The Jungle Book: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (part 1)
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ys s y zrí v y grét vr yt Rikki-tikki-tavi fought sqgl-handed, yrú y by-rúms v y bg bungalow n Segowlee cantonment. Darzee, y télr-bw, hlpt hm, x Chuchundra, y msk-w, hú nvr kms ·t xú y mdl v y flr, bt lvés kríps r·x bä y vl, gév hm dväs; bt Rikki-tikki dd y ríl fätq.
This is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi fought single-handed, through the bath-rooms of the big bungalow in Segowlee cantonment. Darzee, the tailor-bird, helped him, and Chuchundra, the musk-rat, who never comes out into the middle of the floor, but always creeps round by the wall, gave him advice; but Rikki-tikki did the real fighting.
hí vs é mgs, ryr läk é wl kt n hs fur x hs tél, bt kvät läk é weasel n hs hd x hs habits. hs äs x y x v hs restless nós vr pnk; hí kd skrj hmslf nívr hí pleased, vy ní lg, frx r bk, yt hí jós tú ǔ s; hí kd fluff p hs tél tl t lkt läk é btl-brc, x hs vr-krä, s hí scuttled yrú y lq grs, vs: “Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!”
He was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail, but quite like a weasel in his head and his habits. His eyes and the end of his restless nose were pink; he could scratch himself anywhere he pleased, with any leg, front or back, that he chose to use; he could fluff up his tail till it looked like a bottle-brush, and his war-cry, as he scuttled through the long grass, was: “Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!”
vn dé, é hä smr flood washed hm ·t v y burrow vr hí lvd vy hs fyr x myr, x carried hm, kkq x clucking, d·n é roadside ditch. hí f·x é wl wisp v grs floating yr, x clung tú t tl hí lz hs senses. vn hí revived, hí vs läq n y ht sn n y mdl v é gwn py, vrí draggled xíd, x é sml bö vs séq: “hír's é dd mgs. w's hv é fǔ nrl.”
One day, a high summer flood washed him out of the burrow where he lived with his father and mother, and carried him, kicking and clucking, down a roadside ditch. He found a little wisp of grass floating there, and clung to it till he lost his senses. When he revived, he was lying in the hot sun on the middle of a garden path, very draggled indeed, and a small boy was saying: “Here's a dead mongoose. Let's have a funeral.”
“nó,” sd hs myr; “w's ték hm n x drä hm. prhps hí isn't rlí dd.”
“No,” said his mother; “let's take him in and dry him. Perhaps he isn't really dead.”
yé tk hm xú y h·s, x é bg mn pkt hm p btvín hs fqgr x ym, x sd hí vs x dd bt hf choked; só yé wrapped hm n cotton-wool, x warmed hm, x hí ópx hs äs x sneezed.
They took him into the house, and a big man picked him up between his finger and thumb, and said he was not dead but half choked; so they wrapped him in cotton-wool, and warmed him, and he opened his eyes and sneezed.
“n·,” sd y bg mn (hí vs n Englishman hú hd jz múvd xú y bungalow); “dn't frighten hm, x ví'll sí vt hí'll dú.”
“Now,” said the big man (he was an Englishman who had just moved into the bungalow); “don't frighten him, and we'll see what he'll do.”
t s y hardest yq n y vrw tú frighten é mgs, bks hí s ítn p frm nós tú tél vy curiosity. y motto v l y mgs fmlí s “rn x fäx ·t”; x Rikki-tikki vs é trú mgs. hí lkt t y cotton-wool, dsädd yt t vs x gd tú ít, rn l r·x y tébl, z p x pt hs fur n wr, scratched hmslf, x jumped n y sml bö's cówr.
It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity. The motto of all the mongoose family is “Run and find out”; and Rikki-tikki was a true mongoose. He looked at the cotton-wool, decided that it was not good to eat, ran all around the table, sat up and put his fur in order, scratched himself, and jumped on the small boy's shoulder.
“dn't bí frightened, wí,” sd hs fyr. “yt's hs vé v mékq frxs.”
“Don't be frightened, Teddy,” said his father. “That's his way of making friends.”
