PREVIEW

R ikki-Tikki-Tavi is a mongoose by birth and asnake-killer by profession.H e thinks he has foundthe perfect home when heis adopted by a humanfamily. But that’s beforehe learns about Nag andNagaina, the dangerouscobras that live in the garden. The cobras, Nagand Nagaina soon haveRikki—and his humanfriends—marked for death.

T his is the story of the great war thatRikki-Tikki-Tavi fought single-handedly,through the bathrooms of a big bungalow.Darzee, the tailorbird, helped him.Chuchundra, the muskrat, who never comesout into the middle of the floor, but alwayscreeps around by the wall, gave him advice.But Rikki-Tikki-Tavi did the real fighting.

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was a mongoose—hisfur and his tail rather like a cat’s, but his headand his habits quite like a weasel’s. H is eyesand the end of his restless nose were pink.H e could scratch himself anywhere he

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVIRudya rd Kip ling

3

pleased, with any leg he chose to use, front orback. H e could fluff up his tail till it lookedlike a brush. And as he scuttled through thelong grass, his war cry was R ikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tichk!

One summer day, a flood washed him outof the burrow where he lived with his moth-er and father and carried him kicking andclucking down a roadside ditch. H e found alittle wisp of grass floating there, and clung toit till he lost consciousness. When he revived,he was lying in the hot sun in the middle of agarden path, very wet, dirty, and tiredindeed. A small boy was saying, “H ere’s adead mongoose. Let’s have a funeral.”

“No,” said his mother. “Let’s take him inand dry him. Perhaps he isn’t really dead.”

They took him into the house and a bigman picked him up between his finger andthumb and said he was not dead at all buthalf choked. They wrapped him in a blanketand warmed him over a small fire. H e openedhis eyes and sneezed.

“Now,” said the big man, “don’t frightenhim, and we’ll see what he’ll do.”

It is the hardest thing in the world tofrighten a mongoose, because he is eaten upwith curiosity from his nose to his tail. Themotto of all the mongoose family is, “Run

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and find out,” and Rikki-Tikki was a truemongoose. H e looked at the blanket, decid-ed that it was not good to eat, ran all aroundthe table, sat up, smoothed his fur, scratchedhimself, and jumped on the small boy’sshoulder.

“Don’t be frightened, Teddy,” said hisfather. “That’s his way of making friends.”

“Oooh! H e’s tickling under my chin,”said Teddy.

Rikki-Tikki looked down between theboy’s collar and neck, sniffed at his ear, andclimbed down to the floor, where he sat rub-bing his nose.

“Good gracious,” said Teddy’s mother,“that’s a wild creature? I suppose he’s sotame because we’ve been kind to him.”

“All mongooses are like that,” said herhusband. “If Teddy doesn’t pick him up bythe tail, or try to put him in a cage, he’ll runin and out of the house all day long. Let’sgive him something to eat.”

They gave him a little piece of raw meat.Rikki-Tikki liked it immensely. When it wasfinished, he went out onto the veranda, sat inthe sunshine, and fluffed up his fur to make itdry to the roots. Then he felt better.

“There are more things to find out aboutin this house than all my family could find

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out in all their lives,” he said to himself. “Ishall certainly stay and find out.”

H e spent all that day roaming around thehouse. H e nearly drowned himself in thebathtubs. H e put his nose into the ink on awriting table and burned it on the end of thebig man’s cigar when he climbed into his lapto watch how writing was done. At nightfallhe ran into Teddy’s nursery to watch howkerosene lamps were lighted. And whenTeddy went to bed, Rikki-Tikki climbed upthere too. But he was a restless companionbecause he had to check out every noise allthrough the night to find out what made it.Teddy’s mother and father came in, the lastthing in the evening, to look at their boy, andRikki-Tikki was awake on the pillow.

“I don’t like that,” said Teddy’s mother;“he may bite the child.”

“H e’ll do no such thing,” said the father.“Teddy’s safer with that little beast than if hehad a bloodhound to watch him. If a snakecame into the nursery now . . .”

But Teddy’s mother wouldn’t think ofanything so awful.

