NCERT Book Class 10 English (Foot Prints Without feet) Chapter 1 A Triumph of Surgery

A Triumph of Surgery 1
Tricki, a small dog, is pampered and overfed
by his rich mistress. He falls seriously ill and
his mistress consults a veterinary surgeon. Does
he perform an operation? Does the dog recover?

READ AND FIND OUT
• Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki?
• What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this?
• Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?

I WAS really worried about Tricki this time. I had pulled up my car
when I saw him in the street with his mistress and I was shocked at
his appearance. He had become hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with
a leg at each corner. His eyes, bloodshot and rheumy, stared straight
ahead and his tongue lolled from his jaws.
Mrs Pumphrey hastened to explain, “He was so listless, Mr Herriot.
He seemed to have no energy. I thought he must be suffering from
malnutrition, so I have been giving him some little extras between
meals to build him up, some malt and cod-liver oil and a bowl of
Horlicks at night to make him sleep — nothing much really.”
“And did you cut down on the sweet things as I told you?”
“Oh, I did for a bit, but he seemed to be so weak I had to relent. He
does love cream cakes and chocolates so. I can’t bear to refuse him.”
I looked down again at the little dog. That was the trouble. Tricki’s
only fault was greed. He had never been known to refuse food; he
would tackle a meal at any hour of the day or night. And I wondered
about all the things Mrs Pumphrey hadn’t mentioned.
“Are you giving him plenty of exercise?”
“Well, he has his little walks with me as you can see, but Hodgkin,
the gardener, has been down with lumbago, so there has been no
ring-throwing lately.”