Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Summary | Detailed Summary

This story describes a battle waged by Rikki-tikki-tavi within the confines of a bungalow in India. Rikki-tikki-tavi is a mongoose - an animal described as both cat- and weasel-like.

Following a summer flood, Rikki finds himself washed out of the burrow where he lives with his mother and father and deposited in the midst of a garden path. As he struggles to get his bearings, he hears the voice of a little boy. The boy, whose name is Teddy, thinks Rikki is dead and suggests holding a funeral. His mother, realizing that Rikki is most likely just stunned, suggests that they take the animal inside to dry. Once inside, Teddy's father, realizing that Rikki has been through a terrible ordeal, suggests wrapping the animal in a warm cloth. Eventually Rikki awakes and when he does, the boy's father cautions the others to not frighten Rikki.

As a rule, a mongoose's natural curiosity makes it difficult to scare it. Rikki is no exception and generally lives by the mongoose motto of "Run and find out." As a result, it does not take long for him to shed the warm cloth he is wrapped in and run around the table before settling on the shoulder of the little boy. The boy's father tells him there is nothing for him to be afraid of; Rikki is trying to be his friend.

As she watches Rikki, the boy's mother notices that despite the fact that he is a wild animal, Rikki is quite tame and suggests that this is likely the result of the fact that they treated him so well. The boy's father tells her that all mongooses are like Rikki and that as long as the boy doesn't antagonize him in any way, he will busy himself running into and out of the house all day.

After having a piece of meat to eat, Rikki goes outside to lay in the sunshine. He realizes that there is plenty to explore at this new house and so he makes up his mind to stay and see all there is to see. He spends the rest of the day roaming all over the house investigating the bathroom, the writing table and other places. That night, he joins Teddy in his bedroom and joins him in his bed. However, Rikki has trouble falling asleep and so he is still awake when Teddy's parents come in later to check on him. While Teddy's mother is concerned that Rikki will hurt him, his father assures her that Teddy will be safer than if there were a dog in the room, particularly if a snake were to come into the room.

The next morning, Rikki comes to breakfast riding on Teddy's shoulder. He is given banana and boiled egg to eat and then, remembering advice his own mother had given him, Rikki spends some time sitting on each family member's lap. He hopes that by endearing himself to the family, he will be allowed to stay.

Later, Rikki ventures out to the garden to see what is there. The garden is lush and full of bushes, trees and grass. As Rikki surveys the garden, he thinks that it will be a splendid hunting ground. His thoughts are soon interrupted by a sorrowful sound coming from a nearby bush. Upon going to investigate, Rikki discovers that the sound is coming from Darzee, a tailor-bird, and his wife. He soon learns that one of Darzee's babies had fallen from the nest and it was eaten by Nag, a large, black cobra. Upon hearing his name, Nag rises from the grass nearby and hisses at Rikki. While Rikki is momentarily frightened - after all, he has never met a live cobra before - he quickly realizes that adult mongooses are supposed to fight and eat snakes. Nag realizes this too and while he doesn't show it, he is frightened.

Rikki asks Nag if he thought it was right to eat Darzee's baby. Nag doesn't answer right away; rather, realizing that Rikki will eventually kill him, he decides to try to catch the mongoose off guard by suggesting that they talk. As he asks Rikki what the difference is between him eating Darzee's baby and Rikki eating eggs, Darzee yells out for Rikki to look behind him.

Sensing something bad is about to happen, Rikki jumps high into the air to avoid Nagaina, Nag's wife, who is attempting to attack Rikki from behind. As Rikki lands, he takes a bite out of Nagaina's back - a bite that is not severe enough to kill her, but certainly severe enough to cripple her. The snakes retreat into the grass and Rikki returns to the house to think of what he should do next. As he replays the scene that just occurred in his mind, he realizes that his ability to survive Nagaina's attack is a remarkable feat, a thought that pleases him greatly. As Rikki is lost in his thoughts, Teddy joins him on the path. As Teddy reaches down to pet Rikki, a small voice warns: "Be careful. I am death." The voice belongs to Karait, a snakeling with a bite every bit as dangerous as the cobra's. Rikki tries to find the best angle at which to attack; however, his youth and inexperience cause him to make errors in judgment.

Meanwhile, Teddy has run into the house to tell his parents that Rikki is killing a snake. By the time they make it outside, Rikki has attacked the snake and inflicted a final, paralyzing bite. He prepares to eat the snake as he was taught to do, but then realizes that doing so will fill him up and slow his reflexes. He watches Teddy's father beat the already dead snake and wonders why he is bothering to do that. Meanwhile, Teddy's mother picks Rikki up and hugs him, saying that he has saved their little boy from certain death. Rikki isn't sure why the family is making such a fuss over him, yet he is enjoying the attention.

That evening at dinner, Rikki is careful to not overeat; he knows that he still has to contend with Nag and Nagaina. That night, after Teddy had fallen asleep, Rikki goes for a walk in the house. He meets up with Chuchundra, a very timid muskrat. In fact, Chuchundra is so timid that he cannot seem to summon the courage to run into the middle of the room and so he stays near the wall. When he sees Rikki, Chuchundra begs him to not kill him. When Rikki responds by implying that snake killers don't kill muskrats, Chuchundra responds by saying that he is afraid that Nag will mistake him for a mongoose. Rikki tries to assure Chuchundra by saying that there is little chance that Nag will bother him since Nag is in the garden, a place Chuchundra will never visit.

