Beehive Chapter 9 The Bond Of Love

(i) The writer found the baby bear near the sugarcane fields near Mysore.

(ii) The wild pigs were being driven out of the sugarcane fields by shooting at them as they destroyed the sugarcane fields.

(iii) (a) for no good reason — wantonly.

(b) at once — promptly.

(i) A baby bear riding on the back of his parent’s body fell from it. The shooters were surprised as it looked like a piece of black fur.

(ii) The baby bear kept running around his parent’s dead body, making sounds.

(iii) (a) release — capture.

(b) enemies — companions.

(a) ‘It’ stands here for the baby bear.

(b) She was delighted at receiving it.

(c) (i) duly

(ii) christened.

(i) Bruno was the tame baby bear of the writer. Once he ate rat poison (Barium Carbonate).

(ii) The poison paralyzed Bruno and made his breathing difficult.

(iii) (a) moved forcibly — dragged.

(b) the doctor of animals — the vet.

(a) T in the last line refers to the vet.

(b) Bruno had eaten barium carbonate, a poisonous substance.

(d) poison.

(a) ‘She’ refers to the narrator’s wife.

(b) The word ‘Baba’ signifies small boy

(c) (i) affectionately.

(ii) concealed.

(i) They felt relieved because the big bear had been sent to the zoo.

(ii) The writer’s wife was inconsolable. She wept and fretted. For the first few days she ate nothing.

(iii) (a) tensed — relieved.

(b) accepts — refuses.

(a) The friends visiting Mysore were requested to go to the zoo and see how Baba was getting along.

(b) They reported that Baba was well but he looked thin and sad.

(c) (i) restrain.

(ii) fretting.

(a) Friends had guessed that the bear would not recognize her.

(b) She ran up to him and petted him through the bars.

(c) conjectured.

The narrative describes the love and friendship between human beings and a wild bear. The bear loses his natural instinct to become a befitting family member. The humans also unleash unconditional love upon him. The bond of love between the two brings them together even after forced separation. The story emphasises upon the power of the bond of love. Thus, the title is perfectly appropriate.

The narrator’s wife was delighted to see the bear cub. She put a coloured ribbon around its neck. She named it Bruno. She fed him milk from a bottle and then cooked porridge of various types for him. She taught him many tricks also. It shows her loving and caring nature and her wish to have a pet animal.

(i) The writer found the baby bear near the sugarcane fields near Mysore.

(ii) The wild pigs were being driven out of the sugarcane fields by shooting at them as they destroyed the sugarcane fields.

(iii) (a) for no good reason — wantonly.

(b) at once — promptly.

(i) A baby bear riding on the back of his parent’s body fell from it. The shooters were surprised as it looked like a piece of black fur.

(ii) The baby bear kept running around his parent’s dead body, making sounds.

(iii) (a) release — capture.

(b) enemies — companions.

(a) ‘It’ stands here for the baby bear.

(b) She was delighted at receiving it.

(c) (i) duly

(ii) christened.

(i) Bruno was the tame baby bear of the writer. Once he ate rat poison (Barium Carbonate).

(ii) The poison paralyzed Bruno and made his breathing difficult.

(iii) (a) moved forcibly — dragged.

(b) the doctor of animals — the vet.

(a) T in the last line refers to the vet.

(b) Bruno had eaten barium carbonate, a poisonous substance.

(d) poison.

(a) ‘She’ refers to the narrator’s wife.

(b) The word ‘Baba’ signifies small boy

(c) (i) affectionately.

(ii) concealed.

(i) They felt relieved because the big bear had been sent to the zoo.

(ii) The writer’s wife was inconsolable. She wept and fretted. For the first few days she ate nothing.

(iii) (a) tensed — relieved.
(b) accepts — refuses.

Bruno was adopted by the narrator and his family. He lived among them like their child or a pet animal. He never harmed anyone. He used to play with the children and the pet dogs. He used to sleep in the narrator’s bed. He would wrestle at their command but just playfully. He disliked living away from them and was delighted to be back with them. All this shows him to be friendly.

Since Bruno entered their lives, the narrator’s wife had taken care of him like her own child. She showered her unconditional love upon him. Bruno also reciprocated the love. He could not live away from her. They could not eat when they had got separated. Thus, they shared a strong bond of love, friendship and faith in one another.

Bruno could perform a few tricks. At the command ‘Baba, wrestle’, he would fight and tumble the other down playfully. On the command ‘Baba hold gun’, he would point a stick on the person in front of him. On being asked about ‘the baby’, he would produce and cradle affectionately a stump of wood which he had carefully concealed in his straw bed.

Baba was very friendly and completely harmless. But for the safety of the tenants’ children, Baba had to be kept chained at home. He had grown larger in size and was too big to be kept at home. Therefore, he had to be sent to the zoo.

The narrator’s wife was against the very proposal of sending Baba to the zoo. She was convinced by others and after weeks of such advice, she consented to it. But she missed him inconsolably. She wept and fretted for weeks. She wrote many letters to the curator also. She then grew adamant about seeing Baba. Later she very successfully brought Baba back home.

People thought that Baba wouldn’t recognise her after such a long gap. But as soon as Baba saw her some yards away from his cage, Baba recognised her. He howled with happiness. He stood on his head in delight when she petted him through the bars. He cried bitterly when they were getting separated.

The narrator’s wife went to see Baba in the zoo. She found Baba fretting due to his separation from them. She decided to bring him back. She requested the curator. He asked her to contact the superintendent at Bangalore. The superintendent allowed her to take Baba home. He even lent her a cage to transport Baba. Thus, the narrator’s wife brought Baba back home.

The Need to Love Animals

We have been very cruel to animals. We have killed and even decimated many of them. Due to our lust the earth has suffered great damages. We call ourselves the king of all creations, but we were never a true king, because it is the duty of the king to protect his subjects. Similarly, it should have been our duty to protect all the animals; but we never had any love for them. We killed them indiscriminately and destroyed their natural habitat. Some of the species are at the verge of extinction. It has created ecological imbalance. If we want the earth to survive we need to love all animals and learn to live with them in peace and harmony.

Animals Also Feel the Pleasure of Love and the Pain of Separation

Love and freedom - these two are the most important in the life of a living being be it a human being or an animal. Both have emotions and can feel the pleasure of love and the pain of separation. We can say from our personal experience that if love and care is given to a wild a animal, he will become friendly and pet. An unknown bond of love and friendship develops between the humans and the animals. He becomes a member of the family, that too a loved one. Like humans, if he has to stay away from his loved ones, he feels lonely, frets and yearns to meet them. When reunited, he expresses his delight in many a ways. He is just like a small child who cannot live without his parents. Therefore, we should never hurt a pet’s feelings as he feels like we all do.