A Tiger in the House Summary

Ruskin Bond's "A Tiger in the House" chapter is a lovely account of a tiger named Timothy. Grandpa discovers Timothy near the complex banyan tree roots. He eventually joins his grandfather's family. Through Timothy's development from a cub to an adult tiger, the narrative advances.

About the Author

Indian author Ruskin Bond writes in English. His debut book, The Room on the Roof, was released in 1956 and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. Over 500 short stories, articles, and novels, including 69 for children, have been written by Bond.

Summary

The writer's grandfather found Timothy, a tiger cub, in the Terai jungle close to Dehra. Grandfather and a few other folks had entered the forest. They were going on an animal hunt, which was a common pastime back then. Grandfather was lagging behind the group as he strolled gently along the forest trail. A tiny tiger, only about 18 inches long, was found by him as he was wandering.

The tiger cub was concealed among the intricate and convoluted banyan tree roots. He was picked up and brought home by his grandfather. He stood out from the rest of the hunting party since he had the distinction of having taken a game either dead or alive. The home was where the tiger cub ended up. Timothy is the name the writer's grandma gave him. His only food throughout his early years was milk, which their cook, Mahmoud, would give him in a feeding bottle.

But it turned out that the cub was receiving milk that was a little bit too rich, which meant that he might gain weight by consuming the milk. To stop him from gaining weight, they had to alter his diet. After that, he was placed on a diet of raw mutton and cod liver oil. He then began to receive a diet consisting of pigeons and bunnies, which he thought to be delectable.

Timothy had company from the two animals who lived in the home. A monkey by the name of Toto was the first creature. Toto would pull the baby tiger by his tail and was not scared to undertake risky things. Tim would attempt to hurt the monkey if he lost his cool, which would happen when he felt enraged at what Toto was doing.

Toto could reach a certain height that the tiger couldn't because he could climb up the drapes. A tiny puppy made up the second animal. It was likely a stray dog because the puppy had no distinguishable breed. In a manner similar to how the tiger cub was discovered in the wild, Grandfather discovered the puppy on a road.

The dog first frightened Timothy when he first saw it. The puppy would rapidly run away with a sharp hop whenever he got too close to Timothy. Then, in an irrational run, he would approach the puppy and use his big forepaws to scare it. He would then turn around and reappear somewhere far from the puppy, where he would sit. When the puppy was ready, he would finally let it crawl up onto his back and take a nap. The tiger's transformation from being terrified of the puppy to becoming friendly profoundly shocked the author.

Timothy used to engage in a variety of activities to pass the time. One of them was to pursue someone who would play with him in private. The author became one of Timothy's favorite people to stalk after moving in with Grandfather. The tiger always had a cunning, glittering glint in his eyes as he stalked.

His body would be in a bent knee position with his upper body moving forward and downward. He would creep up on the writer and then, out of nowhere, start running for the writer's feet. He would then roll over and joyfully kick, acting as though he would bite the writer's ankles.

Timothy had reached full-grown retriever dog size by the time the writer moved in with his grandfather. When the writer and the tiger went on walks, people on the road would allow them room due to the tiger's significant growth. People stayed far away from the tiger out of fear of him. The writer found it challenging to keep up with the tiger and keep him under control because the tiger occasionally pulled the chain with a lot of force.

The drawing room in the house was the tiger's preferred space. The couches in the drawing room were favourites of Timothy's. On the broad sofa, he would relax by lying down. He was proud of himself as he reclined on the long sofa in a comfortable position. If anyone attempted to pry him off the sofa, he would growl and flash his savage, pointed fangs.

Because Timothy practised good hygiene, he had clean habits. Tigers are related to cats, and Timothy displayed a cat-like tendency to clean his face by rubbing it with his paws, as the author observed. Mahmoud, the cook, had a chamber where the tiger would spend the night. He always looked forward to Mahmoud letting him leave the room in the morning.

The writer's grandmother made a statement one day in a way that gave the impression to others that she was genuinely predicting the future. She predicted that one day they would discover Timothy seated on Mahmoud's bed, completely unrecognizable except for his shoes and clothing, and the chef. It implied that the cook would disappear, leaving only his shoes and clothing as a trail of his whereabouts after the tiger had devoured him.

