Looking for the NCERT A Triumph of Surgery Class 10 chapter PDF? This is the first chapter of Footprints Without Feet, the Class X English supplementary reader, and the official file is right below. The story is James Herriot’s comic account of Tricki the dog, whose cure has nothing to do with an operation — that irony is the whole point.
| What the chapter holds | Count | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Printed pages | 7 | |
| Official NCERT PDF | Download the chapter PDF | the chapter exactly as NCERT publishes it |
Get the official NCERT chapter PDF
The official printable file for this story is the NCERT Class 10 English A Triumph of Surgery chapter PDF on ncert.nic.in — the same official edition your teacher works from — so you can read the whole story, its question blocks and the glossary in the printed layout of Footprints Without Feet.
Chapter at a glance
The chapter is almost entirely story text: continuous narrative prose with nothing to calculate and no diagrams to interpret. The table below lists the chapter’s formal contents; here are the pieces inside the file.
- the story itself, opened by a one-box premise asking whether a vet performs an operation and whether the dog recovers
- two in-story ‘Read and Find Out’ question blocks, meant to be answered as you read
- the Glossary, giving the dictionary sense of the words the story leans on
- ‘Think about it’ — questions that ask for judgement and opinion
- ‘Talk about it’ — discussion prompts for class talk
- ‘Suggested reading’ — four animal stories, from Kipling’s Rikki-Tikki-Tavi to James Herriot’s Dog Stories
- closing ‘Time’ lines by Rabindranath Tagore
What A Triumph of Surgery contains
Before the analysis, a short orientation: this is a story, so the meaning arrives through plot, character and irony rather than through rules.
The premise: Tricki, a small dog, is pampered and overfed by his rich mistress until he falls seriously ill, and the mistress consults a veterinary surgeon. The narrator — the ‘I’ the first ‘Read and Find Out’ block asks about — is that vet, Mr Herriot, who narrates the whole episode from the street meeting to the final reunion.
Mrs Pumphrey, the mistress, reads her own care for the dog as the cure, and names his recovery “a triumph of surgery”.
Nothing in the chapter backs her name up. The vet simply takes Tricki out of the house for a fortnight, and the dog recovers on water, hunger and the company of other dogs. That gap between what she believes and what actually happens is the chapter’s engine.
Key ideas: what the story is really about
The whole chapter hangs on one idea: the title is ironic — Tricki is cured by the opposite of surgery. Four smaller ideas make that work.
The irony of the title
‘Surgery’ in the story does double duty: it can mean an operation, and it can mean the room where a doctor or veterinary surgeon treats patients, as in “At the surgery”. No operation is performed anywhere in the chapter. The triumph Mrs Pumphrey celebrates belongs to the vet’s clinic and its plain routine — no medicine, no scalpel.
What actually cures Tricki
At the surgery the vet gives Tricki no food for two days and plenty of water. On the third day the dog trots out into the yard, joins the pack, learns feeding-time competition and rat-hunting at night. The book says it in plain words: he “had no medicinal treatment of any kind.
The real illness: overfeeding, not malnutrition
Mrs Pumphrey mistakes the result of overfeeding for its cause. She sees Tricki as “so listless” and concludes malnutrition, so she adds extras — malt, cod-liver oil, Horlicks, cream cakes and chocolates. The vet reads the opposite: “Tricki’s only fault was greed”. Exercise has stopped because the gardener has lumbago.
This belief-versus-reality pair drives the story — the owner’s love is itself the illness:
| What Mrs Pumphrey believes | What is actually happening to Tricki |
|---|---|
| He is weak and must be malnourished, so extras build him up | He is grossly overweight — bloated, with bloodshot rheumy eyes, and greed is his only fault |
| “I can’t bear to refuse him” — refusing sweets would be cruel | Every sweet exactly undoes the strict diet the vet prescribes; indulging the greed is the disease |
| Fresh eggs, wine and brandy will build his strength | The household staff eat the eggs and drink the wine and brandy; none of it reaches Tricki |
| The recovery is “a triumph of surgery” | No operation occurred — the triumph belongs to two days without food and a fortnight of dog life |
Why the narrator is ‘I’
The story uses first-person narration: the vet tells everything through “I”, so the reader sees only what he sees. That arrangement keeps the comic distance open — we watch the effects of overindulgence landing on the dog while the vet stays calmly professional, and we are already laughing at the eggs and wine before the punchline lands.
Story walkthrough: scene by scene
This chapter has no diagrams, so the walkthrough follows the text itself. Keep your book open and follow along.
- The street meeting. The vet stops the car, shocked: Tricki is bloated, eyes rheumy.
- The diagnosis scene.
The vet repeats his cure in front of the dog: cut the food right down, give more exercise, harden your heart.
Him. — Mrs Pumphrey promises the strict diet even as she can’t refuse him anything. - The crisis. Within days she’s back, distraught — Tricki refuses even favourite dishes, vomits, lies on the rug. The vet’s plan, planned in advance: remove the dog from the house for about a fortnight.
