THE ADVENTURES OF TOTO

By Ruskin Bond

AUTHOR: Ruskin Bond was born to Edith Clarke and Aubrey Alexander Bond, in
Kasauli, Punjab States Agency, British India. He did his schooling from Bishop Cotton
School in Shimla, from where he graduated in 1950. He won several writing competitions in
the school including the Irwin Divinity Prize and the Hailey Literature Prize. 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 Dehra, his novel in
English. Bond has written hundreds of short stories, essays, novellas and books for children.
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014.He lives with his
adopted family in Landour, Mussoorie.

SUMMARY:

This story is about Toto, a baby monkey. The author’s grandfather buys Toto from a
tongadriver for five rupees, to add to his private zoo. Toto has mischievous eyes and pearly
white teeth. His smile frightens the elderly Anglo-Indian ladies. His fingers are quick and his
tail acts like a third hand for him. He uses his tail to hang from branches, as well as to scoop
up delicacies that are out of reach of his hands.

The author’s grandmother would get angry every time his grandfather would bring home a
new pet. As such, the author and Grandfather decide to tell Grandmother about Toto only
when she is in a particularly good mood. They hide Toto in a small closet in the author’s
bedroom wall, tied to a peg on the wall.

After a few hours, the author and Grandfather return to release Toto and find that the
ornamental wallpaper has been ripped off. The peg has been wrenched off the wall and the
author’s school blazer has been tom to shreds. While the author is worried about
Grandmother’s reaction, Grandfather is pleased with Toto’s antics. He says that Toto is
clever enough to have made a rope out of the tom pieces of the author’s blazer to escape.

Toto is then moved to a big cage in the servants’ quarters. This cage already has a tortoise, a
pair of rabbits, a tame squirrel and a pet goat, all of whom live together quite peacefully. But
 Toto does not let the other animals sleep. As Grandfather has to go to
Saharanpur the next day to collect his pension, he decides to take Toto with him. Toto’s new
home is a black canvas kit-bag that is too strong for him to bite through. He cannot get his
hands out of the opening once it is closed. The author does not go with Grandfather, but is
told all about the trip later.

The author leams that Toto remained in the bag as far as Saharanpur; but while Grandfather
was giving his ticket at the ticket turnstile, Toto poked his head out of the bag and grinned at
the ticket collector. The ticket collector was a little frightened, but told Grandfather that as he
was carrying a dog; he would have to pay for it accordingly. Grandfather took Toto out of the
bag to prove that he was a monkey and not a dog; but the ticket collector dismissed him and
in the end, Grandfather had to pay three rupees as Toto’s fare. Then Grandfather showed the
ticket collector his tortoise and asked how much he should pay for that. The ticket collector
examined the tortoise and happily announced that as the tortoise was not a dog, he would not
be charged any fare.

When Grandmother finally accepts Toto, he is given a comfortable home in the stable, which
he shares with a family donkey called Nana. On the first night, Grandfather visits the stable
and finds Nana pulling at her halter and trying to get away from a pile of hay. Grandfather
finds that Toto had fastened his teeth onto Nana’s ears. Toto and Nana never became friends
after that.

During winter evenings, Grandfather gives Toto a large bowl of warm water to bathe in,
which Toto enjoys. Toto tests the water first with his hands, and then gradually steps into the
water, one leg at a time — he has learnt how to do this by watching the author. Toto then
mobs soap all over himself. When the water turns cold, Toto mns to dry himself by the
kitchen fire. If anyone laughs during this time, Toto feels hurt and refuses to complete his
ritual.

One day, water for tea is being boiled in a large kitchen kettle. Toto removes the kettle’s lid,
and finding the water warm enough for a bath, lowers himself into the kettle. When the water
beings to boil, Toto raises up a little, but finding it cold outside, sits down again. He
continues to do this till Grandmother discovers him and takes him out of the kettle. This is
how Toto almost boils himself.

The author says that if there is a part of the brain that specialises in making mischief, that part
is very powerful in Toto’s brain. Toto loves tearing things to shreds. Whenever a particular
aunt of the author’s approaches Toto, he tries to tear a hole into her dress.

One day, Toto is found eating pulao from a large dish on the dining table. When
Grandmother screams, Toto throws a plate at her. Then an aunt rushes ahead, only to have a
glass of water thrown at her face. Upon seeing Grandfather approach, Toto escapes through

the window to a jackfruit tree, with the pulao dish in his arms. He sits there all
afternoon, slowly eating the pulao. Then, to punish Grandmother for screaming at him, he
throws the dish down and is delighted when it breaks.

Soon, everyone, including Grandfather, realise that they cannot afford to keep Toto as they
are not rich enough to bear the regular loss of clothes, dishes, curtains and wallpaper.
Eventually, Grandfather sells Toto back to the tonga-driver, for only three rupees.

Title :

The title expresses the events that will unfold in the story, which is a series of adventures that
take place in the life of the narrator’s grandparents because of their pet monkey called Toto.