Grandmother was concerned the tiger might devour the cook. Even though that day never materialised, Grandmother's forecast was not entirely off. Everyone could see a shift in the tiger's demeanor when it reached the age of six months. Each day, his friendliness waned a little more. The tiger would try to sneak out of the garden when taken for a walk in order to follow a stray animal or someone's pet.

There were occasional evenings when the residents of the home would hear frantic clucking emanating from the house where domestic poultry was kept. Feathers would be scattered all over the verandah in the morning. With each passing day, Timothy's disobedience and aggression increased, necessitating more frequent chaining. Then one day, it appeared that Timothy was following the cook covertly and was about to do something evil and perilous to Mahmoud. So Grandfather made the decision to take Timothy to the zoo.

The writer's grandparents made the decision to travel to Lucknow to see some family about six months after the tiger left the zoo. Grandfather had the opportunity to see Timothy when he was travelling to Lucknow. To check on Timothy's development and wellbeing, he made the decision to make a brief visit at the zoo. The author claims that he was not in Lucknow at the time, therefore he was not there to go to the zoo with his grandfather. However, he learned all about Grandfather's visit to Timothy at the zoo when he got back to Dehra.

When Grandfather got to the zoo, he immediately went to the specific cage where Timothy was housed by the zookeepers. He could see a fully grown tiger lounging in a corner, its skin beautifully striped. After greeting the tiger, grandfather slid his arm through the cage's bars.

The tiger approached the bars of his cage and allowed Grandfather to wrap his hands around his head. Grandfather tickled the tiger's ears with his hand on his brow. This was his method of expressing the tiger love. When the tiger snarled, Grandfather gently slapped him across the mouth, as was his traditional method of reminding Timothy to remain quiet. Grandfather's hands were licked affectionately by the tiger. When a leopard held in the adjoining cage roared at him and showed his teeth, he would jump back in fright. Grandfather yelled'shoo' to frighten the tiger, and the beast returned to lick his hands.

A crowd had gathered to observe the entire scene of Timothy and Grandfather finally reconnecting after a long separation. They thought it was wonderful and beautiful that Grandfather and Timothy were reunited. As it was risky to approach a vicious animal, a keeper forced his way past the crowd and questioned Grandfather about what he was doing.

Grandfather informed him that Timothy was in the queue. Then he questioned whether he had not been present when Timothy was delivered to the zoo a month prior. He posed this question because he thought it odd that someone would forbid him from encountering the tiger despite the fact that he was aware that Grandfather had previously owned the animal.

When the keeper learned that Grandfather had owned the tiger in the past, he was shocked. He claimed to have only recently started working at the zoo, i.e., he was not employed there when Grandfather donated Timothy to the institution. For nearly five minutes, he had been petting and smacking the tiger. He learned that the keeper was warily and anxiously watching him and his warm behaviors with Timothy. He was recognised as the keeper who had been present when Timothy had first visited the zoo, according to the man.

The keeper assured Grandfather that he had vivid memories of his tiger. Two months ago, Timothy passed away. When Grandfather learned the truth, he exclaimed in shock. The keeper said, "Timothy passed away from pneumonia." The other tiger in the cage was caught in the hills last month and placed there. In contrast to Timothy, the tiger was quite dangerous.

Grandfather was speechless when told the news since he was so astonished. The tiger continued to lick his arm, gradually growing more and more enamoured with the act. Grandfather was unsure if the tiger was licking him because it was hungry or out of affection. He took a long time to remove his hand from the cage since he was unsure of what to do. He did not want to think that Timothy was not the tiger in the cage, though. In a quiet voice, he bid the tiger goodnight as he drew nearer.

He had a disdainful expression on his face and was clearly upset with the keeper for telling such lies. Because that is easier to swallow than the harsh truth, he thought the tiger was Timothy and the keeper was lying. After that, he left the zoo quickly, showing that he was upset with the keeper.