Ans. Maxwell was staying in a cottage in Camusfearna. There is a lot of water around the cottage. He thought to have an otter as a pet instead of a dog. An otter likes flowing water. So the author thought that Camusfearna would be a suitable spot for that experime.
Q2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Ans. He goes to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer his mail from Europe. His mail did not arrive in time. He cabled to England, and when, three days later, nothing had happened, he tried to telephone. The call had to be booked twenty-four hours advance. On the first day the line was out of order; on the second day, exchange was closed for a religious holiday. On the third day there was another breakdown. His mail arrived five days later. He had to wait for five days.
Q3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this?
Ans. Maxwell expressed his desire to have an otter as a pet to his friend. His friend kept it is mind and sent an otter through two Arabs at Basra. The author liked it. "It is, in effect, a thraldom to otters, an otter fixation, that I have since found to be shared by most other people………..”
Q4. Why was the otter named 'Maxwell's otter?
Ans. This race of animal was unknown to the scientists in the beginning. After its discovery, it was christened by zoologists Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell's otter.
Q5. What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that?
Ans. When Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom he went wild with joy in the water, plunging and rolling in it, shooting up and down the length of the bathtub underwater, and making enough slosh and splash for a hippo. Two days after, Mijbil escaped from the bedroom and entered the bathroom. He struggled with the chromium tap till it had a full flow.
Q6. How was Mij to be transported to England?
Ans. The British airline to London did not permit to fly animals. The author had to book a flight to Paris on another airline. The airline insisted that Mij should be packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square. The author acted accordingly and transported to England.
Q7. What did Mij do to the box?
Ans. The author put Mij into the box an hour before he started to airport so that Mij become accustomed to it and left for a meal. When he came back he found complete silence in the box. He saw blood stains around the airholes. Mij had torn the lining of the shreds. He got himself hurt.
Q8. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?
Ans. Maxwell put the otter back in the box because he was already late for the airport. It was just ten minutes time for the flight, and the airport was five miles distant. He felt bad in doing so. He did not want to keep the miserable otter in the box but there option due to time constraint.
9. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was "the very queen of her kind”?
Ans. The author told the airhostess about the incident that took place half an hour before at home and took her into his confidence. The airhostess was a considerate lady. She cooperated the author and suggested him to keep his pet on his knee. This made the author call her “the very queen of her kind”.
10. What happened when the box was opened?
Ans. The airhostess suggested the author that he could keep the per on his knee. The author opened the box. Mij was out of the box in a flash. He disappeared at high speed down the aircraft. There was chaos all around in the plane. 11. What game had Mij invented?
Ans. Mij had invented a game of his own with a ping-pong ball. During the journey, the suitcase of the author was damaged. It got a slope on one end. Mij discovered that if he placed the ball on the high end it would run down the length of the suitcase.
12. What are 'compulsive habits? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of (i) school children (ii) Mij?
Ans. Compulsive habits are those acts which result from an irresistible urge. As per this story, children must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block; must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post. Mijbil while on its way to home would jump over the boundary wall railing and run at full speed throughout its length.
13 What groups of animals do otters belong to?
Ans. Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Musterllines'. The zoologists call it Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli.
14. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Ans. Otters are not found in England. So Londoners made the wildest possible guesses about Mij. For some it was a baby seal, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver and for others a bear cub. a leopard or a brontosaur etc. For them Mij was anything but an otter.
15. Why do you think that the Otter was not friendly at first with the narrator? Can you relate this to the human nature as well?
Ans. At first, the otter was not very friendly with the narrator as he had seen him for the first time. He was brought to a new place and new surroundings. He neither knew the narrator nor the place which made him stay away from the narrator. But, as soon as he started becoming comfortable with the surroundings, he became friendly and came close to the narrator. This is very similar to the human nature. Even, the human beings first take time to understand others and then only become friendly with them. Unless they are comfortable in being with somebody, they try to stay away from that person.
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