Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Being in Hawaii, we saw our fair share of mongooses (mongeese?).  Naturally, the subject of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi came up because most of us saw the TV adaptation of the Kipling story as kids. I hadn't thought of it in years, but was suddenly flooded with happy memories of the spunky little ferret-face protecting a family from the big, bad cobras. 

Then, what should I see today, but a reference to Rikki-Tikki-Tavi in a post over at Melancholy Sideshow?

Clearly that means it's time for a RTT post. 

For those unfamiliar with RTT here's a link to Wikipedia entry (Rikipedia?). And an excerpt:

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is a short story in The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling about the adventures of a valiant young mongoose. The story is a favorite of Kipling fans and is notable for its frightening and serious tone. Some epic features (heightened prosaic style, songs to the hero) add to the standard typology of hero defeating villain. It has often been anthologised and has also been published more than once as a short book in its own right.

Synopsis. An English family, who have moved to a bungalow in the British Sugauli (former British sp. Segowlee) cantonment in Bihar State, India, discover a young mongoose half drowned from a storm and decide to keep it as a pet. The young mongoose, called Rikki-Tikki, soon finds himself confronted by two dangerous, murderous cobras, Nag (Hindi for "cobra") and his even more dangerous mate Nagaina, who had the run of the garden while the house was unoccupied. After that first encounter with the cobras, Rikki's first true battle is with Karait, a dust brown snakeling who threatens the boy (Teddy). Although Rikki is inexperienced and the snake, because of its deadly venom and small size, is an even more dangerous foe than a cobra, the mongoose defeats him.

And for those who remember it, here's a little flashback:

Parts 2 & 3 over at YouTube.