At the hole where he went in
Red-Eye called to Wrinkle-Skin.
Hear what little Red-Eye saith:
“Nag, come up and dance with death!”
Eye to eye and head to head,
(Keep the measure, Nag.)
This shall end when one is dead;
(At thy pleasure, Nag.)
Turn for turn and twist for twist—
(Run and hide thee, Nag.)
Hah! The hooded Death has missed!
(Woe betide thee, Nag!)
This is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi fought single-handed, through the bathrooms of the big bungalow in Segowlee cantonment. Darzee, the tailorbird, 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
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!”
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 road-side 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.”
“No,” said his mother; “let's take him in and dry him. Perhaps he isn't really dead.”
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.
“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.”
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 cottonwool, decided that it was not good to eat, ran all round the table, sat up and put his fur in order, scratched himself, and jumped on the small boy's shoulder.
“Don't be frightened, Teddy,” said his father. “That's his way of making friends.”
“Ouch! He's tickling under my chin,” said Teddy.
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.
“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.”
“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.”
They gave him a little piece of raw meat. Rikki-tikki liked it immensely, and when it was finished he went out into the veranda and sat in the sunshine and fluffed up his fur to make it dry to the roots. Then he felt better.
“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.”
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 burned 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——”
But Teddy's mother wouldn't think of anything so awful.
Early in the morning Rikki-tikki came to early breakfast in the veranda 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 someday 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.
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 thornbush.
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 sway to and fro, as they sat on the rim and cried.
“What is the matter?” asked Rikki-tikki.
“We are very miserable,” said Darzee. “One of our babies fell out of the nest yesterday, and Nag ate him.”
“H'm!” said Rikki-tikki, “that is very sad—but I am a stranger here. Who is Nag?”
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.
“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!”
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.
“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 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.
“Let us talk,” he said. “You eat eggs. Why should not I eat birds?”
“Behind you! Look behind you!” sang Darzee.
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 known 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.
“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 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.
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.
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 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 than 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 grey head lashed within a fraction of his shoulder, and he had to jump over the body, and the head followed his heels close.
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 paralyzed 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 he wanted all his strength and quickness ready, he must keep himself thin.
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.
That night, at dinner, walking to and fro among the wine-glasses on the table, he could have stuffed himself three times over with nice things; but he remembered Nag and Nagaina, and though it was very pleasant to be patted and petted by Teddy's mother, and to sit on Teddy's shoulder, his eyes would get red from time to time, and he would go off into his long war-cry of “Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!”
Teddy carried him off to bed, and insisted on Rikki-tikki sleeping under his chin. Rikki-tikki was too well-bred to bite or scratch, but as soon as Teddy was asleep he went off for his nightly walk round the house, and in the dark he ran up against Chuchundra, the musk-rat, creeping around by the wall. Chuchundra is a broken-hearted little beast. He whimpers and cheeps all the night, trying to make up his mind to run into the middle of the room, but he never gets there.
“Don't kill me,” said Chuchundra, almost weeping. “Rikki-tikki, don't kill me!”
“Do you think a snake-killer kills musk-rats?” said Rikki-tikki scornfully.
“Those who kill snakes get killed by snakes,” said Chuchundra, more sorrowfully than ever. “And how am I to be sure that Nag won't mistake me for you some dark night?”
“There's not the least danger,” said Rikki-tikki; “but Nag is in the garden, and I know you don't go there.”
“My cousin Chua, the rat, told me——” said Chuchundra, and then he stopped.
“Told you what?”
“H'sh! Nag is everywhere, Rikki-tikki. You should have talked to Chua in the garden.”
“I didn't—so you must tell me. Quick, Chuchundra, or I'll bite you!”
Chuchundra sat down and cried till the tears rolled off his whiskers. “I am a very poor man,” he sobbed. “I never had spirit enough to run out into the middle of the room. H'sh! I mustn't tell you anything. Can't you hear, Rikki-tikki?”
Rikki-tikki listened. The house was as still as still, but he thought he could just catch the faintest scratch-scratch in the world—a noise as faint as that of a wasp walking on a window-pane—the dry scratch of a snake's scales on brickwork.
“That's Nag or Nagaina,” he said to himself; “and he is crawling into the bathroom sluice. You're right, Chuchundra; I should have talked to Chua.”
He stole off to Teddy's bathroom, but there was nothing there, and then to Teddy's mother's bathroom. At the bottom of the smooth plaster wall there was a brick pulled out to make a sluice for the bath-water, and as Rikki-tikki stole in by the masonry curb where the bath is put, he heard Nag and Nagaina whispering together outside in the moonlight.
“When the house is emptied of people,” said Nagaina to her husband, “he will have to go away, and then the garden will be our own again. Go in quietly, and remember that the big man who killed Karait is the first one to bite. Then come out and tell me, and we will hunt for Rikki-tikki together.”
“But are you sure that there is anything to be gained by killing the people?” said Nag.
“Everything. When there were no people in the bungalow, did we have any mongoose in the garden? So long as the bungalow is empty, we are king and queen of the garden; and remember that as soon as our eggs in the melon-bed hatch (as they may tomorrow), our children will need room and quiet.”
“I had not thought of that,” said Nag. “I will go, but there is no need that we should hunt for Rikki-tikki afterward. I will kill the big man and his wife, and the child if I can, and come away quietly. Then the bungalow will be empty, and Rikki-tikki will go.”
Rikki-tikki tingled all over with rage and hatred at this, and then Nag's head came through the sluice, and his five feet of cold body followed it. Angry as he was, Rikki-tikki was very frightened as he saw the size of the big cobra. Nag coiled himself up, raised his head, and looked into the bathroom in the dark, and Rikki could see his eyes glitter.
“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?” said Rikki-tikki-tavi.
Nag waved to and fro, and then Rikki-tikki heard him drinking from the biggest waterjor that was used to fill the bath. “That is good,” said the snake.“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.”
There was no answer from outside, so Rikki-tikki knew Nagaina had gone away. Nag coiled himself down, coil by coil, round the bulge at the bottom of the waterjor, and Rikki-tikki stayed still as death. After an hour he began to move, muscle by muscle, toward the jar. Nag was asleep, and Rikki-tikki looked at his big back, wondering which would be the best place for a good hold. “If I don't break his back at the first jump,” said Rikki, “he can still fight; and if he fights—Oh, Rikki!” He looked at the thickness of the neck below the hood, but that was too much for him; and a bite near the tail would only make Nag savage.
