8. Mijbil The Otter

​Milbil the Otter

by Gavin Maxwell

Introduction

Mijbil the Otter, the story explained the beautiful bond of the author with his pet otter, Mijbil and the series of incidents that followed during their onward journey to London

Summary

Gavin Maxwell depicts the humorous incidents of keeping an otter as his pet. In the beginning he delves deep into finding out an otter as a pet. His hard work paid at last when he was able to get an otter. A different and new phase started for the narrator with the entry of the otter. The way it came out of the sack and shook himself the floor of the room became dirty. He christened him Mijbil. The otter became quite friendly with the narrator, enjoying splashing and sloshing water in the bathtub. He amused himself with water by opening the tap and sometimes he lay on his back and juggled with small objects between his paws.

The narrator had to take Mij to England where he was to be packed in a very small box which was bitten to shreds by Mij. He took the air hostess into his confidence and shared the secret of the otter with her. She advised him to keep it on his knees from where the otter disappeared in the plane. It created a lot of chaos. Somehow the otter came under his control and the journey ended. In London the narrator had to face many problems as people were asking one or the other questions about this unusual pet.

Explanation

EARLY in the New Year of 1956 I travelled to Southern Iraq. By then it had crossed my mind that I should like to keep an otter instead of a dog, and that Camusfearna, ringed by water a stone’s throw from its door, would be an eminently suitable spot for this experiment.

Word meanings

1. Crossed my mind-  got an idea  or (a thought) came into my mind
2. A stone’s throw- a very short distance
    
3. Otter- a semi aquatic fish-eating mammal of the weasel family, with an elongated body, dense fur, and webbed feet
4. Eminently- highly; very

It was in the year 1956, when the author went to  Southern Iraq, there  he thought  that he should keep an otter as a pet instead of a dog as there the place ‘Camusfearna’ being surrounded by and near the  waters , is quite perfect for that purpose.  

When I casually mentioned this to a friend, he as casually replied that I had better get one in the Tigris marshes, for there they were as common as mosquitoes, and were often tamed by the Arabs. We were going to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer our mail from Europe. At the Consulate-General we found that my friend’s mail had arrived but that mine had not.

I cabled to England, and when, three days later, nothing had happened, I tried to telephone. The call had to be booked twenty-four hours in advance. On the first day the line was out of order; on the second the exchange was closed for a religious holiday. On the third day there was another breakdown. My friend left, and I arranged to meet him in a week’s time. Five days later, my mail arrived.

Word meanings

1. As common as mosquitoes- abundantly available  
2. Tamed- domesticate (an animal)
3. Cabled- sent a message by telegraph (an old method of communication)
4. Breakdown- a mechanical failure

The author during his casual  conversation, was suggested by his friend that he should get an otter in the Tigris marshes since they are available there on large scale and mostly tamed by the Arabs. Meanwhile they were going to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer their mail from Europe. However, by reaching there, the author found that only his friend’s mail had arrived but not his.

He tried to contact through telegraph but didn’t get any response. So, he managed to contact through phone for which booking before 24 hours was required. This time also he failed to connect as on first day, the line was of reach, on second day, exchange was closed due to religious holiday and on third day, there was another breakdown.

After deciding that they would meet at the end of a week , Author’s friend was left . Finally on 5^th day , Author’s mail arrived.

Word meanings

I carried it to my bedroom to read, and there, squatting on the floor, were two Arabs; beside them lay a sack that squirmed from time to time. They handed me a note from my friend: “Here is your otter…”

Word meanings

Squatting- crouch or sit with one’s knees bent and one’s heels close to or touching one’s buttocks or the back of one’s thighs
Squirmed- twisted about

After receiving the mail, the author went to his bedroom to read it, where he found two Arabs with a sack which was twisting again and again. He received a note from the Arabs through which he got to know that in the sack, there was an otter gifted to him by his friend.

