"RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI"
At the hole where he went in Red-Eye called to Wrinkle-Skin. Hear what little Red-Eye saith: "Nag, come up and dance with death!"
Eye to eye and head to head, (_Keep the measure, Nag._) This shall end when one is dead; (_At thy pleasure, Nag._) Turn for turn and twist for twist-- (_Run and hide thee, Nag._) Hah! The hooded Death has missed! (_Woe betide thee, Nag!_)
"RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI"
THIS is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi foughtsingle-handed, through the bath-rooms of the big bungalow in Segowleecantonment. Darzee, the tailor-bird, helped him, and Chuchundra, themuskrat, who never comes out into the middle of the floor, but alwayscreeps round by the wall, gave him advice; but Rikki-tikki did the realfighting.
He was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail, butquite like a weasel in his head and his habits. His eyes and the end ofhis restless nose were pink; he could scratch himself anywhere hepleased, with any leg, front or back, that he chose to use; he couldfluff up his tail till it looked like a bottle-brush, and his war-cryas he scuttled through the long grass, was:"_Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!_"
One day, a high summer flood washed him out of the burrow where he livedwith his father and mother, and carried him, kicking and clucking, downa roadside ditch. He found a little wisp of grass floating there, andclung to it till he lost his senses. When he revived, he was lying inthe hot sun on the middle of a garden path, very draggled indeed, and asmall boy was saying: "Here's a dead mongoose. Let's have a funeral."
"No," said his mother; "let's take him in and dry him. Perhaps he isn'treally dead."
They took him into the house, and a big man picked him up between hisfinger and thumb and said he was not dead but half choked; so theywrapped him in cotton-wool, and warmed him, and he opened his eyes andsneezed.
"Now," said the big man (he was an Englishman who had just moved intothe bungalow); "don't frighten him, and we'll see what he'll do."
It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because heis eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity. The motto of all themongoose family is, "Run and find out"; and Rikki-tikki was a truemongoose. He looked at the cotton-wool, decided that it was not good toeat, ran all round the table, sat up and put his fur in order, scratchedhimself, and jumped on the small boy's shoulder.
"Don't be frightened, Teddy," said his father. "That's his way of makingfriends."
"Ouch! He's tickling under my chin," said Teddy.
"RIKKI-TIKKI LOOKED DOWN BETWEEN THE BOY'S COLLAR AND NECK."]
Rikki-tikki looked down between the boy's collar and neck, snuffed athis ear, and climbed down to the floor, where he sat rubbing his nose.
"Good gracious," said Teddy's mother, "and that's a wild creature! Isuppose he's so tame because we've been kind to him."
"All mongooses are like that," said her husband. "If Teddy doesn't pickhim up by the tail, or try to put him in a cage, he'll run in and out ofthe house all day long. Let's give him something to eat."
They gave him a little piece of raw meat. Rikki-tikki liked itimmensely, and when it was finished he went out into the veranda and satin the sunshine and fluffed up his fur to make it dry to the roots. Thenhe felt better.
"There are more things to find out about in this house," he said tohimself, "than all my family could find out in all their lives. I shallcertainly stay and find out."
"HE PUT HIS NOSE INTO THE INK."]
He spent all that day roaming over the house. He nearly drowned himselfin the bath-tubs, put his nose into the ink on a writing-table, andburned it on the end of the big man's cigar, for he climbed up in thebig man's lap to see how writing was done. At nightfall he ran intoTeddy's nursery to watch how kerosene lamps were lighted, and when Teddywent to bed Rikki-tikki climbed up too; but he was a restless companion,because he had to get up and attend to every noise all through thenight, and find out what made it. Teddy's mother and father came in, thelast thing, to look at their boy, and Rikki-tikki was awake on thepillow. "I don't like that," said Teddy's mother; "he may bite thechild." "He'll do no such thing," said the father. "Teddy's safer withthat little beast than if he had a bloodhound to watch him. If a snakecame into the nursery now--"
"RIKKI-TIKKI WAS AWAKE ON THE PILLOW."]
But Teddy's mother wouldn't think of anything so awful.