“It must be the head,” he said at last; “the head above the hood; and when I am once there, I must not let go.”
Then he jumped. The head was lying a little clear of the waterjar, under the curve of it; and, as his teeth met, Rikki braced his back against the bulge of the red earthenware to hold down the head. This gave him just one second's purchase, and he made the most of it. Then he was battered to and fro as a rat is shaken by a dog—to and fro on the floor, up and down, and around in great circles; but his eyes were red, and he held on as the body cart-whipped over the floor, upsetting the tin dipper and the soap-dish and the flesh-brush, an banged against the tin side of the bath. As he held he closed his jaws tighter and tighter, for he made sure he would be banged to death, and, for the honour of his family, he preferred to be found with his teeth locked. He was dizzy, aching, and felt shaken to pieces when something went off like a thunderclap just behind him; a hot wind knocked him senseless, and red fire singed his fur.The big man had been wakened by the noise, and had fired both barrels of ashotgun into Nag just behind the hood.
Rikki-tikki held on with his eyes shut, for now he was quite sure he was dead; but the head did not move, and the big man picked him up and said: “It's the mongoose again, Alice; the little chap has saved our lives now.” Then Teddy's mother came in with a very white face, and saw what was left of Nag, and Rikki-tikki dragged himself to Teddy's bedroom and spent half the rest of the night shaking himself tenderly to find out whether he really was broken into forty pieces, as he fancied.
When morning came he was very stiff, but well pleased with his doings. “Now I have Nagaina to settle with, and she will be worse than five Nags, and there's no knowing when the eggs she spoke of will hatch. Goodness! I must go and see Darzee,” he said.
Without waiting for breakfast, Rikki-tikki ran to the thornbush where Darzee was singing a song of triumph at the top of his voice. The news of Nag's death was all over the garden, for the sweeper had thrown the body on the rubbish-heap.
“Oh, you stupid tuft of feathers!” said Rikki-tikki angrily. “Is this the time to sing?”
“Nag is dead—is dead—is dead!” sang Darzee. “The valiant Rikki-tikki caught him by the head and held fast. The big man brought the bang-stick, and Nag fell in two pieces! He will never eat my babies again.”
“All that's true enough; but where's Nagaina?” said Rikki-tikki, looking carefully round him.
“Nagaina came to the bathroom sluice and called for Nag,” Darzee went on; “and Nag came out on the end of a stick—the sweeper picked him up on the end of a stick and threw him upon the rubbish-heap. Let us sing about the great, the red-eyed Rikki-tikki!” and Darzee filled his throat and sang.
“If I could get up to your nest, I'd roll your babies out!” said Rikki-tikki. “You don't know when to do the right thing at the right time. You're safe enough in your nest there, but it's war for me down here. Stop singing a minute, Darzee.”
“For the great, the beautiful Rikki-tikki's sake I will stop,” said Darzee. “What is it, O Killer of the terrible Nag?”
“Where is Nagaina, for the third time?”
“On the rubbish-heap by the stables, mourning for Nag. Great is Rikki-tikki with the white teeth.”
“Bother my white teeth! Have you ever heard where she keeps her eggs?”
“In the melon-bed, on the end nearest the wall, where the sun strikes nearly all day. She hid them there weeks ago.”
“And you never thought it worth while to tell me? The end nearest the wall, you said?”
“Rikki-tikki, you are not going to eat her eggs?”
“Not eat exactly; no. Darzee, if you have a grain of sense you will fly off to the stables and pretend that your wing is broken, and let Nagaina chase you away to this bush. I must get to the melon-bed, and if I went there now she'd see me.”
Darzee was a feather-brained little fellow who could never hold more than one idea at a time in his head; and just because he knew that Nagaina's children were born in eggs like his own, he didn't think at first that it was fair to kill them. But his wife was a sensible bird, and she knew that cobra's eggs meant young cobras later on; so she flew off from the nest, and left Darzee to keep the babies warm, and continue his song about the death of Nag. Darzee was very like a man in some ways.
She fluttered in front of Nagaina by the rubbish-heap, and cried out; “Oh,my wing is broken! The boy in the house threw a stone at me and broke it.” Then she fluttered more desperately than ever.
Nagaina lifted up her head and hissed: “You warned Rikki-tikki when I would have killed him. Indeed and truly, you've chosen a bad place to be lame in.” And she moved toward Darzee's wife, slipping along over the dust.
“The boy broke it with a stone!” shrieked Darzee's wife.
“Well, It may be some consolation to you when you're dead to know that I shall settle accounts with the boy. My husband lies on the rubbish-heap this morning, but before night the boy in the house will lie very still. What is the use of running away? I am sure to catch you. Little fool, look at me!”
Darzee's wife knew better than to do that, for a bird who looks at a snake's eyes gets so frightened that she cannot move. Darzee's wife fluttered on, piping sorrowfully, and never leaving the ground, and Nagaina quickened her pace.
Rikki-tikki heard them going up the path from the stables, and he raced for the end of the melon-patch near the wall. There, in the warm litter about the melons, very cunningly hidden, he found twenty-five eggs, about the size of a bantam's eggs, but with whitish skin instead of shell.
“I was not a day too soon,” he said; for he could see the baby cobras curled up inside the skin, and he knew that the minute they were hatched they could each kill a man or a mongoose. He bit off the tops of the eggs as fast as he could, taking care to crush the young cobras, and turned over the litter from time to time to see whether he had missed any. At last there were only three eggs left, and Rikki-tikki began to chuckle to himself, when he heard Darzee's wife screaming:
“Rikki-tikki, I led Nagaina toward the house, and she has gone into the veranda, and—oh, come quickly—she means killing!”
Rikki-tikki smashed two eggs, and tumbled backward down the melon-bed with the third egg in his mouth, and scuttled to the veranda as hard as he could put foot to the ground. Teddy and his mother and father were there at early breakfast; but Rikki-tikki saw that they were not eating anything. They sat stone-still, and their faces were white. Nagaina was coiled up on the matting by Teddy's chair, within easy striking-distance of Teddy's bare leg, and she was swaying to and fro singing a song of triumph.
“Son of the big man that killed Nag,” she hissed, “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. Oh, foolish people, who killed my Nag!”
