Mijbil the Otter – Class 10 English Chapter 6 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 10EnglishChapter 6NCERT book: First Flight - English Class 10

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 6 of the NCERT Class 10 English book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

🎧 Listen to the content

Chapter 6: Mijbil the Otter (with poem: Fog)

Overview

Mijbil the Otter is an extract from Gavin Maxwell's account of the pet otter he brought from Iraq to London in 1956. It is funny, warm and full of close observation. The chapter ends with the short poem "Fog" by Carl Sandburg.

Before You Read

Maxwell lives in a cottage at Camusfearna, in the West Highlands of Scotland. After his dog Jonnie died he was too sad to keep another dog, but life without a pet was lonely.

The book's SPCA box reminds us that owning a pet is a lifetime of commitment: licence, vaccination, training, grooming, balanced diet, socialisation, exercise and affection.

Part I: Getting an otter

Early in 1956 Maxwell travelled to Southern Iraq. He thought of keeping an otter instead of a dog — the "experiment" for which Camusfearna, "ringed by water a stone's throw from its door", was eminently suitable.

A friend said otters were "as common as mosquitoes" in the Tigris marshes and often tamed by the Arabs.

At the Consulate-General in Basra his friend's mail had arrived but his had not. He cabled England; phone calls had to be booked twenty-four hours in advance, and three days of breakdowns and a religious holiday followed. His mail arrived five days after the friend left.

In his bedroom he found two Arabs with a squirming sack and a note: "Here is your otter..."

Part II: Mijbil at the Consulate

Opening the sack began "a thraldom to otters, an otter fixation" that most otter owners share.

The creature looked like "a very small, medievally-conceived dragon", coated with pointed scales of mud armour, with soft chocolate-brown fur beneath. It took a month to remove all the mud.

Mijbil was of a race previously unknown to science, christened by zoologists Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell's otter — named after the author.

First 24 hours: neither hostile nor friendly — aloof and indifferent, sleeping as far from the bed as possible.

Second night: he slept in the crook of Maxwell's knees.

In the bathroom he "went wild with joy" for half an hour — plunging, rolling and making "enough slosh and splash for a hippo". For an otter, water "must be kept on the move and made to do things; when static it is wasted and provoking."

Two days later Mij escaped to the bathroom and turned the tap himself to get a full flow (sometimes he screwed it tighter and chittered with irritation).

Soon he followed Maxwell without a lead, dribbled a rubber ball like a "four-footed soccer player", and juggled marbles on his belly while lying on his back.

Part III: The flight to England

The British airline would not fly animals, so Maxwell booked a flight to Paris on another airline and then to London. Mij had to travel in a box not more than eighteen inches square, at his feet.

An hour before leaving, Maxwell put Mij in the box to get used to it. He returned to "an appalling spectacle": blood had trickled from the airholes. Mij had torn the lining to shreds and was exhausted and blood-spattered.

With ten minutes to the flight and the airport five miles away, he had to put Mij back in the box, holding the lid down — he must have felt guilty and anxious.

The air hostess kept a parcel of fish for Mij and suggested he hold his pet on his knee. Maxwell calls her "the very queen of her kind".

Once the box was opened, Mij shot off down the aircraft — a woman screamed "A rat! A rat!", Maxwell dived and ended with his face in curry — until Mij returned with "a distressed chitter of recognition and welcome" and nuzzled his face.

Part IV: London

In London for nearly a month, Mij played with ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber fruit and a terrapin shell. He invented a game with a ping-pong ball rolling down the sloping lid of a damaged suitcase, dashing round to ambush it.

Compulsive habits: like children who step on the centre of every paving block or touch every seventh railing, Mij, only on the way home, would tug Maxwell to the two-foot wall of a primary school and gallop its thirty yards, distracting pupils and staff.

Otters belong to the Mustellines, with the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat and mink. Londoners guessed a baby seal, squirrel, walrus, hippo, beaver, bear cub, leopard and even a brontosaur. A labourer digging a hole asked the best question: "Here, Mister — what is that supposed to be?"

What Mij teaches us about otters: they love water in motion, are intelligent (turning taps, inventing games), playful, affectionate and need company and love.

Poem: Fog — Carl Sandburg

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

The whole poem is an extended metaphor: the fog is like a cat. It comes silently "on little cat feet", sits "looking over harbour and city / on silent haunches", and "then moves on".

The poet never says "like a cat" directly — that is why it is a metaphor, not a simile.

It is free verse: no fixed rhyme or rhythm.

