Navigating through the English Language and Literature curriculum for Class 10 requires an in-depth understanding of realistic veterinary prose, character satire, animal psychology, and social critique. Chapter 1 of the supplementary reader Footprints Without Feet, “A Triumph of Surgery” by renowned British veterinary surgeon and author James Herriot (pen name of James Alfred Wight), is a humorous, compassionate, and satirical story. It highlights the foolish and harmful consequences of excessive pampering, overfeeding, and misplaced maternal affection shown by an affluent pet owner toward her small dog. To help students master every aspect of this foundational unit, this comprehensive solutions guide offers textbook-accurate, highly structured, and pedagogically sound responses strictly aligned with the latest CBSE marking schemes and word limits.
Every question presented in the official NCERT textbook—ranging from all in-text Read and Find Out checks and analytical thinking questions to character evaluations of Dr. Herriot and Mrs. Pumphrey, and an expanded set of 15 board-level FAQs—has been solved with exhaustive detail. Short-answer responses are calibrated strictly to the official 30–40 word limit, while long-answer analytical questions meet the 100–120 word board standard. Key scoring terms, character traits (tactful, pragmatic, indulgent, bloated sausage, and convalescing), and medical realities have been highlighted to ensure students secure maximum marks in their CBSE Board Examinations.
NCERT Class 10 English A Triumph of Surgery Solutions
The story revolves around Tricki, a small, pampered Pekingese dog owned by an excessively wealthy and emotional widow named Mrs. Pumphrey. Mistaking Tricki’s sluggishness for malnutrition, Mrs. Pumphrey continuously overfeeds him between meals with malt, cod-liver oil, bowls of Horlicks, cream cakes, and chocolates. Deprived of physical exercise, Tricki becomes dangerously obese, resembling a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner, and collapses with bouts of vomiting.
Dr. James Herriot, a pragmatic and tactful veterinary surgeon, recognizes that Tricki suffers from no disease other than overfeeding. Knowing that Mrs. Pumphrey cannot resist spoiling him, Herriot insists that Tricki must be hospitalized for a fortnight. At the veterinary surgery, Tricki receives no medication; he is kept on a strict water diet for two days, encouraged to play and run with the pack of other dogs, and forced to compete for his food. Within two weeks, Tricki transforms into a lithe, muscular, and active animal. When Mrs. Pumphrey sees her transformed pet leaping with joy, she tearfully calls his recovery “a triumph of surgery.” Below are the complete, textbook-accurate solutions.
Read and Find Out (Page No. 1)
Question 1 Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki? (Page No. 1) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Mrs. Pumphrey is deeply worried because Tricki has become completely listless, dull, and inactive.
He refuses to eat his regular meals, rejects his favorite cakes and chocolates, and suffers from repeated bouts of vomiting, spending his entire day lying motionless on a rug and panting.
Question 2 What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this? (Page No. 1) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Assuming Tricki was suffering from severe malnutrition, Mrs. Pumphrey tried to build up his strength by giving him extra snacks between meals—including malt, cod-liver oil, and a nightly bowl of Horlicks, along with cream cakes and chocolates.
No, she was not wise at all. Her over-indulgent feeding was the direct cause of Tricki’s severe obesity and physical distress, turning him into a bloated, sick animal.
Question 3 Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story? (Page No. 1)
Answer: In this story, ‘I’ refers to Mr. James Herriot, the veterinary surgeon who narrates the story and treats Tricki.
Read and Find Out (Page No. 3)
Question 1 Is the narrator as rich as Tricki’s mistress? (Page No. 3)
Answer: No, the narrator is not as wealthy as Mrs. Pumphrey.
This is evident from the contrasting lifestyles depicted: Mrs. Pumphrey maintains an entire domestic staff of maids, chauffeurs, and gardeners, and possesses a vast wardrobe of tweed coats, bowls, and cushions for her dog, whereas Dr. Herriot lives a modest, hardworking professional life.
Question 2 How does he treat the dog? (Page No. 3) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Dr. Herriot treats Tricki with common sense, dietary discipline, and physical activity, completely avoiding medicinal drugs or surgery:
- For the first two days, he gives Tricki no food, only plenty of fresh water.
- From the third day, he provides regulated meals and makes Tricki compete with the other dogs for food.
- He allows Tricki to run, play, wrestle, and hunt for rats with the surgery pack, transforming him into an active, healthy animal.
Question 3 Why is he tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest? (Page No. 3) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Dr. Herriot is tempted to keep Tricki as a permanent guest because of the luxurious supplies sent by Mrs. Pumphrey for the dog’s recovery:
- Two dozen fresh eggs daily for breakfast.
- Bottles of fine wine to enrich Tricki’s blood, enjoyed by Herriot and his partners before and during lunch.
- Bottles of high-quality brandy to finish off the evening around the fire.
Question 4 Why does Mrs Pumphrey think the dog’s recovery is “a triumph of surgery”? (Page No. 3) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Mrs. Pumphrey calls Tricki’s recovery “a triumph of surgery” because when she last saw him, the dog was bloated, bedridden, and vomiting near death.
When she arrives two weeks later, she sees Tricki transformed into a lithe, hard-muscled, and energetic animal leaping into her arms. Unaware that simple diet control and exercise cured him, she genuinely believes his recovery was a miracle of veterinary surgery.
