A Triumph of Surgery · Class 10 English · Footprints Without Feet: 60 flashcards
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1. Who is the narrator of this story?
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Mr Herriot, a veterinary surgeon, who tells the story in the first person — so 'I' throughout is the vet.
2. Who are Tricki and Mrs Pumphrey?
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Tricki is a small pet dog, and Mrs Pumphrey is his rich and extremely indulgent mistress.
3. How is Tricki described when the narrator sees him in the street?
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Hugely fat, like 'a bloated sausage' on four short legs, with bloodshot and rheumy eyes staring straight ahead and his tongue lolling from his jaws.
4. Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki?
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Because he was so listless and seemed to have no energy; she thought he must be suffering from malnutrition.
5. What did Mrs Pumphrey do to help Tricki?
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Extras between meals to build him up — malt, cod-liver oil, and Horlicks at bedtime to settle him — on top of the cream cakes and chocolates.
6. Was Mrs Pumphrey wise in what she did?
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No. The extras were the cause of the trouble, not the cure; but she was never unkind — she simply could not bear to refuse him.
7. What does the narrator say was Tricki's only fault?
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Greed — he had never once turned food down, at any hour of the day or night.
8. Why was Tricki getting no real exercise?
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He had only his little walks with Mrs Pumphrey, and Hodgkin, the gardener, had been laid up with lumbago, so there had been no ring-throwing for a good while.
9. What does 'lumbago' mean?
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Muscular pain in the lower part of the back.
10. What advice did Herriot give Mrs Pumphrey?
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That she must cut the food back sharply and get him moving more, harden her heart and hold him to a strict diet — otherwise he was going to be really ill.
11. How did Mrs Pumphrey answer the warning?
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She wrung her hands and said, 'she was sure he was right, but it was so difficult' — and set off, head down, as if to begin at once.
12. What did Tricki wear on his walks?
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A little tweed coat; he had a whole wardrobe of them for cold weather, and a raincoat for wet days.
13. What symptoms did Mrs Pumphrey report when she telephoned?
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That the dog would touch nothing, turned away even the dishes he liked best, kept being sick, and lay on a rug all day with his sides heaving.
14. What was Herriot's plan?
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To take Tricki out of that house for a while — a fortnight at the surgery, under observation.
15. How did Mrs Pumphrey react to the suggestion?
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She nearly fainted at the idea, certain that the dog would fret himself to death if a day passed without her.
16. How did Herriot get the dog away?
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He took a firm line, said it was the only way to save him, and marched out to the car with the dog wrapped in a blanket, followed by Mrs Pumphrey's wailings.
17. What did the household bring out to the car?
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His bed for the day and his bed for the night, the cushions he liked, his toys and his rubber rings, and his breakfast bowl, lunch bowl and supper bowl.
18. What did Mrs Pumphrey do as the car moved off?
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With a despairing cry she threw a bundle of the little coats in through the window.
19. What did Herriot see in the mirror as he left?
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That everybody was in tears.
20. What did Herriot say to Tricki in the car?
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That there is no kick left in the poor old lad — but that he thinks he knows the cure.
21. How did the other dogs receive Tricki at the surgery?
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They gave him a few seconds’ sniff, judged him dull company and took no further notice.
22. Where did Tricki sleep at the surgery?
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In a bed made up in a warm loose box, beside the one the other dogs used.
23. What did Tricki get for the first two days?
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No food but plenty of water, while the narrator kept an eye on him.
24. What happened at the end of the second day?
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He began to take some notice of what was around him.
25. What happened on the third day?
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He began to whimper at the noise of the dogs outside, and when the door was opened he trotted out.
26. Who is Joe?
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The greyhound at the surgery, who with his friends engulfed Tricki, rolled him over and inspected him thoroughly.
27. How is Tricki described as he followed the other dogs?
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He followed them, rolling slightly with his surplus fat.
28. Who slopped the food into the bowls at feeding time?
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Tristan.
29. Why did the dogs eat at high speed?
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Because a dog that fell behind risked having to fight for the last of his own dinner.
30. What did Tricki do after the other dogs had finished eating?
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He went round the emptied bowls, giving one or two of them a casual lick inside.
31. What happened the next day at feeding time?
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A bowl of his own was set out, and the vet was glad to see him shouldering his way towards it.
32. What medicinal treatment did Tricki receive?
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None at all — the story says he had no medicinal treatment of any kind.