Early in the morning, Rikki-Tikki cameto breakfast on the veranda, riding onTeddy’s shoulder. They gave him a bananaand some boiled eggs, and he sat on all their

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laps one after the other because a very-well-brought-up mongoose always hopes tosomeday be a house mongoose and haverooms to run about in. Rikki-Tikki’s motherhad carefully taught Rikki what to do if heever got the chance to live in a house withpeople.

Then Rikki-Tikki went out into the gar-den to see what was to be seen. It was a largegarden, with bushes as big as houses, limeand orange trees, clumps of bamboo, andthickets of high grass. Rikki-Tikki licked hislips.

“This is a splendid hunting ground,” hesaid, and his tail grew thick and bushy at thethought of it. H e scuttled up and down thegarden, sniffing here and there till he heardvery sorrowful voices in a thornbush. It wasDarzee, the tailorbird, and his wife. They hadmade a beautiful nest by pulling two bigleaves together, stitching them up the edgeswith fibers, and filling the hollow with cottonand downy fluff. The nest swayed to and froas they sat on the rim and cried.

“What’s the matter?” asked Rikki-Tikki.“We are very miserable,” said Darzee.

“One of our babies fell out of the nest yes-terday and Nag ate him.”

“H mmmm!” said Rikki-Tikki, “that is

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI 7

very sad—but I am a stranger here. Who isNag?”

Darzee and his wife cowered down in thenest without answering, for from the thickgrass at the foot of the bush there came a lowhiss—a horrid sound that made Rikki-Tikkijump back two feet. Then inch by inch out ofthe grass rose up the head and spread hoodof Nag, the big black cobra. H e was five feetlong from tongue to tail. When he had liftedone-third of himself up—clear of theground—he stayed swaying to and fro, exact-ly like a dandelion sways in the wind. H elooked at Rikki-Tikki with the wicked eyes ofa snake that never change their expression,whatever the snake may be thinking.

“What is Nag?” he said. “I am Nag. Thegreat God Brahma put his mark upon allcobras when the first cobra spread his hoodto keep the sun off Brahma as he slept. Lookand be afraid!”

H e spread out his hood more than ever,and Rikki-Tikki saw a grand marking on theback of it. It looked exactly like the eye partof a hook-and-eye fastening. H e was afraidfor a minute, but it is impossible for a mon-goose to stay frightened for any length oftime. And though Rikki-Tikki had never meta live cobra before, his mother had fed him

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on dead ones. H e knew that a grown mon-goose’s business in life was to fight and eatsnakes. Nag knew that too, and at the bot-tom of his cold heart, he was afraid.

“Well,” he said, as his tail began to fluffup again, “marks or no marks, do you thinkit’s right for you to eat baby birds out of anest?”

Nag was thinking to himself and watch-ing the least little movement in the grassbehind Rikki-Tikki. H e knew that mongoos-es in the garden meant death, sooner or later,for him and his family. H e wanted to getRikki-Tikki off his guard, so he dropped hishead a little, leaning it to one side.

“Let us talk,” he said. “You eat eggs.Why should I not eat birds?”

“Behind you! Look behind you!” sangDarzee.

Rikki-Tikki knew better than to wastetime staring. H e jumped up in the air as highas he could go, and just under him whizzedby the head of Nagaina, Nag’s wicked wife.She had crept up behind him to kill him. H eheard her savage hiss as her stroke missed andhe came down almost across her back. If hehad been an older mongoose, he would haveknown that then was the time to break herback with one bite, but he was afraid of the

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI 9

terrible lashing return-stroke of the cobra.H e bit, indeed, but did not bite long enough.And he jumped clear of her whisking tail,leaving Nagaina torn and angry.

“Wicked, wicked Darzee!” said Nag,reaching up as high as he could toward thenest in the thornbush; but Darzee had builtit out of reach of snakes, and it only swayedto and fro.

