NCERT Solutions Class 10 English Chapter 1 A Triumph of Surgery

About the author
James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), known by the pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and writer, who used his many years of experiences as a veterinary surgeon to write a series of books each consisting of stories about animals and their owners. He is best known for these semiautobiographical works, beginning with If Only They Could Talk in 1970, which spawned a series of movies and television series.'

Gist of the lesson
The story ‘A Triumph of Surgery’ revolves around an ill dog named Tricki and his mistress, Mrs Pumphrey. The pet dog Tricki is overfed with copious amounts of energy food by its owner. She provides all kinds of luxury and comforts to her dog. This makes him very obese and his overweight body finds difficulty even to walk and move around.
One day Tricki stops eating. On seeing his pathetic condition, Mrs Pumphrey takes her pet dog to a veterinary doctor who treats the dog without using a single medicine. Tricki is hospitalised and the doctor gives Tricki nothing to eat for the first two days except water. Moreover Tricki is left with all other dogs to play and get the much-needed physical exercise. This helps him to lose all his excess fat.
On the third day, signs of improvement are seen in Tricki. He starts taking food properly. Tricki starts running around and playing with the other dogs cheerfully. Soon, he recovers completely. Mrs. Pumphrey continues enquiring about Tricki over phone and feels gratitude towards the doctor for her pet‘s cure. She is overjoyed and eyes are filled with tears of happiness when she comes to discharge Tricki from the hospital. She calls this the magical recovery as A Triumph of Surgery‘

Key points
❖ Tricki was a small dog and was excessively loved by his mistress, Mrs. Pumphery.
❖ He was greedy & loved food, but no exercise.
❖ As a result he became fat & Mrs. Pumphery believed that he became lazy because he suffered from malnutrition.
❖ Mrs Pumphery was a wealthy woman. She loved her dog so much.
❖ She gave him some little extras between 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 & made a frantic call to Harriot 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 needed immediate hospitalization for keeping under observation at his surgery for a fortnight.
❖ There 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 Harriot treated the dog without medicine or surgery.
❖ She was happy & filled with gratitude.
❖ She thanked Harriot & said it was a triumph of surgery.

Short Answer Type Questions

1. Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about tricki? what does she do to help him ?
Answer: 
Tricki had become hugely fat like a bloated sausage with one leg at each corner.
Mrs. Pumphrey was worried about Tricki because he was energyless. She thought Tricki was suffering from malnutrition. She had been giving him a little extra in-between meal to build him up and a bowl of Horlicks at night to make him sleep.

2. Describe Tricki when the narrator first saw him.
Answer: 
when the narrator, Herriot, is on the street he becomes very worried Tricki has become hugely fat like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner his eyes bloodshot and rheumy, staring straight ahead. his tongue lolled from his jaws as walking was an effort for him. He looked diseased.

3. How does the narrator/doctor treat the dog?
Answer: 
The Doctor had already made his plans in advance. He knew that if Tricki were to recover, he had to be separated from Mrs Pumphrey for a fortnight and hospitalised. he took him to the surgery and kept him under close observation for two days, He gave Tricki no food but plenty of water. he planned to change Tricki's lifestyle to a healthier one. Every day, Tricki would play with the other dogs and become more active. he gave Tricki food along with other dogs after some days. Thus, without any medicines, Tricki's condition had progress and became healthy.

4. Why is the doctor tempted to keep Tricki as a permanent guest?
Answer: 
When Mrs pumphrey heard that Tricki was recovering, she started sending food to build up Tricki’s strength. she would bring fresh eggs, a dozen at a time. Later the bottles of wine began to arrive and lunch became ceremonial occasion with two glasses of wine before and several during. These were days of deep content starting well with the extra egg in the morning improved and sustained by the mid day wine and finishing luxuriously round the fire with the brandy.

5. Why does Mrs Pumphrey think that a dog’s recovery is “A triumph of surgery” ?
Answer: 
Mrs Pumphrey thought the dog's recovery was a triumph of surgery because there was a major change in the condition of Tricki . Before the surgery, he was inactive and looked like a bloated sausage. After the surgery, he became hard-muscled and lithe.Mrs. Pumphrey was overwhelmed by Tricki's successful treatment. She was delighted upon seeing Tricki's transformation and thus called it a victory of treatment.

6. Describe briefly the changes that occurred in tricky while at the surgery
Answer: 
Initially, Tricki lay motionless on the ground, with dull eyes. After 2 days he showed some interest in his surroundings, and on the third, he started to whimper upon hearing the dogs in the yard. At feeding time he jostled his way towards his bowl. From then on, his progress was rapid.
He ran about with the dogs joining in on the friendly scrimmages. He loved being bowled over, trampled on and squashed. he became an accepted member of the gang. He fought like a tiger for his share at meal times and hunted rats in the old hen house.

