A TRIUMPH OF SURGERY

INTRODUCTION
‘A Triumph of Surgery’ written by James Herriot is about a small dog Tricki who is
pampered a lot by his rich mistress, Mrs. Pumphrey. He falls sick as a result of being
overfed and is cured by Mr. Herriot, a veterinarian, at his surgery. Apparently, this is a
simple story but has a lesson to teach. Many kids get spoilt because they are
unreasonably pampered by their parents. Mrs. Pumphrey can be related to an
overindulgent mother who pampers Tricki like her own child, spoils him without
thinking about the consequences and becomes the cause of his misery, unintentionally.
IMPORTANT POINTS
• Mrs. Pumphrey is foolishly indulgent with her pet dog Tricki, due to which the latter
puts on a lot of weight, looks like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner and lacks
energy and enthusiasm.
• The narrator Mr. Herriot, who is a veterinary surgeon, is shocked to see a hugely fat
Tricki. He cautions Mrs. Pumphrey to cut down on his food and to give him enough
physical exercise.
• Mrs. Pumphrey, thinking that Tricki had become lazy due to malnutrition, kept giving
him some little extra foods between the meals, like malt and cod liver oil as well as a
bowl of Horlicks, in order to build his strength. She also gave him cream cakes and
chocolates but no exercise.
• Tricki becomes sick, refuses to eat or do anything and has bouts of vomiting. He is
hospitalised by Mr. Herriot who understands that Tricki’s problem is his greed and
overindulgence. He intends to keep Tricki under observation for a fortnight.
• Tricki is not given any special treatment at the clinic. He is provided a warm loose box
for his bed and is made to sleep near other household dogs. No medicinal treatment is
given to him. He is served very little food but is given a lot of water to drink. All the
eatables and drinks brought for Tricki by Mrs. Pumphrey are consumed by the doctor
and his staff at the clinic.
• Gradually, Tricki begins to show interest in his surroundings and whimpers on hearing
other dogs in the yard. He starts mingling with other dogs and joins in their friendly
scrimmages, fighting like a tiger for his share at mealtimes and hunting rats in the old
hen-house at night. In this way he gets the much-needed exercise and is transformed
into a flexible, hard muscled dog in a fortnight.
• Tricky recovers completely with the help of tactful Mr. Herriot. Mrs. Pumphrey is
informed about his complete recovery and is asked to take Tricki back home.
• Mrs. Pumphrey comes in her chauffeur driven luxurious car to take Tricki back home.
Tricki jumps into her lap. Tears of happiness can be seen in the eyes of Mrs. Pumphrey.
• Mrs. Pumphrey is happy and full of gratitude. She thanks Mr. Herriot for the treatment
and calls Tricki’s recovery a triumph of surgery.

THEME
-over indulgence can be life threatening, especially when the caretaker is ignorant.
-tactfulness and wisdom of an efficient young doctor who cures Tricki without any
medication or surgery

MESSAGE
-our love for our pets should not be expressed by pampering or overfeeding, such
indulgence can be life-threatening
-one needs to strike a balance between indulgence and strictness
-excess of everything is bed, even love
-a restricted wholesome diet, supplemented with plenty of exercise is all that is needed
to keep one’s pet healthy

