Chapter 6 of the Class 10 English textbook First Flight is titled “Mijbil the Otter” by Gavin Maxwell is a delightful and engaging story about the author’s experience of keeping an otter as a pet called Mijbil. The story touches on their adventures together in the author's home country Iraq, and in London, and explores the playful character of Mijbil as well as the loving relationship between animal and human.
The NCERT Solutions are designed in accordance to the latest NCERT syllabus, and recent CBSE guidelines so that students can prepare for their exams in a smoother and effective manner. The solutions provide clear and precise answers to all the questions provided in the textbook, and assists students with building confidence whereby they understand the chapter and score well in their examinations.
Download the free PDF of NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 6 Mijbil the Otter where the association between animals and human beings is shown from below:
This chapter explores atypical interactions and animal behavior. Here are the highlights:
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
Ans. When Maxwell travelled to Southern Iraq, a thought came into his mind that be should keep an otter instead of a dog. And that Camusfearna, ringed by water, would be a suitable spot for this experiment.
2. Why does he go to Basra? How long does he wait there, and why?
Ans. He went to Basra’s Consulate-General to collect and answer the mail from Europe. He waited there over a week. When he found that his mail hadn’t arrived, he cabled to England. It remained unresponsive for three days. He received his mail after five days.
3. How does he get the otter? Does he like it? Pick out the words that tell you this.
Ans. On the day, he received his mail, he went to his bedroom to read it. There he found two Arabs with the otter in the sack. They handed him over a note from his friend and the otter. Yes, he liked it. The words ‘a thraldom to otters, an otter’ tell us this.
4. Why was the otter named ‘Maxwell’s otter’?
Ans. The otter was named ‘Maxwell’s otter’ because it was of a race previously unknown to science and was at length christened by zoologists ‘Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli or Maxwell’s otter’.
5. Tick the right answer. In the beginning, the otter was • aloof and indifferent • friendly • hostile Ans. In the beginning, the otter was aloof and indifferent.
6. What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom? How did it behave two days after that?
Ans. When Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom, he went wild with joy in the water for half an hour. He plunged and rolled in it. He made enough slosh and splash for a hippo. Two days later, he escaped from his bedroom and through the corridor reached the bathroom. He fumbled at the chromium taps with his paws. He turned on the tap from trickle to full flow.
7. How was Mij to be transported to England?
Ans. Mij was to be transported to England by a flight to Paris, and from there to London because British Airlines didn’t permit animals to fly. Another airline insisted to pack Mij into a square box not bigger than eighteen inches. And it was to be kept on the floor at the feet.
8. What did Mij do to the box?
Ans. The author put Mij into the box and left for a hurried meal. In his attempt to come out the box, Mij tore the lining of the box to shreds. He got badly wounded during his attempt and was bleeding.
9. Why did Maxwell put the otter back in the box? How do you think he felt when he did this? Ans. Maxwell put the otter back in the box because he was getting late for the flight. It was just ten minutes until the time of the flight and the airport was five miles distant. He felt bad when he put the otter back in the box as Mij was in a miserable condition at that time.
10. Why does Maxwell say the airhostess was ‘the very queen of her kind’?
Ans. Maxwell said the airhostess was ‘the very queen of her kind’ because she heard Maxwell’s events of the last half-hour and believed in them. Then, she suggested to have his pet on his knees.
11. What happened when the box was opened?
Ans. When the box was opened, Mij was out of it in a flash and he disappeared at high speed down the aircraft. He caused squawks and shrieks in the aircraft. A woman stood up on her seat screaming out.
12. What game had Mij invented?
Ans. Mij had invented the game of rolling the ping-pong ball. He would keep the ball on the raised end of the damaged suitcase and allow it to run down to the length of it. He would then dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival.
13. What are ‘compulsive habits’? What does Maxwell say are the compulsive habits of? (i) school children (ii) Mij?
Ans. Habits impossible to control are compulsive habits. The following are the compulsive habits of school children and Mij.
(i) School children must place their foot squarely on the center of each paving block; must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings or pass to the outside of every second lamp post.
