Lesson-9

The Bond of Love

By Kenneth Anderson

The Bond of Love Introduction

The story emphasizes the emotional bond that exists between humans and animals. The fact that the narrator's wife shares affection with a wild bear and that they become attached to each other demonstrates that animals have feelings and respond to love with warmth and affection.

The Bond of Love Summary

The narrator emphasises the emotional bond between his wife and their pet bear Bruno in the storey. He found the baby bear by accident and gave it to his wife. She named the bear 'Bruno,' and cared for it as if it were a baby. The bear was fed milk from a bottle and then began to eat other foods. He liked to eat and drink anything and everything. Bruno adored everyone, including their tenants' children and their pet Alsatian dogs. It would entertain itself by playing, running around the house, and even sleeping in their bed.

It ate a poison – Barium carbonate, which had been kept in the library to kill mice and rats – by accident one day. Bruno had a paralysis attack and was taken to a veterinary doctor. He was revived after being injected twice. Bruno eventually resumed eating normally. In another instance, he drank a gallon of old engine oil that the narrator had saved to combat a termite infestation. This had no negative impact on Bruno.

Bruno grew bigger over time, but he remained as sweet and playful as ever. The narrator's wife changed his name to 'Baba,' which is a Hindustani word that means'small boy.' He, too, had picked up a few tricks. When told to 'Baba, wrestle' or 'Baba, box,' he would tackle and overpower the target. When he was told, 'Baba, hold the gun,' he would point a stick at the person. When asked, 'Baba, where's baby?' he would pull out the piece of wood and cradle it as if it were a baby. He had to be chained now that he was big enough to hurt the tenant's children.

Baba was too large to be kept as a pet, so the narrator, his son, and their friends advised the narrator's wife to send him to a zoo. She eventually caved, and after obtaining permission from the zoo's superintendent, they packed Baba in a cage and transported him to the Mysore Zoo. Everyone missed him but was relieved because keeping him at home was uncomfortable. Baba was greatly missed by the narrator's wife. She sobbed, worried about him. She wrote letters to the zoo's director, inquiring about Baba's well – being. They responded that Baba was fine, but he didn't eat and remained depressed, just like her. She would invite her friends who were visiting Mysore to pay a visit to Baba.

Everyone said he was depressed and looked thin. After three months, the narrator's wife persuaded him to take her to see Baba. Everyone expected the bear to ignore her, but she hadn't even entered the cage when Baba recognised her. He stood on his two paws, overjoyed to see her. Baba was petted and fed his favourite food by her. She stayed for three hours until visiting hours ended and then left, teary-eyed. She requested that the zoo in charge allow them to return Baba, for which they needed permission from the Superintendent in Bangalore.

Baba was placed in a cage, which was kept on top of their car until they obtained the necessary permission, and Baba was returned home. They had a special island built for Baba. A deep dry pit surrounded it. Baba was given his belongings, including a box to sleep in, straw to keep him warm, and a stick and piece of wood to play with. Swinging on a rope tied to a mango tree, the narrator's wife would visit Baba on the island. She would make the big bear sit in her lap for hours and affectionately pat him.

The Bond of Love Lesson Explanation

I WILL begin with Bruno, my wife’s pet sloth bear. I got him for her by accident. Two years ago we were passing through the sugarcane fields near Mysore. People were driving away from the wild pigs from the fields by shooting at them. Some were shot and some escaped. We thought that everything was over when suddenly a black sloth bear came out panting in the hot sun.

• Panting: taking short, quick breaths

Due to an accident, the narrator's wife acquired a pet sloth bear as a pet. The narrator and his friends were passing through sugarcane fields near Mysore two years before this story was written. Farmers were shooting at pigs to drive them out of their fields. A sloth bear appeared from the fields just as it appeared to be over. It was breathing heavily as a result of the running and the extreme heat.

Now I will not shoot a sloth bear wantonly but, unfortunately for the poor beast, one of my companions did not feel that way about it, and promptly shot the bear on the spot.

• wantonly: for no good reason

The narrator says that he would never shoot at a bear for no reason, but one of his companions did, and the bear was killed as a result.

As we watched the fallen animal we were surprised to see that the black fur on its back moved and left the prostrate body. Then we saw it was a baby bear that had been riding on its mother’s back when the sudden shot had killed her. The little creature ran around its prostrate parent making a pitiful noise.

• prostrate: lying on the ground facing downwards

The animal lay motionless on the ground, but a portion of its furious black body moved. The baby bear had been lying on the mother bear's back. The baby bear got up and ran around the mother's body, crying, now that the mother bear was dead.