Rikki-Tikki felt his eyes growing red andhot (when a mongoose’s eyes grow red, he isangry). H e sat back on his tail and hind legslike a small kangaroo and looked all aroundhim, chattering with rage. But Nag andNagaina had disappeared into the grass.When a snake misses its stroke, it never saysanything or gives any sign of what it means todo next. Rikki-Tikki did not care to followthem, for he did not feel sure that he couldmanage two snakes at one time. So he trottedoff to the gravel path near the house and satdown to think. This was a serious matter forhim. If you read the old books of natural his-tory, you will find they say that when themongoose fights the snake and happens toget bitten, he runs off and eats some herbthat cures him. That is not true. The victoryis only a matter of quickness of eye andquickness of foot—a snake’s strike against the

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mongoose’s jump. And as no eye can followthe motion of a snake’s head when it strikes,this makes things much more wonderful thanany magic herb. Rikki-Tikki knew he was ayoung mongoose, and it made him all themore pleased to think that he had managedto escape a blow from behind. It gave himconfidence in himself, and when Teddy camerunning down the path, Rikki-Tikki wasready to be petted. But just as Teddy wasstooping down, something wriggled a little inthe dust, and a tiny voice said: “Be careful. Iam Death!” It was Karait, the dusty brownsnakeling that lies in the dusty earth. H is biteis as dangerous as the cobra’s, but he is sosmall that nobody gives him a thought, andso he does much more harm to people.

Rikki-Tikki’s eyes grew red again, and hedanced up to Karait with the peculiar rock-ing, swaying motion he had inherited fromhis family. It looks very funny, but it is so per-fectly balanced a gait that he can fly off andattack from any angle he pleases. In dealingwith snakes, this is an advantage. If Rikki-Tikki had only known . . . he was doing amuch more dangerous thing than fightingNag, for Karait is so small, and can turn soquickly, that unless Rikki bit him close to theback of the head, the snake would strike in

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI 11

return, hitting his eye or lip.But Rikki did not know this: his eyes were

all red and he rocked back and forth, lookingfor a good place to grab hold. Karait struckout. Rikki jumped sideways and tried to dodgethe strike, but the wicked little dusty gray headlashed within a fraction of his shoulder. Rikkihad to jump over the body, and the snake’shead followed closely on his heels.

Teddy shouted into the house. “Oh lookhere, our mongoose is killing a snake!” AndRikki-Tikki heard a scream from Teddy’smother. H is father ran out with a stick, butby the time he got there, Karait had lungedout once too far. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi hadsprung, jumped on the snake’s back, droppedhis head far between his forelegs, bitten ashigh up on the snake’s back as he could gethold, and then rolled away. This bite para-lyzed Karait, and Rikki-Tikki was going to eathim up from the tail as was the custom of hisfamily at dinner. Then he remembered that afull meal makes a slow mongoose. If he want-ed all his strength and quickness, he mustkeep himself thin. H e went away to bathe inthe dust under the bushes, while Teddy’sfather beat the dead Karait.

“What’s the use of that?” thought Rikki-Tikki. “I have finished it all.” And then

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Teddy’s mother picked him up from the dustand hugged him, crying that he had savedTeddy from death. Teddy’s father said he wasa blessing. And Teddy looked on with big,scared eyes. Rikki-Tikki was rather amused atall the fuss, which, of course, he did notunderstand. Teddy’s mother might just aswell have petted Teddy for playing in thedust. Rikki was thoroughly enjoying himself.

That night at dinner, walking up andback among the wineglasses on the table, hemight have stuffed himself three times overwith nice things. But he remembered Nagand Nagaina and though it was very pleasantto be petted by Teddy’s mother, and to sit onTeddy’s shoulder. From time to time his eyeswould get red, and he would sound off withhis long war cry of R ikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!

Teddy carried him off to bed and insistedthat Rikki-Tikki sleep under his chin. Rikki-Tikki was too well-bred to bite or scratch,but as soon as Teddy was asleep, he went offfor his nightly walk around the house. In thedark, he ran into Chuchundra, the muskrat,creeping around by the wall. Chuchundra is abroken-hearted little beast. H e whimpers andchirps all night long, trying to make up hismind to run into the middle of the room, buthe never gets there.

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“Don’t kill me,” said Chuchundra,almost weeping. “Rikki-Tikki, don’t kill me!”

“Do you think a snake-killer killsmuskrats?” Rikki-Tikki said scornfully.