Chuchundra begins to tell Rikki something he had heard from his cousin, Chua, the rat, but stops before finishing. Assuming that Chua's news is important, Rikki asks Chuchundra to finish what he was saying. When Chuchundra resists, Rikki threatens to bite him. Rather than answer, Chuchundra tells Rikki to simply listen. As Rikki listens to the quiet house, he hears a faint sound, almost like a scratching sound. He realizes that either Nag or Nagaina is crawling into the house and so he goes off to investigate.

As he enters Teddy's parents' bathroom, Rikki can hear Nag and Nagaina talking. They are devising a scheme to kill Teddy and his parents, after which, they assume Rikki will move on, leaving the garden to them. Nagaina is instructing her husband to kill Teddy's father first and then they will look for Rikki together. When Nag wonders aloud if there is anything to be gained by killing the people, Nagaina reminds him that doing so is the only way that they will be able to reclaim the garden and ensure the safety of their own children. Realizing he hadn't thought about the safety of his own children, Nag agrees to kill Teddy and his parents but he does not think it is necessary to kill Rikki, since he will probably leave on his own once the house is empty.

Hearing this makes Rikki angry, and as he contemplates the best way to attack, he sees Nag enter the room. Nag calls out to Nagaina to tell her that he intends to wait in the bathroom until morning and he will attack Teddy's father as he comes in for his bath, but she has already left. Eventually, Nag falls asleep and Rikki begins to creep slowly toward the snake, all the while trying to decide where the best place is to strike. He finally settles on the head and reminds himself that once he has bitten in, he cannot let go.

Rikki strikes and a startled Nag begins to thrash about. As the animals fight, they knock down a soap dish and brush, bringing Teddy's father into the room to find out what is causing the commotion. With a single shot from his gun, he kills Nag and then tells his wife that Rikki has again saved them. Rikki retreats to Teddy's bed and spends the rest of the night checking his body for injuries.

In the morning, Rikki realizes that he still has to contend with Nagaina and so he sets out to look for Darzee. By the time he reaches the garden, news of Nag's death has already spread and Darzee is singing a happy tune. Rikki tells the bird that this is not the time to sing before asking if he knows where Nagaina is. Darzee tells him of seeing Nag being taken out of the bathroom on the end of a stick and thrown into the trash heap. As he begins to sing again, Rikki reminds the bird that he is still in the midst of a battle and once again, asks him to stop singing. Darzee does as he is asked and then he tells Rikki that Nagaina is by the trash heap mourning her husband. Next, Rikki asks Darzee if he knows where Nagaina keeps her eggs, then asks him to distract Nagaina long enough to allow him to get to the eggs. Darzee, fearing that Rikki is going to eat the eggs, is reluctant to do what he is asked; however, Darzee's wife sees the importance of distracting Nagaina, and so she flies off to find Nagaina.

When Darzee's wife finds Nagaina, the snake is clearly angry. She tells Darzee's wife that she intends to make sure that Teddy is dead by that night. Meanwhile, Rikki goes off in search of the eggs. When he finds them, he realizes that they are about to hatch, which will result in twenty-five more cobras with which to contend. He bites the tops of the eggs off and in the process, crushes the young cobras. When he is nearly done, Darzee's wife returns with a warning that Nagaina is heading toward the house and the bird fears the cobra is about to kill someone. Rikki smashes two of the three remaining eggs and then runs toward the house with the last egg in his mouth. When he reaches the house, he sees Teddy and his parents sitting at the table. It is clear from the expression of fear on their faces that they have seen Nagaina. As Rikki draws nearer, he sees Nagaina within striking distance of Teddy.

Rikki approaches and challenges Nagaina to a fight. When Nagaina tells Rikki that she will deal with him after she has finished with Teddy and his parents, Rikki suggests that she go see her eggs. He then tells her that the egg he has is the last surviving egg of her entire litter. Upon hearing this, Nagaina turns her attention to Rikki long enough for Teddy's father to snatch him out of harm's way.

Nagaina, realizing that she has lost her chance to kill Rikki, pleads for him to return the egg in return for allowing her to leave safely. Rikki refuses saying that the only way she will leave is with the rest of the trash. Knowing that Teddy's father has gone inside to get his gun, Rikki bounces around Nagaina. He taunts her, taking care to stay out of her reach.

Unfortunately, Rikki forgets about the egg that he had left on the patio and by the time he realizes it, Nagaina has already gotten it and is attempting to flee the garden. Rikki pursues the snake and finally, with the help of Darzee's wife, he is able to catch up and grab hold of Nagaina's tail. Refusing to let go, Rikki is dragged into the hole where Nagaina lives. Darzee, certain that Rikki will be killed, begins to sing a mournful song. Minutes later, however, Rikki emerges and announces that Nagaina is dead.

Clearly exhausted, Rikki falls asleep in the grass and when he awakes several hours later, he asks Darzee to tell the others that Nagaina is dead.

Returning to the house, Rikki is greeted by Teddy and his parents and treated to a lavish meal. That night, as he sleeps on Teddy's shoulder, he thinks about what he has done that day. Rikki-tikki-tavi spends the rest of his life living with Teddy and his parents, making sure that the garden is kept free of snakes.