The tribute"

Babuli is young boy who works in an office in the city. one day he receives a letter from his
elder brother. By seeing the letter he realises his neglience towards his family. The letter tells
about the partition of their parental property among the three brothers due to some feud in
between the two sister-in-law and Babuli was called to the village for the same.

Babuli's brother had been of great help to Babuli in his both childhood and the days of his
studies. He helped him by mortgaging his watch to send him Rs.150.00 for his interview in
Delhi and also once he had given him his own blanket to Babuli in a shivering winter.

Finally Babuli reaches his village by the same rickety bus by which he used to travel. His elder
brother was there to receive him. On reaching home, he found deathly silence prevailing all
around. Only his mother was standing outside the home. On the day of partition, all the
movables and immovables and every thing else present in the house was collected as a heap
to be divided. After the partition, the elder brother takes Babuli to show him his share of land.
In that land he could see the effort put upan by his elder brother.

But, Babuli refuses to take the land of his share and rather gives it to his elder brother as a
tribute by writing in a slip of paper that he was the land from where he had harvested
everything in his life and he did not want and thing else.

bout the Author

Nicholas Fisk's real name is David Higgenbottom. Born in London in 1923 he has
worked as an actor, photographer, journalist, lecturer and a musician. He has been
an editor and publisher as well as one of the most popular authors of Science Fiction
and Horror stories over the past three decades. He has written over forty books and
several television scripts.

