Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Quotations
"Don't kill me. Rikki-tikki, don't kill me!"
Chuchundra
"H'sh! Nag is everywhere, Rikki-tikki. You should have talked to Chua in the garden."
Chuchundra
"Nag is dead--is dead--is dead!"
Darzee
"On the rubbish heap by the stables, mourning for Nag. Great is Rikki-tikki with the white teeth."
Darzee
"We are very miserable. One of our babies fell out of the nest yesterday and Nag ate him."
Darzee
"The boy broke it with a stone!"
Darzee's wife
"Be careful. I am Death!"
Karait
"But are you sure that there is anything to be gained by killing the people?"
Nag
"Let us talk. You eat eggs. Why should not I eat birds?"
Nag
"Now, when Karait was killed, the big man had a stick. He may have that stick still, but when he comes in to bathe in the morning he will not have a stick. I shall wait here till he comes. Nagaina--do you hear me?--I shall wait here in the cool till daytime."
Nag
"Who is Nag? 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!"
Nag
"Wicked, wicked Darzee!"
Nag
"Son of the big man that killed Nag, stay still. I am not ready yet. Wait a little. Keep very still, all you three! If you move I strike, and if you do not move I strike."
Nagaina
"It is all over. The widow will never come out again."
Rikki
"It must be the head, the head above the hood. And, when I am once there, I must not let go."
Rikki
"Now, if I kill him here, Nagaina will know; and if I fight him on the open floor, the odds are in his favor. What am I to do?"
Rikki
"There are more things to find out about in this house, than all my family could find out in all their lives. I shall certainly stay and find out."
Rikki
"This is a splendid hunting-ground,"
Rikki
"Turn round, Nagaina. Turn and fight!"
Rikki
"Well, marks or no marks, do you think it is right for you to eat fledglings out of a nest?"
Rikki
"Here's a dead mongoose. Let's have a funeral."
Teddy
"Oh, look here! Our mongoose is killing a snake."
Teddy
"Ouch! He's tickling under my chin,"
Teddy
"All mongooses are like that. 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."
Teddy's father
"Don't be frightened, Teddy. That's his way of making friends."
Teddy's father
"He'll do no such thing. Teddy's safer with that little beast than if he had a bloodhound to watch him. If a snake came into the nursery now--"
Teddy's father
"It's the mongoose again, Alice. The little chap has saved our lives now."
Teddy's father
"Now, don't frighten him, and we'll see what he'll do."
Teddy's father
"Good gracious, and that's a wild creature! I suppose he's so tame because we've been kind to him."
Teddy's mother
"He saved our lives and Teddy's life. Just think, he saved all our lives."
Teddy's mother
"I don't like that. He may bite the child."
Teddy's mother
"No, let's take him in and dry him. Perhaps he isn't really dead."
Teddy's mother