Teddy's eyes were fixed on his father, and all his father could do was to whisper: “Sit still, Teddy. You mustn't move. Teddy, keep still.”
Then Rikki-tikki came up and cried: “Turn round, Nagaina; turn and fight!”
“All in good time,” said she, without moving her eyes. “I will settle my account with you presently. Look at your friends, Rikki-tikki. They are still and white; they are afraid. They dare not move, and if you come a step nearer I strike.”
“Look at your eggs,” said Rikki-tikki, “in the melon-bed near the wall. Go and look, Nagaina!”
The big snake turned half around, and saw the egg on the veranda. “Ah-h! Give it to me,” she said.
Rikki-tikki put his paws one on each side of the egg, and his eyes were blood-red. “What price for a snake's egg? For a young cobra? For a young king-cobra? For the last—the very last of the brood? The ants are eating all the others down by the melon-bed.”
Nagaina spun clear round, forgetting everything for the sake of the one egg; and Rikki-tikki saw Teddy's father shoot out a big hand, catch Teddy by the shoulder, and drag him across the little table with the tea-cups, safe and out of reach of Nagaina.
“Tricked! Tricked! Tricked! Rikk-tck-tck!” chuckled Rikki-tikki. “The boy is safe, and it was I—I—I that caught Nag by the hood last night in the bathroom.” Then he began to jump up and down, all four feet together, his head close to the floor. “He threw me to and fro, but he could not shake me off. He was dead before the big man blew him in two. I did it! Rikki-tikki-tck-tck! Come then, Nagaina. Come and fight with me. You shall not be a widow long.”
Nagaina saw that she had lost her chance of killing Teddy, and the egg lay between Rikki-tikki's paws. “Give me the egg, Rikki-tikki. Give me the last of my eggs, and I will go away and never come back,” she said, lowering her hood.
“Yes, you will go away, and you will never come back; for you will go to the rubbish-heap with Nag. Fight, widow! The big man has gone for his gun! Fight!”
Rikki-tikki was bounding all round Nagaina, keeping just out of reach of her stroke, his little eyes like hot coals. Nagaina gathered herself together, and flung out at him. Rikki-tikki jumped up and backward. Again and again and again she struck, and each time her head came with a whack on the matting of the veranda, and she gathered herself together like a watch-spring. Then Rikki-tikki danced in a circle to get behind her, and Nagaina spun round to keep her head to his head, so that the rustle of her tail on the matting sounded like dry leaves blown along by the wind.
He had forgotten the egg. It still lay on the veranda, and Nagaina came nearer and nearer to it, till at last, while Rikki-tikki was drawing breath, she caught it in her mouth, turned to the veranda steps, and flew like an arrow down the path, with Rikki-tikki behind her. When the cobra runs for her life, she goes like a whiplash flicked across a horse's neck.
Rikki-tikki knew that he must catch her, or all the trouble would begin again. She headed straight for the long grass by the thornbush, and as he was running Rikki-tikki heard Darzee still singing his foolish little song of triumph. But Darzee's wife was wiser. She flew off her nest as Nagaina came along, and flapped her wings about Nagaina's head. If Darzee had helped they might have turned her; but Nagaina only lowered her hood and went on. Still, the instant's delay brought Rikki-tikki up to her, and as she plunged into the rat-hole where she and Nag used to live, his little white teeth were clenched on her tail, and he went down with her—and very few mongooses, however wise and old they may be, care to follow a cobra into its hole. It was dark in the hole; and Rikki-tikki never knew when it might open out and give Nagaina room to turn and strike at him. He held on savagely, and stuck out his feet to act as brakes on the dark slope of the hot, moist earth.
Then the grass by the mouth of the hole stopped waving, and Darzee said: “It is all over with Rikki-tikki! We must sing his death-song. Valiant Rikki-tikki is dead! For Nagaina will surely kill him underground.”
So he sang a very mournful song that he made up on the spur of the minute, and just as he got to the most touching part the grass quivered again, and Rikki-tikki, covered with dirt, dragged himself out of the hole leg by leg, licking his whiskers. Darzee stopped with a little shout. Rikki-tikki shook some of the dust out of his fur and sneezed. “It is all over,” he said. “The widow will never come out again.” And the red ants that live between the grass-stems heard him, and began to troop down one after another to see if he had spoken the truth.
Rikki-tikki curled himself up in the grass and slept where he was—slept and slept till it was late in the afternoon, for he had done a hard day's work.
“Now,” he said, when he awoke, “I will go back to the house. Tell the Coppersmith, Darzee, and he will tell the garden that Nagaina is dead.”
The Coppersmith is a bird who makes a noise exactly like the beating of a little hammer on a copper pot; and the reason he is always making it is because he is the town-crier to every Indian garden, and tells all the news to everybody who cares to listen. As Rikki-tikki went up the path, he heard his “attention” notes like a tiny dinner-gong; and then the steady “Ding-dong-tock! Nag is dead—dong! Nagaina is dead! Ding-dong-tock!” That set all the birds in the garden singing, and the frogs croaking; for Nag and Nagaina used to eat frogs as well as little birds.
When Rikki got to the house, Teddy and Teddy's mother (she still looked very white, for she had been fainting) and Teddy's father came out and almost cried over him; and that night he ate all that was given him till he could eat no more, and went to bed on Teddy's shoulder, where Teddy's mother saw him when she came to look late at night.
“He saved our lives and Teddy's life,” she said to her husband. “Just think, he saved all our lives.”
Rikki-tikki woke up with a jump, for all the mongooses are light sleepers.
“Oh, it's you,” said he. “What are you bothering for? All the cobras are dead; and if they weren't, I'm here.”
Rikki-tikki had a right to be proud of himself; but he did not grow too proud, and he kept that garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth and jump and spring and bite, till never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls.
“紅眼”一進洞,
便沖著“皺皮”喊一通。
聽聽小紅眼咋叮囑:
“納格,來跟死亡跳個舞!”
眼對眼,頭對頭
?。ㄌず梦璨?,納格)。
跳到一個死掉才罷休
?。S你的意愿,納格)。
轉對轉,扭對扭
?。ㄔ摿锞土?,該閃就閃,納格)。
哈!戴兜帽的死亡失了手
(遭殃吧你,納格)!