(ii) On his way home, Mij would tug the author to that primary school wall, jump on to it and gallop the full length of its 30 yards to the hopeless distraction both of pupils and of staff within.
14. What group of animals do otters belong to?
Ans. According to the author, otters comparatively belong to a small group of animal called Mustellines shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others.
15. What guesses did the Londoners make about what Mij was?
Ans. Londoners guessed that Mij was a baby seal, a squirrel, a walrus, a hippo a beaver, a bear cub, a leopard that had changed its spots and a brontosaur. But nobody guessed Mij as an otter.
Thinking About the Text
1. What things does Mij do which tell you that he is an intelligent, friendly and fun-loving animal who needs love?
Ans. Mij was an intelligent animal. It invented it own game out of the ping-pong balls. It screwed the tap till water began to flow and then it would play and splash in the water. Though it was aloof and indifferent in the beginning, it soon became very friendly. It formed a special attachment with Maxwell. It responded when Maxwell called out his name. It grew desperate when Maxwell left it in a box and it got hurt while trying to come out of it. After Maxwell took it out, it clung to his feet. It was a fun-loving animal. It enjoyed playing all kinds of games. It would play with a selection of toys, ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber fruit, and a terrapin shell. It required love and affection from Maxwell and it got that readily.
2. What are some of the things we come to know about otters from this text?
Ans. Answer Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others. Maxwell’s otter was of a race previously unknown to science and was at length named by zoologists Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli or Maxwell’s otter. Otters are small creatures with dark brown fur all over the body. They are found in large numbers in marshes. Otters live near water and enjoy playing in water. Otters are very active animals and can be easily tamed. They are often tamed by the Arabs. It is characteristic of otters that every drop of water must be extended and spread about the place; a bowl must at once be overturned, or, if it would not be overturned, be sat in and splashed in until it overflowed. For them, water must be kept on the move. Otters love playing various games, especially with a ball.
3. Why is Mij’s species now known to the world as Maxwell’s otter?
Ans. Maxwell’s otter was of a race previously unknown to science and was at length named by zoologists Lutrogale Perspicillata Maxwelli or Maxwell’s otter.
4. Maxwell in the story speaks for the otter, Mij. He tells us what the otter feels and thinks on different occasions. Given below are some things the otter does. Complete the column on the right to say what Maxwell says about what Mij feels and thinks.
Ans.
What Mijbil does: plunges, rols in the water and makes the water splosh and splash
How Mijbil feels or thinks : Mij feels that every drop of water should be enjoyed. It feels that static water is a waste and water should always remain dynamic.
What Mijbil does:Screws the tap in the wrong way
How Mijbil feels or thinks :Mij feels irritated when the tap does not cooperate.
What Mijbil does:Nuzzles Maxwell’s face and neck in the aeroplane.
How Mijbil feels or thinks :It feel happy, secure and comfortable in the owner.
5. Read the story and find the sentences where Maxwell describes his pet otter. Then choose and arrange your sentences to illustrate those statements below that you think are true. Maxwell’s description:
(i) makes Mij seem almost human, like a small boy.
Ans. He spent hours shuffling a rubber ball round the room like a four-footed soccer player using all four feet to dribble the ball, and he could also throw it, with a powerful flick of the neck, to a surprising height and distance.
(ii) shows that he is often irritated with what Mij does.
Ans. Incorrect
(iii) shows that he is often surprised by what Mij does.
Ans. I watched, amazed; in less than a minute he had turned the tap far enough to produce a trickle of water, and after a moment or two achieved the full flow.
(iv) of Mij’s antics is comical.
Ans. But the real play of an otter is when he lies on his back and juggles with small objects between his paws.
(v) shows that he observes the antics of Mij very carefully.
Ans. A suitcase that I had taken to Iraq had become damaged on the journey home, so that the lid, when closed, remained at a slope from one end to the other. Mij discovered that if he placed the ball on the high end it would run down the length of the suitcase. He would dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival, hide from it, crouching, to spring up and take it by surprise, grab it and trot off with it to the high end once more.
(vi) shows that he thinks Mij is a very ordinary otter.
Ans. Incorrect
(Session 2025 - 26)