The Adventures of Toto

About the Author

Ruskin Bond who was born on 19 May 1934 (till present) is an Indian author of British descent. He studied at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. His first novel, 'The Room on the Roof,' received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for 'Our Trees Still Grow in the Dehra,' his novel in English. Bond has written hundreds of short stories, essays, novels, and books for children. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2014.

Central Idea

The 'Adventures of Toto' is a humorous story of a mischievous monkey named 'Toto'. The narrator's grandfather had bought the monkey from a tonga driver in the sum of five rupees but he couldn't keep the monkey throughout his life with him as he later realised that it was a destructive monkey. In this story, the pranks played by Toto have been narrated in an amusing manner.

1.0Antics of Mischievous Toto

The story starts when the narrator's grandfather saw a monkey named Toto that had been tied to a feeding trough by a tonga driver and he thought of purchasing it so that he can add a new animal to his private zoo. The narrator's grandfather purchased it from the tonga driver by paying five rupees to him. The appearance of Toto made him attractive. He had bright, shiny eyes which were full of mischief. The eyebrows were deeply set on his face. His teeth were as white as pearls and helped Toto in scaring the Anglo-Indian ladies. His hands were dry and wrinkled. He had a long tail that added to his looks and served as a third hand to Toto.

As the narrator's grandmother was against the grandfather's attitude of bringing new pets, so it was decided that the presence of Toto will be kept as a secret from grandmother. So, Toto was tied to a hook in the wall, inside a little cupboard. After a few hours when the narrator and his grandfather went to check Toto they found that Toto had torn the decorative wallpaper. He had even broken the hook and had torn the writer's blazer into thin pieces. Unexpectedly, the grandfather was delighted to see Toto's cleverness and added that Toto would have escaped if given some time.

Toto was shifted to a cage in the servant's quarter so that he would live with the other pets. The private zoo of the narrator's grandfather had a tortoise, a pair of rabbits, a squirrel, and a pet goat. Toto being mischievous disturbed the other animals. As the narrator's grandfather had to leave for Saharanpur the next day. He decided to take Toto along with him. He put Toto inside a canvas bag that had some dry grass at the bottom. Although the bag was zipped and had no opening yet Toto was trying hard to come out of that because of which the bag became the centre of attraction for the people at the platform as sometimes it rolled on the floor, other time it jumped high in the air. At the Saharanpur railway station, when the grandfather was taking out his ticket to cross the turnstile, Toto peeked out of the bag and smiled at the ticket collector. The ticket collector was shocked and he asked the grandfather to pay a fine of three rupees after categorising it as a dog. After paying the fine grandfather even took out his pet tortoise from his pocket and asked about its fine also for which the ticket collector denied.

2.0Nuisance Created by Toto

After the narrator's grandmother came to know about Toto's presence, it was given some space in the stable with the pet donkey named Nana. When grandfather went to the stable he found Nana pulling its rope in order to stay away from the heap of hay. Finding it awkward grandfather slapped at the back of Nana and was shocked to see that Toto had fastened on to Nana's long ears with his sharp little teeth. In the winter season, Toto took the bath differently. First, he would check the temperature of the water then stepped one foot at a time into the tub. Finally, he would sit in the tub and rub himself with soap. When the water became cold, he would run out of it to the stove in the kitchen to dry himself. One day, a large kettle with boiling water was on the stove. Toto climbed up to the stove found that the water was warm enough for him to take a bath. He sat in the kettle. As the water was boiling, it became hot for Toto but as the temperature outside was cold for him, he stayed in it. Later, when the narrator's grandmother went there, she took out the half-boiled Toto out of the kettle. One day at lunchtime, a large dish of rice was placed on the dining table. Toto went there and started eating it. When the narrator's grandmother screamed at Toto, he threw a plate at her.

When his aunt tried to catch Toto, he threw a glass of water at her. When the grandfather arrived, Toto left the place through a window with the dish of rice along with him. He sat on a branch of the Jackfruit tree, eating rice. Later, to annoy grandmother, he threw the dish which broke into several pieces. Finally, grandfather realised that Toto was not the kind of pet to be kept at home. So, he sold him back to the same tonga driver for a sum of five rupees.

Recall

• Toto was a pretty monkey, bought by the narrator's grandfather from a tonga-driver for a sum of five rupees. As the narrator's grandmother didn't like pets so Toto was kept in a little closet in the narrator's room.
• A few hours later, when grandfather and the narrator returned to see Toto, they found that the walls, which were previously covered with some ornamental paper were naked then and the bricks and plaster were visible.
• After Toto was transferred to a big cage in the servants' quarters along with other grandfather's pets he wouldn't allow any of his companions to sleep at night. So, grandfather decided to take him along with him to Dehradun the other day.
• While the grandfather was producing his ticket at the railway station, Toto suddenly poked his head out of the bag because of which the ticket collector charged an extra three rupees' fine from the grandfather.
• One day, Toto nearly boiled himself alive in the kitchen kettle which was kept by grandmother to make tea. Toto decided to take bath in the same. As a result, he almost boiled himself just when grandmother came and took him out of the kettle.
• Once, Toto found a large dish of rice kept on the dining table and started eating it. When grandmother scolded him he threw a plate at her. When narrator's aunt went forward he threw a glass of water at her. Then he ran out with the bowl of pullao, sat on the jackfruit tree and ate the pullao. Later, to annoy the grandmother he threw the dish and it broke into pieces.
• At the end of the story, grandfather returns Toto to the same tonga driver in the sum of three rupees.