Theme

The story revolves around the adventures of a family that decides to adopt a pet monkey. It is
a humorous story which captures the antics of the monkey and its effect on the family that
adopted it. The story is of an animal lover, the grandfather, and the effect his love for animals
and in particular his attraction for a monkey has on the rest of the family members.

Setting

The story is set around the time of the independence era in Dehra Dun. The story talks about
the time when there were tonga-drivers and monkeys could be kept in the house, when
animals were allowed to travel in the coach and ticket collectors could charge you money for
a monkey travelling with you.

Message

The story discusses both the fascination of some people for animals and the problems that can
arise when one decides to keep an animal as a pet. This can be disadvantageous not only to
the family keeping an animal but also to the animal as we see in the case of Toto, who almost
boils himself before he is rescued by the family.

In fact it also raises questions about the necessity of taking animals away from their natural
environment and domesticating them, thereby exposing them to the dangers that arise from
human living.
Characters

Grandfather – he was an animal lover who had a collection of animals in the house
including a tortoise and a monkey. In fact he bought a monkey from the tonga-driver because
he felt the monkey was not being taken care of properly by the man. He did not feel unhappy

at the damage and destruction caused by the monkey but admired its intelligence
at being able to escape from the peg he had been tied to. He was a little afraid of his wife’s
reaction to his adopting animals and so would hide them till he could break the news gently
to her. He understood animals and took Toto along with him to Saharanpur because he knew
how destructive he could be and he did not want his wife to have to deal with his antics. He
also had presence of mind as we see in his interaction with the ticket-collector who forced
him to pay for the monkey but did not charge him for the tortoise. He was also a realist as he
returned the monkey once he realised that he would not be able to manage him. He was not
materialistic as we find that he bought Toto for five rupees but sold him back to the
tongadriver for three rupees without thinking about the loss that he had incurred.

Grandmother – She was not as ardent an animal lover as her husband. In fact she took time
to get used to the animals that grandfather would bring home and he often hid them (as we
see in the case of Toto) till he broke the news about the new addition to the zoo. However,
she took good care of the animals as we see in the case of Toto who almost boiled himself in
the kettle of hot water. In the end we see that her will prevailed as Grandfather was forced to
return Toto because he realised that Toto was too mischievous to keep at home and would
test Grandmother’s patience too much

Think About It (pg 11)

Question 1.

How does Toto come to grand-father’s private zoo?

Answer:

Grandfather loved animals. One day he saw this attractive monkey with a tonga- driver. The
monkey was tied to a feeding- trough and seemed out of place there. Grandfather had great
liking for animals. So he decided to buy Toto from the tonga- driver and bought it for five
rupees.lo

Question 2.

“Toto was a pretty monkey.” In what sense is Toto pretty?

Answer:

Toto had bright eyes sparkling with mischief, pearly white teeth, quick and wicked fingers
and a gracious tail which served as a third hand. The smile of Toto was cute and frightened
elderly Anglo- Indian ladies. Altogether all these qualities made him pretty.

Question 3.

Why does grandfather take Toto to Saharanpur and how? Why does the ticket collector
insist on calling Toto a dog?

Answer:

Toto was a mischievous monkey. He kept disturbing all other animals in grandfather’s
private zoo. It seemed that only grandfather could manage him properly. So, he took Toto
to Saharanpur in a bag. The ticket collector called Toto a dog as the monkey did not qualify
the category of human beings.

Question 4.

How does Toto take a bath? Where has he learnt to do this? How does Toto almost boil
himself alive?

Answer:

Toto cunningly tested the temperature with his hand then gradually stepped into the bath.
He stepped first one foot, then the other, until he was into the water up to his neck. He
rubbed himself all over with the soap. He learned it all from the author. Some day Toto got
in a large kitchen kettle which was on fire to boil. He enjoyed the warm water but when the
water turned out to be hot he jumped up and down. Suddenly the grandmother arrived at
and pulled him out in half-boiled condition.

Question 5.
Why does the author say, “Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long”?
Answer:
Author’s statement about Toto proves itself if we take Toto’s misdeeds into
consideration. Nobody could afford the frequent losses. He disturbed all other animals
too. Obviously Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long.

Talk about it
(Page 11)
Question 1.
Do you have a pet? Is your pet mischievous? Tell the class about it.
Answer:
Yes, I have a pet dog named Moti. My father had brought him from my maternal uncle’s
house when he was very small. Moti is like a member of my family. I have special
attachment to him. He is very active and vigilant. He is an epitome of loyalty. He keeps
sitting beside the main gate at night. Whenever there is any unknown sound inside my
house, he starts barking. All the members of my family love Moti very much. Moti
proves to be really a gem many a time. He keeps us safe all the time. Our Moti is not
mischievous. He is very sensible and sensitive as well. We feel secure in his presence. I
pray to God to keep him healthy. ( ANSWERS MAY VARY)