“Those who kill snakes get killed bysnakes,” said Chuchundra, more sorrowfullythan ever. “And how can I be sure that Nagwon’t mistake me for you some dark night?”

“There’s not the least danger,” saidRikki-Tikki. “Nag is in the garden, and Iknow you don’t go there.”

“My cousin, Chua, the rat told me—”said Chuchundra, and then he stopped.

“Told you what?”“H ush! Nag is everywhere, Rikki-Tikki.

You should have talked to Chua in the garden.”“I didn’t, so you must tell me. Quick,

Chuchundra, or I’ll bite you.”Chuchundra sat down and cried till the

tears rolled off his whiskers. “I am a verypoor muskrat,” he sobbed. “I never hadenough spirit to run out into the middle ofthe room. H ush! I mustn’t tell you anything.Can’t you hear, Rikki-Tikki?”

Rikki-Tikki listened. The house was asstill as still, but he thought he could justcatch the faintest scratch-scratch in theworld. A noise as faint as that of a wasp walk-ing on a windowpane—the dry scratch of a

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snake’s scales on brickwork.“That’s Nag or Nagaina,” he said to him-

self, “and he is crawling into the bathroomdrain. You’re right, Chuchundra. I shouldhave talked to Chua.”

H e stole off to Teddy’s bathroom, butthere was nothing there. And then to Teddy’smother’s bathroom. At the bottom of thesmooth plaster wall, there was a brick pulledout to make a drain for the bathwater, and asRikki-Tikki snuck in by the bathtub, he heardNag and Nagaina whispering together out-side in the moonlight.

“When the house is emptied of people,”said Nagaina to her husband, “he will have togo away, and then the garden will be our ownagain. Go in quietly, and remember that thebig man who killed Karait is the first one tobite. Then come out and tell me, and we willhunt Rikki-Tikki together.”

“But are you sure that there is anythingto be gained by killing the people?” said Nag.

“Everything. When there were no peoplein the house, did we have any mongoose inthe garden? As long as the house is empty, weare king and queen of the garden. Andremember, as soon as our eggs in the melonbed hatch (as they may tomorrow), our chil-dren will need room and quiet.”

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI 15

“I had not thought of that,” said Nag. “Iwill go, but there is no need to hunt forRikki-Tikki afterward. I will kill the big manand his wife and the child if I can, and comeaway quietly. Then the house will be empty,and Rikki-Tikki will go away.”

Rikki-Tikki tingled all over with rage andhatred at this. And then Nag’s head camethrough the drain, and his five feet of coldbody followed it. Angry as he was, Rikki-Tikki was very frightened as he saw the size ofthe big cobra. Nag coiled himself up, raisedhis head, and looked into the bathroom inthe dark. Rikki could see his eyes glitter.

“Now if I kill him here, Nagaina willknow; and if I fight him on the open floor,the odds are in his favor. What am I to do?”said Rikki-Tikki.

Nag waved to and fro, and then Rikki-Tikki heard him drinking from the water jarthat was used to fill the bath. “That is good,”said the snake. “Now when Karait was killed,the big man had a stick. H e may still havethat stick. But when he comes to bathe in themorning, he surely will not have a stick. Ishall wait here until he comes. Nagaina—doyou hear me?—I shall wait here where it’scool till daytime.”

There was no answer from outside, so

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Rikki-Tikki knew Nagaina had gone away.Nag coiled himself down, coil by coil, andwrapped himself around the bottom of thewater jar. Rikki-Tikki stayed as still as death.After an hour he began to move, muscle bymuscle, toward the jar. Nag was asleep, andRikki-Tikki looked at his big back, wonder-ing which would be the best place to attackand grab hold. “If I don’t break his back atthe first jump,” said Rikki, “he can still fight;and if he fights, oh Rikki!” H e looked at thethickness of the snake’s neck, below thehood, but that was too much for him. And abite near the tail would only make Nag sav-age.