- At the surgery. The staff| the staff parade beds, cushions… coats, toys; she throws coats
- The treatment. Two days — no food, plenty of water; from the third day the dog joins the pack. The cream cakes stop — his snows — and rushed by — hunting rats.
- ‘Treatment’ from Mrs Pumphrey. Eggs by two dozen, them eaten by the humans — two eggs each for the partners; wine ‘to enrich the blood’ and brandy drunk.
- The reunion. A fortnight later a vast black car arrives, a transformed dog leaps into her lap — maestro — she calls it a triumph of surgery.
Wait, the list above is not right — the walkthrough is restructured below, and the numbered scene list below is the one to use.
The characters at a glance, with the story’s own lines as evidence
Every trait below is supported by the book’s wording; quote and then comment in one sentence of your own. This is the table to copy from when building a character answer.
| Character | Trait | The story’s own line |
|---|---|---|
| Mrs Pumphrey | overindulgent, cannot refuse him anything | “I can’t bear to refuse him” — an armful of coats flung through the car window |
| Mrs Pumphrey | devoted but blind to the harm | ringing the surgery “a dozen times a day for the latest bulletins” |
| Mr Herriot | observant and kind | “I was really worried about Tricki this time”; “I think I know a cure for you” |
| Mr Herriot | firm, tactful, honest | “I took a firm line”; he never claims to perform an operation on the dog |
| Tricki | greedy by temperament | “He had never been known to refuse food” — a meal at any hour |
| Tricki after the cure | lithe and muscular again | “a lithe, hard-muscled animal” keeping up with the pack |
The chapter’s glossary, explained
The comedy depends on precise, vivid words, and the book lists its key words in the Glossary. The table meets each word in the line it belongs to, so the meaning sticks.
| Word | Where it appears in the story | Plain meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sausage | “like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner” | a small cylindrical meat roll, used here as a comic picture of extreme fatness |
| rheumy | “his eyes, bloodshot and rheumy, stared straight ahead” | watery and discharging, a look of sickness |
| listless | “He was so listless, he seemed to have no energy” | flat, drained of energy and interest |
| lumbago | “Hodgkin, the gardener, has been down with lumbago” | pain in the lower back — the reason ring-throwing stops |
| regime | “to put the new regime into practice” | a prescribed course of diet and exercise |
| distraught | “Mrs Pumphrey was distraught” | frantic with worry |
| surgery | “At the surgery, the household dogs surged round me” | the room where a doctor or veterinary surgeon treats patients |
| scrimmage | “joining in their friendly scrimmages” | a rough, jostling struggle — here, play-fighting |
| convalescing | “out of danger and convalescing rapidly” | recovering from an illness — the word that triggers Mrs Pumphrey’s eggs |
| lithe | “transformed into a lithe, hard-muscled animal” | supple and flexible, moving easily |
Three literary terms keep the analysis above precise: irony is when the outcome is the opposite of what is expected; hyperbole is deliberate overstatement; first-person narration is a story told by a narrator through “I”.
Common misreadings of A Triumph of Surgery
The title sets a trap, and most slips follow from it. The table names each mistake before you make it.
| Misreading | What the story actually shows | How to check your answer |
|---|---|---|
| Tricki was operated on | No operation happens anywhere; ‘surgery’ also means the vet’s clinic | List what the vet actually does to Tricki: water, then food, then exercise — never a cut |
| Tricki was malnourished, as Mrs Pumphrey says | The vet’s diagnosis is the reverse: greed and overfeeding, with no exercise | Ask who is right — his “only fault was greed” and he eats at any hour |
| The vet lied to Mrs Pumphrey about the treatment | He removes the dog from the environment causing the illness and tells her the truth | Find one line where he claims to operate — there is none |
| The eggs, wine and brandy cured Tricki | The humans eat and drink them; the “treatment” feeds the wrong creatures | Check who enjoys them: “two eggs each for breakfast”, wine and brandy by the fire |
| Pampering is the same as caring | Overindulgence nearly kills the dog; recovery begins when overindulgence stops | Follow each treat — every “extra” comes from refusing him nothing |
Working with the chapter’s questions
The chapter carries three question sets, and each tests a different level. Knowing which is which makes revision faster.
- ‘Read and Find Out’ checks that you followed the story while reading, with factual answers sitting in the lines just above the block — who the ‘I’ is, how the vet treats the dog, why she calls it a triumph.
- ‘Think about it’ asks for judgement: what kind of person the vet is, whether Tricki was happy to go home, whether the episode is real life or fiction.
- ‘Talk about it’ opens discussion: can indulgent people cause harm, are there parents like Mrs Pumphrey, what would you have done in the narrator’s place.
Model answer: why does Mrs Pumphrey think the recovery is a triumph of surgery?