這個故事說的是瑞吉-倜吉-塔威單槍匹馬打了一場大仗,戰(zhàn)場就是塞高里兵站大平房的幾間浴室。長尾巴縫葉鶯達茲給他通風報信,麝香鼠楚純德拉雖然老是貼著墻根躡手躡腳踅摸來踅摸去,從未到過地中央,卻也為他出謀劃策,不過真正浴血奮戰(zhàn)的卻是瑞吉-倜吉自己。
他是一只獴,皮毛和尾巴長得卻像一只小貓,腦袋和生活習慣又很像一只黃鼠狼。他的眼睛和不安分的鼻尖兒粉紅粉紅的,他能隨心所欲地用腿搔身體的任何一個部位,前腿后腿都行,他能抖開自己的尾巴,讓它瞧上去活像一把瓶刷子。他在高高的草叢中匆匆忙忙東奔西跑,同時發(fā)出“瑞吉-倜吉-倜吉-倜吉-嚓克!”這樣的吶喊。
一天,仲夏的一場洪水沖進了他和爸爸媽媽一起居住的地洞,把他沖了出來。他又踢又蹬,嘖嘖咯咯,被洪水裹挾到路旁的一條溝里。他看見那兒漂浮著一綹兒青草,便死命地抓住它,然后就失去了知覺。他醒來時,已經躺在一條花園小路的中央,火辣辣的太陽照在他身上,他渾身臟兮兮、濕漉漉的。一個小男孩正在說話:“這里有一只死獴。我們給他弄個葬禮吧。”
“等等,”他媽媽說,“我們把他抓到屋子里去,給他把身子弄干。他不一定就真死了呢。”
他們把他帶進屋里,一個大個子男人用拇指和食指把他拎起來,說他沒有死,只是被水嗆昏了。他們用棉絮把他裹起來,再把他在小火上烤一烤暖和暖和,他睜開了眼睛,打了個噴嚏。
“成啦,”那個大個子說(他是個英國人,剛剛搬進平房),“別嚇著他,我們看他怎么辦。”
世界上最難的事就數要嚇著一只獴了,因為他從鼻頭到尾巴都充滿了好奇。獴族的家訓是“走走瞧瞧,探個究竟”,況且瑞吉-倜吉是一只真正的獴。他瞅了瞅棉絮,認定那可不是什么好吃的東西,就繞著桌子轉了轉,然后坐了下來,理順自己的皮毛,撓了撓癢癢,接著就跳到了小男孩的肩頭上。
“特迪,別怕,”他爸爸說,“這表明他要和你交朋友了。”
“哎呀!他搔得我下巴癢酥酥的。”特迪說。
瑞吉-倜吉在男孩的領子和脖子那兒瞧了瞧,又嗅了嗅他的耳朵,然后爬下來坐在地板上,揉了揉鼻子。
“天哪,”特迪的媽媽說,“這可是個野生動物呀!我想我們待他好,他才這么乖。”
“所有的獴都這樣。”她丈夫說。“只要特迪不揪著他的尾巴把他拎起來,不把他關進籠子里,他會一天到晚在屋子里跑進跑出的。我們給他點兒吃的吧。”
他們給了他一小塊生肉,瑞吉-倜吉可喜歡了,美美地吃完以后,便跑到外面的走廊上,坐著曬太陽。他抖開身上的毛,把它們完全晾干,于是他感覺好多了。
“這幢房子還有更多的東西有待發(fā)現,”他自言自語道,“這可比我們一家子一輩子能見識到的東西還多呢。我當然要住下來,好好觀察一番。”
那一整天他都在屋子里晃悠。他差點兒淹死在浴缸里。他把鼻子伸進寫字臺上的墨水瓶里還嫌不夠,為了弄清寫字是怎么回事,他居然還爬到大個子的大腿上,被大個子的雪茄煙頭燒著了鼻子。天黑以后,他跑到特迪的小房間里觀察煤油燈是怎么點亮的。就連特迪上床,瑞吉-倜吉也跟著爬上床,不過他可是一個特別不安分的伙伴,整個晚上一有響動,他都要起來弄明白這些聲音是什么東西發(fā)出來的。特迪媽媽、爸爸進來了,睡覺前的最后一件事就是要看看他們的孩子。瑞吉-倜吉正躺在枕頭上,醒著。“我可不喜歡這樣,”特迪的媽媽說:“他說不定會咬咱們的孩子的。”“他才不會做這種事呢,”爸爸說,“特迪跟這個小家伙在一起比被一只獵犬看著還安全呢。要是現在有條蛇爬進這個小房間——”
不過特迪的媽媽可不愿意想這種可怕的事情。
一大清早,瑞吉-倜吉就騎到特迪的肩膀上,來到走廊吃早餐,他們給他吃香蕉和煮雞蛋,他在三個人的大腿上輪流坐了一遍。其實每一只受過良好教養(yǎng)的獴都渴望有一天成為家獴,有許多房間可以進進出出,逛逛轉轉。瑞吉-倜吉的媽媽(她過去就住在塞高里的將軍的家里)仔仔細細地教過他遇到白人時該怎么辦。
接下來,瑞吉-倜吉來到花園里瞧瞧有什么可看的。這是個大花園,只栽植了一半,大簇大簇的黃玫瑰看上去有涼亭那么大,還有檸檬樹、橙子樹,成片的竹林和稠密高大的草叢。瑞吉-倜吉舔了舔嘴唇,“這真是個呱呱叫的捕獵場。”他說,想到這里,他的尾巴“唰”地一下豎得像瓶刷一樣,他開始急匆匆地在花園里跑上跑下,這兒嗅嗅,那兒嗅嗅。這時,他聽到荊棘叢中傳來傷心的哭聲,那是長尾巴縫葉鶯達茲和他的妻子在哭。他們把兩大片樹葉扯到一起,還用纖維把葉子邊縫起來,里面填滿了棉花和絨毛,建成了一個漂亮的窩?,F在,這個窩卻在搖搖晃晃,他們坐在窩邊上哭呢。
“怎么啦?”瑞吉-倜吉問道。
“我們真是太慘了,”達茲說,“我們的一個小寶寶昨天掉到窩外面,讓納格吃掉了。”
“嗯!”瑞吉-倜吉說,“這確實叫人傷心——不過我初來乍到,誰是納格呀?”