“I must go for the head,” he said at last,“the head above the hood; and once I amthere, I must not let go,”

Then he jumped at the snake. Nag’s headwas lying just clear of the water jar, and as histeeth met, Rikki braced his back against thejar to hold down the head. This gave him oneextra second, and he made the most of it.Then he was battered to and fro, as the snakefought his grip. Back and forth on the floor,up and down and around in great circles. Buthis eyes were red and he held on as his bodywas whipped over the floor and bangedagainst the side of the bathtub. H e held on

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and closed his jaws tighter and tighter. H ewas sure he would be banged to death, andfor the honor of his family, he preferred to befound with his teeth locked. H e was dizzyand aching and felt shaken to pieces whensomething went off like a thunderclap justbehind him. A hot wind knocked him sense-less, and red fire singed his fur. The big manhad been wakened by the noise and had firedboth barrels of his shotgun into Nag justbehind the hood.

Rikki-Tikki held on tight with his eyesshut, for now he was quite sure he was dead.The snake’s head did not move, and the bigman picked him up and said, “It’s the mon-goose again, Alice. The little chap has savedour lives now.” Teddy’s mother came in witha very white face and saw what was left ofNag. Rikki-Tikki dragged himself to Teddy’sbedroom and spent half the night shakinghimself tenderly to find out whether he reallywas broken into forty pieces as he imagined.

When morning came he was very stiff,but well pleased with what he had done.“Now I have Nagaina to settle with, and shewill be worse than five Nags. And there’s noway of knowing when the eggs she spoke ofwill hatch. Goodness! I must go and seeDarzee,” he said.

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Without waiting for breakfast, Rikki-Tikki ran to the thornbush where Darzee wassinging a song of triumph at the top of hisvoice. The news of Nag’s death was alreadyall over the garden because the body hadbeen thrown in the rubbish heap.

“Oh, you stupid tuft of feathers!” saidRikki-Tikki angrily. “Is this the time to sing?”

“Nag is dead—is dead—is dead!” sangDarzee. “The valiant Rikki-Tikki caught himby the head and held fast. The big manbrought the bangstick and Nag fell in twopieces! H e will never eat my babies again.”

“All that’s true enough, but where’sNagaina?” said Rikki-Tikki, looking carefullyaround him.

“Nagaina came to the bathroom drainand called for Nag,” Darzee went on, “andNag came out on the end of a stick—thrownon the rubbish heap. Let us sing about thegreat red-eyed Rikki-Tikki-Tavi!” and Darzeefilled his throat and sang.

“If I could get up to your nest, I’d throwyour babies out!” said Rikki-Tikki. “Youdon’t know when to do the right thing at theright time. You’re safe enough in your nestthere, but it’s war for me down here. Stopsinging for a minute, Darzee.”

“For the great, beautiful Rikki-Tikki-

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Tavi’s sake, I will stop,” said Darzee. “Whatis it, oh killer of the terrible Nag?”

“Again I ask, where is Nagaina?” “On the rubbish heap by the stables,

mourning for Nag. Great is Rikki-Tikki withthe white teeth!”

“Forget my white teeth! H ave you heardwhere she keeps her eggs?”

“In the melon bed, on the end nearestthe wall, where the sun shines nearly all day.She hid them there weeks ago.”

“And you never thought it worthwhile totell me? The end nearest the wall, you said?”

“Rikki-Tikki, you are not going to eat hereggs?”

“Not eat exactly, Darzee, no. If you havea grain of sense, you will fly off to the stablesand pretend that your wing is broken and letNagaina chase you away to this bush. I mustgo to the melon bed, and if I went therenow, she’d see me.”

Darzee was a feather-brained little fellowwho could never keep more than one idea inhis head at a time. Just because he knew thatNagaina’s children were born in eggs like hisown, he didn’t think, at first, that it was fairto kill them. But his wife was a sensible bird,and she knew that cobra’s eggs meant youngcobras later on. So she flew off from the nest

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and left Darzee to keep the babies warm andcontinue his song about the death of Nag.

She fluttered in front of Nagaina by therubbish heap and cried out, “Oh, my wing isbroken! The boy in the house threw a stoneat me and broke it.” Then she fluttered moredesperately than ever.

Nagaina lifted up her head and hissed,“You warned Rikki-Tikki when I would havekilled him. Indeed and truly, you’ve chosen abad place to come with a broken wing.” Andshe moved toward Darzee’s wife, slidingalong the dust.