Summary
• In Cutie Pie, the author describes the capture of an extra-terrestrial creature and
his experiences on earth. The emphasis is on the basic human connection between
the infant Winters and Cutie Pie, the E.T. creature. Indirectly, the author means that
creatures living anywhere on any planet have some basic common human
characteristics similar to the ones possessed by human beings.
• The scientists on earth built a space ship-Questar, which accidentally captured a
creature living on the planet Quta-pie. When this extra-terrestrial creature was
brought to earth and shown on T.V; Ch-tsal, at once became the darling of the
spectators. They found him cute because of his shining feathers with shimmering
patterns displaying rainbow colors. He had a curved, cosy, and rounded body, dark
liquid eyes. He had bushy little hands, complete with thumbs that cutie pie used with
astonishing speed and skill. Cutie Pie became an instant celebrity - he was a
commercial success sold as Cutie Pie dolls, colouring books, tee-shirts, fan clubs,
cereal cartoons, cartoon serials etc. Everyone wanted to touch him, see him, hold
him. He was given a proper name - Ch-tsal - and put in a glass prison because he
could live only in an environment similar to that on Quta-pi. The glass prison was a
kind of scientific tomb which had a temperature of 180oF, 98 per cent humidity and
an atmosphere of hydrogen, oxygen and careful proportions of a dozen exotic gases.
• Though Ch-tsal was captured from Quta-pie, the planet was not really his home. He
merely chanced to be on Quta-pi. His elders had sent him there for his initiation; he
went out as a boy and was to return as a "man", after having faced difficulties and
dangers in strange places. Questar chanced to travel to Quta-pi and in scooping soil,
rock, shale etc from it as samples, scooped Ch-tsal too.
• Ch-tsal remembered the scientists or inmates of Questar-silver creatures with
bubble faces. He had become unconscious, but now he was in prison of the scientist
jailers, white-clad men with tubes and goggle faces. He knew that these jailers didnt
mean to torture him. He couldnt talk to them because he had no vocal chords; he
could only look past their goggle glasses into their eyes, begging them to
understand, but they could not.
• Ch-tsal groomed his feathers because they were filters, temperature - controllers,
respirators etc. His whiskers were receiver's antennae, language carriers, voice, life-
line. These linked him to his people and he had to keep them in working order by
grooming. But unfortunately in the glass prison, these did not work. So he had to face
a lot of miseries - he was deaf, dumb, alone, cut off from his land, his people.
• However, Ch-tsal fought his despair with all the courage he could muster up. His
five stomachs, and numerous organic filters helped him to stomach the food and
atmosphere supplied to him. He used to sleep and dream of his home. But on the
nineteenth day of his captivity on earth, Ch-tsal awoke to a horrifying calamity.
• His jeweled feathers from his back and sides and down from his body had fallen out
in the night. This calamity was as bad as it would be if humans suddenly found one
day that they had hair - coarse hair all over their bodies. This loss of hair made him
feel naked and hideous. His feathers were to him what clothes were to human. To
lose his feathers was to lose himself. To become naked was to become a monster.
• He felt hideous and close to death. He crouched in a corner of his glass prison. He
realized how powerless he was now. The scientists working on him also pitied him but
they too were powerless.
• One day, two scientists came to Ch-tsal to try a change of diet. They examined him
through the glass of their gas-mask goggles and hastened to get out because strange
gases began to seep in through their masks. One of them pressed the button that
closed the glass wall. The food bowl jammed it which caused a gap. Ch-tsal then
escaped into the human world through this gap.
• Ch-tsal sensed that he could breathe in the air and the temperature was pleasant.
He would have sent a message of thanks to his god, but his whiskers, his voice, were
gone.
• Soon he began to explore the world around him. He found food in Mrs. Chats
worth's house. He tasted cacti and put some into his bag. Now he wanted a friend
desperately as he was very lonely. He saw a cat with fur. But the cat attacked him
with its claws. He questioned the creature with his mental power and found it useless
because the cat had only simple, crude thoughts - comfort, hunting, mating, food etc.
He also came across a dog, but it too was useless for him.
• Then Ch-tsal felt rain and saw that his muzzle had some tiny, wire like projections -
He was happy because his feathers were growing. But he was still looking for a friend
and soon he found a small baby Christopher Harry Winters, who was of the same size
as he was and completely naked. He learnt that Winters was an ungrown specimen of
the senior species of earth. When winter's mother picked up the baby, waves of love
and maternal emotions flowed between Winters and his mother which Ch-tsal
recognized by his own experience.
• One night, Ch-tsal made his way into Christopher's nursery and lay down by
Winters. He asked him to talk to him and hearing him, Winters smiled in his sleep.
From Winters, Ch-tsal learned what it was like to plunge through a great wave, to
