Summary of the Chapter
Mr. Pumphrey was a rich and emotional lady who has a cute pet . It was a small dog. She named it Tricky. She loved him so much that she usually overfed him. Tricki had put on a lot of weight which made him slow and pathetic. When doctor James Herriot saw the fat dog like a bloated sausage, he was very shocked. He made a plan and told Mrs. Pumphrey that Tricki needed treatment for a disease which was possible only in hospital.
The doctor knew that Mrs. Pumphrey would not be able to keep the dog on a proper diet. When the greedy dog went to the hospital he had to remain hungry if he was slow to approach for food. He was given food at fixed intervals. Soon he shed off a lot of his body weight and became quite active.
When Tricki was at home, he was pampered by Mrs. Pumphrey. He had a luxurious life when he was served with cream cake chocolate and horlicks. But when he came to the doctor he became all right. When Mrs. Pumphrey saw her active dog, she thanked the doctor and felt that it was a triumph of surgery.
Quick Revision Notes
• Tricki was a small dog. It was excessively loved by his mistress, Mrs. Pumphery.
• Tricki was greedy dog who loved food, but do no exercise. As a result he became fat
• Mrs. Pumphery believed that he became lazy due to suffering from malnutrition.
• She was a wealthy woman. She loved her dog so much.
• She also gave him some little foods between the meals to build him up, malt, cod-liver oil and a bowl of Horlicks at night. She gave him lot to eat but no exercise.
• Once he became ill & she was worried. She made a call to James Herriot who was a vet.
• James already had given suggestions regarding Tricki’s balanced diet. But she never followed it.
• He was a vet. He was shocked to see Tricki hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner. He advised her to cut down on the sweet things.
• He expected call came within a few days & it happened. He was called by Mrs. Pumphery as Tricki refused to eat.
• He told her that Tricki need an immediate hospitalization for keeping under observation at his surgery for a fortnight.
• In the hospital, he gave him no food no medicine but plenty of water.
• Gradually, he mixed with other dogs & started playing with them.
• He had a lot of exercises & fun at the surgery.
• He was completely recovered & transformed into a hard muscled dog.
• James Herriot treated the dog without medicine or surgery.
• Mrs. Pumphrey was happy & filled with gratitude.
• She thanked Herriot & said it was a triumph of surgery.
A Triumph of Surgery
Page No 1:
Question 1:
Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki?
Answer:
Mrs Pumphrey was worried and distraught because Tricki would not eat anything. It even refused its favourite dishes. It had bouts of vomiting. It spent all its time lying on the rug and panting. It did not want to go for walks or do anything.
Question 2:
What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this?
Answer:
She called the doctor to help Tricki. Yes, her decision was wise. The doctor suggested that Tricki should be hospitalised. She swooned and wailed, but let the dog go with the doctor. Ultimately, the doctor was successful in curing Tricki.
Question 3:
Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?
Answer:
In this story, ‘I’ refers to the veterinary surgeon, Mr Herriot.
Page No 3:
Question 1:
Is the narrator as rich as Tricki’s mistress?
Answer:
Though not clearly stated, there are instances in the story which suggest that the narrator is not as rich as Tricki’s mistress, Mrs Pumphrey.
While the narrator is able to provide Tricki with a warm loose box as a bed, at Mrs Pumphrey’s house, Tricki has a day bed, a night bed, cushions, toys, rubber rings, a breakfast bowl, a lunch bowl, a supper bowl, a whole wardrobe of tweed coats and perhaps many more things.
When he arrives to take the dog with him, Mrs Pumphrey has her entire staff at her disposal to transfer all of Tricki’s belongings to the doctor’s car.
On hearing from the doctor about Tricki’s gradual recovery, Mrs Pumphrey sends along two dozen eggs at a time, along with bottles of wine and brandy—all in order to help in Tricki’s speedy recovery.
Finally, when she calls upon the narrator to take her recovered dog back home, she comes in a chauffer-driven “thirty feet of gleaming black metal” (an obvious reference to a limousine).
All these instances point to the fact that Mrs Pumphrey lived a luxurious life.
Question 2:
How does he treat the dog?
Answer:
The doctor gave Tricki no food, but plenty of water for two days. Slowly, the dog started showing interest in his surroundings and began mixing with the other dogs at the surgery. On the third day, the doctor saw Tricki licking the empty supper bowls of the other dogs. Next day, a separate bowl was kept for it and the doctor was pleased to note that Tricki had run to eat its food with enthusiasm. From that day onwards, its progress was rapid. It did not require medicinal treatment of any kind and recovered quite well at the end.
Question 3:
Why is he tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest?
Answer:
Mrs Pumphrey had started bringing around eggs to build Tricki’s strength. Later, even bottles of wine and brandy began to arrive. The narrator and his partners started enjoying the eggs, wine and brandy meant for Tricki. According to the narrator, they were days of deep content for them—starting with the extra egg in the morning, then the midday wine, and finally finishing the day with brandy. This was the reason why the narrator was tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest.
Question 4:
Why does Mrs Pumphrey think the dog’s recovery is “a triumph of surgery”?
Answer:
Mrs Pumphrey thought that the dog’s recovery was “a triumph of surgery” because in two weeks, Tricki had recovered completely and had been transformed into a hard-muscled animal. When Tricki saw her, it leaped into her lap and licked her face. She was so excited that tears started rolling out of her eyes. She declared Tricki’s recovery as a triumph of surgery to express her happiness and gratitude towards the doctor.
Page No 6:
Question 1:
What kind of a person do you think the narrator, a veterinary surgeon, is? Would you say he is tactful as well as full of common sense?
Answer:
The narrator is full of common sense. He was very concerned for Tricki when he saw its appearance. He immediately told Mrs Pumphrey to stop giving it food and sweets, and to take it out for daily walks. When she called him to describe Tricki’s deteriorating condition,
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