達茲和妻子沒有作聲,只是把腦袋縮回到窩里,因為這時從矮樹叢下密密的草叢里傳來了輕輕的咝咝聲。這聲音冷森森的,瘆人,瑞吉-倜吉往后一蹦子跳了足足有兩英尺。隨后,草叢里慢慢地抬起一個腦袋,納格抻出了脖子上脹鼓鼓的兜帽,那是一條黑色的大眼鏡蛇,從舌頭到尾巴居然有五英尺長。他把身子的三分之一從地面抬起來后,就前搖后晃讓自己保持平衡,做法絕像風中的蒲公英。他用邪惡的蛇眼盯著瑞吉-倜吉。無論蛇心里在盤算什么,他們的眼神是從來不會改變的。
“誰是納格?”他說,“我就是納格。當第一條眼鏡蛇張開兜帽為睡著的大神梵天遮擋日曬時,梵天就把他的印記印在了我們所有的家族成員身上??窗桑瑖槈牧税?!”
他把兜帽鼓起來,鼓得比任何時候都大,瑞吉-倜吉看到了他頸后眼鏡狀的印記,它看上去就像緊緊系上的鉤眼扣的眼孔。一時間他害怕了,不過一只獴可不會老這樣害怕下去,雖然瑞吉-倜吉以前從沒有見過活眼鏡蛇,他媽媽卻喂他吃過死眼鏡蛇,他懂得獴長大后畢生的事業(yè)就是斗蛇吃蛇。納格也知道這一點,在他冷酷的心底里,其實是很害怕的。
“好,”瑞吉-倜吉的尾巴又重新“唰”地一下豎了起來,“不管你有印記還是沒有印記,你覺得吃掉從鳥窩里掉出來的雛鳥合適嗎?”
納格心里暗暗算計著,眼睛則盯著瑞吉-倜吉身后草叢里的最輕微的動靜。他知道花園里有了獴,就意味著他和他的家人早晚都得丟掉性命,不過他要瑞吉-倜吉放松警覺,因此他稍稍低下腦袋,把它轉向了一邊。
“咱們有話好好說,”他說,“你可以吃蛋,我干嗎就不能吃鳥呢?”
“你后面,小心你后面!”達茲大聲啼叫道。
瑞吉-倜吉沒有浪費時間看后面,他很清楚應該做什么。他使出全身氣力騰空躍起,就在他身子下面,納格惡毒的妻子納格娜的腦袋正嗖地一下躥過去。他說話的時候,她就偷偷摸摸地爬在他身后,企圖了結他的性命,他能聽到她偷襲失敗后發(fā)出的惡狠狠的咝咝聲。他落下時差點兒碰著她的背。要是他是一只有經驗的老獴,他就懂得這是一口咬斷蛇背的最佳時機,不過他卻害怕眼鏡蛇回擊時的那一下可怕的抽打。他倒是真咬了一口,可就是那么輕輕一下,他就跳走避開飛掃過來的蛇尾巴,扔下納格娜在那里氣急敗壞。
“可惡,可惡的達茲!”納格嚷道,他拼命地往高處抽打,妄圖碰到荊棘中的鳥窩??墒沁_茲把窩建在蛇夠不著的地方,它只是前后晃蕩了幾下。
瑞吉-倜吉感覺到自己的眼睛變得又熱又紅(獴的眼睛變紅時,表示他是真的氣壞了),他像一只小袋鼠那樣,坐到自己的尾巴和后腿上,向四周掃了一眼,氣得吱吱大叫??墒牵{格和納格娜已經消失在草叢里了。一條蛇襲擊失敗后,會一聲不吭,對下步要采取的行動絕不會透露任何蛛絲馬跡。不過瑞吉-倜吉才不想跟蹤他們呢,一次對付兩條蛇,他可沒有把握。所以他急匆匆地跑到靠近房子的碎石小路上,他需要坐在那里好好想一想。對他來說,這可是件非同小可的事情。要是你讀過一些寫自然史的老書,你會發(fā)現書里面說,獴在和蛇大戰(zhàn)時,碰巧被蛇咬了,他會跑開去吃一些能解毒的草藥。這種說法根本不對。勝利的關鍵取決于眼快腳快——蛇的襲擊跟獴的跳躍的競賽——誰的眼睛都跟不上蛇腦袋進攻時的動作。這就讓事情看起來比神奇的草藥奇妙得多。瑞吉-倜吉明白自己還是一只年輕的獴,想到自己能成功躲過后面的襲擊就更加得意了。他也信心十足了。特迪跑到小路上來時,瑞吉-倜吉早就準備好享受他的愛撫了。但就在特迪彎下腰的那一刻,有一個東西在塵土里扭動了一下,一個細微的聲音說話了:“小心,我是死神!”那是克埃特,一條滿身灰土的棕色小蛇,他就喜歡躺在虛土地上,咬起人來和眼鏡蛇一樣毒。不過他這么小,誰也沒有在意他,因而他對人的傷害反而更大。
瑞吉-倜吉的眼睛又變紅了,他用一種奇特的搖擺晃動的姿勢跳到克埃特面前,這可是他家傳下來的動作,雖然看上去滑稽可笑,卻是一種完美平衡的步態(tài),你可以隨心所欲地從任何角度飛出,對付蛇這可是一種優(yōu)勢呢。瑞吉-倜吉不知道他在做一件比大戰(zhàn)納格更危險的事情。克埃特這么小,轉身又這么快,要不是瑞吉咬到靠近他后腦勺的部位,瑞吉會被他轉身擊中眼睛或嘴唇的。不過瑞吉根本不知道這一點,他眼睛紅透了,他前后晃動,尋找合適的地方咬住敵人??税L爻鰮袅?。瑞吉跳到一旁,還想繼續(xù)撲上去,那只惡毒的滿是灰塵的灰腦袋迅速一甩,差點兒就擊中他的肩頭,瑞吉只好跳過蛇的身子,但蛇腦袋又緊跟著到了他的腳后跟。
特迪朝著屋子大喊:“啊,快來看呀!我們的獴正殺蛇呢。”瑞吉-倜吉聽到特迪的媽媽那兒傳來一聲尖叫。他爸爸拿著棍子跑了出來,不過他趕到跟前時,克埃特的一次沖刺用力過猛,瑞吉-倜吉縱身一躍,跳到了蛇背上,腦袋勾到前腿中間,盡量抓到蛇背的上方,死死咬住,然后他滾到了一邊。就是那一口讓克埃特完全癱瘓下來,瑞吉-倜吉本想按照他家族的進餐習慣,從尾到頭把他整個吃掉,忽然又想到吃得太飽,會讓獴行動遲緩,想讓自己所有的精氣神和敏捷度都處于最后的戰(zhàn)備狀態(tài),他必須得讓自己保持苗條。他走到蓖麻灌木叢下,洗了個塵土浴,特迪的爸爸正在那兒打那只死了的克埃特。“這有什么用?”瑞吉-倜吉心想,“我已經把問題徹底解決了。”特迪的媽媽把他從塵土里抓起來,摟著他,嗚嗚咽咽地說他救了特迪的命;特迪的爸爸說他是天兵天將;特迪眼睛睜得大大的,一臉恐懼地看著這一切。瑞吉-倜吉被他們的大驚小怪逗樂了,他當然不懂得這些。特迪的媽媽因為特迪在塵土地上玩,對兒子加以愛撫,這也在情理之中,瑞吉卻打心眼里感到高興。
那天晚上吃晚飯時,他在桌上的酒杯中間來回穿梭,他本來可以讓肚子塞進三倍好吃的東西,不過他還記得納格和納格娜。盡管他被特迪的媽媽一直拍著,摸著,還可以坐在特迪的肩膀上,這些都舒服極了,但是他的眼睛時不時變得紅彤彤的,他還發(fā)出了長長的吶喊:“瑞吉-倜吉-倜吉-倜吉-嚓克!”
