Page 1 - LN4-QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Mijbil the Otter

Questions and Answers

Q1. What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable
for?
Ans. Maxwell thought that as Camusfearna was close to water, it was suitable
for an experiment to domesticate an otter.

Q2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Ans. He had gone to Basra to the Consulate-General to receive and answer his
mail from Europe. Unfortunately, only his friend’s mail had
arrived. Therefore, he tried connecting to England via telegraph and telephone
but could not associate due to waiting period, holidays and technical glitches
for another couple of days. His mail arrived after waiting for 5 days.

Q3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell
you this.
Ans. When the author came to his room to read the mail, he found two Arabs
with a sack that was twisting again and again. One of them handed the author
a note from his friend that said the otter was a gift from him.
The author liked the otter very much. This is evident from the fact that he later
uses words like “otter fixation” which means a strong connection between the
otter and the owner. This feeling is shared by other otter owners as well.

Q4. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?
Ans. Otters are of a race previously unknown to science, and were at length
named by zoologists as Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli, or Maxwell’s otter.

Q5. Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was
• Aloof and indifferent
• friendly
• hostile
Ans In the beginning, the otter was aloof and indifferent.

Q6. 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, for half an hour 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 later, it escaped into the bathroom and Maxwell saw it
opening the tap, all by itself.

1