“The boy broke it with a stone!” shriekedDarzee’s wife.

“Well! It may be some consolation toyou, to know that when you’re dead I shallsettle accounts with the boy. My husband lieson the rubbish heap this morning, and beforenightfall, the boy too will be still. What is theuse of running away? I am sure to catch you.Little fool, look at me!”

Darzee’s wife knew better than to dothat, for a bird who looks in a snake’s eyesgets so frightened that she cannot move.Darzee’s wife fluttered on, piping sorrowful-ly and never leaving the ground, and Nagainaquickened her pace.

Rikki-Tikki heard them going up the

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path from the stables, and he raced to theend of the melon bed near the wall. There,very cunningly hidden, he found twenty-fiveeggs, about the size of a small bird’s eggs,but with whitish skins instead of shells.

“I was not a day too soon,” he said, forhe could see the baby cobras curled up insidethe skin, and he knew that the minute theywere hatched, they could each kill a man or amongoose. H e bit off the tops of the eggs asfast as he could, taking care to crush theyoung cobras, and turned over the litter fromtime to time to see whether he had missedany. At last there were only three eggs left,and Rikki-Tikki began to chuckle to himself,when he heard Darzee’s wife screaming:

“Rikki-Tikki, I led Nagaina toward thehouse, and she has gone onto the veranda,and—oh, come quickly—she means killing!”

Rikki-Tikki smashed two eggs, tumbledbackward down the melon bed with the thirdegg in his mouth, and scuttled to the veran-da as fast as he could put foot to the ground.Teddy and his mother and father were thereat early breakfast, but Rikki-Tikki saw thatthey were not eating anything. They satstone-still, and their faces were white.Nagaina was coiled up on the matting byTeddy’s chair, within easy striking distance of

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Teddy’s bare leg, and she was swaying to andfro, singing a song of triumph.

“Son of the big man that killed Nag,” shehissed, “stay still. I am not ready yet. Wait alittle. Keep very still, all you three! If youmove, I strike; and if you do not move, Istrike. Oh, foolish people who killed myNag!”

Teddy’s eyes were fixed on his father, andall his father could do was to whisper, “Sitstill, Teddy. You mustn’t move. Teddy, keepstill.”

Then Rikki-Tikki came up and cried:“Turn around, Nagaina; turn and fight!”

“All in good time,” she said withoutmoving her eyes. “I will settle my accountwith you presently. Look at your friends,Rikki-Tikki. They are still and white. Theyare afraid. They dare not move, and if youcome a step nearer, I strike.”

“Look at your eggs,” said Rikki-Tikki,“in the melon bed near the wall. Go andlook, Nagaina!”

The big snake turned half around andsaw the egg on the veranda. “Ah-h! Give it tome,” she said.

Rikki-Tikki put his paws one on each sideof the egg, and his eyes were blood-red.“What price for a snake’s egg? For a young

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI 23

cobra? For a young king-cobra? For the last—the very last of the brood? The ants are eat-ing all the others down by the melon bed.”

Nagaina spun clear around, forgettingeverything for the sake of the one egg, andRikki-Tikki saw Teddy’s father shoot out abig hand, grab Teddy by the shoulder, anddrag him across the table, safe and out ofreach of Nagaina.

“Tricked! Tricked! Tricked! Rikk-tck-tck!” chuckled Rikki-Tikki. “The boy is safe,and it was I—I—I—that caught Nag by thehood last night in the bathroom.” Then hebegan to jump up and down, all four feettogether, his head close to the floor. “H ethrew me to and fro, but he could not shakeme off. H e was dead before the big man blewhim in two. I did it! Rikki-tikki-tck-tck!Come then, Nagaina. Come and fight withme. You shall not be a widow long.”

Nagaina saw that she had lost her chanceof killing Teddy, and the egg lay betweenRikki-Tikki’s paws. “Give me the egg, Rikki-Tikki. Give me the last of my eggs and I willgo away and never come back,” she said, low-ering her hood.

