Henry: Summary

In this story, Henry is the name of a chameleon. One day, the author’s
grandfather saw some people near a garden gate, ready to kill a poor
chameleon, who was out enjoying the sun in winter. His grandfather saved
the chameleon and brought it home.

Ruskin, as a young boy, would tickle the chameleon at its ribs or place his
finger in its mouth. However, Henry never bit him, as he looked around with
suspicion.

Grandfather’s love for random and most ousted animals always irked
grandmother. Henry didn’t create any trouble at home, but, somewhere
else.

When the papayas in the garden ripened, the author’s grandmother

decided to give a bucket full of papayas to Mrs. Ghosh – the Principal of a
nursery school. Henry, while searching for his food (insects) went inside the
basket and stayed there.

In the school, when Mrs. Ghosh was checking out the basket, all of sudden
Henry came out. Seeing a chameleon in the basket, the Principal screamed
in horror, and another teacher joined her as well. Alarmed by their reaction,
Henry ran out of the window. The grandmother heard of the incident but
was relieved to know that no one realised that the chameleon was theirs.

The author felt that Henry may not be able to find his way back home, but a
few days later the author found Henry sunning on the wall of the garden,
and it continued to live there thereafter.

Main points from the story:

Physical features: Chameleons have long tongues, slender limbs, parrot-

like claws, ornaments on their heads, rigid crest on head, eyes can move
independently.

Saving Henry: Grandfather, an animal lover, saves Henry from being killed
by the residents near a garden who believed that he is a poisonous reptile.
Chameleons are non-poisonous.

Is suspicious: Henry is cautious and suspicious when the narrator first

meets him. He responds to friendly gestures with suspicion.

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Intimidates: When tickled, Henry would blow up and change color to red,
swaying from side to side, but he never bites.

Harmless: Henry chews food but not fingers. He would take food from the
narrator’s hands using his tongue.

Adventure in nursery school: Grandfather sends basket of Papayas to

Mrs. Das (principal). Henry appears out of the basket and create a riot in
the school; Mrs. Das. and assistant teacher scream. Grandfather does not
reveal to Mrs. Das that the chameleon was theirs to save their friendship.

Ending: Henry eventually returns to the garden and spends the rest of his
days there. He keeps the insect population in check in the garden.

This is story of Henry, Our pet Chameleon.

Chameleon are in a class by themselves and are no ordinary reptiles. They

are easily distinguished from their nearest relatives, Like lizards, By certain
outstanding features.

A chameleon’s tongue is as long as its body. Its limbs are long and slender
and its fingers and toes resemble a parrot’s claws. On its head may be any
of several ornaments. Henry had a rigid crest that looked like a fireman’s
helmet.

Henry’s eyes were his most remarkable feature. they were not beautiful,
but his left eye was quite independent of his right. He could move one eye
without disturbing the other. Each eyeball, bulging out of his head, wobbled
up and down, backward and forward. This frenzied movement gave Henry
a horrible squint. And one look into Henry’s frightful gaze was often enough
to scare people into believing that chameleon are dangerous and
poisonous reptiles.

One day, Grandfather was visiting a friend, when he came upon a noisy
scene at the garden gate. Men were shouting, hurling stones, and
brandishing sticks. The cause of the uproar was a chameleon that had
been discovered sunning itself on a shrub. Someone claimed that the
chameleon could poison people twenty feet away, simply by spitting at
them. The residents of the area had risen up in arms. Grandfather was just
in time save the chameleon from certain death- he brought the little reptile
home.

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That chameleon was Henry, and that was now he came to live with us.

When i first visited Henry, he would treat me with great caution, sitting
perfectly still on his perch with his back to me. The eye nearer to me would
move around like the beam of a searchlight until it had me well in focus.
The it would stop and the other eye would begin an independent survey of
its own. For a long time Henry trusted no one and responded to my
friendliest gestures with gave suspicion.

Tiring of his attitude, I would tickle him gently on the ribs with my finger.
This always threw him into a great rage. He would blow himself up to an
enormous size as his lungs filled up with air, while his color changed from
green to red. He would sit up on his hind legs, swaying from side to side,
hoping to overawe me.

Opening his mouth very wide, he would let out an angry hiss. But his
threatening display went no further, he did not bite.

Henry was a harmless fellow. If I put my finger in his mouth, even during
his wildest moments, he would simply wait for me to take it out again.

I suppose he could bite. His rigid jaws carried a number of finely pointed
teeth, But Henry seemed convinced that his teeth were there for the sole
purpose of chewing food, not fingers.

Henry was sometimes willing to take food from my hands. This he did very
swiftly. His tongue performed like a boomerang and always come back to
him with the food. usually an insect, attached to it.

Although Henry did not cause any trouble in our house, he did create
somewhat of a riot in the nursery down the road, it started out quite
innocently.

When the papaya in our orchard were ripe, Grandfather sent a basket full
to her friend Mrs Das, who was the principal of the nursery school. While
the basket sat waiting, Henry searching for the beetles and slipped in
among the papayas, unnoticed. The gardener dutifully carried the basket to
the school and left it in Mrs Das’s office. When Mrs. Das returned after
making her rounds, she began examining and admiring the papayas.

