All Creatures Great and Small

by Ruskin Bond
About the author

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. This shy

literary genius could be easily credited for making almost
three generations of Indian students into avid readers. His
stories are simple and lucid, a quality that made him a literary
star. The stories speak directly to the reader about the charms
of the Dehradun hills and the idiosyncrasies of the North
Indian terrain. His first novel, Room on the Roof was written
at the age of 17 years and had won him John Llewellyn Rhys
prize that is awarded to British commonwealth writers who
are under the age of 30. It was a semi-autobiographical story
of an orphaned Anglo-Indian boy. Ruskin Bond has received
the Sahitya Academy Award for English Writing in India and
also has been conferred with Padma Shri Award in 1999 and
Padma Bhushan in 2014.

Short Answer Questions:

1. Whom did the Grandfather get the Python from?
Grandfather got the python from a snake charmer for six
rupees.
2. How did he impress the crowds with the Python?
He impressed the bazaar crowd by slinging it across his
shoulders and walking home with it.

3. Who was Mabel and why did the Grandfather dislike her?
Aunt Mabel was Grandfather's cousin and she was coming to
stay with them the following morning. Grandfather disliked
her as she was very fussy.

4. Why did the Grandfather feel crestfallen?

Grandfather was crestfallen because he was not able to find
the snake charmer.

5. Where was the Python kept and how did it escape?

Grandfather took the python into the bathroom where he
placed it in a steep-sided tin tub and then he went to the
bazaar in search of the snake charmer. By the time he came
back, the python had escaped through the open window of the
bathroom.

6. How did Aunt Mabel react to the Python's first

appearance?
Aunt Mabel came flying up the veranda steps, looking as
though she had seen a ghost. She told them that when she was
reaching for a guava, she saw the snake staring at her and the
look in its eyes was as though it would devour her.

7. When did Aunt Mabel decide to pack her bags and leave?
Aunt Mabel had another fit of hysterics when she saw the
python admiring her from under a cushion. She packed her
bags and left Grandfather’s house.

Paragraph answer questions:

II a. Explain the chaos created by the arrival of the python in
Grandfather's house.
Grandmother nearly fainted at the sight of the python curled
round Grandfather's throat. She was afraid that he might get
strangled and wanted to get rid of it at once. She insisted that
the python must be immediately taken back to the snake
charmer. Grandfather dismissed it as nonsense and said that
he’s only a young fellow and he would soon get used to them.
But grandmother kept telling him that she had no intention of
getting used to him. Grandfather knew very well that his
cousin Mabel was coming to stay with them the following
morning and she would leave them the minute she knew
there's a snake in the house. Then Grandfather told her with
an innocent expression that they shouldn’t let it loose in the
garden as it might find its way into the poultry house.
Grandmother then started grumbling about it and insisted
that he should lock the creature in the bathroom and go back
to the bazaar and find the man he bought it from, and get him
to come and take it back. Grandfather took the python into
the bathroom where he placed it in a steep-sided tin tub.

b) Describe Aunt Mabel's reaction to the presence of the

Python.
When Aunt Mabel arrived the following morning for a three-
week visit, there was no appearance of the python for a few
days. But on the third day towards evening, Grandfather and
the narrator were startled by a scream from the garden.
Seconds later, Aunt Mabel came flying up the veranda steps,
looking as though she had seen a ghost.
She gasped and told them that when she was reaching for a
guava, she saw the snake staring at her and the look in its eyes
was as though it would devour her. Then she sobbed and
continued that it was a great boa-constrictor and it might have
been twenty feet long. She told them that it was in the guava
tree and its eyes were terrible and it was looking at her in a
queer way. Aunt Mabel experienced another fit of hysterics
when she saw the python admiring her from under a cushion.
After this incident she packed her bags and left Grandfather's
house.

c) How did the grandfather finally succeed in caging the

Python?
Grandfather understood the weakness of the python. They
found out that the python was admiring his own reflection. He
set about preparing a large cage with a mirror at one end. In
the cage, he left a juicy chicken and various other delicacies,
and fitted up the opening with a trapdoor. For a few days
nothing happened, and then as the narrator was leaving for
school one morning, he saw the python curled up in the cage.
He had eaten everything left out for him, and was relaxing in
front of the mirror with something resembling a smile on his
face.
The narrator lowered the trapdoor gently, but the python took
no notice as he was in raptures over his handsome reflection.
Grandfather and the gardener put the cage in the pony trap,
and made a journey to the other side of the riverbed. They left
the cage in the jungle, with the trapdoor open. Thus,
Grandfather finally succeeded in caging the python.

Essay question
"The Python had fallen in love with his own reflection”.
Elucidate
In the story 'All creatures great and small' written by Ruskin
Bond, the author is humorously bringing out how a python had
fallen in love with his own reflection. The story revolves
around a young python which Grandfather had brought from
the snake charmer for six rupees. In the story, the elderly
couple who are narrator’s grandparents have different
preferences towards exotic pets. Grandmother was intolerant
towards most of the birds and animals but had no tolerance
for reptiles. Even a handsome chameleon was not welcome.
When Grandfather brought home a young python, it was not
welcomed by Grandmother. She nearly fainted at the sight of
the python and wanted Grandfather to get rid of it.
Grandfather locked it inside his bathroom and went out in
search of the snake charmer to return the python back to him
but he came back with no success. When he came back, he
found out that the python had escaped from his bathroom
through the window which was open. In spite of a hard search,
they were unable to find it anywhere.
When Aunt Mabel arrived at Grandfather's house for a three-
week visit, she was terrified to see the python in the garden
and rushed towards the house. She was gasping for breath,
and when everyone asked her what happened, she told them
that she saw a snake and the snake was staring at her from the
guava tree when she was reaching for a guava. She also told
them that it was looking at her in a queer way and was twenty
feet long. After this incident, the python began to make a
series of appearances, often in unexpected places.
Aunt Mabel had another fit of hysterics when she saw the
python admiring her from under a cushion. She packed
her bags, and this made Grandmother intensify the hunt for
python. Next morning, the narrator again saw the python
curled up on the dressing table, gazing at his reflection in the
mirror. He went for Grandfather, but by the time they
returned, the python had moved elsewhere. A little later he
was seen in the garden again. Then he was back on the
dressing table, admiring himself in the mirror. Evidently, he
had become enamoured with his own reflection.
Grandfather observed that perhaps the attention he was
receiving from everyone had made him a little conceited. He
now understood the weakness of the python and set about
preparing a large cage with a mirror at one end. In the cage
he left a juicy chicken and various other delicacies, and fitted
up the opening with a trapdoor. For a few days nothing
happened, and then, as the narrator was leaving for school
one morning, he saw the python curled up in the cage. He
had eaten everything left out for him, and was relaxing in
front of the mirror with something resembling a smile on his
face. So, the narrator lowered the trapdoor gently, but the
python took no notice as he was in raptures over his
handsome reflection. Grandfather and the gardener put the
cage in the pony trap, and made a journey to the other side
of the riverbed. They left the cage in the jungle, with the
trapdoor open. Grandfather later told that the python made
no attempt to get out and even he didn’t have the heart to
take the mirror away. He remarked that it was for the first
time he had seen a snake fall in love with its own reflection.