes hands with another person, the hands are always empty. But if the meaning is taken at the deeper level, the hand is never empty. It has warmth of love.  But in this case, the emotion of love is missing at present. It has to take place in the new relationship that will emerge out of ‘sorrow’.

(B)   Some Important Stanzas for Comprehension

 Stanza 1

“I do not understand this child
 Though we have lived together now
 In the same house for years.”

Q1. Who is “I” in the above stanza?

Ans. It is the father in the above stanza.

Q2. Why does the “I” say that he does not understand that child?

Ans. The father does not understand what the son wants.

Q3. Who is the child mentioned in the stanza?

Ans. The child is the son of the father, the narrator in this poem.

Q4. Name the poem and its poet.

Ans. The title of the poem is Father to Son  and the poet is Elizabeth Jennings 

Stanza 2

“Yet have I killed 
The seed I spent or sown it where
The land is his and none of mine? “

 “We speak like strangers, there's no sign
Of understanding in the air. ..”

“This child is built to my design
Yet what he loves I cannot share. 
Silence surrounds us…..”

Q1. For What does the ‘seed’ stand ?

Ans. It stands for the seed of ideas.

Q2. Why does the father say that he has spent the seed he had sown?

Ans. He says so because his son’s mind-set is different from his own. He expected the same ideas as he has in his mind.

Q3. Why do they behave like strangers?

Ans. No ideas were common between them. That’s why they speak like ‘strangers’.

Q4. What is the reason for this kind of relationship between the son and the father in the poem?

Ans. It is communciation gap that is responsible for such a bad type of relationship between the father and the son. Sometimes fathers behave like a boss. So, sons do not feel comfortable in sharing their ‘joys and sorrows’ with them. They feel more comfortable with their mothers.

 Q5. What is meant by the word ‘design’ in the poem?

Ans. Here ‘design’ means physical structure and resemblance.

Q6. Explain the expression: ‘what he loves I cannot share’.

Ans. When the father says that ‘what he loves I cannot share’, he means to say that his son has different likes, dislikes, tastes and so many other ideas.

Stanza 3

“I would have
Him prodigal, returning to
His father's house, the home he knew, 
Rather than see him make and move
His world….”

Q1. Who is a prodigal son?

Ans. ‘A prodigal  son’ is the one who has left his family to do something that his family did not allow him to do, and after sometime, he has returned home feeling sorry for his mistake.

Q2. What does the father want?

Ans. The father wants that the son should return to his house unconditionally.

Q3. What do the words ‘his father's house’ indicate?

Ans. The use of the words ‘his father's house’ show that the father does not want his son not to make his claim on the house. It shows father’s possessive nature also. He wantes his son to possess him like a thing.

Q4. Explain the line:  “Rather than see him make and move/His world.”

Ans. The father would like that his son should come back and he would not like to see him making his own house, making his own world where he can move of his own.

The above line “Rather than see him make and move/His world.” shows that the father does not like that his son should become independent and develop his own world of his own and where he could move freely. If he returns home, he would forgive him. Thus, after forgiving him, he would shape (develop) a new relationship out of the sad one that was there already between them.

Stanza 4

“I would forgive him too, 
Shaping from sorrow a new love. 
Father and son, we both must live
On the same globe and the same land.”

Q1. What does the father want to shape now?

Ans The father wants to shape a new relationship out of the sad one.

Q2. What thought has forced the father to develop a new relationship out of the old one?
Ans. The father reaches a conclusion that both the sone and the father must live together in the same house.

Q3. What meaning does the line ‘On the same globe and the same land’may convey?

Ans. The same globe stands for the earth and the same land means the same nation/country.

Stanza 5

“He speaks: I cannot understand
Myself, why anger grows from grief. 
We each put out an empty hand, 
Longing for something to forgive.”

Q1. Who is ‘He’ in the above lines?

Ans. “he” is the son in the above lines.

Q2. Who cannot understand and what?

Ans. The son cannot understand why anger grows in him from grief.

Q3.  What do each of them long?

Ans. Each of them long for something to forgive each other.

Q4. What could be something in the above lines?

Ans. It could be the past behavior that they showed towards each other.

 

 

 

 

Childhood by Markus Natten

 Childhood by Markus Natten

Short Answer-type Questions (About 30-40 words each)

Q1. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the first stanza:  “When did his childhood go?”