“Ouch! hí's tickling xr mä chin,” sd wí.
“Ouch! He's tickling under my chin,” said Teddy.
Rikki-tikki lkt d·n btvín y bö's collar x nk, snuffed t hs ír, x climbed d·n tú y flr, vr hí z rubbing hs nós.
Rikki-tikki looked down between the boy's collar and neck, snuffed at his ear, and climbed down to the floor, where he sat rubbing his nose.
“gd gracious,” sd wí's myr, “x yt's é väw kríjr! ä spós hí's só tame bks ví've bn käx tú hm.”
“Good gracious,” said Teddy's mother, “and that's a wild creature! I suppose he's so tame because we've been kind to him.”
“l mgss r läk yt,” sd hr hsbx. “f wí doesn't pk hm p bä y tél, r trä tú pt hm n é kéj, hí'll rn n x ·t v y h·s l dé lq. w's gv hm smyq tú ít.”
“All mongooses are like that,” said her husband. “If Teddy doesn't pick him up by the tail, or try to put him in a cage, he'll run in and out of the house all day long. Let's give him something to eat.”
yé gév hm é wl pís v raw mít. Rikki-tikki läkt t immensely, x vn t vs fnct hí vx ·t xú y verandah x z n y sunshine x fluffed p hs fur tú mék t drä tú y roots. yn hí fw btr.
They gave him a little piece of raw meat. Rikki-tikki liked it immensely, and when it was finished he went out into the verandah and sat in the sunshine and fluffed up his fur to make it dry to the roots. Then he felt better.
“yr r mzr yqs tú fäx ·t b·t n ys h·s,” hí sd tú hmslf, “yn l mä fmlí kd fäx ·t n l yr lvs. ä cl swnlí zé x fäx ·t.”
“There are more things to find out about in this house,” he said to himself, “than all my family could find out in all their lives. I shall certainly stay and find out.”
hí spx l yt dé roaming óvr y h·s. hí nrlí drowned hmslf n y by-tubs, pt hs nós xú y ink n é rätq tébl, x burnt t n y x v y bg mn's cigar, fr hí climbed p n y bg mn's lap tú sí h· rätq vs dn. t nightfall hí rn xú wí's nursery tú vj h· kerosene-lamps vr lighted, x vn wí vx tú bd Rikki-tikki climbed p tú; bt hí vs é restless companion, bks hí hd tú gt p x attend tú vrí nös l yrú y nät, x fäx ·t vt méd t. wí's myr x fyr kém n, y lz yq, tú lk t yr bö, x Rikki-tikki vs vék n y pló. “ä dn't läk yt,” sd wí's myr; “hí mé bät y jäw.” “hí'll dú nó sj yq,” sd y fyr. “wí's safer vy yt wl bíz yn f hí hd é bloodhound tú vj hm. f é snék kém xú y nursery n· —– ”
He spent all that day roaming over the house. He nearly drowned himself in the bath-tubs, put his nose into the ink on a writing table, and burnt it on the end of the big man's cigar, for he climbed up in the big man's lap to see how writing was done. At nightfall he ran into Teddy's nursery to watch how kerosene-lamps were lighted, and when Teddy went 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 the night, and find out what made it. Teddy's mother and father came in, the last thing, to look at their boy, and Rikki-tikki was awake on the pillow. “I don't like that,” said Teddy's mother; “he may bite the child.” “He'll do no such thing,” said the father. “Teddy's safer with that little beast than if he had a bloodhound to watch him. If a snake came into the nursery now —– ”
bt wí's myr wouldn't ynk v níyq só fl.
But Teddy's mother wouldn't think of anything so awful.
rlí n y mrnq Rikki-tikki kém tú rlí brkfz n y verandah rädq n wí's cówr, x yé gév hm bnn x sm boiled g; x hí z n l yr laps vn ftr y yr, bks vrí vl-bw-p mgs lvés hopes tú bí é h·s-mgs sm dé x hv rooms tú rn b·t n, x Rikki-tikki's myr (cí ǔ sd tú läv n y jnrl's h·s t Segowlee) hd krflí tów Rikki vt tú dú f vr hí kém krs vät mn.