I ran up to it to attempt a capture. It scooted into the sugarcane field. Following it with my companions, I was at last able to grab it by the scruff of its neck while it snapped and tried to scratch me with its long, hooked claws.

• scooted: ran away
• scruff of the neck: take hold of the back of the neck or collar suddenly and roughly

The narrator attempted to catch the baby bear. The bear got away and ran into a sugarcane field. The group pursued it until the narrator grabbed it by the back of its neck. The bear used its hook-shaped claws to scratch them.

We put it in one of the gunny-bags we had brought and when I got back to Bangalore I duly presented it to my wife. She was delighted! She at once put a coloured ribbon around its neck, and after discovering the cub was a ‘boy’ she christened it Bruno.

• Christened it: named it

The group placed the bear in a gunny bag and moved it to Bangalore (present day Bengaluru). The bear cub was given to the narrator's wife. She was overjoyed to have it and tied a colourful ribbon around its neck. She named it 'Bruno' because it was a male cub.

Bruno soon took to drinking milk from a bottle. It was but a step further and within a very few days he started eating and drinking everything else. And everything is the right word, for he ate porridge made from any ingredients, vegetables, fruit, nuts, meat (especially pork), curry and rice regardless of condiments and chillies, bread, eggs, chocolates, sweets, pudding, ice-cream, etc., etc., etc. As for drink: milk, tea, coffee, lime-juice, aerated water, buttermilk, beer, alcoholic liquor and, in fact, anything liquid. It all went down with relish.

• condiments: spices
• Relish: great enjoyment

A bottle of milk was drank by the bear. After a few days, it began drinking and eating everything and anything. The bear liked to eat and drink.

The bear became very attached to our two Alsatian dogs and to all the children of the tenants living in our bungalow. He was left quite free in his younger days and spent his time in playing, running into the kitchen and going to sleep in our beds.

It also became friends with the narrator's Alsatian dogs. In addition, the narrator's bunglow housed the tenant's children. The bear ran around the house and even slept in the narrator's bed because it was free.

One day an accident befell him. I put down poison (barium carbonate) to kill the rats and mice that had got into my library. Bruno entered the library as he often did, and he ate some of the poison. Paralysis set in to the extent that he could not stand on his feet. But he dragged himself on his stumps to my wife, who called me. I guessed what had happened. Off I rushed in the car to the vet’s residence. A case of poisoning! Tame Bear—barium carbonate—what to do?

Bruno accidentally drank the poison kept in the library to kill rats. He was paralysed and unable to stand on his own. When the narrator's wife received it, she called him, and he realised what had happened. He took Bruno to a veterinarian.

Out came his medical books, and a feverish reference to index began: “What poison did you say, sir?” “Barium carbonate”. “Ah yes—B—Ba—Barium Salts—Ah! Barium carbonate! Symptoms— paralysis—treatment—injections of . .. Just a minute, sir. I’ll bring my syringe and the medicine.” A dash back to the car. Bruno still floundering about on his stumps, but clearly weakening rapidly; some vomiting, heavy breathing, with heaving flanks and gaping mouth.

• Floundering: struggling to move
• Heaving: taking deep breaths
• Flanks: the side of the body between the ribs and hips
• Gaping: wide open

The doctor took out his medical books and looked up Barium Carbonate poisoning in the index. He pulled out a syringe and the medication. Bruno was unable to move, was vomiting, was heavily breathing, and his mouth was open.

Hold him, everybody! In goes the hypodermic— Bruno squeals — 10 c.c. of the antidote enters his system without a drop being wasted. Ten minutes later: condition unchanged! Another 10 c.c. injected! Ten minutes later: breathing less stertorous— Bruno can move his arms and legs a little although he cannot stand yet. Thirty minutes later: Bruno gets up and has a great feed! He looks at us disdainfully, as much as to say, ‘What’s barium carbonate to a big black bear like me?’ Bruno is still eating.

• Hypodermic: a long needle used to give an injection under the skin
• Squeals: screams
• Antidote: a medicine taken or given to counteract a particular poison
• Stertorous: noisy
• Disdainfully: disapprovingly

Everyone was asked to hold Bruno by the doctor. The medicine was injected while it screamed. Because the condition remained unchanged, another injection was given. Bruno's breathing calmed down after ten minutes, and he was able to stand after thirty minutes and eat food. It gave them a look that indicated that it had been fine the entire time and that nothing had happened to it.

Another time he found nearly one gallon of old engine oil which I had drained from the sump of the Studebaker and was keeping as a weapon against the inroads of termites. He promptly drank the lot. But it had no ill effects whatever.