With the opening of that sack began a phase of my life that has not yet ended, and may, for all I know, not end before I do. It is, in effect, a thraldom to otters, an otter fixation, that I have since found to be shared by most other people, who have ever owned one.

Word meanings

1. Thraldom- (old fashioned) being under the control of
2. Fixation- a very strong attachment or feeling

The author says that  the moment when he received an otter as a pet , was actually the beginning of a new  phase of experience in  is life  and would  last till his life. A deep bond of love was developed between them that he was always keen to share his feelings towards the otter to those who never tamed an otter.

The creature that emerged from this sack on to the spacious tiled floor of the Consulate bedroom resembled most of all a very small, medievally-conceived, dragon. From the head to the tip of the tail he was coated with symmetrical pointed scales of mud armour, between whose tips was visible a soft velvet fur like that of a chocolate-brown mole. He shook himself, and I half expected a cloud of dust, but in fact it was not for another month that I managed to remove the last of the mud and see the otter, as it were, in his true colours.

Word meanings
Medievally conceived- an imagination of the middle ages

On the floor of his big bedroom, the otter was looking like a small dragon with a symmetrical coating of mud armour from his tip to tail. His soft velvet fur of chocolate brown could be seen between the points of mud. It took a month to remove the mud completely after which the otter’s real color and texture was visible properly.

Mijbil, as I called the otter, was, in fact, of a race previously unknown to science, and was at length christened by zoologists Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell’s otter. For the first twentyfour hours Mijbil was neither hostile nor friendly; he was simply aloof and indifferent, choosing to sleep on the floor as far from my bed as possible. The second night Mijbil came on to my bed in the small hours and remained asleep in the crook of my knees until the servant brought tea in the morning, and during the day he began to lose his apathy and take a keen, much too keen, interest in his surroundings.

Word meanings

1. Christened- named
2. Hostile- unfriendly
3. Aloof and indifferent- keeping a distance
4. Apathy- absence of interest
5. Crook of my knees- soft inside part where you bend your knees

The author started calling him ‘ Mijbil ‘ as his specie was recently searched  and named by zoologists Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell’s otter.

Mijbil remained alone  , indifferent and  unfriendly for last 24 hours , however on day 2 it came  on to the author’s bed and slept under his soft knees till the tea time in the morning

Since the third day it started exploring his surroundings with great zeal

I made a body-belt for him and took him on a lead to the bathroom, where 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. This, I was to learn, is a characteristic of otters; every drop of water must be, so to speak, extended and spread about the place; a bowl must at once be overturned, or, if it will not be overturned, be sat in and sploshed in until it overflows. Water must be kept on the move and made to do things; when static it is wasted and provoking.

Word meanings

So as to speak- as it were (one could say this)
Provoking- causing anger or some other reaction
Plunging- falling; sinking
Sploshed- splashed
Static- motionless

The author made a body belt for otter and took him in the bathroom where it got overjoyed and started wildly playing in water by falling, sinking and making splash  like a hippopotamus. That day the author realized that otters like enjoying and playing with water.

The otter made sure that each drop of water

Must be overturned , splashed and kept on move other wise is would be static and make him angry

Two days later, Mijbil escaped from my bedroom as I entered it, and I turned to see his tail disappearing round the bend of the corridor that led to the bathroom. By the time I got there he was up on the end of the bathtub and fumbling at the chromium taps with his paws. I watched, amazed; in less than a minute he had turned the tap far enough to produce a trickle of water, and after a moment or two achieved the full flow. (He had been lucky to turn the tap the right way; on later occasions he would sometimes screw it up still tighter, chittering with irritation and disappointment at the tap’s failure to cooperate.)

Word meanings

Fumbling- trying to do something in a clumsy manner
Trickle- flow in a small stream
Chittering- make a twittering or chattering sound
chromium- a hard white metal used to make taps

It took two days to get familiar with the house for Mijbil to move accordingly. Soon it started exploring the bathroom itself and trying to open the tap itself and gradually became expert after some failure.