Early in the morning Rikki-tikki came to early breakfast in the verandah riding on Teddy's shoulder, and they gave him banana and some boiled egg; and he sat on all their laps one after the other, because every well-brought-up mongoose always hopes to be a house-mongoose some day and have rooms to run about in, and Rikki-tikki's mother (she used to live in the General's house at Segowlee) had carefully told Rikki what to do if ever he came across white men.
yn Rikki-tikki vx ·t xú y gwn tú sí vt vs tú bí sín. t vs é lrj gwn, ónlí hf cultivated, vy bushes s bg s smr-houses v Marshal Niel róss, lime x rnj trís, clumps v bamboos, x thickets v hä grs. Rikki-tikki licked hs lps. “ys s é splendid hxq-gr·x,” hí sd, x hs tél grú btl-brushy t y yt v t, x hí scuttled p x d·n y gwn, snuffing hír x yr tl hí hw vrí sorrowful vöss n é thorn-bc.
Then Rikki-tikki went out into the garden to see what was to be seen. It was a large garden, only half cultivated, with bushes as big as summer-houses of Marshal Niel roses, lime and orange trees, clumps of bamboos, and thickets of high grass. Rikki-tikki licked his lips. “This is a splendid hunting-ground,” he said, and his tail grew bottle-brushy at the thought of it, and he scuttled up and down the garden, snuffing here and there till he heard very sorrowful voices in a thorn-bush.
“vl,” sd Rikki-tikki, x hs tél bgn tú fluff p gn, “marks r nó marks, dú ǔ ynk t s rät fr ǔ tú ít fledglings ·t v é nz?”
“Well,” said Rikki-tikki, and his tail began to fluff up again, “marks or no marks, do you think it is right for you to eat fledglings out of a nest?”
Nag vs ynkq tú hmslf, x vjq y líz wl movement n y grs bhäx Rikki-tikki. hí nú yt mgss n y gwn mx dy súnr r létr fr hm x hs fmlí, bt hí vxd tú gt Rikki-tikki f hs gw. só hí drpt hs hd é wl, x pt t n vn säd.
Nag was thinking to himself, and watching the least little movement in the grass behind Rikki-tikki. He knew that mongooses in the garden meant death sooner or later for him and his family, but he wanted to get Rikki-tikki off his guard. So he dropped his head a little, and put it on one side.
“w s tk,” hí sd. “ǔ ít gs. vä cd x ä ít bws?”
“Let us talk,” he said. “You eat eggs. Why should not I eat birds?”
“bhäx ǔ ! lk bhäx ǔ !” sang Darzee.
“Behind you! Look behind you!” sang Darzee.
Rikki-tikki nú btr yn tú véz täm n staring. hí jumped p n y r s hä s hí kd gó, x jz xr hm whizzed bä y hd v Nagaina, Nag's vkd väf. cí hd crept p bhäx hm s hí vs tkq, tú mék n x v hm; x hí hw hr savage hiss s y zrók mz. hí kém d·n lmóz krs hr bk, x f hí hd bn n ów mgs hí vd hv nó yt yn vs y täm tú brék hr bk vy vn bät; bt hí vs fréd v y trbl lashing wrn-zrók v y cobra. hí bt, xíd, bt dd x bät lq nf, x hí jumped klr v y whisking tél, lívq Nagaina torn x qgrí.
Rikki-tikki knew better than to waste time in staring. He jumped up in the air as high as he could go, and just under him whizzed by the head of Nagaina, Nag's wicked wife. She had crept up behind him as he was talking, to make an end of him; and he heard her savage hiss as the stroke missed. He came down almost across her back, and if he had been an old mongoose he would have know that then was the time to break her back with one bite; but he was afraid of the terrible lashing return-stroke of the cobra. He bit, indeed, but did not bite long enough, and he jumped clear of the whisking tail, leaving Nagaina torn and angry.
“vkd, vkd Darzee!” sd Nag, lashing p s hä s hí kd ríj toward y nz n y thornbush; bt Darzee hd bw t ·t v ríj v snakes, x t ónlí swayed tú x fro.
