Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
‘Zigzag! ’ interrupted their nine-year-old daughter Maya. Isn’t that Uncle Somu’s prized giant green-and - gold fighting beetle. The one that spits deadly poison straight into its opponent’s eye?’ ‘No, no,’ corrected her older brother Arvind, eyes shining in pure delight. ‘The beetle is called Spitfire. Zigzag must be Uncle Somu’s pet snake. The African sidewinder! You know, the one that slithers zigzag all over his house!’ ‘You’re both quite mistaken, ’ their father hastened to explain, seeing his wife’s horrified expression. ‘Zigzag is a most harmless, unusual and lovable bird. Apparently, it was bred by a genuine African witch doctor, who gifted it to Somu when he being a child specialist like me cured the witch doctor’s son while he was touring the deepest jungles of equatorial Africa last month. Somu says the bird is an absolute treasure and a real help. It’s his favourite pet, you know’.
(а) Who is Maya?
(b) What did Maya mistake Zigzag to be?
(c) According to Maya’s brother, who was Zigzag? Why?
(d) Why did Ashok hasten to explain to his children the mistaken identity?
(e) Who was Zigzag according to Ashok?
