The Bond of Love by Kenneth Anderson
Quick answer: The Bond of Love by Kenneth Anderson, Class 9 Beehive: summary with the ending, Bruno the sloth bear, the zoo separation, love between people and animals, exam answers.
A hunter shoots a sloth bear near Mysore, finds an orphaned cub in the sugarcane, and brings it home to a wife who names it Bruno. Kenneth Anderson's The Bond of Love, ninth in the Class 9 Beehive textbook, is told as fact.
The story in brief
The cub grows up playful and greedy. Twice he nearly dies: once after eating barium carbonate laid for rats, which paralyses him until the author injects antidotes, and once after drinking a gallon of engine oil with no ill effect. He is renamed Baba. When he grows too big and too strong for visiting children, the author and his sons persuade the tearful wife to send him to the Mysore zoo.
Baba pines. After three months the wife visits; the bear recognises her at once, stands on his hind legs and cries, and she spends hours in his cage. The superintendent agrees to release him if the family builds a proper enclosure. The author constructs an island in his compound, ringed by a dry moat, and the wife sits there with her bear for hours each day.
The characters
Themes and meaning
Exams expect love between humans and animals, the pain of separation, and the claim that emotion is not only human. The sharper observation is the guilt under the sentiment. The author kills Bruno's mother in the first paragraph, and every later act of care is repayment. Anderson never says so, which is why it reads as love rather than confession.
The craft
The turn is the zoo visit, where the bear's recognition converts a problem of space into a problem of feeling. The two poisonings make the reader fear for Bruno before the real danger, separation, arrives. Anderson's plain style lets emotion arrive unforced, and the island built for one animal does the work of a summary.
For the exam
Summary in 100 words: The author shoots a sloth bear near Mysore and brings its orphaned cub home. His wife names it Bruno and raises it as a pet. The cub survives eating rat poison and drinking engine oil, learns tricks and becomes a family favourite. When he grows too large, the family sends him to the Mysore zoo, though the wife objects. Both she and the bear pine. Three months later she visits; Baba recognises her, and the superintendent permits her to take him home. The author builds an island with a moat in his compound, where the wife spends hours daily with her bear.
What writers can take from this
- Give the two names, Bruno and Baba, and explain who renamed him.
- Cite the barium carbonate incident to show the dangers of keeping a wild pet indoors.
- For the theme, use the zoo recognition scene as your main evidence.
- Writers: put the real emotional danger after two false alarms so it lands harder.
- Report feeling through actions such as standing, crying and reaching, not through commentary.
Try it yourself
Write a story in which a character adopts a creature they are responsible for orphaning, never admits the guilt, and shows their repentance only through what they build for it.
Questions
How did Bruno come to live with the author's family?
The author shot a sloth bear in the sugarcane fields near Mysore. A cub was found hiding in the cane, and one of his companions caught it. His wife adopted it and named it Bruno.
Why was Bruno sent to the zoo in The Bond of Love?
He had grown too large and strong to keep safely in a compound visited by children and tenants. The author and his sons convinced the wife to send him to the Mysore zoo.
How does The Bond of Love end?
After three months the wife visits the zoo, Baba recognises her, and the superintendent lets her take him back. The author builds an island enclosure with a moat in his compound, where she spends hours with the bear each day.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working writers. Updated September 2026.
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