K I P L I N G R E A D E R SELECTIONS FROM THE BOOKS OF R UDYARD KIPLING NEW AHD REVISED 3 0 10 011 CO . LIMITED M A C M I L LA N A N D , 1 901 All rights reserved CONTENTS. W LL AM THE N UERO ART I I CO Q R. P I ., WILLIAM THE N CO QUE RO R. PART I L, WEE LL W WI IE ww , ’ Mowe m s BRO THE RS, N AMGAY oo D m , E - TIG R TIGE R, THE STO RY O F MUHAMMAD DIN, THE FINANCES O F THE GO DS, — Mom GUJ MUT INEE R, i v CO NTENTS . G THE CO ASTWISE LI HTS, ’ -T - RIKKI IKKI TAVI . At the hole where he we nt in Re d-E e calle to Wr - y d inkle Skin . H - ear what little Red Eye sai th ! Na come u ’ g, p and dance with death 1 E e to e e and hea to e a y y d h d, Kee the measure ( p , N ag. ) Thi s shall end when one i s dead At th leasure ( yp , N ag . ) Run and hide t N a ( hee, g . ) Huh The hooded Death has misse d ! Woe betide th N ( ee, ag 1) THIS i s the story of the great war that u l - n - f tavi fo ght sing e ha ded, through the bath rooms o bi u l S l . the g b nga ow in egow ee cantonment Darzee, the t l - l huchundra u ai or bird, he ped him, and C , the m sk n l of floor rat, who ever comes out into the midd e the , b ut al roun ll ad ways creeps d by the wa , gave him vice ; but - l h in Rikki tikki did the rea fig t g. He a l l l cat fur was mongoose, rather ike a itt e in his and his l b ut u l a l in . tai , q ite ike wease hi s head and habits His eyes and the end of his restless nose were pink ; he could scratch l l le himse f anywhere he p eased, with any g, front or back, that he chose to use he could fluff up his tai l till it looked - l a. l - u and l u ike bott e br sh, his war cry, as he scutt ed thro gh 2 THE KIPLING READER i u flood him out One day, a h gh s mmer washed of the l his and burrow where he ived with father mother, and m l n ow oad s . carried hi , kicking and c ucki g, d n a r ide ditch l l floatin lun He found a itt e wisp of grass g there, and c g to l ns . e d l it till he ost his se es Wh n he revive , he was ying in sun l l the hot on the midd e of a garden path, very dragg ed ll was n ‘ ’ indeed, and a sma boy sayi g ! Here s a dead mon ’ ’ h fu l. goose . Let s ave a nera ’ ’ hi s l a him him. No, said mother ; et s t ke in and dry ’ ’ Perhaps he isn t really dead . t us They took him in o the ho e, and a big man picked him fin er and u i up between his g th mb, and sa d he was not dead l so o - l but ha f choked ; they wrapped him in cott n woo , and warmed him and he O pened his eyes and sneezed. ’ he l an Now, said the big man ( was an Eng ishm who had ’ just moved in to the bungalow) ; don t frighten him and ’ ’ ’ we ll see what he ll do. It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mon u is to l u goose, beca se he eaten up from nose tai with c riosity. The motto of all the mongoose family is Run and find out - n He and Rikki tikki was a true mo goose. looked at the - l all cotton woo , decided that it was not good to eat, ran l sat u ut hi s fur round the tab e, p and p in order, scratched ’ lf ll ul himse , and jumped on the sma boy s sho der. ’ ’ ’ n f n f Do t be righte ed, Teddy, said his ather. That s ’ his way of making friends . ’ ’ u ! He s l O ch tick ing under my chin, said Teddy. ’ Rikki tikki looked down between the boy s collar and ' snufied and l fl r neck, at his ear, c imbed down to the oo , hi s where he sat rubbing nose. ’ ’ c ’ Good gra ious, said Teddy s mother, and that s a wild ’ ’ creature ! I suppose he s so tame because we ve been kind ’ to him. ’ ‘ All n li ‘ mo gooses are ke that, said her husband. It ’ s u l ut Teddy doe n t pick him p by the tai , or try to p him in RIKKI-TIKKI-TAVI 3 ’ a. ll run of u cage, he in and out the ho se all day long. ’ ’ s Let s give him omething to eat. hi m l l - They gave a itt e piece of raw meat. Rikki tikki li l i t ked it immense y, and when was finished he went out ' into the verandah and sat in the sunshine and fiufled up fur t his to make it dry to the roo s. Then he felt better. ’ are to find out u u There more things abo t in this ho se, ‘ ms lf all m l ul he said to hi e , than my fa i y co d find out in ’ all l . ll ai nl an fin d o their ives I sha cert y stay d ut. He all spent that day roaming over the house. He l ms l h u near y drowned hi e f in the bat t bs, put his nose into ink - l the on a writing tab e, and burnt it on the end of the ’ ’ bi l la g man s cigar, for he c imbed up in the big man s p to ’ At ni f ll see how writing was done. ght a he ran into Teddy s u s -l l n rsery to watch how the kero ene amps were ighted, and l ni c u u he was a rest ess compa on, be a se he had to get p and hr ni find out attend to every noise all t ough the ght, and ’ i f in what made t. Teddy s mother and ather came , the i l - was last th ng, to ook at their boy, and Rikki tikki awake ’ l ’ ’ on the pillow. I don t ike that, said Teddy s mother ; ’ ’ ’ ‘ ll u hi n he may bite the child. He do no s ch t g, said the ’ f s h l tl if ather. Teddys afer with t at it e beast than he had a bloodhoun d to watch him. If a snake came into the ’ ’ thi f l But Teddy s mother wouldn t think of any ng so aw u . Early in the morning Rikki-tikki came to early breakfast ’ ul in the verandah ridi ng on Teddy s sho der, and they gave him banana and some boiled egg ; and he sat on all their u ll- u -u laps one after the other, beca se every we bro ght p mongoose always hopes to be a house-mongoose some day ’ u in and -tikki s and have rooms to run abo t , Rikki mother ’ l had (she used to live in the General s house at Segow ee) carefully told Rikki what to do if ever he came across 4 THE KIPLING READER ' Then Rikki - tikln went out into the garden to see what l l l l was to be seen. It was a arge garden, on y ha f cu ti a um u l v ted, with bushes as big as s mer ho ses of Marsha l o s h e l Nie r se , and orange trees, c umps of bamboos, and ‘ l his l . thi ckets of high grass . Rikki tikki icked ips This ’ l u l is a sp endid h nting ground, he said, and his tai grew tl - it u l u bot e brushy at the thought of , and he sc tt ed p and snufli n ll down the garden, g here and there ti he heard very - sorrowful voices in a thom bush . tailor~b ird his f It was Darzee, the j and wi e . They had made a beautiful nest by pullin g two big leaves together i u wi fib res fille and stitch ng them p the edges th , and had d ’ fiuh the hollow with cotton and downy . The nest swayed to sat . and fro, as they on the rim and cried ‘ ‘ Rikki i What is the matter I asked t kki. ’ l . We are very miserab e, said Darzee One of our f f ’ babies ell out o the nest yesterday, and Nag ate him. ’ - i s —b u E m said Rikki tikki, that very sad t I am a i stranger here .