Class 10 NCERT Solutions English Chapter 1 - A Triumph Of Surgery

Mrs. Pumphrey is worried about Tricki because he has become listless and seems to have no energy. She thinks he must be suffering from malnutrition.

She helps him by giving him some little extras between meals to build him up, some malt and cod-liver oil and a bowl of Horlicks at night to make him sleep. She cannot resist giving him the occasional cream cake and chocolate.

No, she is not wise in doing this. Tricki is a very greedy dog and the overfeeding has resulted in him becoming hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner. His eyes, bloodshot and rheumy, stare straight ahead and his tongue lolled from his jaws.

'I' refers to Mr. Herriot. He is a veterinary surgeon.

No, the narrator is not as rich as Tricki's mistress.

He treats the dog with care and love. He realizes that the dog is not suffering from any major illness, but is just greedy and over fed. He therefore does not over indulge or fuss over him, but treats him like all the other household dogs at the surgery. He makes up a bed for him in a warm loose box next to the one where the other dogs sleep. For two days he keeps an eye on him, giving him no food but plenty of water. He then lets him out to play and eat with the other dogs.

He is tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest because thanks to Tricki, he is enjoying a wonderful life with fresh eggs for breakfast, - wine and brandy which were supplied by Mrs. Pumphrey for Tricki. She felt that he would need all these things as the vet had said he was convalescing. Eggs would build up his strength, wine would enrich his blood and the brandy would help his constitution.

Besides, without any medicinal treatment, Tricki’s progress was rapid and he was now an accepted member of the gang of household dogs.

Mrs. Pumphrey is shocked when she sees Tricki. She thinks that the dog's recovery is "a triumph of surgery" because earlier the dog had the appearance of a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner. It was hugely fat, dull, inactive and lifeless. His eyes, bloodshot and rheumy, stared straight ahead and his tongue lolled from his jaws. But after the treatment he is full of life, active and runs and leaps into the car on Mrs. Pumphrey’s lap. She is therefore extremely grateful to the vet.

The narrator, a veterinary surgeon, is a very sensible, practical and hardworking doctor who treats his animals with care and love. He is a good and honest man because although tempted to continue enjoying the luxuries bestowed on him by Mrs. Pumphrey, once the dog recovered he called her up and told her to take it home.

I would say that he is both tactful as well as full of common sense as he treats the dog with commonsense and is tactful in enjoying the pleasures of life during Tricki's stay. He is an excellent vet who can identify and understand the problems of pets immediately and is able to handle their over indulgent owners tactfully.

His common sense and concern on seeing Tricki’s appearance made him realise that the only way to cure the dog was to take him away from its mistress, control its diet of foods and sweets and give it plenty of exercise. In this way he cared for the dog and helped it recover.

But he also enjoyed the eggs, wine and brandy that Mrs. Pumphrey had brought for the dog and was even tempted to keep Tricki as a permanent guest in order to continue enjoying these luxuries.

Yes, Tricki was happy to go home.  When Tricki saw his mistress he took off from the vet’s arms in a tremendous leap and sailed into her lap. She gave a startled “Ooh!” And then had to defend herself as he swarmed over her, licking her face and barking.

I think the dog would face the same problem again as the mistress was too protective and caring towards him. She did not realise that her over indulgence and kindness was bad for the dog’s health and could even lead to the death of her pet dog that she loved very much.

After a while she would forget how sick the dog was and would go back to over feeding and spoiling the dog and finally she would have to call for the vet again.

I think it is a mixture of both.

The wealthy mistress ,with nothing in life to bother her except the health of her pet dog whom she over indulges in and spoils, is very true to life.

The very practical, dedicated and honest vet who immediately detects the problem and with years of experience is able to handle both the greedy pet and the slightly eccentric mistress are also real life situations.

However, the luxuries bestowed on the vet for the sake of the dog initially when the dog had to leave its home and later…especially the wine and brandy seem fictitious. And the sudden recovery of the dog who had reached such a bad state is also a bit fictitious.

Thus one can say that the story although extremely humorous is a mixture of both real life episodes and fiction.