This is the story of a great war. Rikki-tikki-tavi fought this war in an English family’s home in India. He had some help, but he did the real fighting.Rikki-tikki was a mongoose. His name came from the sound he made going into battle: Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk! AWhen Rikki was small, a flood swept him away from his home and family. little boy named Teddy found him half-dead and brought him home. Teddy and his mother warmed the mon-goose till he woke up. Although the mother had a soft spot for animals, she wasn’t sure she wanted a wild animal in her house. But Teddy’s father convinced her that a mongoose was the perfect house pet. After all, deadly snakes lived right in their garden, and mongooses were snake killers. Rikki-tikki soon felt better, and he spent the rest of the day and the next morning exploring Teddy’s house. In the yard he heard the sad voices of two tailorbirds, Darzee and his wife. The birds were crying because a cobra named Nag had eaten one of their babies. Just then, Nag himself appeared. He was a huge black cobra, five feet long.