One day the author got amazed when he saw that Mijbil itself moved towards the bathroom and managed to get a trickle and afterwards a flow of water as earlier it used to chitter in failure and disappointment for not being successful in opening the tap.

Very soon Mij would follow me without a lead and come to me when I called his name. He spent most of his time in play. He spent hours shuffling a rubber ball round the room like a four-footed soccer player using all four feet to dribble the ball, and he could also throw it, with a powerful flick of the neck, to a surprising height and distance. But the real play of an otter is when he lies on his back and juggles with small objects between his paws. Marbles were Mij’s favourite toys for this pastime: he would lie on his back rolling two or more of them up and down his wide, flat belly without ever dropping one to the floor.

Word meanings

Flick- a quick, light movement
Shuffling- dragging (here)
Dribble- repeated hits on a ball to make it go ahead
Pastime- distraction; entertainment

In a small span of time, the otter started following the author When its name was called. He used to spend most of his time playing with a ball across the room . It could not only drag but also throw the ball at the surprising height with the quick movement of his neck.

Otters usually like to juggle things by lying on their backs.  Mijbil also fond of doing the same with the marbles.

The days passed peacefully at Basra, but I dreaded the prospect of transporting Mij to England, and to Camusfearna. The British airline to London would not fly animals, so I booked a flight to Paris on another airline, and from there to London. The airline insisted that Mij should be packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square, to be carried on the floor at my feet. I had a box made, and an hour before we started, I put Mij into the box so that he would become accustomed to it, and left for a hurried meal.

Word meanings

Accustomed- familiar
Dreaded the prospect- was in great fear of something that would happen in the future

After spending time peacefully at Basra, now time came to move England and Camusfearna that made the author quite worried as animals were not allowed in British airlines. So, he booked the flight of Paris and then to London on another airlines. However, that  airlines also insisted the author to keep Mij in a wooden box of not more than 18 inches. As per the demand the author did the same and put Mij into the box so that he would get habitual of it, and then he left for having a quick meal.

When I returned, there was an appalling spectacle. There was complete silence from the box, but from its airholes and chinks around the lid, blood had trickled and dried. I whipped off the lock and tore open the lid, and Mij, exhausted and blood spattered, whimpered and caught at my leg. He had torn the lining of the box to shreds; when I removed the last of it so that there were no cutting edges left, it was just ten minutes until the time of the flight, and the airport was five miles distant. I put the miserable Mij back into the box, holding down the lid with my hand.

Word meanings

An appalling spectacle- a shocking scene
Whipped off- quickly took off
Trickled- drip, flow
Shreds- pieces

When the author returned, he got shocked as the blood was dripping and flowing out of the box . The author quickly took off the lock and opened the lid and found Mij in blood.

It was completely exhausted as it had torn the lining of the box into pieces. Author cleaned the box and removed each piece of sharp metal.

Till then it was only ten minutes left for the flight and the airport was at the distance of 5 miles. Author placed Mij in the box and closed the lid with his hand, lest he should escape.

I sat in the back of the car with the box beside me as the driver tore through the streets of Basra like a ricochetting bullet. The aircraft was waiting to take off; I was rushed through to it by infuriated officials. Luckily, the seat booked for me was at the extreme front. I covered the floor around my feet with newspapers, rang for the air hostess, and gave her a parcel of fish (for Mij) to keep in a cool place. I took her into my confidence about the events of the last half hour. I have retained the most profound admiration for that air hostess; she was the very queen of her kind. She suggested that I might prefer to have my pet on my knee, and I could have kissed her hand in the depth of my gratitude. But, not knowing otters, I was quite unprepared for what followed.