And Out popped Henry.

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Mrs. Das Screamed. Henry squinted up at her, Bith eyes revolving
furiously. Mrs Das screamed again, Henry’s color changed from green to
yellow to red. His Mouth opened as though he too would like to scream. An
assistant teacher rushed in, took one look at the chameleon , and joined in
the shrieking.

Henry was terrified. He fled from the office running down the corridor an
into one of the classrooms. There he climbed up on a desk while children
ran in all directions- some to get away from Henry, some to catch him.
Henry finally made his exit through a window and disappeared in the
garden.

Grandfather heard about the incident from Mrs Das but did not mention that
the chameleon was ours, It might have spoiled their friendship.

Grandfather and i did not think Henry would find his way back to us,
because the school was three blocks away, But a few days later, I found
him sunning himself on the garden wall. Although he looked none the
worse for his adventure, he never went abroad again.

Henry spent the rest of his days in the garden, where he kept the insect
population well within bounds.

A story by Ruskin Bond…

Question and Answers

Question: Describe the chameleon’s features.
Answer: Chameleons are no ordinary reptiles and can be easily
distinguished by certain outstanding marks from their nearest relatives, the
lizards. A chameleon’s tongue is as long as its body. It has a rigid crest on
its head and has long and slender limbs.

Question: Why had the entire household risen in arms?

Answer: Men were shouting, hurling stones and brandishing sticks at a
chameleon which was discovered sunning himself on a shrub. The
gardener had declared that it was a thing capable of poisoning people at a
distance of twenty feet and so the entire household had risen in arms.

Question: Describe how Henry used to have its food?

Answer: Henry was a harmless creature. Provided the author was patient,
Henry was willing to take food from his hands very swiftly. The chameleon’s

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tongue was the sort which came back to him with the food, an insect,
attached to it.

Question: Did the author find the chameleon back after the nursery school
incident? Where?
Answer: Yes. Three days after the nursery incident, the author found
Henry, the chameleon sunning himself on the garden wall. It readily
accepted some food from the author’s hand.

Question: How did Henry manage to smuggle into the papayas’ basket?
Answer: When the papayas in the author’s garden were ripe, his
Grandmother usually sent a basket of them to her friend, Mrs Ghosh, who
was the principal of the nursery school. On this occasion, Henry managed
to smuggle himself into the basket of papayas when no one was looking.

Question: What were the gardener’s views about the chameleon? Was it
true or false?
Ans. The gardener had declared that it was a thing capable of poisoning
people at a distance of twenty feet. The gardener’s views were false as
Henry was a harmless creature.

Henry by Ruskin Bond: Questions and Answers

Question: State whether the following statements are true or false:

 a) The chameleon is not a poisonous reptile: True

 b) The gardener knew a lot about chameleons: False
 c) Henry created no trouble at all: False
 d) Henry got into the basket to frighten Mrs Ghosh: False
 e) Miss Daniels rushed into the room on hearing the principal scream:
True

Question: Reference to context

“Grandfather was in time to save the Chameleon from certain death and
brought the little reptile home.”

Q. Where was the chameleon?

Answer: The chameleon was at the garden gate sunning himself on a
shrub.

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Q. What does the author tell us to show that the chameleon was harmless?
Answer: The chameleon used to swiftly take food from the authors hands
without biting the authors fingers. This shows that the chameleon was
harmless.

Q. Grandfather saved the reptile and brought him home. What does this tell
us about the author’s grandfather?
Answer: This tells us that the author’s grandfather cared for animals and
also had good knowledge about reptiles.

”Mrs Ghosh screamed. Henry would probably have to blush a deep red, but
he turned a bright green instead, as that was the colour of the papayas.
Mrs Ghosh’s assistant, Miss Daniels, rushed in, took one look at the
chameleon and joined the screaming.”
Q. Why did Mrs Ghosh scream?
Answer: Mrs Ghosh screamed because she found a chameleon in the
basket of papayas.

Q. Why do you think Henry turned a bright green?

Answer: A chameleon changes its colour based on its surrounding; it
turned bright green because it was the colour of the papayas it was hiding
in.

Q. Which word in the given lines means ‘someone whose duty is to help’?
Answer: Assistant.

Q. What did Henry do when Miss Daniel started screaming?

Answer: Henry got frightened and and seeing the reaction of the teachers
and fled from the principal’s office, running down the corridor and got into
one of the classrooms.

Q. Read, reflect and write

Q. What danger did grandfather save Henry from?

Answer: Henry was surely going to die because the gardener wrongly
declared that the reptile was capable of poisoning people from a distance
of 20 feet and as a result the entire household had risen in arms to kill
Henry. Fortunately for Henry, the grandfather saved him.

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Q. When the children saw Henry, they ran in all directions. Why did they do
this? What would you have done if you were in the classroom?

Answer: The children started running in all directions on seeing Henry

because they felt that it would harm them. If I were in the class, I would
have tried to keep calm and let him go out of the class.