“Wicked, wicked Darzee!” said Nag, lashing up as high as he could reach toward the nest in the thornbush; but Darzee had built it out of reach of snakes, and it only swayed to and fro.
Rikki-tikki fw hs äs gróq w x ht (vn é mgs's äs gró w, hí s qgrí), x hí z bk n hs tél x hind lgs läk é wl kangaroo, x lkt l r·x hm, x chattered vy réj. bt Nag x Nagaina hd disappeared xú y grs. vn é snék misses ts zrók, t nvr ss níyq r gvs ní sän v vt t míns tú dú nkz. Rikki-tikki dd x kr tú fló ym, fr hí dd x fíl cr yt hí kd manage tú snakes t vns. só hí trotted f tú y gravel py nr y h·s, x z d·n tú ynk. t vs é srís mtr fr hm.
Rikki-tikki felt his eyes growing red and hot (when a mongoose's eyes grow red, he is angry), and he sat back on his tail and hind legs like a little kangaroo, and looked all round him, and chattered with rage. But Nag and Nagaina had disappeared into the grass. When a snake misses its stroke, it never says anything or gives any sign of what it means to do next. Rikki-tikki did not care to follow them, for he did not feel sure that he could manage two snakes at once. So he trotted off to the gravel path near the house, and sat down to think. It was a serious matter for him.
f ǔ w y ów bks v njrl hzrí, ǔ vl fäx yé sé yt vn y mgs fights y snék x hpns tú gt bitten, hí rns f x íts sm rb yt cures hm. yt s x trú. y vktrí s ónlí é mtr v quickness v ä x quickness v ft, — snék's bló gnz mgs's jmp, — x s nó ä kn fló y mócn v é snék's hd vn t strikes, yt méks yqs mj mzr vxrfl yn ní mjk rb. Rikki-tikki nú hí vs é ǐq mgs, x t méd hm l y mzr pleased tú ynk yt hí hd managed tú skép é bló frm bhäx. t gév hm confidence n hmslf, x vn wí kém rnq d·n y py, Rikki-tikki vs wí tú bí petted.
If you read the old books of natural history, you will find they say that when the mongoose fights the snake and happens to get bitten, he runs off and eats some herb that cures him. That is not true. The victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness of foot, — snake's blow against mongoose's jump, — and as no eye can follow the motion of a snake's head when it strikes, that makes things much more wonderful than any magic herb. Rikki-tikki knew he was a young mongoose, and it made him all the more pleased to think that he had managed 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 be petted.
bt jz s wí vs stooping, smyq flinched é wl n y dz, x é täní vös sd: “bí krfl. ä m dy!” t vs Karait, y dusty br·n snakeling yt läs fr jös n y dusty ry; x hs bät s s dénjrs s y cobra's. bt hí s só sml yt nóbdí ynks v hm, x só hí ds y mzr hrm tú pípl.
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, the dusty brown snakeling that lies for choice on the dusty earth; and his bite is as dangerous as the cobra's. But he is so small that nobody thinks of him, and so he does the more harm to people.
Rikki-tikki's äs grú w gn, x hí danced p tú Karait vy y peculiar rocking, swaying mócn yt hí hd inherited frm hs fmlí. t lks vrí fní, bt t s só prfktlí balanced é gait yt ǔ kn flä f frm t t ní angle ǔ plís; x n dealing vy snakes ys s n dvxj. f Rikki-tikki hd ónlí nón, hí vs dúq é mj mzr dénjrs yq yt fätq Nag, fr Karait s só sml, x kn trn só kvklí, yt nls Rikki bt hm klós tú y bk v y hd, hí vd gt y wrn-zrók n hs ä r lip. bt Rikki dd x nó: hs äs vr l w, x hí rocked bk x fry, lkq fr é gd plés tú hów. Karait struck ·t. Rikki jumped sideways x träd tú rn n, bt y vkd wl dusty gré hd lashed vyn é fraction v hs cówr, x hí hd tú jmp óvr y bdí, x y hd flód hs heels klós.