Word meanings

Ricocheting bullet- a bullet with changes direction after hitting a surface
Infuriated- very angry
Took her into my confidence- here, shared with her my experiences or secrets

Author took the cab to reach the airport which moved at a very high speed like that of a bullet which changes its direction after hitting a surface.  At the airport the flight was waiting to take off. He rushed towards it without caring others that irritated the officials. Luckily his seat was at the front. He called for the hostess and gave her a package of fish (otter’s meal )  to be kept in the freezer. He even her about the reason of his delay which she not only considered but also advised him to took his pet on his knees. The author was quite gracious for she was very kind and thoughtful. He  wished to kiss her hand to express his thanks.

Mij was out of the box in a flash. He disappeared at high speed down the aircraft. There were squawks and shrieks, and a woman stood up on her seat screaming out, “A rat! A rat!” I caught sight of Mij’s tail disappearing beneath the legs of a portly white turbaned Indian. Diving for it, I missed, but found my face covered in curry. “Perhaps,” said the air hostess with the most charming smile, “it would be better if you resumed your seat, and I will find the animal and bring it to you.”

Portly- stout

Mij managed to escape and disappeared at high speed down the aircraft. It spread a tumultuous situation as everyone got horrified. Ladies started screaming  and shouting, “A rat! A rat!”. The author suddenly found Mij’s tail disappearing beneath the legs of a portly white turbaned Indian. He managed to catch it but failed and got his face covered in a curry at last.

The hostess, with a most charming smile advised him to be on his seat and assured him that she would find and bring the animal back.

I returned to my seat. I was craning my neck trying to follow the hunt when suddenly I heard from my feet a distressed chitter of recognition and welcome, and Mij bounded on to my knee and began to nuzzle my face and my neck.

Word meanings

Craning- stretch out one’s body or neck in order to see something
Distressed- troubled
Recognition- identification; acknowledgement
Nuzzle- to rub gently with the nose
Bounded on to- climbed up quickly

As per requested by the air hostess, the author returned to his seat but kept looking for Mij here and there.  Suddenly he heard the chittering sound of Mij that climbed up to the author and started rubbing his nose gently on his face and neck.

III.

After an eventful journey, Maxwell and his otter reach London, where he has a flat

Mij and I remained in London for nearly a month. He would play for hours with a selection of toys, ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber fruit, and a terrapin shell that I had brought back from his native marshes. With the ping-pong ball he invented a game of his own which could keep him engrossed for up to half an hour at a time. A suitcase that I had taken to Iraq had become damaged on the journey home, so that the lid, when closed, remained at a slope from one end to the other. Mij discovered that if he placed the ball on the high end it would run down the length of the suitcase. He would dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival, hide from it, crouching, to spring up and take it by surprise, grab it and trot off with it to the high end once more.

Word meanings

Terrapin shell- the shell of small turtle found in North America
Engrossed- completely interested in
Ambush- to attack suddenly from a hidden position
Crouching- squat; adopt a position where the knees are bent and the upper body is brought forward and down, typically in order to avoid detection or to defend oneself
Trot off- to leave

In London they remained for half a month. There, Mij used to play for hours with a selection of toys, ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber fruit, and a terrapin shell that the author had brought back from his native marshes. He even invented his own game using the damaged suitcase of the author which had a slope from one end to another. Mij would roll the ball from higher end, rush and hide to its lower side waiting for the ball to reach there. As soon as the ball reach, he would jump in joy to surprise the ball and repeat the same actions again and again.

Outside the house I exercised him on a lead, precisely as if he had been a dog. Mij quickly developed certain compulsive habits on these walks in the London streets, like the rituals of children who on their way to and from school must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block; must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post. Opposite to my flat was a single-storied primary school, along whose frontage ran a low wall some two feet high. On his way home, but never on his way out, Mij would tug me to this wall, jump on to it, and gallop the full length of its thirty yards, to the hopeless distraction both of pupils and of staff within.

