Here is a summary of the chapter “Mijbil the Otter” and answers to some related questions, drawing on the information in the sources.
Summary of “Mijbil the Otter” 🦦✈️ confusion#
The story begins after the author, Gavin Maxwell, loses his pet dog Jonnie and feels lonely. He decides he would like to keep an otter instead, believing his home in Camusfearna, which is close to water, would be suitable for such an experiment.
Maxwell travels to Southern Iraq in the New Year of 1956 and mentions his idea to a friend. His friend suggests getting an otter from the Tigris marshes near Basra, where they are very common and sometimes tamed by Arabs. Maxwell goes to Basra to collect his mail. After delays with his own mail, his friend leaves, but Maxwell eventually receives a note from him along with a sack that is squirming. Inside is his otter.
Mijbil, as Maxwell names the otter, is initially aloof and indifferent for the first twenty-four hours. However, he soon becomes interested in his surroundings and develops a strong attachment, even sleeping in Maxwell’s bed. Mijbil has a characteristic love for water, going wild with joy in the bathtub, plunging, rolling, and making a lot of splash. He learns to turn on the tap. Mijbil is very playful, shuffling a rubber ball like a soccer player and juggling marbles while lying on his back.
Transporting Mijbil to England presents a challenge as the British airline does not fly animals. Maxwell books a flight to Paris and then London with another airline, which requires Mijbil to be packed in a small box. On the flight, Mijbil escapes from the box, causing chaos in the aircraft. Passengers are alarmed, with one woman screaming “A rat!”. Maxwell searches for him, getting covered in curry in the process. The air hostess, whom Maxwell greatly admires, helps calm the situation and finds Mijbil. Mijbil returns to Maxwell, giving a “chitter of recognition and welcome” and nuzzling him.
In London, Mijbil invents games, such as using a damaged suitcase to roll a ping-pong ball down and ambush its arrival. Londoners are constantly surprised by Mijbil and make many incorrect guesses about what kind of animal he is, ranging from a baby seal to a brontosaur. Mijbil’s species is later named Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell’s otter, as it was previously unknown to science.
Questions and Answers 🤔❓
Here are some questions about the chapter and their answers, based on the sources:
What did Lencho hope for? Lencho hoped for a downpour or at least a shower because the earth needed rain for his field of ripe corn to have a good harvest.
Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’? Lencho said the raindrops were like “new coins” because he expected them to bring a good harvest, which would mean money. The big drops were compared to ten cent pieces and the little ones to fives.
How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields? Suddenly, a strong wind began to blow, and along with the rain, very large hailstones started to fall. This turned into a hailstorm. The hailstorm ruined Lencho’s crops. (The source does not explicitly state what happened to his fields after the hailstorm stopped in the provided excerpts, only that the crops were ruined and it seemed like a total loss.)
What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped? The sources don’t explicitly state Lencho’s feelings immediately after the hail stopped in the provided excerpts, but they mention that in the hearts of everyone in the solitary house, there was a single hope: help from God. Lencho thought only of this help through the night.
What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for? Maxwell thought Camusfearna would be suitable for the experiment of keeping an otter instead of a dog.
Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why? Maxwell goes to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer his mail from Europe. He waits there for five days because his mail was delayed.
How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this. He gets the otter from two Arabs who were waiting for him at his bedroom with a sack containing the otter, along with a note from his friend. The sources indicate he liked the otter, as described by phrases like Mijbil going “wild with joy in the water”, Maxwell making a body-belt for him, observing his play with amazement, and referring to his love for otters as a “thraldom” or “otter fixation”. Phrases like hearing Mijbil’s “distressed chitter of recognition and welcome” and Mijbil bounding onto his knee to “nuzzle his face and his neck” also suggest a bond.
Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’? The otter was named Maxwell’s otter (Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli) because its species was previously unknown to science, and Maxwell was the one who introduced it.
What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? What did it do two days after that? When Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom, Mijbil went “wild with joy in the water,” plunging, rolling, shooting up and down the bathtub, and making a lot of splash. Two days after that, Mijbil escaped to the bathroom and fumbled with the taps, successfully turning one on to get water.
How was Mij to be transported to England? Mij was to be transported to England packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square, to be carried on the floor at Maxwell’s feet, because the British airline would not fly animals. Maxwell booked a flight to Paris and then London on another airline.
What game had Mij invented? Mijbil invented a game with a damaged suitcase. He would place a ping-pong ball on the high end of the sloped lid, and it would roll down; he would then run to the other end to ambush, hide from, spring up on, grab, and trot back with the ball to the high end to repeat the process.
What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was? The Londoners made a variety of guesses about what Mijbil was, including a baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo, a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard, and a brontosaur. One labourer asked, “Here, Mister — what is that supposed to be?”.
What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text? From the text, we learn that otters are found in large numbers in the marshes near Basra, Iraq, where they are sometimes tamed by Arabs. Otters belong to a group of animals called Mustellines, which also includes badgers, mongooses, weasels, stoats, and minks. They have a strong characteristic urge to play with water, needing to keep it on the move. They are playful, can be trained to follow without a lead, and enjoy juggling objects. Mijbil’s specific species was previously unknown to science.