Page 6 - The Adventures of Toto- Module

ticket to cross the turnstile. At that time, Toto peeked out of the bag and
smiled at the ticket collector.

The poor man was taken aback; but, with great presence of mind and

much to Grandfather‟s annoyance, he said, “Sir, you have a dog with

you. You‟ll have to pay for it accordingly.”

Annoyance: to anger someone

The ticket collector was astonished to see a monkey in grandfather's
back. He recovered quickly and asked grandfather to pay the ticket
money for travelling with a dog.

In vain did Grandfather take Toto out of the bag; in vain did he try to

prove that a monkey did not qualify as a dog, or even as a quadruped.

Toto was classified a dog by the ticket-collector; and three rupees was

the sum handed over as his fare.

Vain: an unsuccessful attempt
Quadruped: an animal which has 4 feet
Fare: ticket price

Grandfather was unsuccessful in explaining to the ticket collector that
Toto was a monkey and not a dog. He insisted that Toto was not even
an animal with four feet. But the ticket collector was firm that Toto fell in
the category of dogs. Grandfather had to pay 3 rupees for Toto’s ticket.

Then Grandfather, just to get his own back, took from his pocket our pet

tortoise, and said, “What must I pay for this, since you charge for all

animals?”

To get his own back (idiom): to take revenge

Grandfather was disappointed and in order to take revenge from the
ticket collector, he took out his pet tortoise from his pocket. He asked if
he was supposed to buy a ticket for it too.

The ticket-collector looked closely at the tortoise, prodded it with his

forefinger, gave Grandfather a pleased and triumphant look, and said,

“No charge. It is not a dog.”

Prodded: pushed