Mrs Pumphrey believes her beloved dog was saved from death by the vet’s professional skill, and her gratitude bursts out in the final line. The reader, however, has watched the whole cure take place: no operation, no medicine — just two days without food, plenty of water, and a fortnight of free, active life with other dogs.
So the “triumph of surgery” is her loving exaggeration, and the irony of the title is exactly that the cure was common sense. A complete answer should state both her belief and what the reader actually saw, then name the irony in one line.
One note before you plan revision: textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical — check the current official syllabus for what your board expects from this chapter.
The story in short: Tricki’s cure, step by step
If you can retell the story in eight steps, you have understood it. This is the revision list most students ask for.
- Overfed Tricki grows obese and unwell, eyes rheumy, tongue lolling.
- The vet warns Mrs Pumphrey to cut his food and give more exercise, on a strict diet.
- She cannot refuse him treats, so she relents; there is no exercise because the gardener has lumbago.
- Tricki collapses — refuses even favourite dishes, vomits, lies panting.
- The vet takes him to the surgery for about a fortnight, under observation, carrying him out in a blanket.
- At the surgery Tricki gets no medicine at all: only water for two days, then food and full freedom with the other dogs.
- Mrs Pumphrey’s two dozen eggs, bottles of wine and brandy arrive “to build him up” — and the humans eat and drink them all.
- After two weeks a lithe, muscular Tricki leaps into her lap, and she calls it a triumph of surgery.
The one-line takeaway for revision: the cure was common sense, and the title’s irony is the whole point.
Related chapters in the same book
Continue through the book or jump to your notes from here:
- Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom notes — the second chapter of First Flight, the other Class 10 English book on this site.
- Class 10 English book page — reach “The Thief’s Story”, the next story in Footprints Without Feet and the rest of both books.
- Class 10 hub — all Class 10 subjects on the site.
- CBSE notes home — every class, subject and chapter on the site.
The official files all trace to the Footprints Without Feet textbook page on ncert.nic.in, where the chapter PDFs of the book are listed.
Sources and data verification
This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.
This page describes Footprints Without Feet, Supplementary Reader in English (Class X), Chapter 1, ‘A Triumph of Surgery’, and links to the official NCERT PDF of that chapter.
- Where the material comes from: the NCERT textbook as published on ncert.nic.in.
- What this page covers: this one chapter of Footprints Without Feet; other books and chapters are not covered here.
- Academic session: the page is maintained for the current session using the NCERT books published on ncert.nic.in.
- Who settles what: NCERT settles textbooks, editions and PDFs; CBSE settles the curriculum, syllabus and examinations. Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical — check the official syllabus.
A Triumph of Surgery Class 10: quick answers
Was Tricki operated on in A Triumph of Surgery?
No. No operation is performed anywhere in the story. ‘Surgery’ in the text also means the vet’s treating room — “at the surgery” — and the cure itself is two days without food, plenty of water, then free exercise with the other dogs.
The word ‘triumph’ is Mrs Pumphrey’s grateful exaggeration, and the irony of the title depends on the fact that no operation was done.
Who is the narrator ‘I’ in the story?
The narrator ‘I’ is the veterinary surgeon, Mr Herriot, the person Mrs Pumphrey calls Mr Herriot. He tells the whole episode from the street meeting to the final reunion in first person, so the reader sees every scene through his eyes.
Why does Mrs Pumphrey think the recovery is a triumph of surgery?
Because she believes her dog was saved by the vet’s skill — “how can I ever thank you? This is a triumph of surgery!”. The reader has watched the actual cure: no medicine, no knife — only two days without food and a fortnight of active dog life.
She names it surgery because that is the only frame she has for being saved; the gap between the two is the story’s irony.
What was actually wrong with Tricki?
Too much food, not too little. Tricki’s “only fault was greed” — overfeeding plus no exercise, since the gardener’s lumbago stopped the ring-throwing. Mrs Pumphrey’s “malnutrition” is a misreading: the vet diagnoses too much care and advises cutting food and increasing exercise, advice that would have cured the dog had it been followed.
What do the eggs, wine and wine show in the story?
The eggs, wine and brandy show where the “treatment from Mrs Pumphrey really went to the humans. The staff eat two eggs each for breakfast, drink the wine and respectfully drink the brandy, while Tricki recovers on plain food and exercise. It is the story’s purest comic point: overindulgence arrives dressed as medicine, and lands on the wrong beings entirely.
Is the episode real life or fiction?
The book puts this question to you in the ‘Think about it’ section and does not settle it for you. The narrator is a practising veterinary surgeon, the author is named at the end as James Herriot, and the telling is first-person and vivid — you are expected to argue a position: real life, pure fiction, or a mixture of both.
Any argued answer is acceptable; what the text never does is claim an operation.
Reference: NCERT Class 10 English textbook, chapter 1, official edition on ncert.nic.in.
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