NCERT complete solution class IX| Summary and Q&A| Difficult words
Summary: The Adventure of TOTO
This story is about the mischiefs of a young naughty monkey, Toto. It begins with writer’s grandfather purchasing Toto from a tonga-driver. Although he purchased him out of his passion for adding different types of animals to his personal zoo, but very soon this purchase turned out to be very costly for him.
As the writer’s grandmother disliked grandfather’s idea of summing up the various animals into the house, this purchase was kept secret. And thereafter, the mischievous adventures of Toto started. From breaking the hook to which he was tied, to tearing the wallpaper and the blazer in the writer’s room, Toto expressed his way of life from the very first day. Also, when he was kept in the servants room along with other animals, he disturbed their sleep throughout the night.
A few days later, when grandfather went to Saharanpur, he took him along. So in order to carry him during the journey, Toto was kept in a strong canvas bag. And although he couldn’t escape the bag, his attempts aroused the curiosity of fellow passengers over the jumping bag.
At the ticket counter of Saharanpur railway station, when the ticket collector was checking grandfather’s ticket, Toto glanced out of the bag with a big grin on his face. This along with the grandfather’s arrogant behaviour turned out to be an additional charge of rupees 3 for grandfather as the ticket collector declared Toto to be a dog.
Soon after they returned from the trip, grandmother accepted Toto and placed him in the stable along with Nana, the donkey. But Toto annoyed Nana so badly, that they never became friends. The writer mentions Toto’s special interest towards bathing in the warm water during the winter season.
And how one day he jumped into a boiling water kettle; and could have died if grandmother didn’t saved him on the right time. Also, on another day, when a feast was organised at the writer’s home, Toto took the pulao from the table and finished it all while sitting on a jackfruit tree; and threw the empty dish down with rage in order to turn down the grandmother’s scolding.
Toto didn’t stopped here, he went on doing mischiefs daily. So, at the end when the grandfather realised that Toto wasn’t suitable to their lifestyle, he sold him back to the very same tonga-driver, from whom he brought him.
Hindi Summary: The Adventure of Toto
यह कहानी एक युवा शरारती बंदर, टोटो की शरारतों के बारे में है। इसकी शुरुआत लेखक के दादा ने टोंगा-ड्राइवर से टोटो खरीदने से की। हालाँकि उन्होंने अपने व्यक्तिगत चिड़ियाघर में विभिन्न प्रकार के जानवरों को जोड़ने के लिए अपने जुनून से उसे खरीदा, लेकिन बहुत जल्द यह खरीद उनके लिए बहुत महंगी हो गई।
जैसा कि लेखक की दादी ने दादा दादी के घर में विभिन्न जानवरों को समेटने के विचार को नापसंद किया था, इस खरीद को गुप्त रखा गया था। और उसके बाद, टोटो के शरारती कारनामों की शुरुआत हुई। लेखक के कमरे में वॉलपेपर और ब्लेज़र को फाड़ने के लिए, जिस हुक से वह बंधा हुआ था, उसे तोड़ने से लेकर, टोटो ने पहले दिन से अपने जीवन के तरीके को व्यक्त किया।
इसके अलावा, जब उन्हें अन्य जानवरों के साथ नौकरों के कमरे में रखा गया, तो उन्होंने रात भर उनकी नींद में खलल डाला। कुछ दिनों बाद, जब दादाजी सहारनपुर गए, तो वे उसे अपने साथ ले गए। इसलिए यात्रा के दौरान उसे ले जाने के लिए, टोटो को एक मजबूत कैनवास बैग में रखा गया था। और यद्यपि वह बैग से बच नहीं सकता था, लेकिन उसके प्रयासों ने कूदने वाले बैग पर साथी यात्रियों की जिज्ञासा को जगा दिया।
सहारनपुर रेलवे स्टेशन के टिकट काउंटर पर, जब टिकट कलेक्टर दादा के टिकट की जांच कर रहा था, तोत्तो ने अपने चेहरे पर एक बड़ी मुस्कराहट के साथ बैग से बाहर झांका। इसके साथ ही दादाजी के अहंकारी व्यवहार के कारण दादाजी के लिए 3 रुपये का अतिरिक्त शुल्क लगता था क्योंकि टिकट कलेक्टर ने टोटो को कुत्ता घोषित कर दिया था।
यात्रा से लौटने के तुरंत बाद, दादी ने टोटो को स्वीकार किया और उसे नाना, गधे के साथ स्थिर स्थान पर रखा। लेकिन टोटो ने नाना को इतनी बुरी तरह से परेशान किया, कि वे कभी दोस्त नहीं बने। लेखक ने सर्दियों के मौसम में गर्म पानी में स्नान करने के लिए टोटो की विशेष रुचि का उल्लेख किया है।
और एक दिन वह कैसे उबलते पानी की केतली में कूद गया; और अगर दादी सही समय पर नहीं बचती तो उनकी मृत्यु हो सकती थी। इसके अलावा, एक और दिन, जब लेखक के घर पर एक दावत का आयोजन किया गया था, तोत्तो ने मेज से पुलाव लिया और एक कटहल के पेड़ पर बैठकर यह सब खत्म कर दिया; और दादी की डांट को बंद करने के लिए गुस्से में खाली पकवान नीचे फेंक दिया। टोटो को यहाँ रोका नहीं गया, वह रोजाना शरारतें करता रहा। इसलिए, जब दादा को एहसास हुआ कि टोटो अपनी जीवन शैली के लिए उपयुक्त नहीं है, तो उन्होंने उसे उसी टोंगा-चालक को वापस बेच दिया, जिससे वह उसे लाया था।
Difficult Words
Feeding-trough: a trough in which is placed food for animals
Tonga: a light horse-drawn two-wheeled vehicle used in India.