Rikki-tikki's eyes grew red again, and he danced up to Karait with the peculiar rocking, swaying motion that he had inherited from his family. It looks very funny, but it is so perfectly balanced a gait that you can fly off from it at any angle you please; and in dealing with snakes this is an advantage. If Rikki-tikki had only known, he was doing a much more dangerous thing that fighting Nag, for Karait is so small, and can turn so quickly, that unless Rikki bit him close to the back of the head, he would 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 good place to hold. Karait struck out. Rikki jumped sideways and tried to run in, but the wicked little dusty gray head lashed within a fraction of his shoulder, and he had to jump over the body, and the head followed his heels close.
wí shouted tú y h·s: “Oh, lk hír! ·r mgs s klq é snék”; x Rikki-tikki hw é skrím frm wí's myr. hs fyr rn ·t vy é zk, bt bä y täm hí kém p, Karait hd lunged ·t vns tú fr, x Rikki-tikki- hd sprung, jumped n y snék's bk, drpt hs hd fr btvín hs fore-lgs, bitten s hä p y bk s hí kd gt hów, x rolled vé. yt bät paralysed Karait, x Rikki-tikki vs jz góq tú ít hm p frm y tél, ftr y custom v hs fmlí t dnr, vn hí rmmbw yt é fl míl méks é sló mgs, x f vxd l hs zrnky x quickness wí, hí mz kíp hmslf yn.
Teddy shouted to the house: “Oh, look here! Our mongoose is killing a snake”; and Rikki-tikki heard a scream from Teddy's mother. His father ran out with a stick, but by the time he came up, Karait had lunged out once 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 back as he could get hold, and rolled away. That bite paralysed Karait, and Rikki-tikki was just going to eat him up from the tail, after the custom of his family at dinner, when he remembered that a full meal makes a slow mongoose, and if wanted all his strength and quickness ready, he must keep himself thin.
hí vx vé fr é dz-by xr y castor-öl bushes, väl wí's fyr bít y dd Karait. “vt s y ǔ s v yt?” yt Rikki-tikki. “ä hv settled t l”; x yn wí's myr pkt hm p frm y dz x hugged hm, crying yt hí hd sévd wí frm dy, x wí's fyr sd yt hí vs é providence, x wí lkt n vy bg skw äs. Rikki-tikki vs ryr amused t l y fuss, vj, v krs, hí dd x xrzx. wí's myr mät jz s vl hv petted wí fr pléq n y dz. Rikki vs thoroughly njöq hmslf.
He went away for a dust-bath under the castor-oil bushes, while Teddy's father beat the dead Karait. “What is the use of that?” thought Rikki-tikki. “I have settled it all”; and then Teddy's mother picked him up from the dust and hugged him, crying that he had saved Teddy from death, and Teddy's father said that he was a providence, and Teddy looked on with big scared eyes. Rikki-tikki was rather amused at all the fuss, which, of course, he did not understand. Teddy's mother might just as well have petted Teddy for playing in the dust. Rikki was thoroughly enjoying himself.
t vs Darzee, y tailor-bw, x hs väf. yé hd méd é bǔ tfl nz bä pulling tú bg lívs tgyr x stitching ym p y edges vy fibres, x hd fw y hollow vy cotton x downy fluff. y nz swayed tú x fro, s yé z n y rim x cried.
It was Darzee, the tailor-bird, and his wife. They had made a beautiful nest by pulling two big leaves together and stitching them up the edges with fibres, and had filled the hollow with cotton and downy fluff. The nest swayed to and fro, as they sat on the rim and cried.
“vt s y mtr?” skt Rikki-tikki.
“What is the matter?” asked Rikki-tikki.
“ví r vrí msrbl,” sd Darzee. “vn v ·r bébís fl ·t v y nz ǐzwé, x Nag ét hm.”
“We are very miserable,” said Darzee. “One of our babies fell out of the nest yesterday, and Nag ate him.”
“H'm!” sd Rikki-tikki, “yt s vrí sd —– bt ä m é zrénjr hír. hú s Nag?”
