Summary
The writer’s grandfather liked to collect animals and had a zoo at home. Once he bought a monkey named Toto from a tonga driver for a sum of five rupees.
Toto was kept secretly as the grandmother disliked animals. Toto was very mischievous. When the writer and his grandfather hid Toto in a cupboard, and tied him to a hook, he broke the hook and caused havoc in the room. The next day, when he was kept in the servants room along with other animals, he did not let them sleep all night.
As grandfather had to go to Saharanpur for work, he decided to take the monkey along with him. He carried Toto in a strong bag made of canvas and closed the zip nicely so that Toto could not escape. Toto made unsuccessful attempts to get out of the bag, which made the back jump and roll. This aroused the curiosity of fellow passengers at the railway station. At the Saharanpur railway station, when grandfather was getting his ticket checked, Toto peeked out of the bag and smiled at the ticket collector. As the ticket collector declared that it was a dog, grandfather had to buy a ticket for 3 rupees, much to his annoyance.
When toto was accepted by grandmother, it was given a place in the stable along with the donkey- Nana. Toto did not get along with nana as well.
Toto enjoyed taking bath in warm water during the winter season. One day, he almost boiled himself when he jumped into a kettle of boiling water.
One afternoon, Toto ate the family meal of pulao. He threw the empty dish from the tree and it broke it into several pieces.
Toto’s mischiefs grew by the day and grandfather realized that they could not keep him at home. Finally, he found the same tonga driver and sold Toto back to him for a sum of three rupees.