33. How did Tricki spend his days at the surgery?
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Running about with the dogs, joining their friendly scrimmages, being bowled over, tramped on and squashed, battling like a tiger at dinner for what was his and going after rats in the old hen-house once it was dark.
34. How is Tricki described among the surgery dogs?
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As an accepted member of the gang — 'an unlikely, silky little object among the shaggy crew'.
35. What sentence sums up Tricki's fortnight?
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'He had never enjoyed himself so much.'
36. How often did Mrs Pumphrey telephone, and what did she ask?
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A dozen times a day, asking among other things whether his cushions were being turned regularly and his correct coat worn according to the weather.
37. Which word of Herriot's set off the flow of gifts?
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“Convalescing” — used when he told her the dog was out of danger and mending fast.
38. What gifts arrived, in order, and what were they for?
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Fresh eggs, by the two dozen, meant to put some strength back into the dog; then bottles of wine to enrich his blood; and finally brandy to put a final edge on his constitution.
39. What happened to the eggs, the wine and the brandy?
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The narrator and his partners consumed them — two eggs each at breakfast, wine before and during lunch, and brandy round the fire at night.
40. Why did Herriot telephone Mrs Pumphrey after a fortnight?
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Because, though it was a real temptation to keep the dog for good, he knew she was suffering, and so felt compelled to tell her that the dog had recovered and was awaiting collection.
41. How is Mrs Pumphrey's car described?
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As about thirty feet of gleaming black metal, with a chauffeur who opened the door; she herself was almost lost in the interior.
42. What did Mrs Pumphrey ask when she arrived?
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'Oh, Mr Herriot, do tell me the truth. Is he really better?' — her hands tightly clasped and her lips trembling.
43. What did Herriot tell her to do?
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That there was no need for her to get out of the car — he would go and fetch the dog himself.
44. What did Herriot find in the garden?
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A mass of dogs tearing round and round the lawn, and among them, ears flapping and tail waving, the little golden figure of Tricki.
45. How had Tricki changed in two weeks?
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A fortnight had turned him into a supple, hard-muscled animal, holding his place in the pack at a full stretching gallop with his chest almost down to the grass.
46. What does 'lithe' mean?
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Flexible.
47. What did Tricki do when he saw his mistress?
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He launched himself out of the vet’s arms in one enormous jump and landed in his mistress’s lap, then climbed all over her, licking her face and barking.
48. How did Mrs Pumphrey react to the leap?
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She gave a startled 'Ooh!' and then had to defend herself against him.
49. What was carried back out to the car?
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The beds, the toys, the cushions, the coats and the bowls — not one of them touched in a fortnight.
50. Why is 'none of which had been used' so important?
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Because it proves that everything Tricki was thought to need was unnecessary, and that the absence of it was the cure.
51. What were Mrs Pumphrey's last words?
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That she can never thank him enough — and that it is a triumph of surgery.
52. Why does Mrs Pumphrey think the recovery is a triumph of surgery?
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Because she believes the vet's skill and treatment cured the dog; she has no idea that he was given no medicine at all and simply lived like an ordinary dog for a fortnight.
53. Why is the title ironic?
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Because there was no operation and no medicinal treatment of any kind. The cure was two days of water, then food that had to be competed for, company and hard exercise.
54. What does 'surgery' mean in this story?
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The place where a doctor, dentist or veterinary surgeon treats patients — not an operation.
55. Why does Herriot not correct Mrs Pumphrey at the end?
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Out of tact. Telling her the truth would humiliate her and help nobody, and the dog is well — which is what matters.
56. What kind of person is the narrator?
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Observant, sensible and firm, honest about his own weaknesses, and very tactful — he treats the cause of the illness and spares the owner's feelings throughout.
57. Was Tricki happy to go home?
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Yes — he took off in a tremendous leap into his mistress's lap, licking her face and barking, with no reluctance at all.
58. What is likely to happen after the story ends?
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Nothing in the household has changed — the unused coats and bowls go home, Mrs Pumphrey still believes in surgery rather than diet, and Tricki's only fault is still greed — so he will probably be overfed again.
59. Is this a real-life episode or fiction?
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Probably a mixture: James Herriot was the pen name of a working Yorkshire vet, and the detail has the texture of experience, but the neat two-week arc and the closing line are clearly shaped by a writer.
60. What does the textbook suggest about why Mrs Pumphrey behaves as she does?
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That she is a wealthy woman who spoils her dog past all sense, quite possibly because she has nobody else — and it asks whether such people are merely silly or can cause real harm.
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