Early in the morning Rikki-tikki came to early breakfast in the verandariding on Teddy's shoulder, and they gave him banana and some boiledegg; and he sat on all their laps one after the other, because everywell-brought-up mongoose always hopes to be a house-mongoose some dayand have rooms to run about in, and Rikki-tikki's mother (she used tolive in the General's house at Segowlee) had carefully told Rikki whatto do if ever he came across white men.
"HE CAME TO BREAKFAST RIDING ON TEDDY'S SHOULDER."]
Then Rikki-tikki went out into the garden to see what was to be seen. Itwas a large garden, only half cultivated, with bushes as big assummer-houses of Marshal Niel roses, lime and orange trees, clumps ofbamboos, and thickets of high grass. Rikki-tikki licked his lips. "Thisis a splendid hunting-ground," he said, and his tail grew bottle-brushyat the thought of it, and he scuttled up and down the garden, snuffinghere and there till he heard very sorrowful voices in a thorn-bush.
It was Darzee, the tailor-bird, and his wife. They had made a beautifulnest by pulling two big leaves together and stitching them up the edgeswith fibers, and had filled the hollow with cotton and downy fluff. Thenest swayed to and fro, as they sat on the rim and cried.
"What is the matter?" asked Rikki-tikki.
"'WE ARE VERY MISERABLE,' SAID DARZEE."]
"We are very miserable," said Darzee. "One of our babies fell out of thenest yesterday and Nag ate him."
"H'm!" said Rikki-tikki," that is very sad--but I am a stranger here.Who is Nag?"
Darzee and his wife only cowered down in the nest without answering, forfrom the thick grass at the foot of the bush there came a low hiss--ahorrid cold sound that made Rikki-tikki jump back two clear feet. Theninch by inch out of the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag,the big black cobra, and he was five feet long from tongue to tail. Whenhe had lifted one-third of himself clear of the ground, he stayedbalancing to and fro exactly as a dandelion-tuft balances in the wind,and he looked at Rikki-tikki with the wicked snake's eyes that neverchange their expression, whatever the snake may be thinking of.
"Who is Nag?" he said, "_I_ am Nag. The great god Brahm put his markupon all our people when the first cobra spread his hood to keep the sunoff Brahm as he slept. Look, and be afraid!"
"'I AM NAG,' SAID THE COBRA: 'LOOK, AND BE AFRAID!' BUT AT THE BOTTOM OF HIS COLD HEART HE WAS AFRAID."]
He spread out his hood more than ever, and Rikki-tikki saw thespectacle-mark on the back of it that looks exactly like the eye part ofa hook-and-eye fastening. He was afraid for the minute; but it isimpossible for a mongoose to stay frightened for any length of time, andthough Rikki-tikki had never met a live cobra before, his mother had fedhim on dead ones, and he knew that all a grown mongoose's business inlife was to fight and eat snakes. Nag knew that too, and at the bottomof his cold heart he was afraid.
"Well," said Rikki-tikki, and his tail began to fluff up again, "marksor no marks, do you think it is right for you to eat fledglings out of anest?"
Nag was thinking to himself, and watching the least little movement inthe grass behind Rikki-tikki. He knew that mongooses in the garden meantdeath sooner or later for him and his family; but he wanted to getRikki-tikki off his guard. So he dropped his head a little, and put iton one side.
"Let us talk," he said. "You eat eggs. Why should not I eat birds?"
"Behind you! Look behind you!" sang Darzee.
>
Rikki-tikki knew better than to waste time in staring. He jumped up inthe air as high as he could go, and just under him whizzed by the headof Nagaina, Nag's wicked wife. She had crept up behind him as he wastalking, to make an end of him; and he heard her savage hiss as thestroke missed. He came down almost across her back, and if he had beenan old mongoose he would have known that then was the time to break herback with one bite; but he was afraid of the terrible lashingreturn-stroke of the cobra. He bit, indeed, but did not bite longenough, and he jumped clear of the whisking tail, leaving Nagaina tornand angry.
"HE JUMPED UP IN THE AIR, AND JUST UNDER HIM WHIZZED BY THE HEAD OF NAGAINA."]
"Wicked, wicked Darzee!" said Nag, lashing up as high as he could reachtoward the nest in the thorn-bush; but Darzee had built it out of reachof snakes, and it only swayed to and fro.