Anglo-lndian: a person of mixed British and Indian parentage
Pickled: kept in vinegar
Scooping up: lifting up
Delicacy: the quality of being easy to damage or break
Peg: a piece of wood, metal, etc. on a wall or door that you hang your coat on
Fussed: to be worried or excited about small things
Fastened: to fix two things together
Ornamental: something beautiful rather than useful
Naked: snot covered
Wrenched: broken
Socket: a hole that something fits into
Shreds: scrap
Sociably: in a sociable manner
Onlooker: a person who watches something without getting involved into it
Abode: the place where one lives
Turnstile: a metal gate that moves round in a circle when it is pushed, and allows one person at a time to enter a place
Poked: to push somebody/something with a finger, stick or other long, thin object
Annoyance: the felling of getting annoyed
Vain: an unsuccessful effort
Quadruped: any creature with four feet
Fare: the amount of money you pay to travel by bus, train, taxi, etc.
To get his own back: here, it is an idiom, which means to take revenge
Prodded: to push or press somebody/something with your finger or a pointed object
Triumphant: victorious
Stable: a building where horses are kept
Apparent: clear
Halter: a rope or strap for leading or tying an animal
Haunches: the back end of an animal
Jerked: to give a quick sharp pull
Hauled him: pulled him out
Spite: a strong will to annoy, upset, or hurt someone due to extreme anger on that person
Chattered: here, the sound made by the monkey
Answer the following Questions: The Adventure of Toto
1)How does Toto come to grandfather’s private zoo?
Answer: While on a trip on a tonga, the grandfather came to know about the monkey, Toto who was tied to a feeding trough on the tonga. Suddenly a will to add Toto in his private zoo erupted in his heart. So, he bought Toto from the tonga driver, and brought him home.
2)“Toto was a pretty monkey.” In what sense is Toto pretty?
Answer: Toto was a pretty monkey in the sense of looks. He had bright, shining eyes with pearls like tooth. In addition to that, grandfather adored his long tail too, so his tail too was an element of his prettiness.
3)Why does grandfather take Toto to Saharanpur and how? Why does the ticket collector insist on calling Toto a dog?
Answer: Since grandfather knew that Toto couldn’t be controlled by anyone else, he took him along with himself to Saharanpur. Toto was carried in a strong canvas bag.
The ticket collector insisted on calling Toto a dog because of two reasons— first being the arrogant behaviour of the grandfather, and second because it was a rule at that time that only dogs were allowed to travel by the train, so in order to let Toto travel by the train, he termed him a dog.
4)How does Toto take a bath? Where has he learnt to do this? How does Toto almost boil himself alive?
Answer: Toto starts the bathing process by inserting his hand into the water to check its temperature. Then he steps into the tub by stepping one foot at a time. Eventually, he sits into it with his face out, and starts rubbing the soap on his body. Finally he jumps out of the water when water becomes cold.
He had learnt this way of bathing by keenly noticing the writer.
One day when water was getting boiled in the kettle , on the stove, he assumed it to be a normal bathing water; and since the temperature of the water was quiet appropriate for his bathing, he jumped into it. But gradually when the water grew hotter, he thought of coming out, but due to the cold weather of the atmosphere, he could gather the courage to step outside. He continued to stay there until the grandmother spotted him, and pulled him out.
5) Why does the author say, “Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long”?
Answer: The author said that Toto was not the sort of pet that they could keep for long because he was extremely mischievous as he had destroyed many things right from his arrival into the house. From the wallpapers and clothes to the curtains and dishes, he destroyed numerous stuffs. From annoying the animals of grandfather’s zoo to the residents of the author’s house.
Mischief and malice grow on the same branch of the tree of evil.”
Aaron Hill