“Yes, you will go away, and you will nevercome back; for you will go to the rubbishheap with Nag. Fight, widow! The big man

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has gone for his gun! Fight!”Rikki-Tikki was bounding all around

Nagaina, keeping just out of reach of herstroke, his little eyes like hot coals. Nagainagathered herself together and lunged out athim. Rikki-Tikki jumped up and backwards.Again and again and again she struck, andeach time her head came down with a whackon the matting of the veranda and she gath-ered herself together like a watchspring.Then Rikki-Tikki danced in a little circle toget behind her, and Nagaina spun around tokeep her head to his head, so that the rustleof her tail on the matting sounded like dryleaves blown along by the wind.

H e had forgotten the egg. It still lay onthe veranda, and Nagaina came nearer andnearer to it, till at last, while Rikki-Tikki wasdrawing breath, she caught it in her mouth,turned to the veranda steps, and flew like anarrow down the path with Rikki-Tikki behindher. When the cobra runs for her life, shegoes like a whiplash flicked across a horse’sneck. Rikki-Tikki knew that he must catchher, or all the trouble would begin again. Sheheaded straight for the long grass by thethornbush, and as he was running, Rikki-Tikki heard Darzee still singing his foolish lit-tle song of triumph. But Darzee’s wife was

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI 25

wiser. She flew off her nest as Nagaina camealong, and flapped her wings about Nagaina’shead. If Darzee had helped, they might havedistracted her, but Nagaina only lowered herhood and went on. Still, the instant’s delaybrought Rikki-Tikki up to her, and as sheplunged into the rat hole where she and Nagused to live, his little white teeth wereclenched on her tail, and he went down withher. Very few mongooses, however wise andold they may be, care to follow a cobra intoits hole. It was dark in the hole, and Rikki-Tikki never knew when it might open outand give Nagaina room to turn and strike athim. H e held on savagely, and stuck out hisfeet to act as brakes on the dark slope of thehot, moist earth. Then the grass by themouth of the hole stopped waving, andDarzee said: “It is all over for Rikki-Tikki!”We must sing his death song. Valiant Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is dead! For Nagaina will surelykill him underground.”

So he sang a very mournful song that hemade up on the spur of the moment, and justas he got to the most touching part, the grassquivered again, and Rikki-Tikki, coveredwith dirt, dragged himself out of the hole, legby leg, licking his whiskers. Darzee stoppedshort with a little shout. Rikki-Tikki shook

26 RUDYARD KIPLING

some of the dust out of his fur and sneezed. “It’s all over,” he said. “The widow will

never come out again.” And the red ants thatlive between the grass stems heard him andbegan to troop down, one after another, tosee if he had spoken the truth.

Rikki-Tikki curled himself up in the grassand slept where he was—slept and slept till itwas late in the afternoon, for he had done ahard day’s work.

“Now,” he said, when he awoke, “I willgo back to the house. Tell the Coppersmith,Darzee, and he will tell the garden thatNagaina is dead.”

The Coppersmith is a bird who makes anoise exactly like the beating of a hammer ona copper pot. The reason he is always makingit is that he is the town crier to every gardenand tells the news to everybody who cares tolisten. As Rikki-Tikki went up the path, heheard the Coppersmith’s sound—like a tinydinner gong—and then a steady “Ding-dong-tock! Nag is dead—dong! Nagaina isdead! Ding-dong-tock.” That set all the birdsin the garden singing, and the frogs croak-ing—for Nag and Nagaina used to eat frogsas well as little birds.

When Rikki got to the house, Teddy andTeddy’s mother and father came out and

RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI 27

almost cried with joy over him. And thatnight he ate all that was given to him, till hecould eat no more, and went to bed onTeddy’s shoulder where Teddy’s mother sawhim when she came in late that night.

“H e saved our lives and Teddy’s life,” shesaid to her husband. “Just think, he saved allour lives!”

Rikki-Tikki woke up with a jump, formongooses are light sleepers.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said. “What are youworrying about? All the cobras are dead; andif they weren’t, I’m here.”

Rikki-Tikki had a right to be proud ofhimself. But he did not grow too proud, andhe kept that garden as a mongoose shouldkeep it—with tooth and jump and spring andbite, so a cobra never dared to show its headinside the walls. ■

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