Word Power

squirmed — twisted about (छटपटाया)

thraldom — being under the control of (दासता)

fixation — very strong attachment (लगाव)

christened — named (नामकरण किया)

aloof and indifferent — keeping a distance (उदासीन)

apathy — absence of interest (उदासीनता)

provoking — causing anger (उकसाने वाला)

fumbling — clumsily trying (टटोलना)

appalling spectacle — shocking scene (भयानक दृश्य)

infuriated — very angry (क्रुद्ध)

portly — stout (मोटा)

nuzzle — rub gently with the nose (नाक से सहलाना)

engrossed — completely interested in (तल्लीन)

compulsive habits — habits impossible to control (आदतन मजबूरी)

barrage of conjectural questions — a stream of guessing questions (अनुमान भरे सवालों की बौछार)

Grammar & Language Focus

Would / used to for repeated past actions: "Mij would follow me without a lead." For past states use only used to: "We used to believe there were ghosts in school."

Noun modifiers: an otter fixation (noun), the iron railings (noun), the Tigris marshes (proper noun), the London streets (proper noun), soft velvet fur (adjective + noun), a four-footed soccer player (adjective + noun).

Partitives: a cloud of dust, a pool of blood, flakes of snow, a gust of wind, a lump of clay, a bunch of flowers.

Metaphors (from 'Fog'): storm — tiger, pounces and growls; try train, fire, school, home.

Board Exam Focus

What things does Mij do that show he is intelligent, friendly and fun-loving? Outline: turns the tap on; invents the suitcase game; juggles marbles; follows Maxwell without a lead; nuzzles him on the plane; gallops along the school wall.

Why was the otter named Maxwell's otter? Outline: it was of a race previously unknown to science; zoologists named it Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli after Gavin Maxwell.

How is the fog like a cat? Outline: comes silently on little cat feet → sits on silent haunches looking over harbour and city → moves on without warning.

Common Mistakes

Saying Maxwell got the otter from the Tigris himself — two Arabs brought it in a sack, sent by his friend.

Calling Mij hostile at first — he was aloof and indifferent.

Saying the British airline carried Mij — it would not fly animals; he flew via Paris.

Writing that Mij ran along the school wall on the way out — it was only on the way home.

Calling 'Fog' a simile — it is a metaphor (no 'like' or 'as').

💡 Key Learning Points

✓Gavin Maxwell gets an otter in Basra, Iraq, in 1956 and names him Mijbil; the species becomes known as Maxwell's otter.
✓Mij changes from aloof and indifferent to playful and affectionate — he loves water in motion, turns taps and juggles marbles.
✓The flight via Paris: Mij tears his box, escapes in the plane and returns to nuzzle Maxwell; the kind air hostess helps.
✓In London Mij invents a suitcase game and develops compulsive habits; Londoners cannot guess what animal he is.
✓'Fog' by Carl Sandburg is a free-verse extended metaphor comparing fog to a cat.

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Start with the SPCA box and ask students to list what they would need to know to care for a pet.
→Use the book's Iraq/London climate box to plan the special arrangements needed for an otter.
→Let students act out the aeroplane scene to bring out the humour.
→Build a class chart of 'What Mij does' and 'How Mij feels or thinks', as the book's exercise asks.
→Play dumb charades to express feelings through gestures, as the book suggests.
→Discuss the ethics of keeping wild animals as pets and how laws have changed since 1956.
→For 'Fog', ask students to write a short poem comparing a storm to an animal.

📋 Assessment Questions

What 'experiment' did Maxwell think Camusfearna was suitable for?
How did Mij behave in the first 24 hours and how did he change?
Why does Maxwell call the air hostess 'the very queen of her kind'?
What were Mij's compulsive habits in London?
Find three things in 'Fog' that tell us the fog is like a cat.

Ask the AI tutor about Class 10 English Chapter 6

Get question answers, important questions, a quick MCQ quiz or a simple explanation of “Mijbil the Otter”. Free — sign in with Google.

How the AI tutor works →

👩‍🏫 Class 10 English classes near you — online or at home

Prefer a real teacher? TalentJR teachers take live online classes anywhere in India and visit homes in selected cities. Tell us what you need and our team will call you with timings and fees.

Live online classesSmall groups or 1:1 with a teacher, from home, any city.
Teacher at homeA TalentJR teacher visits your home (selected cities).
At a centreClasses at a TalentJR partner centre near you, where available.

Keep learning

← Previous: Chapter 5Glimpses of India Next: Chapter 7 →Madam Rides the Bus