The Adventure of TOTO
Summary
This story is about the admiration of the grandfather of the narrator and his liking for
animals. He bought a baby monkey from a tonga-driver and named it Toto.
He wanted Toto because he already possessed a tortoise, a pair of rabbits, a tame squirrel,
a goat but no monkey. With the coming of Toto, his mini zoo transformed into a real zoo.
Toto’s presence was kept top secret as grandmother abhorred animals. Toto was kept in a
little closet which opened into the narrator’s room. Toto tore off narrator’s school blazer.
Toto, when kept in the zoo, started troubling other animals.
One day, grandfather had to go to Saharanpur to collect his pension. He took Toto along
with him because he was a great menace to be left in the zoo troubling other animals. Toto,
was ultimately accepted by the family. He was left in the stable to stay along with Nana, the family
donkey. Even Nana got fed up with Toto.
One day, Toto nearly boiled himself alive by jumping into the large kitchen kettle that had been left on the
fire to boil for tea. It was grandmother who came to his rescue and saved him. As days passed by, Toto’s
pernicious activities did not lessen. Therefore, ultimately grandfather sold back Toto to the tonga-driver
and heaved a sigh
Grandfather was a great lover of animals. Describe.
Ans. Narrator’s grandfather had a great liking for animals. He had a donkey, a tortoise, a pair of rabbits, a
tame squirrel, a goat but no monkey. With the coming of Toto, his mini zoo was
transformed into a real zoo. He had a variety of pet animals in that zoo. He frequently bought many
varieties of animals to keep them in his zoo. Due to this, he even faced the pangs of anger of his wife at
times. When he brought Toto, he was very happy with his cleverness.
Q. 2. How can you say that Toto was a mischievous pet ?
OR
“Toto was not good enough to be kept at home. “Do you agree with this statement. Why/why
not?
OR
Why does the author say, “Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long”? [NCERT]
Ans. Toto was indeed a very mischievous pet. He tore the wallpapers of the rooms, and tore
the narrator’s school blazer. He troubled the other fellow animals. He even managed to get
himself into trouble by jumping into the nearly half boiling water in a kettle. He made holes in
dresses and curtains. Once, he even scared the ticket checker. He even broke dishes in the house.He
proved to be a big troublemaker for everyone. Thus, we can say that Toto was a mischievous pet.
Q. 3. Describe the incident at Dehradun railway station after reading the story, The Adventures of
Toto.
Ans. Grandfather had to go to Saharanpur. So, he decided to put Toto in a big black canvas bag
for the train journey. When they reached the station, Toto started jumping on the platform and
everyone was surprised to see a bag jumping and moving about. When the ticket collector came,
then Toto poked his head out of the bag. The ticket collector wanted grandfather to buy a ticket
for him but grandfather did not want to do so. Finally, the ticket collector had his way.
