Chapter 6: Mijbil the Otter (Mijbil the Otter)

Sample list:

1. The food it eats and how often it must be fed.
2. The kind of home or shelter it needs and how much space it requires.
3. The vaccinations and medical care it needs, and the name of a nearby vet.
4. How much exercise, play and company it needs every day.
5. How to groom, bathe and train it, and how long it is likely to live.

Sample answer: An otter lives in marshes, so it needs plenty of water and a safe, cool place near it. Iraq has marshes and plains, with hot, dry summers and cool winters. London has a temperate climate (neither very hot nor very cold) with light rain or snow through the year, and it is a busy city that also has many parks. So the following points should be thought about:

1. A home with a bathtub, tank or pool and a garden or a park nearby, so that the otter can play in water every day.
2. A strong, comfortable travelling box with air holes for the long journey, and permission from airlines and the authorities to carry the animal.
3. A supply of fresh fish, since the otter is a water animal, and safe, unbreakable toys such as balls and marbles.
4. A dry, sheltered place for the cool, rainy months, because the otter comes from the warm marshes of Iraq.
5. A vet's check-up and vaccinations, and a patient owner who can give it time, attention and exercise.

Maxwell thought of keeping an otter instead of a dog. He felt that Camusfearna, which was "ringed by water a stone's throw from its door", was an "eminently suitable spot" for this experiment.

He goes to Basra, to the Consulate-General, to collect and answer his mail from Europe. His friend's mail had arrived but his had not. He cabled to England and tried to telephone but the line was out of order and the exchange was closed, so he had to wait. He cabled; three days later nothing had happened, and he then tried to telephone for three days (the line was out of order, the exchange was closed for a holiday, and there was another breakdown). His friend then left, and Maxwell's mail arrived five days later. So he waited in all about eleven days (3 + 3 + 5), because his mail had not reached the Consulate-General.

To collect his mail from Europe; his mail arrived only five days after his friend left (about eleven days after he first cabled), because it had been delayed.

When he went to his bedroom to read his mail, two Arabs were squatting on the floor with a squirming sack. They handed him a note from his friend: "Here is your otter...".

Yes, he likes the otter very much. The words that show this are "thraldom" and "otter fixation". He says that his life has since been under the control of otters, and this strong attachment is shared by most people who have owned one.

He gets it from two Arabs, sent by his friend. He likes it: "thraldom", "otter fixation".

Mijbil belonged to a race of otters previously unknown to science. Zoologists therefore christened it Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell's otter, after Maxwell, who had brought it.

The right answer is: aloof and indifferent. For the first twenty-four hours Mijbil was "neither hostile nor friendly", but "aloof and indifferent".

aloof and indifferent

In the bathroom Mijbil went wild with joy in the water. He plunged and rolled in it and shot up and down the bathtub underwater, making enough slosh and splash for a hippo.

Two days later Mijbil escaped from the bedroom and ran to the bathroom. He got up on the end of the bathtub and turned the chromium taps with his paws, first producing a trickle and then the full flow of water.

The British airline would not fly animals, so Maxwell booked a flight to Paris on another airline and from there to London. Mij was to be packed in a box not more than eighteen inches square and carried on the floor at Maxwell's feet.

Mij was left alone in the box for a short time and in his panic he tore the lining of the box to shreds. Blood had trickled from the air holes and the chinks around the lid.

Only ten minutes remained before the flight and the airport was five miles away, so there was no time to arrange anything else. He removed the torn lining and put the exhausted Mij back into the box, holding down the lid with his hand.

He must have felt sorry, guilty and worried because he calls Mij "miserable", but he had no choice.

The air hostess was kind and helpful. He told her about the events of the last half hour, he gave her a parcel of fish for Mij to keep in a cool place, and she suggested that Maxwell keep the pet on his knee. Maxwell felt so grateful that he says he "could have kissed her hand".

When Maxwell opened the box on the aircraft, Mij was "out of the box in a flash" and disappeared at high speed down the aircraft. There were squawks and shrieks, and a woman stood on her seat screaming "A rat! A rat!". Maxwell dived after Mij's tail and ended up with his face covered in curry. Finally, Mij came back by himself and bounded on to his knee, nuzzling his face and neck.

Mij invented a game with a ping-pong ball. Maxwell's damaged suitcase lay at a slope when closed. Mij put the ball on the high end so that it rolled down the length of the suitcase. He then dashed to the other end to ambush its arrival, crouched, sprang up, grabbed the ball and trotted back to the high end with it.

Compulsive habits are habits that a person or animal cannot help repeating, because they are impossible to control.

1. School children, on their way to and from school, must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block, touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post.
2. Mij, on his way home but never on his way out, would tug Maxwell to the low wall in front of the primary school opposite the flat, jump on to it and gallop the full length of its thirty yards.

Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, which includes the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.

Mustellines

The Londoners guessed that Mij was a baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard that had changed its spots and a brontosaur. A labourer digging a hole in the street asked, "Here, Mister -- what is that supposed to be?"

• Intelligent: he turns the taps on with his paws, follows Maxwell without a lead and comes when his name is called, and invents his own game with the ping-pong ball and the sloping suitcase.
• Friendly: on the second night he sleeps on Maxwell's bed in the crook of his knees, and on the aircraft he nuzzles Maxwell's face and neck.
• Fun-loving: he spends hours playing with a rubber ball, marbles and water, and runs along the school wall.
• Needs love: after the box incident he whimpers and catches at Maxwell's leg, and in the aircraft he comes to Maxwell's knee with a chitter of recognition and welcome.