Q. What do we learn about the writer’s feelings for animals from this story?
Do you share these feelings? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer: The writer was very fond of Henry and he would often feed the
reptile with his own hands. This shows that the author was an animal lover,
just like his grandfather. When Henry disappeared from the nursery school,
the author thought that Henry would never come back, but he was
pleasantly surprised to see Henry back on their garden wall.

I am also extremely fond of animals and feel that we should care for
animals and should not harm them in any way.

Venn diagram for Reptiles

Fill the Venn diagram with the interesting features of the reptiles and note
down their common points.

Chameleon

1. Chameleon has a rigid crest on its head.

2. Its fingers and toes are more developed.
3. Its tongue is as long as its body.
4. Its limbs are long and slender.
5. It can change its skin colour to match the surrounding in times of
danger.

Lizard

1. House lizards are usually smaller in size.

2. House lizards can lose its tail when scared. The tail grows back.
3. It has short and small limbs.

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4. It has sticky feet and can climb smooth walls.

Common points

1. Both of them are reptiles.

2. Both have a sticky tongue to catch its prey.
3. Both eat insects.
4. Both are not poisonous.

Match the words with the describing words

(three, bright, harmless, noisy, rigid, ordinary, outstanding, poisonous, pet,
deep, entire)

a. three houses b. outstanding marks c. rigid crest d. bright green e. noisy

scene f. entire household g. harmless creature h. deep red

A. Answer in brief. 1. According to the author, how did people react when they
spotted a chameleon?

Ans: Some people thought that the chameleon was a dangerous animal as it
appeared scary. So when they spotted one sitting on a shrub in Grandfather’s
friend’s garden, they thought it would poison them. They threw stones, waved
sticks and shouted, hoping to scare the poor creature away.

2. Why did Henry not bite the narrator?

Ans: Henry, the chameleon, was a timid, harmless and suspicious creature. He
eyed even the friendliest gestures of the narrator, with suspicion. However, when
the narrator put his finger into his wide mouth, he would not bite as he was
convinced that he was supposed to use his teeth for chewing food and not for
biting fingers.

B. Answer in detail…..

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 1. How did Henry gain entry into the narrator’s house? How was he treated
there?

Ans: Grandfather had gone to visit his friend when he was distracted by a noisy
scene at the garden gate, caused by a chameleon which was calmly sitting on a
shrub in the garden. Nobody believed that the reptile was harmless and they tried
to get rid of the innocent creature. The timely intervention of Grandfather saved
the poor creature. He took him home. The family named him Henry and took care
of him like a member of the family. The narrator was very fond of Henry and
spent a lot of time with him watching and admiring every movement of the
reptile.

2. How did Henry reach the nursery school? How was he welcomed there?

Ans: One day when Henry unknowingly reached the nursery school, there was
confusion in the principal Mrs. Ghosh’s office. Henry slipped into a basket of
papayas which Grandmother sent for Mrs. Ghosh. Mrs. Ghosh was delighted to
get the basket of her favourite fruit and while admiring the fruit, out popped
Henry, startling Mrs. Ghosh and the others in the room. Everyone ran for their
lives. Totally confused at what was happening around him, Henry got terrified and
made his escape after innocently creating havoc in the school.

C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. Then it would stop, and the other eye would look in a different direction!

a. What would stop according to the narrator?

b. What was unique about the eye movement?

c. Was that a pleasant sight?

Ans: a. The narrator is talking about the movement of the chameleon’s eyeball
which would stop on seeing the narrator clearly.

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b. Henry could move one eye ball without disturbing the other and each eyeball
wobbled up and down and backward and forward.

c. No, it was not a pleasant sight. The movements he made with his eyes made
him appear quite scary.

2. After that, Henry spent the rest of his days in the garden and did not go on any
more adventures.

a. What was the adventure Henry went on?

b. Whose garden is referred to in these lines?

c. Why did he spend the rest of his days in the garden?

Ans: a. Henry accidently got into a basket of fruit that grandmother had sent to
the principal, Mrs Gosh. On seeing the chameleon, everyone in the room as well
as Henry got terrified.

b. The garden referred to in these lines is the narrator’s garden.

c. The chameleon must have realised that there was safety in the narrator’s
garden and not anywhere else.

D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)

1. What tells you that Henry was as fond of the narrator and his family as they
were of him?

Ans: Henry, terrified by the screaming students and teachers, made a quick
escape from the nursery school. When Grandfather heard about the incident, he
thought they would never see him again. But surprisingly, after three days Henry
came back to the garden and never left them at all.

2. What according to you was the most hilarious scene in the story?

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answer: There was total chaos in the school after Mrs. Ghosh saw a chameleon
popping out of the fruit basket. It was hilarious to read about the frightened Mrs.
Ghosh, the teachers and screaming students running helter skelter. Henry,
terrified by all this, escaped into the garden.

E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer) Henry was a unique pet. What other
unique pets can you think of? Why do you think some people get attracted to
such out-of-the-ordinary pets

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