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Question
‘Rikki Tikki Tawi’ by Rudyard Kipling
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Solution
Some of the animals in the garden become friends with Rikki-Tikki. Nag and Nagaina are two cobras that scare animals and birds. Darzee, a garden bird, and his wife had lost one of their babies to a snake. Darzee begs Tikki-Tikki to look out for them and their kids. Even though Rikki-Tikki wants to kill the cobras, she kills another dangerous snake first.
His family is very proud of him because it’s his first kill. People have called him a hero. This only makes Rikki-Tikki want to kill Nag and Nagaina more.
Nag and Nagaina have a plan to kill Rikki-Tikki’s family one night. Nag falls asleep in the bathroom while he waits for the man to wake and wash. Rikki-Tikki watches and waits for the right time to attack. In a bloody battle, the mongoose beats the cobra. Nag is killed by Rikki-Tikki, and Teddy’s dad shoots him in half and throws the snake away.
Rikki-Tikki and Darzee’s wife devise a way to get Nagaina out of her eggs. By acting like a broken wing, Darzee’s wife makes a racket to keep the cobra’s attention off of her. Nagaina gets up from her nest of almost-hatched eggs and goes after the bird. After Darzee kills the unhatched cobras, his wife tells Rikki-Tikki to be careful. Nagaina has her whole family squished together on the veranda because she thinks the man killed her husband.
Rikki-Tikki makes fun of Nagaina by bringing her one last unhatched egg. She is so upset that she begs for her child to be given back to her. Now that the snake is busy, the family can run away.
Rikki-Tikki knows that his family and the animals in the garden will not be safe unless he kills Nagaina. He attacks her and then follows her into her cave home. Darzee sings a sad song and says that Rikki-Tikki must be dead, since a snake’s own den is the best place for it. Rikki-Tikki wins, though, and says Nagaina won't be back.
Everyone in the family is happy, even the animals. After a big meal with his family, Rikki-Tikki sits down as the proud guardian of his human family and garden animal friends.