• the sump: the base of an internal combustion engine, which serves as a reservoir of oil for the lubrication system
• Studebaker: an old American car

In another incident, Bruno drank the used engine oil that the narrator had removed from his Studebaker car and kept to keep termites at bay. Bruno was unaffected by this.

The months rolled on and Bruno had grown many times the size he was when he came. He had equalled the Alsatians in height and had even outgrown them. But was just as sweet, just as mischievous, just as playful. And he was very fond of us all. Above all, he loved my wife, and she loved him too! She had changed his name from Bruno, to Baba, a Hindustani word signifying ‘small boy’. And he could do a few tricks, too. At the command, ‘Baba, wrestle’, or ‘Baba, box,’ he vigorously tackled anyone who came forward for a rough and tumble. Give him a stick and say ‘Baba, hold gun’, and he pointed the stick at you. Ask him, ‘Baba, where’s baby?’ and he immediately produced and cradled affectionately a stump of wood which he had carefully concealed in his straw bed. But because of the tenants’ children, poor Bruno, or Baba, had to be kept chained most of the time.

• Concealed: hidden

Bruno grew larger and outgrew the Alsatian dogs as the days passed. It was still as sweet, naughty, and playful as before. He had a soft spot for everyone. The narrator's wife was attached with Bruno, and vice versa. She shortened his name to 'Baba,' which means'small boy' in Hindustani. Baba performed some tricks, such as when he was told to 'Baba wrestle' or 'Baba box,' he would wrestle and overpower the person. When told to "Baba, hold the gun," he would point a stick at the person, as if about to shoot him. When asked, 'Baba, where's baby?' he would take out a piece of wood and cradle it as if it were a baby. He'd hidden the piece of wood beneath the straw bed. He was chained because he had grown large and could endanger the tenant's children.

Then my son and I advised my wife, and friends advised her too, to give Baba to the zoo at Mysore. He was getting too big to keep at home. After some weeks of such advice she at last consented. Hastily, and before she could change her mind, a letter was written to the curator of the zoo. Did he want a tame bear for his collection? He replied, “Yes”. The zoo sent a cage from Mysore in a lorry, a distance of eighty-seven miles, and Baba was packed off.

• curator: here, a person in charge of the zoo
• fretting: worried; unhappy; not relaxed

The narrator and his son suggested that Baba be taken to the zoo. When his wife was advised to do so by friends, she agreed, and a letter was written to the zoo's in charge asking if he would like to keep a bear at the zoo. He agreed, and Baba was moved to Mysore Zoo in a cage kept on a lorry. To get to the zoo, he drove 87 miles.

We all missed him greatly; but in a sense we were relieved. My wife was inconsolable. She wept and fretted. For the first few days she would not eat anything. Then she wrote a number of letters to the curator. How was Baba? Back came the replies, “Well, but fretting; he refuses food too.”

Everyone missed Baba, but they were also at ease. The narrator's wife was disturbed; she wept and was concerned for Baba's well – being. She didn't eat or drink at first. She wrote a letter to the zoo's superintendent inquiring about Baba. He responded that Baba was in a similar situation to hers.

After that, friends visiting Mysore were begged to make a point of going to the zoo and seeing how Baba was getting along. They reported that he was well but looked very thin and sad. All the keepers at the zoo said he was fretting. For three months I managed to restrain my wife from visiting Mysore. Then she said one day, “I must see Baba. Either you take me by car; or I will go myself by bus or train.” So I took her by car.

• Restrain: stop

She would request that her friends who were visiting Mysore pay a visit to Baba and do a background check on him. Everyone agreed that Baba was fine but looked thin and depressed. The zoo's staff reported that he appeared concerned. For three months, the narrator barred his wife from visiting the zoo. She told him one day that she wanted to see Baba and that if he didn't take her, she would go herself by train or bus. Finally, they went to the zoo to see Baba.

Friends had conjectured that the bear would not recognize her. I had thought so too. But while she was yet some yards from his cage Baba saw her and recognized her. He howled with happiness. She ran up to him, petted him through the bars, and he stood on his head in delight.

• Conjectured: formed an opinion by guessing

Their friends predicted that Baba would not recognise her, and the narrator agreed, but she was only a few steps away from the cage when Baba saw her and recognised her. He screamed with delight. She ran up to him and petted him, and Baba was overjoyed to see her again.

For the next three hours she would not leave that cage. She gave him tea, lemonade, cakes, ice cream and what not. Then ‘closing time’ came and we had to leave. My wife cried bitterly; Baba cried bitterly; even the hardened curator and the keepers felt depressed. As for me, I had reconciled myself to what I knew was going to happen next.