Rikki-tikki felt his eyes growing red and hot (when a mongoose's eyesgrow red, he is angry), and he sat back on his tail and hind legs like alittle kangaroo, and looked all around him, and chattered with rage. ButNag and Nagaina had disappeared into the grass. When a snake misses itsstroke, it never says anything or gives any sign of what it means to donext. Rikki-tikki did not care to follow them, for he did not feel surethat he could manage two snakes at once. So he trotted off to thegravel path near the house, and sat down to think. It was a seriousmatter for him.
If you read the old books of natural history, you will find they saythat when the mongoose fights the snake and happens to get bitten, heruns off and eats some herb that cures him. That is not true. Thevictory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness offoot,--snake's blow against mongoose's jump,--and as no eye can followthe motion of a snake's head when it strikes, that makes things muchmore wonderful than any magic herb. Rikki-tikki knew he was a youngmongoose, and it made him all the more pleased to think that he hadmanaged to escape a blow from behind. It gave him confidence in himself,and when Teddy came running down the path, Rikki-tikki was ready to bepetted.
But just as Teddy was stooping, something flinched a little in the dust,and a tiny voice said: "Be careful. I am death!" It was Karait, thedusty brown snakeling that lies for choice on the dusty earth; and hisbite is as dangerous as the cobra's. But he is so small that nobodythinks of him, and so he does the more harm to people.
Rikki-tikki's eyes grew red again, and he danced up to Karait with thepeculiar rocking, swaying motion that he had inherited from his family.It looks very funny, but it is so perfectly balanced a gait that you canfly off from it at any angle you please; and in dealing with snakes thisis an advantage. If Rikki-tikki had only known, he was doing a much moredangerous thing than fighting Nag, for Karait is so small, and can turnso quickly, that unless Rikki bit him close to the back of the head, hewould get the return-stroke in his eye or lip. But Rikki did not know:his eyes were all red, and he rocked back and forth, looking for a goodplace to hold. Karait struck out. Rikki jumped sideways and tried to runin, but the wicked little dusty gray head lashed within a fraction ofhis shoulder, and he had to jump over the body, and the head followedhis heels close.
Teddy shouted to the house: "Oh, look here! Our mongoose is killing asnake"; and Rikki-tikki heard a scream from Teddy's mother. His fatherran out with a stick, but by the time he came up, Karait had lunged outonce too far, and Rikki-tikki had sprung, jumped on the snake's back,dropped his head far between his fore legs, bitten as high up the backas he could get hold, and rolled away. That bite paralyzed Karait, andRikki-tikki was just going to eat him up from the tail, after the customof his family at dinner, when he remembered that a full meal makes aslow mongoose, and if he wanted all his strength and quickness ready, hemust keep himself thin.
He went away for a dust-bath under the castor-oil bushes, while Teddy'sfather beat the dead Karait. "What is the use of that?" thoughtRikki-tikki. "I have settled it all"; and then Teddy's mother picked himup from the dust and hugged him, crying that he had saved Teddy fromdeath, and Teddy's father said that he was a providence, and Teddylooked on with big scared eyes. Rikki-Tikki was rather amused at all thefuss, which, of course, he did not understand. Teddy's mother might justas well have petted Teddy for playing in the dust. Rikki was thoroughlyenjoying himself.
That night, at dinner, walking to and fro among the wine-glasses on thetable, he could have stuffed himself three times over with nice things;but he remembered Nag and Nagaina, and though it was very pleasant to bepatted and petted by Teddy's mother, and to sit on Teddy's shoulder,his eyes would get red from time to time, and he would go off into hislong war-cry of "_Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!_"
Teddy carried him off to bed, and insisted on Rikki-tikki sleeping underhis chin. Rikki-tikki was too well bred to bite or scratch, but as soonas Teddy was asleep he went off for his nightly walk round the house,and in the dark he ran up against Chuchundra, the muskrat, creepinground by the wall. Chuchundra is a broken-hearted little beast. Hewhimpers and cheeps all the night, trying to make up his mind to runinto the middle of the room, but he never gets there.
"IN THE DARK HE RAN UP AGAINST CHUCHUNDRA, THE MUSKRAT."]
"Don't kill me," said Chuchundra, almost weeping. "Rikki-tikki, don'tkill me."
"Do you think a snake-killer kills muskrats?" said Rikki-tikkiscornfully.