Ans. The answered himself by asking if it was the day when he completed the eleventh year of his age. It was the time when he had started realising the difference between ‘Hell and Heaven’. He came to know that ‘Hell and Heaven’ did not exist (present) anywhere. Those were only the states of mind.

Q2. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the second stanza: “When did my childhood go?”

Ans. The poet answered himself by asking if it was the time when he realised that adults were not
what they all seemed to be. They appeared that they were not from the inside. They talked and preached about love. But they did not follow what they preached. They were hypocrites.

Q3. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the third stanza:  “When did his childhood go?”

Ans. He answered himself by asking if it was the time when he found his mind was really his and he started using his own thoughts to decide the problems. At that time he had stopped depending on others for solving his own problems.

Q4. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the fourth stanza:  “Where did my childhood go?”

Ans. The poet answers himself by saying that it went to some forgotten place. The line “That’s hidden in an infant’s face” shows that the poet has searched for his childhood everywhere. At last, he found its reflection on an infant’s face. It means that the poet has been able to reach the realization that childhood lives in the innocence reflected in the infant’s face.

Q5. What truth does the poet seem to realize at the end of the poem?

Ans. The poet seems to realize the truth that the state of innocence must give way to the state of experience. The knowledge of worldly wisdom is desirable for the human mind. Otherwise, it would be difficult for human beings to live peacefully.

Q6. What does the poet say about the adults?

Ans. He tells us about the hypocrisy shown by the adults. He lost faith in the adults because they did not act on what they preached. They always preached to him to love others, while they themselves did not love others. They showed to others as if they were very close and loving to them. But in reality, they criticised and disliked them at their back. They showed them only mouth honour.

Q7. When did the poet’s mind start to rationalize the thoughts and how?

Ans. In the third stanza, the poet talks about his adulthood although he does not mention it. He has gained the wisdom of life. His faculty of the mind to rationalize the things has developed. Now he can differentiate between good and evil; right and wrong. He can make his own decisions and form opinions about others. He would no more depend on others’ opinions which are usually full of prejudice and jealousy.

Q8. What does the poet conclude at the end of the poem?

Ans. Thus the poem ends with the poet’s conclusion that his childhood has been transferred to another child. If a person wants to see his own childhood, he or she can watch a child’s face and feel glad to see the lost childhood reflected in it.

(B) Some Important Stanzas for Comprehension

Stanza 1

When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realized that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!

Q1. Name the poem and its poet.

Ans. The poem is “Childhood’ and its poet is Markus Natten

Q2.When did the poet’s childhood come to an end according to the poet in the above stanza?

Ans. It came to an end when the poet completed the eleventh year of his age.

Q3. What knowledge did the poet gain about ‘Hell and Heaven’?

Ans. He gained the knowledge that Hell and Heaven cannot be found in geography because these are the states of the human mind.

Q4. Give the meaning of ‘ceased’.

Ans. Stopped

Stanza 2

When did my childhood go?
Was it the time I realised that adults were not
all they seemed to be,
They talked of love and preached of love,
But did not act so lovingly,
Was that the day!

Q1. What did the adults talk about and preach to the poet?

Ans. The adults talked of love and preached of love.

Q2. What knowledge did the poet gain about the adults?

Ans. He came to know that the adults did not do what they talked about and preached.

Q3. What did the behavior of the adults show to the poet?

Ans. It showed their hypocrisy.

Stanza 3

When did my childhood go?
Was it when I found my mind was really mine,
To use whichever way I choose,
Producing thoughts that were not those of other people,
But my own, and my alone,
Was that the day!

Q1. What does the poet mean by “my mind was really mine”?

Ans. It means that the poet has become able to depend on his own thoughts.

Q2. What has the poet stopped doing now?

Ans. The poet has stopped depending on others for taking opinions.

Q3. How does the poet use his own thoughts now?

Ans. He uses his thoughts in his own way now. He solves his problems himself now.

Stanza 4

Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place,
That’s hidden in an infant’s face,
That’s all I know.
Q1. Where did the poet’s childhood go according to the poet in the above stanza?

Ans. It went to some forgotten place.

Q2. Where did the poet find his childhood?

Ans. He found it in the infant’s face.

Q3. How does the poet feel after losing his childhood?

Ans. He feels sad after losing his childhood.

Q4. Which poetic device has been used in this poem?

Ans. It is ‘refrain’.