特迪把瑞吉-倜吉帶上床,一定要讓他睡在自己的下巴底下。瑞吉-倜吉受過良好的教養(yǎng),他既不會咬人也不會抓人,可等到特迪一睡熟,他就出去繞著屋子巡夜去了。在黑暗中他遇到了麝香鼠楚純德拉,他正貼著墻根轉悠。楚純德拉是只心碎了的小動物,他整晚都哭哭啼啼,吱吱呀呀地叫,想下決心跑到房間中央去,但他從來都沒到過那兒。
“不要殺我,”楚純德拉說,眼淚都要流下來了,“瑞吉-倜吉,不要殺我。”
“你認為殺蛇的獵手會殺一只麝香鼠嗎?”瑞吉-倜吉有點兒瞧不起他。
“那些殺蛇的會被蛇殺的,”楚純德拉更加傷心地說,“我怎么能確定黑夜里納格不會把我錯當成了你?”
“這沒有一丁點兒危險,”瑞吉-倜吉說,“納格在花園里,可我知道你是不會到那兒去的。”
“我的表哥,老鼠楚阿,對我說——”楚純德拉說到這兒,又打住了。
“對你說什么?”
“噓!瑞吉-倜吉。納格無處不在呢。你應該去和花園里的楚阿談談。”
“我不去——你得告訴我??欤兊吕?,要不我可要咬你啦!”
楚純德拉坐下來,哭了起來,眼淚吧嗒吧嗒從胡須上滾下來。“我是個可憐蟲,”他嗚嗚咽咽地說,“我一輩子都沒有膽量跑到房間中央去。噓!我什么都不應該對你說。瑞吉-倜吉,你聽見了嗎?”
瑞吉-倜吉聽著。屋子里靜悄悄的,但他想他能聽到世界上最細微的刮擦聲——那聲音輕微得就像一只黃蜂在窗玻璃上爬——那是蛇鱗在砌磚上發(fā)出的干澀的刮擦聲。
“那不是納格就是納格娜,”他自言自語地說,“他正爬向浴室的水槽。楚純德拉,你是對的,我應該跟楚阿談談。”
他悄悄地溜到特迪的浴室,那兒卻什么都沒有,接著他又溜進特迪媽媽的浴室。在光滑的灰泥墻底部,有一塊磚被抽出來,留作排放洗澡水的水槽。瑞吉-倜吉悄悄地溜到浴缸的邊上,聽到納格和納格娜在外面的月光下悄聲細語。
“要是這幢房子沒有人了,”納格娜對她丈夫說,“他也就得離開了,那時花園又歸咱倆了。悄悄進去,記住首先要咬死那個殺死克埃特的大個子,然后出來告訴我,我們一塊兒去找瑞吉-倜吉。”
“不過你能肯定殺死人以后我們會得到什么嗎?”納格問。
“應有盡有啊。平房里沒有了人,花園里哪會有獴?只要平房空了,我們就是花園里的國王和王后。別忘了,我們在瓜地里的蛋孵化出來后(可能明天就孵出來了),我們的孩子就需要地方,也需要安安靜靜的環(huán)境。”
“我可沒想到這一點,”納格說,“我這就去,不過咱們以后就用不著找瑞吉-倜吉了。我會殺了大個子和他的老婆,可能的話,也殺了那個孩子,然后就悄悄溜掉。平房空了,瑞吉-倜吉也就走了。”
聽到這番話,瑞吉-倜吉恨得直咬牙,氣得直發(fā)抖。就在那時,納格的頭伸出水槽,后面就是他那五英尺長的冰冷冷的身子。盡管瑞吉-倜吉氣得牙癢癢,看到這么大個頭的眼鏡蛇,心里還是很害怕。納格盤起身子,抬起頭,盯著黑洞洞的浴室,瑞吉-倜吉看得見他眼珠子冒著寒光。
“要是我這會兒在這兒把他殺了,納格娜就會知道。但要是我在空地板上跟他拼命,他又占優(yōu)勢,我該怎么辦呢?”瑞吉-倜吉-塔威說道。
納格搖來晃去,瑞吉-倜吉聽見他在那個用來給澡盆加水的大水罐里喝水。“真是不錯啊,”蛇說,“克埃特死的時候,大個子拿著根棍子,他很可能還會隨身帶著那根棍子。不過早上他來洗澡時是不可能帶棍子的,我就在這兒等他。納格娜——你聽到我說話了嗎?我要在這兒涼快涼快,等到天亮。”
外面沒有應答聲,瑞吉-倜吉也就知道納格娜已經走開了。納格蜷下身子,繞著大水罐肚子的底部盤了一圈又一圈。瑞吉-倜吉守在那兒,像死了一樣,一動也不動。一個鐘頭以后,他才屏住呼吸,一點兒一點兒地向水罐移過去。納格已經熟睡了,瑞吉-倜吉瞅瞅他那肥肥的大后背,琢磨著下口的最佳位置,好把他緊緊咬住。“要是我頭一跳咬不斷他的背,”瑞吉心想,“他還能反抗。要是他反抗——我的媽呀,瑞吉!”他看了看兜帽下面脖子的厚度,對他來說,這可真粗啊。不過如果他在靠近尾巴的那兒咬一口,只會讓納格更加兇猛。
“只有在腦袋上下口,”他最后決定,“兜帽上面的腦袋。而且,一旦咬住了,我就決不能松口。”