"Those who kill snakes get killed by snakes," said Chuchundra, moresorrowfully than ever. "And how am I to be sure that Nag won't mistakeme for you some dark night?"
"There's not the least danger," said Rikki-tikki; "but Nag is in thegarden, and I know you don't go there."
"My cousin Chua, the rat, told me--" said Chuchundra, and then hestopped.
"Told you what?"
"H'sh! Nag is everywhere, Rikki-tikki. You should have talked to Chua inthe 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. "Iam a very poor man," he sobbed. "I never had spirit enough to run outinto the middle of the room. H'sh! I mustn't tell you anything. Can'tyou _hear_, Rikki-tikki?"
Rikki-tikki listened. The house was as still as still, but he thought hecould just catch the faintest _scratch-scratch_ in the world,--a noiseas faint as that of a wasp walking on a window-pane,--the dry scratch ofa snake's scales on brickwork.
"That's Nag or Nagaina," he said to himself; "and he is crawling intothe bath-room sluice. You're right, Chuchundra; I should have talked toChua."
He stole off to Teddy's bath-room, but there was nothing there, and thento Teddy's mother's bath-room. At the bottom of the smooth plaster wallthere was a brick pulled out to make a sluice for the bath-water, and asRikki-tikki stole in by the masonry curb where the bath is put, he heardNag and Nagaina whispering together outside in the moonlight.
"When the house is emptied of people," said Nagaina to her husband,"_he_ will have to go away, and then the garden will be our own again.Go in quietly, and remember that the big man who killed Karait is thefirst one to bite. Then come out and tell me, and we will hunt forRikki-tikki together."
"But are you sure that there is anything to be gained by killing thepeople?" said Nag.
"Everything. When there were no people in the bungalow, did we have anymongoose in the garden? So long as the bungalow is empty, we are kingand queen of the garden; and remember that as soon as our eggs in themelon-bed hatch (as they may to-morrow), our children will need room andquiet."
"I had not thought of that," said Nag. "I will go, but there is no needthat we should hunt for Rikki-tikki afterward. I will kill the big manand his wife, and the child if I can, and come away quietly. Then thebungalow will be empty, and Rikki-tikki will go."
Rikki-tikki tingled all over with rage and hatred at this, and thenNag's head came through the sluice, and his five feet of cold bodyfollowed it. Angry as he was, Rikki-tikki was very frightened as he sawthe size of the big cobra. Nag coiled himself up, raised his head, andlooked into the bath-room in the dark, and Rikki could see his eyesglitter.
"Now, if I kill him here, Nagaina will know; and if I fight him on theopen floor, the odds are in his favor. What am I to do?" saidRikki-tikki-tavi.
Nag waved to and fro, and then Rikki-tikki heard him drinking from thebiggest water-jar that was used to fill the bath. "That is good," saidthe snake. "Now, when Karait was killed, the big man had a stick. He mayhave that stick still, but when he comes in to bathe in the morning hewill not have a stick. I shall wait here till he comes. Nagaina--do youhear me?--I shall wait here in the cool till daytime."
There was no answer from outside, so Rikki-tikki knew Nagaina had goneaway. Nag coiled himself down, coil by coil, round the bulge at thebottom of the water-jar, and Rikki-tikki stayed still as death. After anhour he began to move, muscle by muscle, toward the jar. Nag was asleep,and Rikki-tikki looked at his big back, wondering which would be thebest place for a good hold. "If I don't break his back at the firstjump," said Rikki, "he can still fight; and if he fights--O Rikki!" Helooked at the thickness of the neck below the hood, but that was toomuch for him; and a bite near the tail would only make Nag savage.
"It must be the head," he said at last: "the head above the hood; and,when I am once there, I must not let go."
Then he jumped. The head was lying a little clear of the water-jar,under the curve of it; and, as his teeth met, Rikki braced his backagainst the bulge of the red earthenware to hold down the head. Thisgave him just one second's purchase, and he made the most of it. Then hewas battered to and fro as a rat is shaken by a dog--to and fro on thefloor, up and down, and round in great circles; but his eyes were red,and he held on as the body cartwhipped over the floor, upsetting the tindipper and the soap-dish and the flesh-brush, and banged against the tinside of the bath. As he held he closed his jaws tighter and tighter,for he made sure he would be banged to death, and, for the honor of hisfamily, he preferred to be found with his teeth locked. He was dizzy,aching, and felt shaken to pieces when something went off like athunderclap just behind him; a hot wind knocked him senseless and redfire singed his fur. The big man had been wakened by the noise, and hadfired both barrels of a shot-gun into Nag just behind the hood.
