5 Guaranteed Mijbil the Otter Board Exam Questions | Class X | CBSE

Key points- Highlights of the Lesson with NCERT Solution

• Mijbil is an otter from Basra that the narrator adopted to keep him company.

• Since he lived in Camusfearna, which is surrounded by water on all sides, there would be no problem keeping an otter.

• In 1956 the author was in southern Iraq. After learning about his wish to keep an otter, his friend gifted him one. The otter was from the marshes of the Tigris River, where otters were found in plenty.

• When the author took the otter out of the sack, his life entered a phase of otter fixation! The otter belonged to a race previously unknown to science, and was later named as Maxwell's otter.

• Mijbil is adaptable and an intelligent creature who is quick to understand things. He masters the art of turning the tap to fill the bathtub with water and play in it.

• Like all otters, Mijbil gets immense pleasure from water. He enjoys being in bathtub, jumping and splashing around in water, swimming up and down the length of the tub.

• Mijbil would not wait for the author to take him to the bathroom and run the taps for him. He would go there himself, experiment with the taps till the water ran and had a fun time in water.

• He is a skilled juggler who can dribble a ball on all fours. He can even roll marbles up and down his belly without dropping them. Mijbil spent most of his day playing.

• His favourite game was lying on his back and juggling marbles between his paws. Like only otters can, he juggled flawlessly, without dropping any marble on the floor.

• Taking Mijbil to England was a challenge. The airline insisted that Mijbil be packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square.

• To make Mijbil used to the box, the author put Mijbil in it an hour before they started and went to have his meal. But putting Mijbil inside the box had horrific consequences.

• Mijbil must have struggled inside the cramped box for blood had trickled from its airholes and Mijbil lay completely exhausted in it.

• On board the flight, when the author confided in the airhostess about Mijbil's condition, the airhostess kindly suggested that the author keep his pet on his lap.

• The author felt immensely grateful, but was totally unprepared for what happened next. On being let out of the box, Mijbil ran amok in the aircraft.

• There was pandemonium all around, till at last the airhostess requested the author to take his seat, saying that she would find Mijbil for him.

• The author and Mijbil lived in London for a month. When the author took Mijbil out for walks, he was surprised by the guesses the average Londoner made about the kind of animal Mijbil was. Some asked if he was a squirrel, baby seal or walrus; others thought he was a beaver, bear cub or leopard. The wildest guess perhaps was that Mijbil was a brontosaur.

Recommended Reading: Competency Based Questions

What is Personification?

In Personification an idea, thing or animal is given human qualities. In the story, Mijbil goes wild with joy, chitters with irritation, 'dribbles a ball, invents a game and develops 'compulsive habits as children do. Personification makes a description come alive. It makes it more vivid and life-like.

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