7. How was Mrs Pumphrey responsible for tricky illness?
Answer: 
When Mrs Pumphrey was Tricki was listless and didn’t have any energy, she thought Tricki was malnutritioned. She decided on giving him a little extra between meals. However, it was complete opposite. Tricki had been fed too much and Mrs Pumphrey feeding him more was worsening his condition. Thus, she was responsible for his condition.

8. Write a character sketch of Dr James Herriot .
Answer: 
The doctor, narrator Dr James Herriot is a veterinarian surgeon having a vast experience treating animals . A capable doctor who uses his experience,wisdom and common sense along with the medical knowledge for treating his patients. In the treatment of Tricki , he uses a practical approach which involves a change in lifestyle and habits. He is confident and as seen in the chapter, he had already worked out a plan for the treatment without any medicines or surgery. Dr Herriot is polite, remains calm, and in no situation loses patience. He can be termed as a loving ,caring and sympathetic doctor.

9​​​​​​​. write a character sketch of Mrs Pumphrey.
Answer: 
The chapter highlights the behaviour of a rich woman, Mrs Pumphrey, which is more of ignorance than being silly or foolish. She over indulged in the pet dog, Tricki , perhaps because she was lonely. She could never refuse the dog’s greed of having any kind of food. It had harmful consequences but it was all in the name of love and over parenting.
Tricky was a pet dog belonging to the wealthy woman, Mrs Pumphrey. Due to overindulgence, he had become greedy. Her overfeeding spoiled his health to an extent that he has been hospitalised.

10​​​​​​​. “Excess of every thing is bad”. Explain with reference to the chapter.
Answer: 
This question is with reference to the chapter “A triumph of surgery” by James Herriot . It is about how Dr.Herriot cures Tricki who was very lethargic and unwell.
Mrs Pumphrey deeply loved her dog, Tricki . Tricki was her only companion. Her love and weak heartedness had spoiled him, making him greedy. Tricki would eat each and every think Mrs Pumphrey would give him. Thus, he had become hugely fat. Mrs Pumphrey ,due to her excess of love ,would give Tricki excess of food. Tricky feeling extremely ill and very lethargic. So much so, that he had to be sent to a clinic for recovery. This was all because Mrs Pumphrey loved Tricki excessively and could not resist to his harmful demands.

11​​​​​​​. how did Tricki surprise Mrs Pumphrey?
Answer: 
As soon as Tricki came out of the clinic, Mrs Pumphrey was shocked to see Tricki‘s transformation from looking like a bloated sausage with legs to becoming a lithe hard muscled animal. When Tricki saw his owner, he quickly jumped on her and started licking her face and barking. Thus, Mrs Pumphrey was shocked.

12​​​​​​​. which two suggestions did Mr Harriet give Mrs Pumphrey at the initial stage, did she follow?
Answer: 
At the initial stage, Dr Harriet asked Mrs Pumphrey to cut down on the sweet things and start giving Tricki some exercise. However, Mrs.Pumphery was unable to follow. She could not resist Tricki’s greed and give him candy and chocolates. Also, he hadn’t been getting exercises because ring throwing was halted. The Gardner was down with lumbago.

13​​​​​​​. dr Harriet knew their patients as well as their owners very well. Discuss.
Answer: 
Dr Harriet could gauge the problem of the patient just by observing them. Being a professional, he had knowledge not only about the pet but also the owner. He knew, by seeing the pet, how it was pampered, its lifestyle, and its upbringing. In Tricki’s case, Dr Harriet knew that overfeeding was the reason of Tricki’s illness by observing Mrs Pumphery , its owner and her blind love.

14. imagine yourself to be Mrs Pumphrey. Write a diary entry in about 150 words expressing your concern about Tricki , realising your weakness and resolving to be a better pet parent.
Answer
Diary Entry
Friday December 23,2024
1 pm
Dear diary
I am so worried about Tricki ! It has been a week, and he is not back. I know Dr Harriet will take good care of him, but I can’t help but worry about the poor sweetheart, what he would be going through. Somewhere, I feel this is all my fault. I will only fed him, not noticing how lethargic he looked.
This is a very hard time for me. I miss Tricki , his barks, his whimpers and his puppy eyes. However, it is I who made him fat, and that caused him to go to the clinic. From now on, I promise to myself that I will not feed Tricki unnecessarily. Even if he wants candy, I won’t give it to him. I will hire someone else to play with Tricki . All my mistakes shall be reversed. I will be a good pet-parent.