"THEN RIKKI-TIKKI WAS BATTERED TO AND FRO AS A RAT IS SHAKEN BY A DOG."]
Rikki-tikki held on with his eyes shut, for now he was quite sure he wasdead; but the head did not move, and the big man picked him up and said:"It's the mongoose again, Alice; the little chap has saved _our_ livesnow." Then Teddy's mother came in with a very white face, and saw whatwas left of Nag, and Rikki-tikki dragged himself to Teddy's bedroom andspent half the rest of the night shaking himself tenderly to find outwhether he really was broken into forty pieces, as he fancied.
When morning came he was very stiff, but well pleased with his doings."Now I have Nagaina to settle with, and she will be worse than fiveNags, and there's no knowing when the eggs she spoke of will hatch.Goodness! I must go and see Darzee," he said.
Without waiting for breakfast, Rikki-tikki ran to the thorn-bush whereDarzee was singing a song of triumph at the top of his voice. The newsof Nag's death was all over the garden, for the sweeper had thrown thebody on the rubbish-heap.
"Oh, you stupid tuft of feathers!" said Rikki-tikki, angrily. "Is thisthe time to sing?"
"Nag is dead--is dead--is dead!" sang Darzee. "The valiant Rikki-tikkicaught him by the head and held fast. The big man brought the bang-stickand Nag fell in two pieces! He will never eat my babies again."
"All that's true enough; but where's Nagaina?" said Rikki-tikki, lookingcarefully round him.
"Nagaina came to the bath-room sluice and called for Nag," Darzee wenton; "and Nag came out on the end of a stick--the sweeper picked him upon the end of a stick and threw him upon the rubbish-heap. Let us singabout the great, the red-eyed Rikki-tikki!" and Darzee filled his throatand sang.
"If I could get up to your nest, I'd roll all your babies out!" saidRikki-tikki. "You don't know when to do the right thing at the righttime. You're safe enough in your nest there, but it's war for me downhere. Stop singing a minute, Darzee."
"For the great, the beautiful Rikki-tikki's sake I will stop," saidDarzee. "What is it, O Killer of the terrible Nag!"
"Where is Nagaina, for the third time?"
"On the rubbish-heap by the stables, mourning for Nag. Great isRikki-tikki with the white teeth."
"Bother my white teeth! Have you ever heard where she keeps her eggs?"
"In the melon-bed, on the end nearest the wall, where the sun strikesnearly all day. She had them there weeks ago."
"And you never thought it worth while to tell me? The end nearest thewall, you said?"
"Rikki-tikki, you are not going to eat her eggs?"
"Not eat exactly; no. Darzee, if you have a grain of sense you will flyoff to the stables and pretend that your wing is broken, and let Nagainachase you away to this bush? I must get to the melon-bed, and if I wentthere now she'd see me."
Darzee was a feather-brained little fellow who could never hold morethan one idea at a time in his head; and just because he knew thatNagaina's children were born in eggs like his own, he didn't think atfirst that it was fair to kill them. But his wife was a sensible bird,and she knew that cobra's eggs meant young cobras later on; so sheflew off from the nest, and left Darzee to keep the babies warm, andcontinue his song about the death of Nag. Darzee was very like a man insome ways.
She fluttered in front of Nagaina by the rubbish-heap, and cried out,"Oh, my wing is broken! The boy in the house threw a stone at me andbroke it." Then she fluttered more desperately than ever.
DARZEE'S WIFE PRETENDS TO HAVE BROKEN A WING.]
Nagaina lifted up her head and hissed, "You warned Rikki-tikki when Iwould have killed him. Indeed and truly, you've chosen a bad place to belame in." And she moved toward Darzee's wife, slipping along over thedust.
"The boy broke it with a stone!" shrieked Darzee's wife.
"Well! It may be some consolation to you when you're dead to know that Ishall settle accounts with the boy. My husband lies on the rubbish-heapthis morning, but before night the boy in the house will lie very still.What is the use of running away? I am sure to catch you. Little fool,look at me!"