“H'm!” said Rikki-tikki, “that is very sad —– but I am a stranger here. Who is Nag?”
Darzee x hs väf ónlí cowered d·n n y nz vy·t answering, fr frm y thick grs t y ft v y bc yr kém é ló hiss —– é horrid ków s·x yt méd Rikki-tikki jmp bk tú klr fít. yn inch bä inch ·t v y grs rose p y hd x spw hood v Nag, y bg blk cobra, x hí vs fäv fít lq frm tq tú tél. vn hí hd lifted vn-yw v hmslf klr v y gr·x, hí stayed balancing tú x fro gsktlí s é dandelion-tuft balances n y väx, x hí lkt t Rikki-tikki vy y vkd snék's äs yt nvr jénj yr ksprcn, vtvr y snék mé bí ynkq v.
Darzee and his wife only cowered down in the nest without answering, for from the thick grass at the foot of the bush there came a low hiss —– a horrid cold sound that made Rikki-tikki jump back two clear feet. Then inch 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. When he had lifted one-third of himself clear of the ground, he stayed balancing 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 never change their expression, whatever the snake may be thinking of.
“hú s Nag?” sd hí. ”ä m Nag. y grét gd Brahm pt hs mrk pn l ·r pípl vn y frz cobra spw hs hood tú kíp y sn f Brahm s hí slpt. lk, x bí fréd!”
“Who is Nag?” said he. ”I am Nag. The great god Brahm put his mark upon all our people when the first cobra spread his hood to keep the sun off Brahm as he slept. Look, and be afraid!”
hí spw ·t hs hood mzr yn vr, x Rikki-tikki s y spectacle-mrk n y bk v t yt lks gsktlí läk y ä pw v é hk-x-ä fastening. hí vs fréd fr y mx; bt t s mpsbl fr é mgs tú zé frightened fr ní length v täm, x yó Rikki-tikki hd nvr mt é läv cobra bfr, hs myr hd fed hm n dd vns, x hí nú yt l é grón mgs's bsns n läf vs tú fät x ít snakes. Nag nú yt tú, x t y btm v hs ków hw hí vs fréd.
He spread out his hood more than ever, and Rikki-tikki saw the spectacle-mark on the back of it that looks exactly like the eye part of a hook-and-eye fastening. He was afraid for the minute; but it is impossible for a mongoose to stay frightened for any length of time, and though Rikki-tikki had never met a live cobra before, his mother had fed him on dead ones, and he knew that all a grown mongoose's business in life was to fight and eat snakes. Nag knew that too, and at the bottom of his cold heart he was afraid.
“vl,” sd Rikki-tikki, x hs tél bgn tú fluff p gn, “marks r nó marks, dú ǔ ynk t s rät fr ǔ tú ít fledglings ·t v é nz?”
“Well,” said Rikki-tikki, and his tail began to fluff up again, “marks or no marks, do you think it is right for you to eat fledglings out of a nest?”
Nag vs ynkq tú hmslf, x vjq y líz wl movement n y grs bhäx Rikki-tikki. hí nú yt mgss n y gwn mx dy súnr r létr fr hm x hs fmlí, bt hí vxd tú gt Rikki-tikki f hs gw. só hí drpt hs hd é wl, x pt t n vn säd.
Nag was thinking to himself, and watching the least little movement in the grass behind Rikki-tikki. He knew that mongooses in the garden meant death sooner or later for him and his family, but he wanted to get Rikki-tikki off his guard. So he dropped his head a little, and put it on one side.
“w s tk,” hí sd. “ǔ ít gs. vä cd x ä ít bws?”
“Let us talk,” he said. “You eat eggs. Why should not I eat birds?”
“bhäx ǔ ! lk bhäx ǔ !” sang Darzee.
“Behind you! Look behind you!” sang Darzee.