hunt down animals in dark forests, to shoot an arrow knowing where it would hit. He
also learnt of the glories of battle, the terrors of defeat, the chill wickedness of
snakes, the smell of wood smoke etc.
• In turn, Ch-tsal told Winters of the building of crystal cities, of creatures in caves, of
the pioneer ships that opened up the galaxy, of the Venus invaders and how they
were defeated, of the five ways of knowing god, of the taste of a certain food that
grew only when the planet's three moons were full.
• Both Ch-tsal and Winters underwent a great change after their meetings and talks.
Now Winters often laughed and gurgled, bubbled and pulled his mother's hair. Ch-
tsal's feathers and whiskers grew. He searched for food and exercised vigorously
when Winters was four months old, Ch-tsal's feathers were so splendid that they
gathered in the darkness. One particular night, he heard his mother's voice faintly,
brokenly. Ch-tsal was overcome with joy and forgot all caution. He became a
firework, a bombshell, spinning and zooming and bouncing off tree trunks. When two
young poachers saw him, he beamed a single pulse of ecstasy so powerful that they
fell backwards. One fine day, Ch-tsal was gone , the scientists stared at burnt grass in
a roped-off area where his spaceship landed to take him back home. No one knew
what became of Cutie Pie.
• Only-one person on earth knew, however, that was Winters, but he was too young
to talk about Ch-tsal. He tried to tell his mother, but the mother only half-believed
him and scolded him on listening to him, coaxing him to drink up his milk.
Questions & Answers
Question (1): How did the people react to see Cutie-Pie shown on T.V sets?
Answer: The people were very fascinated by the extraordinary appearance of this
extra terrestrial creature. They called him "Cute" because of his admirable rainbow-
like coloured feathers. They wanted to cuddle him, touch him, hold him.
Question (2): Describe Cutie - Pie's appearance.
Answer: Cutie-Pie had a curved, cosy, rounded body. He had dark, liquid eyes. He had
a gentle smiling mouth and bushy little hands, complete with thumbs. What was
fascinating about him was his iridescent feathers down on his belly with radiant
shimmering patterns.
Question (3): How did Cutie Pie affect the commercial side of public life?
Answer: Cutie Pie became an instant celebrity. Commercial mileage was taken by his
presence. Cutie Pie dolls were made to be sold. Colouring books, Tee-shirts, fan
clubs, cereal cartons, cartoon serials, anything and everything had Cutie Pie
represented on it.
Question (4): What kind of a special place was created by the scientists to keep Ch-
tsal?
Answer: Since Ch-tsal was an alien, he was kept in an air-tight sealed glass prison - a
kind of scientific tomb with 180oF temperature, 98 percent humidity and an
atmosphere of hydrogen, oxygen and careful proportions of a dozen exotic gases.
Question (5): How did Ch-tsal get captured? Where was he captured from?
Answer: Ch-tsal was captured from the planet Quta-Pie, another planet. He merely
chanced to be there, as he had gone to get initiated there. He went there as a boy,
hoping to return, to his own planet as a man after having faced difficulties and
dangers in strange places. Quta pie was a strange and hostile planet from where he
was captured. Quentar was a spaceship which had gone to explore Quta-Pie. The
spaceship was scooping samples of soil, rock and shale from Quta-Pie, when doing
so, it accidentally scooped Ch-tsal who happened to be there and thus he was
brought to earth.
Question (6): Why couldnt Ch-tsal establish any kind of contact with his captors?
Answer: Ch-tsal couldnt establish any contact with his captors because he couldnt
talk to them. He had no vocal chords and his race did not speak. He could only look
past the goggle glasses into the eyes of his captors begging them to understand him.
But they could not.
Question (7): Why did Ch-tsal try so hard to grow his feathers and whiskers?
Answer: Ch-tsal groomed his feathers and whiskers because they were filters,
temperature controllers, respirators and much more. His whiskers, were receivers,
antennae, language-carriers, voice and his life-line. Through them alone, he could
establish contact with his people.
Question (8): How did Ch-tsal sustain himself though he underwent great physical
miseries on earth?
Answer: Ch-tsal fought his miseries with courage. His five stomachs and numerous
organic filters, allowed him to stomach the food and atmosphere supplied to him. He
forced his mind and hands to entertain him. He slept most of the time and dreamed
of his home.
Question (9): What appalling reality did Ch-tsal wake up to on the nineteenth day,
Earth time?
Answer: On the nineteenth day of his captivity, Ch-tsal saw that his jewelled feathers
from his back and sides had fallen out in the night. These were his communication
channels, respirators, temperature controllers, receive, antennae - his entire lifeline
so to say. He now looked naked and hideous.
Question (10): What important feature did Ch-tsal have which his mother also
possessed?
Answer: Like his mother, Ch-tsal could also will his own individual, self-expressive
loveliness. The beauty, the shape, the pattern and colour of his feathers could be
created by will by him. To him, his feathers were what clothes were to humans.

