The Adventures of Toto

The Adventures of Toto

Think about it

Question 1. How does Toto come to grandfather’s private zoo?

Answer: When grandfather looks at Toto being tied to the feeding-trough, he thinks that it is not a suitable place for him. Therefore he decides to add the little monkey to his private zoo, and so he buys Toto from the tonga-driver for five rupees.

Question 2. “Toto was a pretty monkey.” In what sense is Toto pretty?

Answer: Toto is pretty in the sense that it has bright eyes with mischief beneath deep-set eyebrows. Whenever he smiles, it makes the elderly Anglo-Indian ladies frightened. His hands appear as if it has been dried up in the sun for a long time. His hands look dried up but his fingers are quick and wicked. His tail adds to his good looks and also serves him as a third hand. He uses his third hand to hang himself from the branch of the tree, and to lift up any delicacy that may be out of reach of his hands.

Question 3. Why does grandfather take Toto to Saharanpur and how? Why does the ticket collector insist on calling Toto a dog?

Answer: Grandfather takes Toto to Saharanpur because if he was left there, he would not allow his companions to sleep at night. So he decides to take him along to Saharanpur from where he collects his pension every month.

The ticket collector insists on calling Toto a dog because as per railway rule, he can charge for a monkey. Therefore he decides to categorise it as a dog and charge accordingly.

Question 4. How does Toto take a bath? Where has he learnt to do this? How does Toto almost boil himself alive?

Answer: In order to takea bath, first of all Toto checks the temperature of the water with his hand as he had seen the author doing. Then he gradually steps one foot in the water, then the other until the water reaches up to his neck. He then rubs himself all over by taking the soap in his hands or feet.

One day a large kitchen kettle is kept on the fire to boil for tea, Toto decides to remove the lid. Finding the water just warm enough for a bath. He gets in, with his head sticking out from the open bottle. Later when the water begins to boil, he raises himself a little; but finding it cold outside, sits down again. He continues hopping up and down for some time until grandmother arrives and pulls him, half boiled, out of the kettle. This way he almost boils himself alive.

Question 5. Why does the author say, “Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long”?

Answer: The author says that Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long because his brain which was associated with mischief was largely developed in him. He was always tearing things to pieces. Whenever one of author’s aunts came near him, he made every effort to get hold of her dress and tear a hole it. One day, when grandmother screamed at Toto finding him stuffed with pullao, he threw a plate at her. He then picked up the dish of pullao and made his exit through a window. In order to spite grandmother, who had screamed at him, he threw the dish down from the tree and chattered with delight when it broke into a hundred pieces.

The author’s family was not a well-to-do one. They could not afford the frequent loss of dishes, clothes, curtains and wallpaper, and so he sold Toto back to the tonga-driver for three rupees.