Rikki-tikki nú btr yn tú véz täm n staring. hí jumped p n y r s hä s hí kd gó, x jz xr hm whizzed bä y hd v Nagaina, Nag's vkd väf. cí hd crept p bhäx hm s hí vs tkq, tú mék n x v hm; x hí hw hr savage hiss s y zrók mz. hí kém d·n lmóz krs hr bk, x f hí hd bn n ów mgs hí vd hv nó yt yn vs y täm tú brék hr bk vy vn bät; bt hí vs fréd v y trbl lashing wrn-zrók v y cobra. hí bt, xíd, bt dd x bät lq nf, x hí jumped klr v y whisking tél, lívq Nagaina torn x qgrí.
Rikki-tikki knew better than to waste time in staring. He jumped up in the air as high as he could go, and just under him whizzed by the head of Nagaina, Nag's wicked wife. She had crept up behind him as he was talking, to make an end of him; and he heard her savage hiss as the stroke missed. He came down almost across her back, and if he had been an old mongoose he would have know that then was the time to break her back with one bite; but he was afraid of the terrible lashing return-stroke of the cobra. He bit, indeed, but did not bite long enough, and he jumped clear of the whisking tail, leaving Nagaina torn and angry.
“vkd, vkd Darzee!” sd Nag, lashing p s hä s hí kd ríj toward y nz n y thornbush; bt Darzee hd bw t ·t v ríj v snakes, x t ónlí swayed tú x fro.
“Wicked, wicked Darzee!” said Nag, lashing up as high as he could reach toward the nest in the thornbush; but Darzee had built it out of reach of snakes, and it only swayed to and fro.
Rikki-tikki fw hs äs gróq w x ht (vn é mgs's äs gró w, hí s qgrí), x hí z bk n hs tél x hind lgs läk é wl kangaroo, x lkt l r·x hm, x chattered vy réj. bt Nag x Nagaina hd disappeared xú y grs. vn é snék misses ts zrók, t nvr ss níyq r gvs ní sän v vt t míns tú dú nkz. Rikki-tikki dd x kr tú fló ym, fr hí dd x fíl cr yt hí kd manage tú snakes t vns. só hí trotted f tú y gravel py nr y h·s, x z d·n tú ynk. t vs é srís mtr fr hm.
Rikki-tikki felt his eyes growing red and hot (when a mongoose's eyes grow red, he is angry), and he sat back on his tail and hind legs like a little kangaroo, and looked all round him, and chattered with rage. But Nag and Nagaina had disappeared into the grass. When a snake misses its stroke, it never says anything or gives any sign of what it means to do next. Rikki-tikki did not care to follow them, for he did not feel sure that he could manage two snakes at once. So he trotted off to the gravel path near the house, and sat down to think. It was a serious matter for him.
f ǔ w y ów bks v njrl hzrí, ǔ vl fäx yé sé yt vn y mgs fights y snék x hpns tú gt bitten, hí rns f x íts sm rb yt cures hm. yt s x trú. y vktrí s ónlí é mtr v quickness v ä x quickness v ft, — snék's bló gnz mgs's jmp, — x s nó ä kn fló y mócn v é snék's hd vn t strikes, yt méks yqs mj mzr vxrfl yn ní mjk rb. Rikki-tikki nú hí vs é ǐq mgs, x t méd hm l y mzr pleased tú ynk yt hí hd managed tú skép é bló frm bhäx. t gév hm confidence n hmslf, x vn wí kém rnq d·n y py, Rikki-tikki vs wí tú bí petted.
If you read the old books of natural history, you will find they say that when the mongoose fights the snake and happens to get bitten, he runs off and eats some herb that cures him. That is not true. The victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness of foot, — snake's blow against mongoose's jump, — and as no eye can follow the motion of a snake's head when it strikes, that makes things much more wonderful than any magic herb. Rikki-tikki knew he was a young mongoose, and it made him all the more pleased to think that he had managed 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 be petted.
bt jz s wí vs stooping, smyq flinched é wl n y dz, x é täní vös sd: “bí krfl. ä m dy!” t vs Karait, y dusty br·n snakeling yt läs fr jös n y dusty ry; x hs bät s s dénjrs s y cobra's. bt hí s só sml yt nóbdí ynks v hm, x só hí ds y mzr hrm tú pípl.