Question (11): How was Ch-tsal treated by people after his change?
Answer: After Ch-tsal's feathers and whiskers were shed, he looked naked and
hideous and monster-like. Everyone pitied him. Then pity turned to disgust and soon
everyone began to change to other channels on T.V. inorder to forget him. The birth
of a panda, the Olympic games, a new girl singer with an exotic dress became their
points of attraction. Cutie-Pie was soon forgotten.
Question (12): What kind of a life did Ch-tsal live in the glass prison?
Answer: Ch-tsal looked hideous and was near to death. He had no feathers and
whiskers. Without them he couldn't communicate. The glass walls prevented him
from sending or receiving messages. He was completely powerless.
Question (13): "Cutie Pie were words they flinched from". Who does "they" refer to?
Why did they flich at the mention of these words?
Answer: "They" here refers to the scientists - jailors of Cutie Pie. They saw that Cutie-
Pie had shed his feathers and whiskers. Besides, he looked hideous and was near to
death. His sickness accused them of their incompetence. His survival was a challenge
to their expertise.
Question (14): How did Ch-tsal manage to escape from his glass prison?
Answer: One day, the scientists - jailors entered the glass prison to examine his food.
They hastened from the prison to avoid the strange gases seeping into their masks.
One of them pressed the button that closed the glass wall. The food bowl jammed the
door, leaving a gap. Ch-tsal managed to escape through this gap.
Question (15): How did Ch-tsal adjust to the outside atmosphere after his escape
from the glass prison?
Answer: Ch-tsal found that he could breathe in the air. The temperature was
pleasant. There was even a sun to warm his naked, decaying body and tingle his
naked skin. He felt great ecstasy in the rain. He felt he was efficient in everything. He
explored the facts and things of the earth around him and found them easy to
handle.
Question (16): Though Cutie-Pie escaped from the glass prison, he was not able to
return to his planet immediately? Why?
Answer: Cutie-Pie was not able to return to his planet immediately because he had
not grown his feathers and whiskers which had fallen. These were his life line, a kind
of receivers antennae, machinery to take him off, or to establish a contact with his
own people.
Question (17): How did Ch-tsal find the infant Christopher Mary Winters?
Answer: Ch-tsal was very lonely, he wanted some company. He found Winters - a
baby of six weeks and 3 days lying on a rug in the garden, warming in the sun.
Winters was the same size as Ch-tsal and naked like him. He didnt have to feel
ashamed of his own nakedness in Winter's company. The baby looked very happy as
it kicked its legs about and drooled. Later, Ch-tsal realized that Winters was an
ungrown specimen of the senior species of Earth.
Question (18): How did Ch-tsal recognize "the big creature" to be the mother of baby
Winters?
Answer: Ch-tsal after getting soaked in the rain, had started growing his feathers and
whiskers which were his lifeline. He could now pick up the strong, thick waves of
loving emotion that flowed between mother and baby. He recognized them and
remembered them from his own childhood.
Question (19): What did Cutie Pie learn from his interaction with Winters?
Answer: Cutie Pie learned what it was like for a human to plunge through a great
wave, to hunt down animals in dark forests, to shoot an arrow and to know how it
would hit its mark. He also learned of the glories of the battle, the terrors of defeat,
the cold wickedness of snakes etc.
Question (20): What information did Ch-tsal give Winters, lying down besides him?
Answer: Ch-tsal told Winters of the building of Crystal cities, of creatures in Caves, of
the pioneer ships that opened up the galaxy, of the Venus invaders and how they
were repulsed. He also told him of the five ways of knowing God, of the taste of a
certain food that grew only when his planet's three moons were full.
Question (21): What was the effect of Ch-tsal's friendly talks on Winters?
Answer: Winters was happier than ever with the friendly talks between him and Ch-
tsal. He gurgled, bubbled, and chuckled. He laughed loudly and tugged at his
mothers hair. He was a happy, contented baby with hair curling day by day.
Question (22): What happened to Ch-tsal after he heard his mother one day?
Answer: One particular night, Ch-tsal heard his mother faintly and brokenly. He got so
excited and ecstatic that he almost went mad. In the dewy moonlight of the woods,
he became a firework, a bombshell, spinning, zooming and bouncing off tree trunks.
He somersaulted, flashed and was filled with sheer joy and excitement.
Question (23): What became of Cutie Pie after he established contact with his own
planet? What is the proof of it?
Answer: Cutie Pie, heard his mother call out to him. He was wild with joy. One fine
day, a spaceship landed in Hertz village and took off with Cutie Pie aboard. It became
a real sensation. The landing of the spaceship was seen physically in the burnt grass
in the roped-off area - a patch of burnt field with a furrow leading to a dimple like an
exclamation mark (!) had been formed. This was the proof that Cutie Pie went away
to his own planet.
Question (24): How does Christopher's mother react when he tries to tell her of his
meeting and friendship with Cutie Pie?
Answer: Christopher tells his mother about Cutie Pie but his mother only humours
him saying, "Did he come, darling? I'm glad. Hold your mug properly". She does not
believe him and tells him to finish his milk. When he tells that Cutie told him stories,
she tells him 'you're sure you're not telling stories, darling? Christopher feels helpless
that his mother cannot accept a simple truth that quite often in the night Cutie Pie
visits him in his dreams and they tell each other stories and that this friendship will
last all his life.
Question (25): Imagine you are C.H. Winters. You have grown up and wish to share
with someone, your secret friendship with Cutie Pie. Write a letter to your friend
victor telling him about your experiences with Cutie Pie.
Answer:
Hertz.
20.1.08