• Otters live in large numbers in the marshes and can be tamed by the Arabs.
• A newly caught otter is covered in scales of mud, with soft velvet fur like a chocolate-brown mole beneath.
• Otters love water and must spread it about, overturning or sitting in bowls of water.
• They are playful and juggle small objects such as marbles on their wide, flat belly while lying on their backs.
• They belong to the group of animals called Mustellines, along with badgers, mongooses, weasels, stoats and minks, and many people cannot recognise them.

Mij was of a race of otters previously unknown to science. Maxwell brought him from the Tigris marshes to England. Zoologists later christened the species Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell's otter, after the man who had brought it.

Statements (i), (iii), (iv), (v) and (vii) are true. Statements (ii) and (vi) are not true of Maxwell's descriptions: he is amused and delighted, not irritated, and he does not think Mij ordinary.

1. Makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy: "He spent hours shuffling a rubber ball round the room like a four-footed soccer player using all four feet to dribble the ball", and Mij's walks have "compulsive habits... like the rituals of children".
2. Shows that Maxwell is often surprised by what Mij does: "By the time I got there he was up on the end of the bathtub and fumbling at the chromium taps with his paws. I watched, amazed".
3. Description of Mij's antics is comical: "making enough slosh and splash for a hippo"; also the woman screaming "A rat! A rat!" and the air hostess's "most charming smile" when Maxwell's face is covered in curry.
4. Shows that Maxwell observes Mij's antics very carefully: "he would lie on his back rolling two or more of them up and down his wide, flat belly without ever dropping one to the floor".
5. Shows that he thinks the otter is very unusual: "resembled most of all a very small, medievally-conceived, dragon" and "was, in fact, of a race previously unknown to science".

Actions in the past can take both would and used to. States or situations (be, have, own and so on) take only used to.

• Emperor Akbar used to be fond of musical evenings. (state; would is not possible)
• Every evening we would take long walks on the beach. / Every evening we used to take long walks on the beach. (action)
• Fifty years ago, very few people used to own cars. (state)
• Till the 1980s, Shanghai used to have very dirty streets. (state)
• My uncle would spend his holidays by the sea. / My uncle used to spend his holidays by the sea. (action)

Sentences of our own (sample): When I was small, my grandmother would tell us a story every night. We used to live in a small house near the river. My father used to have a scooter, but now he drives a car.

Sample phrases (many other combinations are possible, so answers may vary):

1. My teacher gave me a bit of advice. (given)
2. Can you give me a lump of clay, please?
3. The piece of information you gave was very useful.
4. Because of these factories, a cloud of smoke hangs over the city.
5. Two pieces of stone rubbed together can produce sparks of fire.
6. He gave me a bunch of flowers on my birthday.

This is a classroom activity. Guidance: choose a feeling such as joy, fear, irritation, curiosity or disappointment. Show it only through your face, hands and body, as Mij does when he is "chittering with irritation" or bounds on to a knee. Let classmates guess and correct them. For example, rubbing your hands and jumping can show excitement; covering your face and shrinking back can show fear.

Sample answer:

My dog Moti is a small, brown and white puppy who has been with us for two years. He is clever, loving and full of energy. He knows my footsteps and starts wagging his tail even before I open the door. When I come back from school he jumps on to my lap and licks my hand, as if to say that he has missed me all day.

Moti loves to play with an old rubber ball. He pushes it with his nose, chases it round the garden and brings it back to me. When he is scolded he hides under the bed with his ears down, and I know he feels sorry. When he is sleepy he puts his head on my foot, which shows that he feels safe with me. He is not just a pet, but a member of our family.

Discussion guidance (sample points):

1. Pets: many wild species, such as otters, are now protected under wildlife laws and cannot be kept as pets freely; people mostly keep dogs, cats, birds and fish.
2. Trade laws: the capture, sale, export and import of wild animals now needs permits, and trade in protected species is banned or strictly controlled.
3. Air travel: airlines now have clear rules on the size and kind of container, health certificates and vaccinations for pets, and animals usually travel in a special part of the aircraft instead of at a passenger's feet.

Discussion guidance (sample points): a wild animal needs space, the right food, company and its natural surroundings, and a house or flat cannot give these. It may become sad, ill or aggressive. It will miss its freedom, its family and its habitat, such as the marshes and open water for Mij. Seeing it on a leash may look cute to us, but from the animal's point of view it is a loss of freedom. Wild animals belong in the wild, and we should enjoy them in sanctuaries or in nature.

This is a research activity. Visit the website, read about otters, their habitat and the threats they face, and note down two or three facts and one conservation project to share with the class.

1. Sandburg thinks that the fog is like a cat.
2. The fog comes "on little cat feet", that is, softly and silently.
3. 'It' in the third line ("It sits looking") refers to the fog.
4. No, the poet does not say that the fog is like a cat. He does not use 'like' or 'as'; he simply says the fog comes on cat feet, which is a metaphor. The three things that show the fog is like a cat are: it comes "on little cat feet"; it "sits looking over harbour and city on silent haunches", as a cat sits with its knees bent; and it "then moves on", silently, as a cat does.

(i) Sample answers:

(ii) Sample poem:

The storm is a tiger. / It creeps in at dusk, / It growls in the clouds / And pounces on the fields. / It claws at the roofs / And shakes the tall trees, / Then, tired and silent, / It curls up to sleep.

No, the poem does not have a rhyme scheme. The line endings (comes, feet, looking, city, haunches, on) do not rhyme and the lines have no regular rhythm. It is therefore an example of free verse.

No rhyme scheme; it is free verse.