Class 10 English · Original EZT practice
A Triumph of Surgery - James Herriot (Class 10 English, Footprints without Feet, Chapter 1)
A Triumph of Surgery is the opening chapter of Class 10 Footprints without Feet (Reprint 2026-27, pp. 1-7), by James Herriot. The narrator, a veterinary surgeon, watches rich Mrs Pumphrey spoil her little dog Tricki with malt, cod-liver oil, Horlicks, cream cakes and chocolates until he falls seriously ill. His cure is no operation at all: a fortnight at the surgery, no medicine, plenty of water, and the company of the household dogs. Mrs Pumphrey, seeing her transformed pet, calls it 'a triumph of surgery!'. This page gives a full summary, characters, theme, word meanings and fresh practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 24 October 2026:
1. Summary - the cure that was no operation
The narrator is shocked to find Tricki 'hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner', eyes 'bloodshot and rheumy', tongue lolling. Mrs Pumphrey explains she has been giving 'little extras between meals' - malt, cod-liver oil and Horlicks at night - and cannot refuse him cream cakes and chocolates. He warns her to cut the food down and give Tricki more exercise; within days she calls, distraught: Tricki refuses food, vomits and lies panting on a rug. The narrator takes Tricki to the surgery for about a fortnight. For two days the dog gets no food but plenty of water; on the third day he joins the pack, is bowled over and squashed in their scrimmages, fights for his bowl at mealtimes and hunts rats in the old hen-house at night. He has 'no medicinal treatment of any kind'. Mrs Pumphrey rings a dozen times a day and sends eggs, then wine, then brandy to 'build up' Tricki - which the delighted household consumes instead. After a fortnight the narrator phones her. Tricki has become 'a lithe, hard-muscled animal'. Reunited, he leaps into her lap, and she cries, 'This is a triumph of surgery!' - though no surgery ever took place.
2. Characters
The narrator, Mr Herriot: a veterinary surgeon - practical, tactful and firm. Mrs Pumphrey: Tricki's wealthy, anxious mistress, who cannot stop pampering him. Tricki: a small dog whose 'only fault was greed'. Supporting: Hodgkin the gardener (down with lumbago), Joe the greyhound and the surgery pack, Tristan who slops the food, and the chauffeur.
3. Theme and word meanings
Overindulgence is not love: pampering nearly kills Tricki; routine, diet and play save him. Common sense beats luxury: the cure costs nothing - no medicine, only discipline and the company of other dogs. The title's gentle irony: Mrs Pumphrey credits 'surgery' for what was really simple care. Word meanings from the textbook glossary: sausage - finely minced meat stuffed into long cylindrical cases, divided into small lengths by twisting or tying; rheumy - a watery discharge from a mucous membrane, especially of the nose or eyes; listless - lacking energy and enthusiasm; lumbago - muscular pain in the lower part of the back; regime - prescribed course of exercise and diet; distraught - extremely worried; surgery - a place where a doctor, dentist or veterinary surgeon treats patients; scrimmage - rough or confused struggle; convalescing - recovering from an illness; lithe - flexible.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Read the symptoms
Choose the method: Fat, then worse.
EZT practice question
Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki at the start?
Show the worked solution
- First the visible signs: Tricki has become 'hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner', with 'bloodshot and rheumy' eyes, listless and lolling-tongued.
- Then the crisis: he refuses food - even his favourite dishes - vomits, and lies panting on a rug.
- Mrs Pumphrey calls, distraught, and that is when the narrator takes Tricki to the surgery.
Answer: Tricki has become hugely fat, listless and bloodshot-eyed, and then takes a turn for the worse - he refuses food and vomits, lying panting on a rug.
Check: Two stages: chronic overfeeding signs first, acute refusal and vomiting second.
Watch for this: Do not say Tricki was always ill - he was healthy before the overfeeding, which is the story's point.
Now try it yourself
What does the narrator advise before the crisis?
Check your answer
Cut the food down - especially the sweets - and give Tricki more exercise.
The ignored advice sets up the collapse.
List the little extras
Choose the method: Love by feeding.
EZT practice question
What 'little extras' does Mrs Pumphrey give Tricki?
Show the worked solution
- Between meals: malt and cod-liver oil.
- At night: a bowl of Horlicks to make him sleep.
- Plus the things she cannot refuse him: cream cakes and chocolates.
Answer: Malt and cod-liver oil between meals, a bowl of Horlicks at night, plus cream cakes and chocolates she cannot refuse him.
Check: Three feeders: daytime extras, the nightcap, and the refused-nothing sweets.
Watch for this: Do not blame Tricki's greed alone - Mrs Pumphrey's inability to refuse is the enabling half.
Now try it yourself
What is Tricki's 'only fault'?
Check your answer
Greed - 'his only fault was greed'.
The story states it as his single weakness.
Name the real treatment
Choose the method: No medicine at all.
EZT practice question
What treatment does the narrator actually give Tricki at the surgery?
Show the worked solution
- For two days: no food, but plenty of water.