Dear Victor,

Thank you for the lovely birthday card you sent me. As usual my birthday always
brings back some memories which are very precious to me I wish to share them with
you.

I am sure you have heard about Cutie Pie the cute extra-terrestrial who was scooped
from Quta Pie by our scientists. I was only two at that time. One night I felt
something warm and cosy ticked next to me I was surprised to see Cutie Pie smiling
at me 'We struck up an instant friendship. We communicated with our minds I spoke
history of the humans. Cutie Pie told me his real name was Chtsal. He told me about
his planet, the crystal cities, of creatures in caves, of the pioneer ships that opened
up the galaxy, of the Venus invaders and how they were repulsed. He also told me
about how his planet had 3 Suns and Moons and the taste of a certain food that grew
only when his planets three moon were full. We grew fond of each other I realized he
was hiding from humans as he met me only in the night.

One night he disappeared. I soon gathered that he had returned to his planet Victor
this may seem incredible to you, but trust me every year on my birthday he sends his
love and greetings to me. I value that friendship as much as I value your. I hope you
understand and believe me.
Lots ofl ove,

Christopher.

Question (26): You are a newspaper reporter writing about the mysterious landing of
the village in Hertz Village and connecting this with disappearance of Cute Pie.
Answer:
Spaceship and in Hertz village!

20.01.07

It is believed that a spaceship mysteriously landed in Hertz village last night. A patch
of burnt field with a furrow leading to a dimple like an exclamation mark(!) hears
testimony to the landing of the spaceship. Scientists believe that the spaceship was
on a special mission to rescue Cutie Pie, the alien who created a sensation a few
months ago. Readers will recall that Cutie Pie Had been scooped from Quta Pie and
kept in a glass cage where the atmosphere of Quata Pie was created Cutie Pie had
lost its beauty and feathers inside the cage and had managed to escape due to the
carelessness of a couple of scientists. Thought efforts were mad Cutie Pie could not
betraced. Some questions loomlarge

How did Cutie Pie survive in Earth? Had the scientists misjudged that Cutie Pie
belonged to Quta Pie? Did Cutie Pie communicate with someone on earth? So far
these questions remain unanswered as no eye witnesses have come forward with
any information. However, one thing remains certain. It was a failure of the scientists
to provide a conducive atmosphere for Cutie Pie. They lost a golden chance to study
the existence of life in other plant
Question (27): Describe Cutie Pie's feeling about the Earth and his experiences after
his escape from the glass prism.
Answer: The Earth astonished him and he could breathe the air and the temperature
was pleasant! He loved the warm sun tingling his naked skin and the coolness of the
night! He was ecstatic when it rained. It was like a balm on his tortured skin!

He found everything in the earth very crude and simple. He could easily operate the
knobs and handles. He found food, cacti in the extension of Mrs. Chatsworth's house.
He made himself and carrying bag, cut himself a store of food and carried if off. He
was in need of companionship to give him comfort. He met a cat who tried to attack
and a dog who displayed a silly niceness. He was disgusted by the simple, crude
thoughts these creatures possessed. At last he found a human body who was the
prefect friend for him. He communicated with baby Christopher, regaling him with
stories about his own planet. During the daytime he hid from human beings but at
night he moved about stealthily. Soon his whiskers and feathers grew back. Finally
his mother came in a spaceship and a delighted, rapturous Cutie escaped back home.

Question (1): Cutie Pie was captured from the planet

1. Questar
2. Quta - pi
3. Ch - tsal
4. Winters

Ans: 2

Question (2): Cutie Pie was covered with

1. shiny colourful feathers
2. dull feathers
3. shiny fur
4. skin

Ans: 1

Question (3): Why was Cutie Pie on the planet of Quta - pi?
1. That was his planet
2. He was there for his initiation
3. He was on a vacation
4. He was a scientist

Ans: 2

Question (4): Where did the scientists keep Cutie Pie?

1. In water
2. In a glass prison
3. In a space ship
4. In a garden

Ans: 2

Question (5): Who were the 'silver creatures with bubble faces'?
1. Men in space suits
2. Inhabitants of Quta Pi
3. Brothers of Cutie Pie
4. Imaginary creatures

Ans: 1

Question (6): What was the one thing that Cutie Pie did frequently?
1. Talk to people
2. Send messages to his planet
3. Comb his feathers
4. Sleep and dream

Ans: 3

Question (7): How did Cutie Pie escape from the glass prison?
1. The scientist let him out
2. A food bowl jammed the glass door
3. Winters saved him
4. The prison broke
Ans: 2

Question (8): What healthy food did Cutie Pie find in Mrs. Chatsworth's house?
1. Cacti
2. Sandwich
3. Baby food
4. Wood

Ans: 1

Question (9): How did Ch-tsal quieten the furry creature that attacked him?
1. By singing to it
2. By talking to it
3. By using mental power
4. By hitting it

Ans: 3

Question (10): The creature that Ch-tsal saw had coloured fur, it arched its back, and
had hooks at the end of its limbs. This was a
1. baby
2. dog
3. cat
4. fox

Ans: 3

Question (11): How long did Ch-tsal remain on earth after he met Christopher?
1. About ten weeks
2. About one week
3. About ten months
4. About four months

Ans: 1

Question (12): Christoper tells his mother about Ch-tsal, what is her reaction to this?
1. She is excited
2. She does not hear him
3. She does not believe him
4. She also tells him a story