Page 1 - LN2-SUMMARY

MIJBIL THE OTTER- SUMMARY

The story begins with the author travelling to Basra along with his friend.
During their journey, the author expresses his desire to domesticate an otter
because after he had lost his pet dog, life had become lonely for him. His friend
suggested that he should get one from the Marshes along river Tigris in Iraq.
When they reached the destination, they found that only the friend’s mail had
arrived. After a few days, the friend left while the narrator was still waiting to
receive his mail. Upon receiving it, he went to his room only to find an otter
(brought to him in a sack), accompanied by two Arabs with a note. It was a gift
from his friend. He named the otter Mijbil or shortly, Mij. It took some time for
Mij to open up and get acquainted with his surroundings. He was covered in
mud to an extent that it took almost a month of cleaning and washing to reveal
his actual colour. Mij loved playing with water so much so that he even learned
to open the tap on his own. He believed that each drop of water should be
squished and splashed till the bowl had been emptied. Everything was going
smoothly in Basra, but now it was time to fly back to London. British Airlines
did not allow animals, so he had to book another flight that allowed Mij with a
condition that he had to be carried in a box. The narrator put him in a box an
hour before the flight so that Mij could get accustomed to it and then left for a
quick meal. When he returned, he found that the box was still and Mij had
created a mess by destroying the inner lining. As a result, blood was dripping
out of the holes. Scared as he was, he hurried. They were far away from the
airport and there were only ten minutes left for the flight to take off. He
cleaned it all, hurried in a cab and managed to reach just in time. He explained
the series of events to a very kind and generous air hostess who advised him to
keep the box on his lap. Gavin developed extreme admiration for the air
hostess for she was very kind to him. As soon as he opened the box, the otter
leaped out and disappeared thereby creating a chaos. Passengers were
frightened. A lady climbed up her chair and in an attempt to get a hold of Mij,
the author got himself covered in curry. The air hostess offered help and
brought him back to Gavin and finally, they reached London. Mij was fond of
playing with ping-pong balls and marbles. He even developed a game with the
author’s damaged suitcase. It could keep him engrossed for a long period of
time. Narrator took him for walks while taking the lead and played with him.
People of London, being unfamiliar with otters, had wild guesses about what
Mij was. Some thought it to be a baby seal, squirrel or even a hippo. The most
shocking reaction came when a labourer digging the hole asked the author,
“What is that supposed to be?”