- From the third day: life with the household dogs - bowled over in their scrimmages, fighting for his bowl at mealtimes, hunting rats in the old hen-house at night.
- And the key line: he had 'no medicinal treatment of any kind'.
Answer: Two days of no food but plenty of water, then life with the household dogs - scrimmages, mealtimes fought for, rat-hunts at night - and no medicinal treatment of any kind.
Check: Three elements: water-only days, dog-pack life, zero medicine.
Watch for this: Do not invent injections or operations - the whole joke is that the 'surgery' involved none.
Now try it yourself
Who are Joe and Tristan in the surgery days?
Check your answer
Joe is the greyhound whose pack bowls Tricki over; Tristan is the helper who slops the food.
Minor characters carry the recovery scenes.
Explain the temptation
Choose the method: Gifts flow uphill.
EZT practice question
Why is the narrator tempted to keep Tricki as a permanent guest?
Show the worked solution
- Mrs Pumphrey sends gifts to 'build up' Tricki: first eggs, then wine, then brandy.
- Tricki eats none of it - the delighted household consumes the eggs, wine and brandy instead.
- So the narrator's meals turn luxurious, and he is tempted to keep the little dog - and the deliveries - forever.
Answer: Because Mrs Pumphrey's gifts for Tricki - eggs, then wine, then brandy - are enjoyed by the narrator's household instead, making their meals luxurious.
Check: Name the three gifts and who actually consumed them.
Watch for this: Do not say the narrator wanted to keep Tricki out of greed alone - the temptation is comic, and he returns the dog on time.
Now try it yourself
How often does Mrs Pumphrey ring the surgery?
Check your answer
A dozen times a day for the latest bulletins.
Her anxiety is as overfed as the dog was.
Explain the title's irony
Choose the method: Credit where not due.
EZT practice question
Why does Mrs Pumphrey call the recovery 'a triumph of surgery', and why is that ironic?
Show the worked solution
- After a fortnight she sees Tricki transformed into 'a lithe, hard-muscled animal'.
- She believes the hospital stay cured him and cries, 'This is a triumph of surgery!'
- The irony: there was no operation and no medicine at all - only diet, exercise and the company of other dogs.
Answer: She believes the hospital stay cured him; it is ironic because there was no operation or medicine at all - only diet, exercise and the company of the surgery dogs.
Check: Quote her cry, then state plainly what actually happened (nothing surgical).
Watch for this: Do not treat her words as the story's verdict - the title quotes her mistake on purpose.
Now try it yourself
What had Tricki become after the fortnight?
Check your answer
'A lithe, hard-muscled animal' who leaps into her lap.
The transformation completes the irony.
Describe the first sight of Tricki
Choose the method: One image carries it.
EZT practice question
How does the narrator describe Tricki when he first sees him, and what does the description establish?
Show the worked solution
- Tricki is 'hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner'.
- His eyes are 'bloodshot and rheumy', his tongue lolls.
- The comic-grotesque image establishes at once that pampering, not illness, is the problem - and sets up the transformation the title mocks.
Answer: 'Hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner', with bloodshot, rheumy eyes and a lolling tongue - the image establishes that overfeeding, not illness, is the problem.
Check: Quote the sausage simile - it is the story's signature image.
Watch for this: Do not call the description cruel - its comedy is diagnostic: it tells us the cause before anyone speaks.
Now try it yourself
What simile ends the story's transformation?
Check your answer
Tricki becomes 'a lithe, hard-muscled animal' - the exact opposite of the bloated sausage.
The two images frame the whole story.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Tricki's 'little extras'?
Show answer and reason
Malt, cod-liver oil, Horlicks at night, cream cakes and chocolates.
Love by feeding, listed.
2. The actual treatment?
Show answer and reason
Two days water-only, then dog-pack life - no medicine at all.
The 'surgery' that never happened.
3. The gifts for Tricki go to?
Show answer and reason
The narrator's delighted household - eggs, wine, brandy.
The comic temptation subplot.
4. The title's irony?
Show answer and reason
No surgery took place - diet, exercise and company cured Tricki.
Mrs Pumphrey credits the wrong hero.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Explain in two sentences why 'a triumph of surgery' is an ironic title.
- Contrast the 'bloated sausage' Tricki with the 'lithe, hard-muscled animal' in your own words.
- List Mrs Pumphrey's three gifts and say who actually enjoyed them.
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Questions about this practice page
- Who is the narrator of A Triumph of Surgery?
- A veterinary surgeon, addressed as Mr Herriot; the story is by James Herriot.
- Is Tricki actually operated on?
- No. He recovers through strict diet, exercise and the company of the surgery dogs.
- What is the central idea of A Triumph of Surgery?
- Over-pampering a pet causes illness; sensible care - food control and activity - restores health.
- Where is A Triumph of Surgery in the Class 10 book?
- It is Chapter 1 of the supplementary reader Footprints without Feet (Reprint 2026-27, pp. 1-7).
- Who wrote A Triumph of Surgery?
- James Herriot. The textbook names him as the author and carries no author note, so this page makes no further biographical claims.