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, the dusty brown snakeling that lies for choice on the dusty earth; and his bite is as dangerous as the cobra's. But he is so small that nobody thinks of him, and so he does the more harm to people.
Rikki-tikki's äs grú w gn, x hí danced p tú Karait vy y peculiar rocking, swaying mócn yt hí hd inherited frm hs fmlí. t lks vrí fní, bt t s só prfktlí balanced é gait yt ǔ kn flä f frm t t ní angle ǔ plís; x n dealing vy snakes ys s n dvxj. f Rikki-tikki hd ónlí nón, hí vs dúq é mj mzr dénjrs yq yt fätq Nag, fr Karait s só sml, x kn trn só kvklí, yt nls Rikki bt hm klós tú y bk v y hd, hí vd gt y wrn-zrók n hs ä r lip. bt Rikki dd x nó: hs äs vr l w, x hí rocked bk x fry, lkq fr é gd plés tú hów. Karait struck ·t. Rikki jumped sideways x träd tú rn n, bt y vkd wl dusty gré hd lashed vyn é fraction v hs cówr, x hí hd tú jmp óvr y bdí, x y hd flód hs heels klós.
Rikki-tikki's eyes grew red again, and he danced up to Karait with the peculiar rocking, swaying motion that he had inherited from his family. It looks very funny, but it is so perfectly balanced a gait that you can fly off from it at any angle you please; and in dealing with snakes this is an advantage. If Rikki-tikki had only known, he was doing a much more dangerous thing that fighting Nag, for Karait is so small, and can turn so quickly, that unless Rikki bit him close to the back of the head, he would 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 good place to hold. Karait struck out. Rikki jumped sideways and tried to run in, but the wicked little dusty gray head lashed within a fraction of his shoulder, and he had to jump over the body, and the head followed his heels close.
wí shouted tú y h·s: “Oh, lk hír! ·r mgs s klq é snék”; x Rikki-tikki hw é skrím frm wí's myr. hs fyr rn ·t vy é zk, bt bä y täm hí kém p, Karait hd lunged ·t vns tú fr, x Rikki-tikki- hd sprung, jumped n y snék's bk, drpt hs hd fr btvín hs fore-lgs, bitten s hä p y bk s hí kd gt hów, x rolled vé. yt bät paralysed Karait, x Rikki-tikki vs jz góq tú ít hm p frm y tél, ftr y custom v hs fmlí t dnr, vn hí rmmbw yt é fl míl méks é sló mgs, x f vxd l hs zrnky x quickness wí, hí mz kíp hmslf yn.
Teddy shouted to the house: “Oh, look here! Our mongoose is killing a snake”; and Rikki-tikki heard a scream from Teddy's mother. His father ran out with a stick, but by the time he came up, Karait had lunged out once 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 back as he could get hold, and rolled away. That bite paralysed Karait, and Rikki-tikki was just going to eat him up from the tail, after the custom of his family at dinner, when he remembered that a full meal makes a slow mongoose, and if wanted all his strength and quickness ready, he must keep himself thin.
hí vx vé fr é dz-by xr y castor-öl bushes, väl wí's fyr bít y dd Karait. “vt s y ǔ s v yt?” yt Rikki-tikki. “ä hv settled t l”; x yn wí's myr pkt hm p frm y dz x hugged hm, crying yt hí hd sévd wí frm dy, x wí's fyr sd yt hí vs é providence, x wí lkt n vy bg skw äs. Rikki-tikki vs ryr amused t l y fuss, vj, v krs, hí dd x xrzx. wí's myr mät jz s vl hv petted wí fr pléq n y dz. Rikki vs thoroughly njöq hmslf.
He went away for a dust-bath under the castor-oil bushes, while Teddy's father beat the dead Karait. “What is the use of that?” thought Rikki-tikki. “I have settled it all”; and then Teddy's mother picked him up from the dust and hugged him, crying that he had saved Teddy from death, and Teddy's father said that he was a providence, and Teddy looked on with big scared eyes. Rikki-tikki was rather amused at all the fuss, which, of course, he did not understand. Teddy's mother might just as well have petted Teddy for playing in the dust. Rikki was thoroughly enjoying himself.