The Bond of Love

Chapter Summary

The story “The Bond of Love” written by Kenneth Anderson is a beautiful story that catches the tropes of love and humanity by showcasing the love between an animal and a human. The story described the interaction and the bond between Bruno, a bear and the author’s wife who adopted him. Bruno or Baba was a gift to the author’s wife by the author as he rescued it and saved its life. As time flew by the author’s wife and Bruno developed a strong bond of love and soon, the author’s wife started treating Bruno like her own child.

The story also described the journey of Bruno from just a regular baby sloth bear to become a quintessential part of the author’s family over time. The story took a turn when the author’s wife was enforced to leave Bruno for the greater good of her family. Upon leaving Bruno or Baba, the author’s wife discovered that she truly shared a strong bond of love with Bruno and decides to reunite with him.

About Bruno – The Bear

I got him for her by accident. - Who says this? What is the incident referred to here?

The statement is made by the author who got a sloth bear by accident and gifted it to her wife as a pet. The author outlined that approximately two years ago, when the author was passing through the sugarcane field near Mysore, he witnessed that a crowd of people were engaged in driving away wild pigs from their lands. At this moment, a sloth bear came painting towards them in the hot sun. The author felt that he should not shoot that bear as it was already in pain, but his friend shot it anyway on the spot. After shooting it, they realized that it was a baby sloth bear that had been riding its mother’s back and was accidentally shot by them.

He stood on his head in delight. - Who does ‘he’ refer to? Why was he delighted?

In this statement, ‘he’ refers to Baba, a bear that the author gifted his wife. After the author’s wife was advised to give Baba to the Mysore zoo by the author, her son and her friends, she was enforced to leave it at the zoo. After that, she decides to pay a visit to the Mysore zoo to see how Baba was doing and getting along. Everyone from her family, friends and even the author was sure that Baba would not recognize her . As soon as she steps into the visible distance from Baba’s cage, the bear started howling with happiness as it recognized her clearly. After she ran up to Baba and petted him through the bars, Baba stood on his head in delight.

“We all missed him greatly: but in a sense we were relieved” - Who does ‘we all’ stand for?

Here, ‘we all’ stand for the author, his son, his family and his friends. They missed Bruno or Baba here, as he was given to the zoo for growing bigger and bigger day by day. After months rolled on, Baba became too outgrown for everyone and was equalled to the Alsatians in height. After considering a few incidents that could have been hurtful for either Bruno or the author’s family, he along with his son advised his wife to give Bruno to the Mysore Zoo. Immediately after the author’s wife consented, the authorities of the Mysore Zoo, took Bruno and eventually he was packed off from the author’s house. At this moment, everybody missed Bruno greatly but on a different note, they were relieved as there were no chances of hazards from Bruno anymore.

On two occasions Bruno ate/drank something that should not be eaten/drunk. What happened to him on these occasions?

On the first occasion, the author put down some barium carbonate poison to kill the mice and rats that were getting into his library. At this time, Bruno entered the library as he often visited the place. After seeing the poison, he ate some of the barium carbonates and was paralysed for some time due to its effects. Incidentally, he dragged himself to the author’s wife and soon the author realized what happened there and rushed to a vet for treating Bruno. On the second occasion, Bruno found nearly one gallon of old engine oil which the author drained from the stump of Studebaker for using it against the inroads of termites. Bruno promptly drank a lot from the stored engine oil but this time, he did not feel any physical consequences or ill effects whatsoever.

Was Bruno a loving and playful pet?

Yes, Bruno was a playful, mischievous and loving pet in the author's family. After bringing Bruno to the house, soon the author noted that Bruno had grown many times as time flew by. Although everybody loved Bruno so much and he was very sweet, the author had to chain Bruno most times as the neighbourhood felt threatened by the outgrown bear. Soon the author discovers that he could not keep Bruno at their house and he along with his friends and family advised his wife to send Bruno away to the Mysore Zoo for the greater good.

How was the problem of what to do with Bruno finally solve?

The problem related to Bruno was solved by the author when he advised his wife to give Bruno to the Mysore Zoo for further care. After Bruno outgrew he soon realized that Bruno had to be kept chained most of the time for keeping the tenants’ children safe, He felt pitied as well as threatened by Bruno and decided to give Bruno to the Mysore Zoo. At first, his wife vigorously disagreed but after a few weeks, she also consented, considering the greater good of her family, friends and neighbourhood. Finally, the problem related to Bruno was solved as the Mysore Zoo authorities came, packed off Bruno and left for the zoo which was at a distance of 87 miles from the author’s house.

FAQs

Q1. What did the author do when he realised that Bruno was a baby sloth bear?

Ans. Upon realizing it, the author scooted into the sugarcane field, captured it and put it in the gunny bags. Later he presented it to his wife when he got back to Bangalore.

Q2. What happened immediately after Bruno was sent to the Mysore Zoo?

Ans. After Bruno was sent away, the author’s wife discovered that it was almost impossible for her to live without Bruno. She wrote a tonne of letters to the curator of the zoo to query about Baba and discovered that Baba was fretted and refused to take food.

Q3. What happened when Bruno started outgrowing?

Ans. After Bruno started outgrowing, he became too mischievous and started creating scenes daily. The author was then enforced to chain him most of the time as there were children in their neighbourhood.