On this page
Mijbil the Otter is the sixth prose chapter of First Flight, and it is on the prescribed list in the CBSE English Language and Literature curriculum for 2026-27. Gavin Maxwell wrote about his otters at length in his 1960 book Ring of Bright Water. Below: a summary, the themes, character sketches and practice questions.
What happens in Mijbil the Otter?
The NCERT chapter comes in four parts.
Getting the otter. Maxwell’s dog Jonnie has died, and early in 1956 he travels to southern Iraq thinking an otter might suit his cottage at Camusfearna in Scotland. Waiting at Basra for his mail, he finds two men with a squirming sack and a note from a friend: “Here is your otter...”
Settling in. The otter looks like a tiny dragon in mud armour. Maxwell names him Mijbil. For a day he is aloof, then he sleeps on Maxwell’s bed, goes wild with joy in the bath, learns to turn on a tap and juggles marbles on his belly.
The flight. The British airline will not fly animals, so Maxwell books a flight to Paris on another airline and on to London, with Mij in a box no more than eighteen inches square. Mij tears the lining and bloodies himself. On board he escapes, a woman screams “A rat! A rat!”, and Maxwell dives for him and ends up with his face covered in curry. The calm air hostess promises to find Mij, but he soon bounds back on to Maxwell’s knee by himself.
London. For nearly a month Mij lives in Maxwell’s flat, invents a ball game on a sloping suitcase and walks on a lead. Londoners guess he is a seal, a squirrel, a walrus, even a hippo, and a labourer asks, “Here, Mister — what is that supposed to be?”
What are the themes of Mijbil the Otter?
The bond between a person and an animal. Maxwell calls it “a thraldom to otters, an otter fixation” that has not ended.
The responsibility of keeping a pet. The lesson opens with the SPCA’s advice that a pet is a lifetime of commitment, and the box scene shows what a journey costs an animal.
Close observation. Maxwell reads Mij’s feelings from his actions, such as chittering with irritation when a tap will not turn.
Humour. The chase down the aircraft and the Londoners’ guesses are written to make you laugh.
Should wild animals be pets? The NCERT lesson asks you to discuss wildlife laws and what a wild animal misses when taken from its home. Mij’s species, the smooth-coated otter, is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (species entry).
How do you write a character sketch of Mij and Maxwell?
Use one pattern for every trait: name the trait, give the incident, add a short phrase from the text.
Mijbil: intelligent (turns on the tap and invents the suitcase game), playful (dribbles a ball like “a four-footed soccer player”), loves water, aloof at first and then affectionate (nuzzles Maxwell on the plane).
Maxwell: patient, loving and observant; anxious about the journey and upset when Mij is hurt in the box; honest and funny about his own embarrassment.
The air hostess: calm, kind and quick-thinking, which is why Maxwell calls her “the very queen of her kind”.
Worked example (about 40 words): Mijbil is intelligent. A few days after arriving, he escapes to the bathroom and fumbles at the taps until water flows. In London he invents a game, rolling a ping-pong ball down a sloping suitcase and ambushing it.
What questions come from Mijbil the Otter in the board exam?
In the CBSE 2026-27 curriculum, Language through Literature carries 40 of the 80 theory marks. A prose chapter like this one can appear as a 5-mark extract, as one of the 3-mark short answers from First Flight written in 40-50 words, or as a 6-mark long answer of about 100-120 words that can go beyond the text.
Practise these, built on the chapter’s own questions:
Why was the otter named Maxwell’s otter?
What did Mij do to the box, and how do you think Maxwell felt putting him back in it?
Why does Maxwell call the air hostess “the very queen of her kind”?
What are compulsive habits? Give one of schoolchildren and one of Mij.
Long answer: you are Mij. Write a diary entry about the flight from Basra.
Long answer: is it right to keep a wild animal as a pet? Use Mij’s story.
Using an AI chatbot? Check its summary against the book with our guide to catching invented details in AI summaries of English chapters.
Fit this chapter into a week-by-week plan for the last 45 days before Class 10 boards. When your revision turns to science and maths, Fermi’s AI tutor can work out what you already know and build a plan for the session, so you sit down to a clear next step.
