How the Camel Got his Hump Summary Class 8 English (It so Happened) Chapter 1

Introduction

The story “How the Camel got his hump” by Rudyard Kipling takes us to the time when the world had just begun. At that time, the animals worked for the humans, except for one lazy animal named Camel. He always said one word, “Humph!” when anyone said anything to him. Due to his repeated chanting of the word “Humph!”, he ended up getting a hump (or humph) on his back, which he was earlier quite proud of. Now, he carries it everywhere and has even started working.  

Summary

The poem describes a story about how the camel got his hump. The poet says that at the beginning of the world, everything was new. The animals had just started to work for human beings. The story is about a camel who lived in the middle of a Howling Desert. He ate sticks and thorns and was not interested to work for anyone. Whenever anyone spoke to him, he would say ‘Humph!’.

On a Monday morning, the horse went to him. He told him to come out and sprint. But the camel, as usual, said ‘Humph!’. The horse told this to the man. After some time, a dog came to the camel and asked him to work. But again, the camel said ‘Humph!’. Later, the Ox came to him. As per his habit, the camel replied ‘Humph!’ to him too.

The man summoned the horse, the dog, and the Ox. He asked them about the camel. All three animals told him what had happened. Even after hearing them, the man asked them to work double-time in order to compensate for the camel’s work. This made all three of them furious and angry. They decided to held a panchayat. In the panchayat, came the Djinn of All Deserts.

During the panchayat, the horse complained about the camel to the Djinn. He told him that the camel would not work and only say ‘Humph!’ all the time. The Djinn promised them that he will set the camel right.

The Djinn found the camel in the desert where he was looking at his reflection in the water. He asked the camel to work but as usual, the camel said ‘Humph!’. As soon as the camel uttered these words, he saw his beautiful back puffing up. This was very strange. The camel was very proud of his beautiful back but now it became ugly.

The Djinn explained to the camel that it was his own hump. He is only responsible for this as he did not work. The Djinn now asked the camel to work but he said he can’t work due to this hump. He told the camel that as he did not work for three days, with this hump he can now work for three days without eating or drinking. From that day, the camel has a hump but still, it has not learned to behave.

Message

Theme

Word Meanings

1. Howling Desert- a desert where you hear howling noises of both animals and the wind
2. Thorns– a stiff, sharp-pointed woody projection on the stem or other part of a plant
3. Prickles– a short pointed outgrowth on the bark or epidermis of a plant; a small thorn 
4. Saddle– a seat fastened on the back of a horse or other animal for riding, typically made of leather and raised at the front and rear
5. Trot– run at moderate pace with short steps
6. Fetch– go and then bring back (something) for someone
7. Yoke– a wooden cross piece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plough or cart that they are to pull
8. Cud– partly digested food returned from the first stomach of ruminants to the mouth for further chewing
9. Djinn: (pronounced ‘jin’ and variously spelt as ‘genie’, ‘genii’, ‘jinnee’, ‘djinni’, ‘djinny’): a spirit that has strange powers and can assume any form, human or animal
10. Whew– used to express surprise
11. I’ll humph him: I’ll deal with him appropriately./I’ll set him right.  
12. Puffing up– becoming bigger