Word meanings

compulsive: irresistable
rituals: a religious ceremony
tug: pull
gallop: run fast

The author used to take Mijbil outside for exercise. Soon he developed the habit of placing his feet at the center of each paving block, touching every seventh iron railings or passing out of every second lamp post , in the streets just like school going kids.

There was a primary school surrounded by a two feet high wall,  at the opposite of author’s flat.

Every time on his way to home, Mij used to pull author to the wall to run fast on it thereby grabbing the attention of the staff and the students.

It is not, I suppose, in any way strange that the average Londoner should not recognise an otter, but the variety of guesses as to what kind of animal this might be came as a surprise to me. Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others. I faced a continuous barrage of conjectural questions that sprayed all the Mustellines but the otter; more random guesses hit on ‘a baby seal’ and ‘a squirrel.’ ‘Is that a walrus, mister?’ reduced me to giggles, and outside a dog show I heard ‘a hippo’. A beaver, a bear cub, a leopard — one, apparently, that had changed its spots — and a ‘brontosaur’; Mij was anything but an otter.
Barrage of conjectural questions- a stream of questions filled with guesses

According to author it was not a matter of surprise that residents of London were not able to recognize Mij as an otter as it was generally not kept as a pet there.

They used to make plenty of guesses about what kind of animal it could be that sometimes would surprise the author and made him amused

Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.

 However, people used to make certain guesses and ask questions if it was baby seal, squirrel, walrus, hippo, beaver, a bear cub, brontosaur etc.

But the question for which I awarded the highest score came from a labourer digging a hole in the street. I was still far from him when he laid down his tool, put his hands on his hips, and began to stare. As I drew nearer I saw his expression of surprise and affront, as though he would have me know that he was not one upon whom to play jokes. I came abreast of him; he spat, glared, and then growled out, “Here, Mister — what is that supposed to be?”

Word meanings

affront: insult
spat: past tense of spit

The question which was extremely shocking was asked by a labour, digging a hole in a street. He  saw the author with  Mij at distant and started staring at it, putting down his tools and hands on hip. He was showing his expressions as if he was not going to tolerate any joke played on him. When author came nearer, he spat and asked what that creature (Mij) supposed to be.

 Question and Answers

Q1. What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Answer. Maxwell thought that as Camusfearna would  be suitable for  domesticating an otter

Q2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Answer. 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.

Answer. The author received a gift from his friend. When he arrived two Arabs were waiting for him with a sack that was twisting again and again. With  a note he got to know that there was an otter in the sack. The author liked the otter very much. The phrase  ‘Otter fixation ‘ used  by the author for his attraction is an evidence of that.

 Q4. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?
Answer.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
Answer.  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?
Answer. 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.

 Q7. How was Mij to be transported to England?
Answer. The author had to travel through Paris using another airlines where he was asked to carry the pet in a box.

Q8. What did Mij do to the box?
Answer. Mij had torn the inner lining of the box to shreds. The lining was made of metal, thus, in the process of tearing off the lining, he hurt himself and started bleeding.

 Q9. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this?
Answer. Maxwell removed every bit of the shredded inner lining so that Mij won’t hurt himself. He then kept the otter back in the box as they had to reach the flight on time. He must have felt pity and be worried about Mij.

 Q10. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was “the very queen of her kind”?
Answer.  When Maxwell boarded the flight, he took the air hostess into confidence about the latest incidents. Being understanding, friendly and kind, she advised him to keep the box on his lap. Thus, the way she listened and helped him, led to an admiration that made the narrator say that she was “the very queen of her kind”.

 Q11. What happened when the box was opened?
Answer. As soon as he opened the box, Mij flashed out of it and disappeared. Everyone in the flight panicked and a lady even climbed her chair. Finally when he saw Mij’s tail disappearing beneath a turbaned man, he tried to catch hold of him and in the process, ended up covering his face with curry. After having created such a chaos, the air hostess advised him to go to his seat while she brought Mij back to him.

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