Thinking about the Text (Page No. 6)
Question 1 What kind of a person do you think the narrator, a veterinary surgeon, is? Would you say he is tactful as well as full of common sense? (Page No. 6) [BOARD EXAM FAVORITE]
Answer: Dr. James Herriot is a highly skilled, compassionate, pragmatic, and tactful veterinary surgeon endowed with exceptional common sense:
- Practical Medical Judgment: He immediately diagnoses that Tricki needs strict dietary control and physical exercise rather than costly medical treatments or surgical intervention.
- Tactful Human Handling: He understands Mrs. Pumphrey’s emotional vulnerability. Instead of scolding her directly for spoiling the dog, he tactfully invents the necessity of a two-week hospital isolation to separate the dog from her overfeeding without hurting her feelings.
- Warm and Honest Nature: While he enjoys the eggs and wine sent by Mrs. Pumphrey, his professional integrity compels him to call her promptly when Tricki is cured.
Question 2 Do you think Tricki was happy to go home? What do you think will happen now? (Page No. 6)
Answer: Yes, Tricki was immensely happy to go home. The moment he saw Mrs. Pumphrey sitting in the car, he made a tremendous leap from Dr. Herriot’s arms, sailed into her lap, licked her face excitedly, and barked with joy.
However, unless Mrs. Pumphrey strictly heeds Dr. Herriot’s advice regarding daily exercise and a controlled diet, she will likely resume spoiling him with sweet treats, causing Tricki to become obese and sick again in the near future.
Question 3 Do you think this is a real-life episode, or mere fiction? Or is it a mixture of both? (Page No. 6)
Answer: The story is a mixture of real-life experiences and gentle fictionalized humor.
As a practicing veterinary surgeon in rural Yorkshire, James Herriot encountered numerous over-pampered pets and wealthy, lonely clients like Mrs. Pumphrey. While the core medical case of a dog suffering from overfeeding and thriving in a pack environment is rooted in factual veterinary reality, the exaggerated luxuries (bottles of wine and brandy sent for a dog) add charming literary satire to the narrative.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Class 10 English Book 2 Chapter 1
Question 1: Who is the author of “A Triumph of Surgery”? Answer: “A Triumph of Surgery” is written by James Alfred Wight under the famous pen name James Herriot, an English veterinary surgeon and writer.
Question 2: What was Tricki’s only fault that led to his illness? Answer: Tricki’s only fault was his insatiable greed for food. He never refused a meal at any hour of the day or night.
Question 3: What did Tricki look like when Dr. Herriot first saw him on the street? Answer: Tricki looked like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner, having bloodshot, rheumy eyes and a tongue lolling from his jaws.
Question 4: Why was Hodgkin the gardener unable to give Tricki exercise? Answer: Hodgkin the gardener was down with lumbago (lower back pain), so he was unable to play the usual ring-throwing game with Tricki.
Question 5: Why did Dr. Herriot decide that Tricki must be hospitalized? Answer: Dr. Herriot knew that Mrs. Pumphrey would never be able to cut Tricki’s food at home, so the only way to save the dog was to take him away from her care for two weeks.
Question 6: How did Mrs. Pumphrey and her staff react when Tricki was taken away? Answer: Mrs. Pumphrey wailed in distress, and the entire household staff rushed around in tears, bringing out Tricki’s day bed, night bed, cushions, toys, and specialized feeding bowls.
Question 7: What did the other dogs at the surgery do when Tricki arrived on the first day? Answer: The pack of dogs sniffed around the motionless, dull Tricki for a few seconds, decided he was an uninteresting object, and ignored him.
Question 8: When did Tricki begin to show interest in his surroundings at the surgery? Answer: Tricki began to show interest in his surroundings on the second and third days, whimpering when he heard the other dogs barking in the yard.
Question 9: What physical activities helped Tricki recover so quickly? Answer: Tricki spent his days running with the other dogs, engaging in friendly scuffles, hunting rats in the old henhouse at night, and competing for his share of food.
Question 10: Why did Mrs. Pumphrey send fresh eggs, wine, and brandy to the surgery? Answer: She sent these expensive items under the mistaken belief that they would enrich Tricki’s blood, speed up his convalescence, and restore his strength.
Question 11: How did Dr. Herriot and his assistants benefit from the supplies sent for Tricki? Answer: They enjoyed two fresh eggs for breakfast, glasses of wine before and during lunch, and finished off their evenings sipping fine brandy around the fire.
Question 12: Why did Dr. Herriot decide not to keep Tricki as a permanent guest? Answer: Although enjoying the luxuries, Dr. Herriot felt genuine compassion for Mrs. Pumphrey, knowing that she was suffering intensely from pining for her beloved pet.
Question 13: How did Tricki look after two weeks of treatment at the surgery? Answer: Tricki had transformed into a lithe, hard-muscled, agile, and energetic animal, keeping up easily with the active pack of dogs.
Question 14: What is the significance of the title “A Triumph of Surgery”? Answer: The title is ironic. Mrs. Pumphrey believed that a complex medical surgery saved her dog, whereas in reality, it was a simple victory of diet control, exercise, and common sense.
Question 15: What moral lesson does “A Triumph of Surgery” teach pet owners? Answer: It teaches that genuine love for pets involves discipline, proper nutrition, and regular exercise, and that blind indulgence and overfeeding are forms of cruelty that harm animal health.
Mastering the NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 1, “A Triumph of Surgery”, equips students with the character analysis, textual vocabulary, and situational irony required for top marks in the CBSE Board Examination. Review Dr. Herriot’s pragmatic treatment, Mrs. Pumphrey’s character sketch, and the 15 board-level FAQs above to excel in your literature assessments.