Darzee's wife knew better than to do _that_, for a bird who looks at asnake's eyes gets so frightened that she cannot move. Darzee's wifefluttered on, piping sorrowfully, and never leaving the ground, andNagaina quickened her pace.
Rikki-tikki heard them going up the path from the stables, and he racedfor the end of the melon-patch near the wall. There, in the warm litterabout the melons, very cunningly hidden, he found twenty-five eggs,about the size of a bantam's eggs, but with whitish skin instead ofshell.
"I was not a day too soon," he said; for he could see the baby cobrascurled up inside the skin, and he knew that the minute they were hatchedthey could each kill a man or a mongoose. He bit off the tops of theeggs as fast as he could, taking care to crush the young cobras, andturned over the litter from time to time to see whether he had missedany. At last there were only three eggs left, and Rikki-tikki began tochuckle to himself, when he heard Darzee's wife screaming:
"Rikki-tikki, I led Nagaina toward the house, and she has gone into theveranda, and--oh, come quickly--she means killing!"
Rikki-tikki smashed two eggs, and tumbled backward down the melon-bedwith the third egg in his mouth, and scuttled to the veranda as hard ashe could put foot to the ground. Teddy and his mother and father werethere at early breakfast; but Rikki-tikki saw that they were not eatinganything. They sat stone-still, and their faces were white. Nagaina wascoiled up on the matting by Teddy's chair, within easy striking distanceof Teddy's bare leg, and she was swaying to and fro singing a song oftriumph.
"Son of the big man that killed Nag," she hissed, "stay still. I am notready yet. Wait a little. Keep very still, all you three. If you move Istrike, and if you do not move I strike. Oh, foolish people, who killedmy Nag!"
Teddy's eyes were fixed on his father, and all his
father could do wasto whisper, "Sit still, Teddy. You mustn't move. Teddy, keep still."
Then Rikki-tikki came up and cried: "Turn round, Nagaina; turn andfight!"
"All in good time," said she, without moving her eyes. "I will settle myaccount with _you_ presently. Look at your friends, Rikki-tikki. Theyare still and white; they are 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 and look, Nagaina."
The big snake turned half round, and saw the egg on the veranda. "Ah-h!Give it to me," she said.
Rikki-tikki put his paws one on each side of the egg, and his eyes wereblood-red. "What price for a snake's egg? For a young cobra? For ayoung king-cobra? For the last--the very last of the brood? The ants areeating all the others down by the melon-bed."
Nagaina spun clear round, forgetting everything for the sake of the oneegg; and Rikki-tikki saw Teddy's father shoot out a big hand, catchTeddy by the shoulder, and drag him across the little table with thetea-cups, safe and out of reach of Nagaina.
"Tricked! Tricked! Tricked! _Rikk-tck-tck!_" chuckled Rikki-tikki. "Theboy is safe, and it was I--I--I that caught Nag by the hood last nightin the bath-room." Then he began to jump up and down, all four feettogether, his head close to the floor. "He threw me to and fro, but hecould not shake me off. He was dead before the big man blew him 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 chance of killing Teddy, and the egglay between Rikki-tikki's paws. "Give me the egg, Rikki-tikki. Give methe last of my eggs, and I will go away and never come back," she said,lowering her hood.
"Yes, you will go away, and you will never come back; for you will go tothe rubbish-heap with Nag. Fight, widow! The big man has gone for hisgun! Fight!"
Rikki-tikki was bounding all round Nagaina, keeping just out of reach ofher stroke, his little eyes like hot coals. Nagaina gathered herselftogether, and flung out at him. Rikki-tikki jumped up and backward.Again and again and again she struck, and each time her head came with awhack on the matting of the veranda and she gathered herself togetherlike a watch-spring. Then Rikki-tikki danced in a circle to get behindher, and Nagaina spun round to keep her head to his head, so that therustle of her tail on the matting sounded like dry leaves blown along bythe wind.
He had forgotten the egg. It still lay on the veranda, and Nagaina camenearer and nearer to it, till at last, while Rikki-tikki was drawingbreath, she caught it in her mouth, turned to the veranda steps, andflew like an arrow down the path, with Rikki-tikki behind her. When thecobra runs for her life, she goes like a whiplash flicked across ahorse's neck.
