This is an interesting story about a mischievous monkey named Toto written by Ruskin Bond.
Summary
Toto was a pretty monkey, bought by the narrator’s grandfather from a tonga-driver for a sum of five rupees. His bright eyes sparkled with mischief beneath deep-set eyebrows, and his teeth, which were a pearly white, were very often displayed in a smile that frightened the life out of elderly Anglo–Indian ladies. Grandmother didn’t like pets at all. So, once Toto was kept in a little closet. A few hours later, when grandfather and the narrator came back to release Toto, they found that the walls, which had been covered with some ornamental paper (Wall Paper) chosen by grandfather, now stood out as naked brick and plaster. Toto had freed himself from the chain and the narrator’s blazer had been torn in shreds.
Now Toto was transferred to a big cage in the servants’ quarters where a number of grandfather’s pets lived very sociably together – a tortoise, a pair of rabbits, a tame squirrel and a goat. But the monkey wouldn’t allow any of his companions to sleep at night. So the grandfather decided to take him along to Dehra Dun the next day. When the grandfather was producing his ticket at the railway station, Toto suddenly poked his head out of the bag and gave the ticket collector a wide grin. The ticket collector charged extra three rupees from the grandfather for Toto. On another day. Toto nearly boiled himself alive in the kitchen kettle.
Once when Toto found a large dish of rice on the dining table and started eating the rice; grandmother scolded him. Toto in response threw the plate at her. An aunt of narrator came forward to save her but Toto threw a glass of water at her. Then Toto ran away with a dish of pullao, sat on jackfruit tree till evening eating the pullao. And then, in order to spite the grandmother, who had screamed at him he threw the dish down the tree and chattered with delight when it broke into pieces.
Till now, the grandfather had realized that obviously Toto was not sort of pet they could keep for long. They were not wellto-do, and could not afford the frequent loss of dishes, clothes, curtains and wallpapers. So, at last, grandfather went to the tonga-driver, and sold Toto back to him – for only three rupees.