CHARACTERS
MRS. PUMPHREY
Mrs. Pumphrey is a wealthy but foolishly indulgent woman who pampers her dog Tricki
by overfeeding him. She wrongly relates Tricki’s listlessness to malnutrition and serves
him cream cakes, chocolates and cod liver oil. She also doesn’t follow the doctor’s
advice of cutting down on his food and making him exercise as she can’t be strict with
him. Thus, she becomes the cause of Tricki’s misery. Mrs. Pumphrey is excessively
fond of her little dog and pampers him a lot. Tricki has a whole wardrobe of tweed coats
for the cold weather and a rain coat for the wet days. He also has a separate day bed, a
night bed, his favourite cushions, toys, a breakfast bowl, a lunch bowl and a supper
bowl. Mrs. Pumphrey gets distraught and almost swoons when Mr. Herriot tells her that
Tricki needs to be hospitalised. She keeps wailing when Tricki is taken to the surgery
and makes several phone calls throughout the day to keep herself informed about
Tricki’s health. On learning about Tricki’s ‘convalescing’ news, she starts bringing
dozens of eggs to build up his strength. She also brings wine and brandy for Tricki to
enrich his blood and build his constitution. Albeit caring, she is silly as she is ignorant
about the consequences of her actions. Thus, the saying “excess of everything is bad”
holds true in her case.
MR. HERRIOT
Mr. Herriot is a veterinary doctor who is very tactful and caring while dealing with pets.
He has a lot of common sense. He could understand that Tricki’s problem is his greed
as he can never refuse food. He also understands the psyche of Mrs. Pumphrey who
overfeeds her pet and can’t follow his advice. He makes plans in advance to get Tricki
out of the house for a fortnight and advises Mrs. Pumphrey that Tricki needs to be
hospitalised. He ignores Mrs. Pumphrey’s wailing and bemoaning and takes a firm stand
regarding Tricki’s health. He gives the best treatment to Tricki without administering
any medicine to him and by keeping a close watch on his diet. He also makes Tricki do
enough exercise by letting him play with other dogs and lets him discover the joys of
being bowled over, tramped on and squashed every few minutes which helps Tricki get
back into shape. Although it is a temptation to keep Tricki as a permanent guest,
considering the good number of eggs, wine and brandy brought by Mrs. Pumphrey to
build Tricki’s constitution, he is kind and compassionate enough to understand her
suffering and informs her about Tricki’s recovery. Mr. Herriot well deserves the
gratitude expressed by Mrs. Pumphrey for the wonderful treatment of Tricki.
TRICKI
Tricki is a small dog who is pampered by his rich mistress, Mrs. Pumphrey and enjoys
all the comforts and luxuries in her house. He has a whole wardrobe of tweed coats for
the cold weather and a raincoat for the wet days. He also has a day bed, a night bed, a
good variety of cushions, toys, a breakfast bowl, a lunch bowl and a supper bowl. Tricki
is overfed by his rich mistress and is overtly fond of cream cakes and chocolates. He is
not given enough exercises. His only problem is his greed for food. He has never been
known to refuse food and can tackle a meal at any hour of the day or night. As a result
of overindulgence, he becomes hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each
corner. His eyes, bloodshot and rheumy, stare straight ahead and his tongue lolls from
his jaws. He is listless and struggles to walk. Due to over feeding, Tricki suddenly stops
eating, refuses even his favourite dishes and has bouts of vomiting. He loses interest in
everything and spends all his days lying on the rug, panting. Tricki recuperates at Mr.
Herriot’s surgery under the doctor’s supervision as he is kept there on a strict diet and
is given plenty of exercise. He joins the other dogs in their friendly scrimmages and
discovers the joys of being bowled over, tramped on and squashed every few minutes
and becomes an accepted member of their gang. Thus, from a lazy dog Tricki gets
transformed into a flexible, hard muscled one, due to the efforts of his kind and
compassionate vet, Mr. Herriot.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