"NAGAINA FLEW DOWN THE PATH, WITH RIKKI-TIKKI BEHIND HER."]
Rikki-tikki knew that he must catch her, or all the trouble would beginagain. She headed straight for the long grass by the thorn-bush, and ashe was running Rikki-tikki heard Darzee still singing his foolish littlesong of triumph. But Darzee's wife was wiser. She flew off her nest asNagaina came along, and flapped her wings about Nagaina's head. IfDarzee had helped they might have turned her; but Nagaina only loweredher hood and went on. Still, the instant's delay brought Rikki-tikki upto her, and as she plunged into the rat-hole where she and Nag used tolive, his little white teeth were clenched on her tail, and he went downwith her--and very few mongooses, however wise and old they may be,care to follow a cobra into its hole. It was dark in the hole; andRikki-tikki never knew when it might open out and give Nagaina room toturn and strike at him. He held on savagely, and struck out his feet toact as brakes on the dark slope of the hot, moist earth.
Then the grass by the mouth of the hole stopped waving, and Darzee said:"It is all over with Rikki-tikki! We must sing his death-song. ValiantRikki-tikki is dead! For Nagaina will surely kill him underground."
So he sang a very mournful song that he made up all on the spur of theminute, and just as he got to the most touching part the grass quiveredagain, and Rikki-tikki, covered with dirt, dragged himself out of thehole leg by leg, licking his whiskers. Darzee stopped with a littleshout. Rikki-tikki shook some of the dust out of his fur and sneezed."It is all over," he said. "The widow will never come out again." Andthe red ants that live between the grass stems heard him, and began totroop down one after another to see if he had spoken the truth.
"IT IS ALL OVER."]
Rikki-tikki curled himself up in the grass and slept where he was--sleptand slept till it was late in the afternoon, for he had done a hardday's work.
"Now," he said, when he awoke, "I will go back to the house. Tell theCoppersmith, Darzee, and he will tell the garden that Nagaina is dead."
The Coppersmith is a bird who makes a noise exactly like the beating ofa little hammer on a copper pot; and the reason he is always making itis because he is the town-crier to every Indian garden, and tells allthe news to everybody who cares to listen. As Rikki-tikki went up thepath, he heard his "attention" notes like a tiny dinner-gong; and thenthe steady "_Ding-dong-tock!_ Nag is dead--_dong!_ Nagaina is dead!_Ding-dong-tock!_" That set all the birds in the garden singing, and thefrogs croaking; for Nag and Nagaina used to eat frogs as well as littlebirds.
When Rikki got to the house, Teddy and Teddy's mother (she looked verywhite still, for she had been fainting) and Teddy's father came out andalmost cried over him; and that night he ate all that was given him tillhe could eat no more, and went to bed on Teddy's shoulder, where Teddy'smother saw him when she came to look late at night.
"He saved our lives and Teddy's life," she said to her husband. "Justthink, he saved all our lives."
Rikki-tikki woke up with a jump, for all the mongooses are lightsleepers.
"Oh, it's you," said he. "What are you bothering for? All the cobras aredead; and if they weren't, I'm here."
Rikki-tikki had a right to be proud of himself; but he did not grow tooproud, and he kept that garden as a mongoose should keep it, with toothand jump and spring and bite, till never a cobra dared show its headinside the walls.
DARZEE'S CHAUNT
(SUNG IN HONOR OF RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI)
Singer and tailor am I-- Doubled the joys that I know-- Proud of my lilt through the sky, Proud of the house that I sew-- Over and under, so weave I my music--so weave I the house that I sew.
Sing to your fledglings again, Mother, oh lift up your head! Evil that plagued us is slain, Death in the garden lies dead. Terror that hid in the roses is impotent--flung on the dung-hill and dead!
Who hath delivered us, who? Tell me his nest and his name. Rikki, the valiant, the true, Tikki, with eyeballs of flame. Rik-tikki-tikki, the ivory-fanged, the hunter with eyeballs of flame.
Give him the Thanks of the Birds, Bowing with tail-feathers spread! Praise him with nightingale words-- Nay, I will praise him instead. Hear! I will sing you the praise of the bottle-tailed Rikki, with eyeballs of red!
(_Here Rikki-tikki interrupted, and the rest of the song is lost._)
The Jungle Book Page 6