說時遲那時快,他猛地一躍。蛇腦袋就在水罐肚子底下,離水罐非常近的地方。他牙齒緊緊咬住,用背頂住紅色陶器的大肚子,使勁兒壓住蛇腦袋。他贏得了一秒鐘,并且充分予以利用。后來,他就像一只被狗叼著搖來晃去的耗子,被蛇連續(xù)地甩擊——在地上,前前后后,上上下下,甩了一個大圈又一個大圈。蛇的身子就像車鞭子在地板上甩打,打翻了長柄錫勺、肥皂盒和搓澡刷子,又重重地撞在浴缸的鐵皮邊上。瑞吉的眼睛紅彤彤的,他咬緊牙關,就是不松口。他的牙關越咬越緊,他相信自己就要被撞死了,可是為了家族的榮耀,他情愿自己的尸體被人發(fā)現時,牙關依然緊鎖。他頭暈目眩,痛到極點,覺得自己已經被晃得粉身碎骨了。就在這當口,他的身后像打了一個霹靂,一股熱浪沖得他不省人事,紅紅的火焰燎焦了他的皮毛。原來大個子被喧鬧聲吵醒,拿起雙筒獵槍,朝著納格兜帽的背后就是一槍。
瑞吉-倜吉還是沒有松口,眼睛緊緊閉著,他現在確定自己已經死了。蛇腦袋一動不動了,大個子把他抓起來,大聲叫道:“艾麗絲,又是這只獴;這次,這小家伙救了我們全家的性命。”特迪的媽媽跑了進來,看到了納格的殘骸,臉色嚇得慘白。瑞吉-倜吉拖著沉重的身子回到了特迪的臥室,用了后半夜剩下的一半時間來輕輕地晃動自己的身子,看看是不是真如他想的那樣,自己被摔成四十瓣兒了。
天亮時,他渾身仍然硬僵僵的,不過他對自己的所作所為感到由衷的高興。“現在我只剩下納格娜要對付了,可她比五個納格還要兇惡。我不知道她說的蛋蛇會什么時候孵出來。我的天??!我得去看看達茲才行。”他說。
等不及吃早飯,瑞吉-倜吉就跑到荊棘叢那兒去了,達茲扯著嗓門在那兒高歌勝利呢。納格死掉的消息已經傳遍花園,原來清潔工早把他的尸體扔到垃圾堆里去了。
“喂,你這渾身長羽毛的傻瓜蛋!”瑞吉-倜吉怒氣沖沖地說道,“現在是唱歌的時候嗎?”
“納格死啦——死啦——死啦!”達茲唱道,“英勇的瑞吉-倜吉咬住他的腦袋,決不松口。大個子拿起‘砰砰’棒,納格分成兩段了!他再也不會吃我的寶寶了!”
“千真萬確,但納格娜到底在哪兒呢?”瑞吉-倜吉嘴在說話,眼睛卻在仔細地查看著四周。
“納格娜來到浴室的水槽旁,喊納格,”達茲還在喋喋不休,“納格出來了,卻在棍子尖兒上——清潔工把他挑在棍子尖兒上,扔進了垃圾堆。大家為偉大的紅眼睛瑞吉-倜吉一起唱歌!”達茲放聲高歌。
“要是我能爬到你的窩里,我保管會把你的孩子給扔出來!”瑞吉-倜吉說,“你永遠不清楚要在恰當的時候做恰當的事情。你待在窩里可以高枕無憂,我在下面還有一場硬仗要打。達茲,你就別唱了吧。”
“看在偉大的、英俊的瑞吉-倜吉的面子上,我就停下來。”達茲說道,“噢,殺死十惡不赦的納格的勇士,什么事呀?”
“納格娜在哪兒?我第三次問你了。”
“在馬廄旁邊的垃圾堆上哭喪呢。英明的瑞吉-倜吉,牙齒潔白又漂亮。”
“少管我的白牙!你有沒有聽說過她把蛇蛋藏在哪兒嗎?”
“離墻最近那頭的瓜地里,那兒幾乎整天都可以曬著太陽。好幾個星期前,她就把蛋藏在那兒啦。”
“你就從沒想過應當告訴我一聲?是最靠墻的那頭,對吧?”
“瑞吉-倜吉,你該不是要把她的蛋吃了吧?”
“確切地說,不是吃,不是。達茲,要是你有一丁點兒頭腦的話,你就飛到馬廄那兒,裝作翅膀斷了,讓納格娜追你,一直追到荊棘叢這邊來。我得到瓜地去了,要是我現在就去,她會發(fā)現我的。”
達茲是個小糊涂蟲,腦子里一次從來沒有裝過兩個念頭,就像他知道納格娜的孩子跟自己的孩子一樣是從蛋里孵出來的,他一開始就覺得殺死他們不公平。不過他的妻子是一只頭腦清楚的鳥兒,她知道眼鏡蛇的蛋就是日后的小眼鏡蛇,所以她從鳥窩里飛出來,留下達茲暖和寶寶,繼續(xù)唱他的納格死亡之歌。在某些方面,達茲確實跟男人很相像。
她走到待在垃圾堆旁的納格娜跟前一個勁兒地拍打著翅膀,哭喊道:“哎喲喲,我的翅膀斷了!屋子里的男孩用石頭砸我,打斷了我的翅膀。”接著,她便更加拼命地撲騰起了翅膀。
納格娜抬起腦袋,咝咝地說:“是你警告了瑞吉-倜吉,害得我沒把他殺死。說實話,你真是倒霉透頂,挑了這么一個地方折斷了翅膀。”她朝著達茲的妻子,從塵土里一直滑過來。
“男孩用石頭打斷了我的翅膀!”達茲的妻子尖聲叫喊著。
“算了,讓你臨死時也知道我會找那個小孩算賬,這對你也是一點兒安慰。我丈夫今天早上躺在了垃圾堆里,屋子里的小孩在天黑前也會靜悄悄地躺下。跑有什么用?我有把握抓到你,小傻蛋,看著我!”