She stayed for three hours. She fed Baba a variety of his favourite foods. They had to leave because the zoo was closing. The narrator's wife refused to leave Baba and both of them sobbed bitterly. Even the zookeeper in charge was depressed. The narrator was calm because he knew the next step would be to return Baba to Bengaluru.

“Oh please, sir,” she asked the curator, “may I have my Baba back”? Hesitantly, he answered, “Madam, he belongs to the zoo and is Government property now. I cannot give away Government property. But if my boss, the superintendent at Bangalore agrees, certainly you may have him back.”

The wife requested the incharge that she wished to bring back Baba. He replied that the bear belonged to the government and that she needed permission from the Superintendent in Bengaluru.

There followed the return journey to Bangalore and a visit to the superintendent’s bungalow. A tearful pleading: “Baba and I are both fretting for each other. Will you please give him back to me?” He was a kind-hearted man and consented. Not only that, but he wrote to the curator telling him to lend us a cage for transporting the bear to Bangalore.

They returned to Bengaluru and paid a visit to the Superintendent's bungalow. She cried out, requesting that they both be concerned about each other. She asked for Baba's return. The Superintendent was a good man who agreed to her request. He requested that the zoo's in-charge arrange for a cage to transport Baba to Bengaluru.

Back we went to Mysore again, armed with the superintendent’s letter. Baba was driven into a small cage and hoisted on top of the car; the cage was tied securely, and a slow and careful return journey to Bangalore was accomplished.

• Hoisted: raised by means of ropes or pulleys
• Accomplished: completed

They travelled to Mysore with the Superintendent's letter in hand. Baba was placed in a cage, which was placed on top of the car. They returned to Bengaluru after tying it securely.

Once home, a squad of coolies were engaged for special work in our compound. An island was made for Baba. It was twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide and was surrounded by a dry pit, or moat, six feet wide and seven feet deep. A wooden box that once housed fowls was brought and put on the island for Baba to sleep in at night. Straw was placed inside to keep him warm, and his ‘baby’, the gnarled stump, along with his ‘gun’, the piece of bamboo,both of which had been sentimentally preserved since he had been sent away to the zoo, were put back for him to play with.

• Squad: team
• Gnarled: rugged, twisted

A team of workers was hired to do some work in their backyard at their Bengaluru home. Baba had to be kept separate because he was a fully grown bear. As a result, a twenty-foot-long, fifteen-foot-wide island was constructed. It was surrounded by a six-foot-wide, seven-foot-deep dry pit. (You've probably seen similar islands in zoos where bears are kept.) It was constructed in this manner so that the bear would not be able to cross the pit into areas inhabited by people, where it could pose a threat to them. Baba's belongings had been carefully guarded. On the island, these were kept. They were a wooden box that had previously been used to house cocks and hens, but would now be used by Baba to sleep in at night. To keep Straw warm, he was kept in the box. Baba's cradled piece of wood and the stick he used to point a gun were also placed on the island so he could play with them.

In a few days the coolies hoisted the cage on to the island and Baba was released. He was delighted; standing on his hind legs, he pointed his ‘gun’ and cradled his ‘baby’. My wife spent hours sitting on a chair there while he sat on her lap. He was fifteen months old and pretty heavy too!

When the place was ready, the workers placed the cage on the island and removed Baba from it. He stood on his back legs, pointed the stick, and cradled the piece of wood, relieved to be free. Despite the fact that he was fifteen months old and quite heavy, the narrator's wife spent many hours with him as he lay in her lap.

The way my wife reaches the island and leaves it is interesting. I have tied a rope to the overhanging branch of a mango tree with a loop at its end. Putting one foot in the loop, she kicks off with the other, to bridge the six-foot gap that constitutes the width of the surrounding pit. The return journey is made the same way. But who can say now that a sloth bear has no sense of affection, no memory and no individual characteristics?

The narrator's wife visits Baba on a regular basis, and the manner in which she reaches and leaves the island is fascinating. They have a rope with a loop tied to a mango tree. She would step into the loop with one foot and kick off with the other. She would fly in the air to cover the six-foot distance to the island in this manner. She planned to return in the same manner. We can conclude from the affection shared by Baba and the narrator's wife that animals have emotions, remember people, and all of them have unique characteristics, just like humans.

About the Author

Anderson, Kenneth (1910-1974). He was a hunter, nature enthusiast, and wildlife chronicler. He was a British writer and hunter who wrote many books about his adventures in South India's jungles. The Bond of Love is a storey by Kenneth Anderson about a human's love for a sloth bear named 'Bruno.' Bruno was a sloth bear that the author rescued.