1. Why was the author shocked at Tricki’s appearance?
Ans. The author was shocked at Tricki’s appearance because he had become hugely fat,
like a bloated sausage. His eyes looked bloodshot and rheumy and his tongue lolled
from his jaws.
2. What did Mrs. Pumphrey start giving Tricki when she suspected that he was
suffering from malnutrition?
Ans. Mrs. Pumphrey started giving Tricky extra food in between meals. She also gave
him some malt and cod-liver oil, and a bowl of Horlicks at night to make him sleep.
3. Why was the author expecting a call from Mrs. Pumphrey?
Ans. The author was expecting a call from Mrs. Pumphrey because Tricki had become
very fat and looked unwell. He was sure that Mrs. Pumphrey would soon call him for
help.
4. What did the staff of Mrs. Pumphrey do when the author took Tricki away
without any further delay?
Ans. The staff of Mrs. Pumphrey brought out Tricki’s day bed and night bed, favorite
cushions, toys and rubber rings, breakfast bowl, lunch bowl, and supper bowl, and tried
to put everything in the author’s car.
5. At the surgery, how did the other dogs behave when the author arrived with
Tricki?
Ans. At first, the other dogs surged around the author when he came to the surgery with
Tricki. Then they sniffed at Tricki for a few seconds, but found him uninteresting and
ignored him.
6. What happened on the third day when the author let Tricki out of the surgery?
Ans. When Tricki was let out of the surgery on the third day, he was immediately
engulfed by Joe, the greyhound, and his friends. They rolled him over and thoroughly
inspected him, after which they moved off down the garden with Tricki following them.
7. Once Tricki started recovering, how did he enjoy with the other dogs at the
surgery?
Ans. Tricki ran all day with the dogs and joined in their friendly scrimmages. He enjoyed
being bowled over, tramped on and squashed by them. He hunted rats in the old
henhouse at night and fought like a tiger for his share of food at mealtimes.
8. How did Mrs. Pumphrey react when she heard that Tricki was convalescing?
Ans. Mrs. Pumphrey started to bring fresh eggs to build up Tricki’s strength. She began
to send bottles of wine to enrich Tricki’s blood, and sent brandy as well to strengthen
his constitution.
9. Why was the author tempted to keep Tricki as a permanent guest at his surgery?
Ans. The author was tempted to keep Tricki as a permanent guest at his surgery because
Mrs. Pumphrey was sending fresh eggs, bottles of wine and even brandy to help the
convalescing Tricki, but which the author and his partners had instead, for such food
would do Tricki more harm than good.
10. How had Tricki changed in the two weeks he was at the surgery?
Ans. In two weeks at the surgery Tricki had been transformed into a lithe and hard-
muscled animal. He was keeping up well with the other dogs, and stretched out his body
as he ran, his chest almost brushing the ground
11. Mrs Pumphrey kept Tricki in the lap of luxury. But Tricki needed something
else. What was it that Mrs Pumphrey could not give Tricki?
Ans. Mrs Pumphrey kept Tricki in the lap of luxury. But it was because of this that
Tricki became fat and unhealthy. One fault of Tricki was that he could not refuse food,
and so he ate all the cream cakes and chocolates that Mrs Pumphrey gave him. He had
different bowls for different mealtimes and different coats for different seasons. Yet all
these were not what Tricki needed. He needed plenty of exercise and play, something
which he found at the surgery with the other dogs. The author guesses correctly the
reason for Tricki’s ill health, and so gives Tricki little food but a lot of exercise and play
at the surgery.
12. What kind of a life did the animals have at the surgery? How different was it
from the life Tricki had? Which life would you have preferred? Give reasons.
Ans. The kind of life that the animals had at the surgery was very different from the life
that Tricki had. Tricki was kept in luxury. His rich mistress refused him nothing. He had
cream cakes and chocolates, different coats for different seasons, cushions and toys and
rings. The dogs at the surgery led a more robust life. They ran and played outdoors, and
made a dash for food when it was served. They lived the life as dogs should, with a lot
of exercise, the company of other dogs and sufficient food. Tricky had a surfeit of
everything, which was unhealthy. For these reasons, I would have preferred the life that
the animals had at the surgery.
13. Mrs Pumphrey never came to know that all the coats, beds, toys and food she
had given for Tricki had never been used for his treatment. Do you think she
should have been told? Why? Why not? (answers may vary)
Ans. The author had the good sense not to let Mrs Pumphrey know that all the coats,
beds, toys and food she had sent for Tricki had never been used. He knew how anxious
she could become about the welfare of her pet, to the extent that she could not
understand at what point her love became over indulgence. Had Mrs Pumphrey been
told, she might have become upset and would have insisted that Tricki be given all those
things. It would have made Tricki’s treatment difficult. It was the lack of those things
that gave Tricki the opportunity to lead the life as dogs should, and in the process return
to good health.

TO BE ATTEMPTED IN THE ENGLISH NOTEBOOK

(40-50 words)
1. A pet becomes as much part of the family as any other member. Yet its needs are
different and should be recognized. Discuss the relevance of this statement with
reference to Mrs Pumphrey and Tricki.
Also, attempt the MCQs from KV Question Bank