My Family and Other Animals

After the Magenpies are confined, they take it upon themselves to learn English and Greek. They learn to call every member of the family by name and torture Spiro by yelling for him after he drives away. They also learn to call the dogs and confuse them to no end, and most unfortunately, they learn to mimic the sound the maid makes when she calls the chickens for food. This drives the poor hens nearly mad. The Magenpies often converse with Roger and play tricks on Widdle and Puke. They're perplexed, however, when Mother comes home with a strange looking dog.

The new dog, Dodo, is a female Dandy Dinmont terrier. She vomits in the car the entire way home and when she arrives, everyone insults her strange appearance, name, and sex. Larry is especially vicious, but Mother decides to keep Dodo anyway. The family soon discovers that Dodo's hip dislocates with little or no provocation at the most inopportune times. When this happens, Dodo shrieks in pain until someone manages to put her hip back in, after which she falls asleep.

Dodo also proves fairly unintelligent. She becomes extremely possessive of Mother, even following Mother across the room to fetch a book or a cigarette. She won't allow Mother in the bathroom unattended and if Mother locks her out, Dodo howls and throws herself at the door. Roger, Widdle, and Puke initially just tolerate Dodo, as she's too small to play with them. However, they soon discover that she comes into season regularly, which makes her immensely popular with the Durrells' dogs as well as the local strays. Dodo is afraid of all her suitors. At one point, Mother inadvertently locks Dodo up with Puke, and Dodo gives birth to a single puppy.

The puppy proves a problem for Dodo, as she's torn between sitting with it and following Mother. Dodo tries to carry her puppy everywhere and, finally, Mother engages the maid's daughter Sophia to carry the puppy around on a pillow. Every evening, Mother takes the dogs for a walk and the rest of the family finds this quite amusing. They watch her walk off with Roger, Widdle, and Puke ahead, followed by Dodo, Sophia, and the puppy. Larry teases Mother incessantly about looking like a circus.

There's a lake in northern Corfu where the Durrells spend time often. They plan on heading up when the lilies are in bloom, and Mother insists they must go by boat so that Dodo doesn't vomit in the car. Leslie asks why Dodo won't be sick in the boat, to which Mother explains that people who are carsick never get seasick. Larry consults Theodore on the matter, but all Theodore can say is that he's never carsick but is always seasick. Regardless, a landslide means that they must all go by boat.

The family attaches the Bootle-Bumtrinket to the Sea Cow to tow it, and Mother, Theodore, Sophia, and the dogs ride behind. This, however, is horrible for those passengers: the wake from the Sea Cow makes the Bootle-Bumtrinket extremely rough. When those in the Sea Cow finally hear the cries from behind, everyone in the Bootle-Bumtrinket is sick. They trade out places and finally reach the lake.

At the lake, Leslie, Gerry, and Theodore divide the lake in half so Gerry and Theodore can collect specimens without fear of being shot by Leslie. Everyone returns to the lake for lunch, which is a lavish affair. A robin entertains the family by singing and puffing out his chest, which Mother finds extremely charming. Theodore suggests the robin looked like an opera singer and begins a story about the last opera performed in Corfu. In the final act, the heroine was supposed to throw herself off a balcony. On the first night, the stagehands neglected to give her a soft landing and on the second, they gave her so many mattresses, she bounced several times. The audience was perplexed.

After tea, Theodore and Gerry return to the water until night falls. Spiro cooks fish and finally, when the moon is high, everyone piles back into the boats to head home. Mother declares that the lake is so beautiful, she'd like to be buried there.