達茲的妻子太清楚她是絕對不能那樣做的,鳥兒一旦盯著蛇的眼睛,就會嚇得丟了魂兒,動彈不得了。達茲的妻子一直拍打著翅膀,傷心地扯著嗓子叫著,沒有離開地面一步,納格娜追得更緊了。
瑞吉-倜吉聽到她們離開了馬廄,走到小路上,便趕緊奔到靠墻那頭的瓜地。他發(fā)現在那些甜瓜周圍暖洋洋的草薦里,二十五枚蛇蛋巧妙地隱藏著。這些蛋跟矮腳雞下的蛋一樣大,只是沒有蛋殼,光裹著一層白皮。
“我來得正好。”他說,因為他看見表皮下的小眼鏡蛇已經蜷成一團了。他清楚他們只要一孵出來,每一只就能把一個人或一只獴咬死。他盡快咬破蛇蛋的一端,煞費苦心地把里面的小眼鏡蛇踩個稀爛,還時不時翻翻草薦,看看有沒有漏掉哪一只。最后還剩三個蛇蛋了,瑞吉-倜吉竊笑起來。就在那當口,他聽到達茲妻子尖聲叫喊:
“瑞吉-倜吉,我把納格娜引到那幢房子里了,她已經進了走廊,還——噢,快來呀——她要殺人啦!”
瑞吉-倜吉搗爛兩個蛋,嘴里叼起第三個,連翻帶滾出了瓜地,腳一著地就一溜煙地朝走廊沖去。特迪和他的媽媽、爸爸一早兒就在那兒吃早餐,可是瑞吉看見他們什么都還沒吃。他們像石頭一樣僵坐著,臉嚇得慘白。納格娜盤坐在特迪椅子旁邊的墊子上,她可以在這個距離輕而易舉地攻擊特迪的光腿。她前后搖晃著身子,扯開嗓子唱著勝利的歌。
“殺了納格的大個子的崽子,”她咝咝地說,“給我乖乖地待著。我還沒準備好呢,等一會兒。你們三個,老老實實待著別動。你們動一下,我就出擊,你們不動我也會出擊。哼,愚蠢的人,居然把我的納格給殺死了!”
特迪的眼睛死死地盯著爸爸,爸爸卻束手無策,只能低聲說,“好好坐著,千萬別動。特迪,靜靜地待著。”
就在這節(jié)骨眼上,瑞吉-倜吉沖了出來,大聲叫道:“納格娜,轉過身來,轉過身來,大戰(zhàn)一場!”
“趕巧了,”她說著話,眼珠子卻一動不動,“我就和你算賬。瞧瞧你的朋友,瑞吉-倜吉。他們一動都不敢動,臉色慘白,他們是嚇怕了。要是你再上前一步,我就出擊了。”
“看看你的蛋吧!”瑞吉-倜吉說,“在靠墻的瓜地里。納格娜,去瞧瞧吧!”
大蛇身子剛轉過一半,就看到了在走廊上放著的蛇蛋。“啊——??!快把它給我。”他說。
瑞吉-倜吉兩只爪子抱住蛋,眼睛血紅血紅的。“一個蛇蛋值多少錢?一條小眼鏡蛇又值多少錢?一條小眼鏡蛇王呢?這是最后一個——一窩中的最后一個蛋的價錢是多少?螞蟻還在瓜地里啃著其他的蛋呢。”
納格娜猛地一下扭轉過身子,為了這個蛋,她什么都不顧了。瑞吉-倜吉看見特迪的爸爸迅速伸出一只大手,抓住特迪的肩膀,把他拽過放著茶杯的小桌子,終于安全無事,納格娜夠不著了。
“上當了!上當了!上當了!瑞克——嚓克——嚓克!”瑞吉-倜吉輕笑著說,“小孩安全了,是我——我——我昨晚在浴室咬住納格的兜帽。”然后他四只爪子一起跳起了蹦子,腦袋靠近地面。“他把我甩來甩去,就是沒辦法把我甩掉。大個子把他打成兩截之前,他就死了。這是我干的。瑞吉-倜吉-嚓克-嚓克!納格娜,來呀,來和我干一架。你當寡婦的時日可不多了。”
納格娜明白她錯過了殺死特迪的機會,同時蛇蛋還夾在瑞吉-倜吉的兩只爪子中間。“把蛋給我,瑞吉-倜吉,把我最后的一個蛋給我。然后我會離開,再也不回來了。”她說完,低下了她的兜帽。
“對,你會離開,而且永遠也不會回來,因為你要和納格一塊兒到垃圾堆里去了。打吧,寡婦!大個子去拿槍了!打吧!”
瑞吉-倜吉圍著納格娜跳來跳去,總在她攻擊不著的地方,他小小的眼睛就像燒紅的煤球。納格娜把身子蜷縮到一塊兒,對著他猛地一下沖了過去。瑞吉-倜吉跳起來往后一躲。她一次又一次地攻擊,每次都把頭撞到走廊的草墊上,然后她又像鬧鐘的發(fā)條,把身子又蜷縮到一塊兒。瑞吉-倜吉跳了一圈,試圖繞到她的身后,納格娜也跟著轉了一圈,因而她的頭還是一直對著他的頭。她的尾巴在草墊上發(fā)出沙沙聲,就像風掃落葉的聲音。
瑞吉-倜吉忘記蛇蛋了,它仍然放在走廊上。納格娜離它越來越近了,終于,趁著瑞吉-倜吉喘氣的一瞬間,她一口把蛋含到了嘴里,轉向走廊的臺階,像離弦的箭一樣沿著小路飛奔而去。瑞吉-倜吉在后面緊追不舍。眼鏡蛇逃命時,就像鞭梢在馬脖子上輕抽了一下。瑞吉-倜吉清楚自己無論如何也要抓到她,要不所有的麻煩就會重新開始。她向荊棘叢旁的高草直奔而去。就在追趕她時,瑞吉-倜吉聽見達茲還在哼著那首愚蠢的勝利之歌。不過達茲的妻子比他聰明多了。納格娜逃過來時,她從窩里飛了出來,接著就在納格娜頭頂上拍打著翅膀。要是達茲一起來幫忙,他倆可能會妨礙她,不過現在納格娜僅僅稍微低下了她的兜帽,繼續(xù)往前沖??删褪沁@一瞬間的耽擱,讓瑞吉-倜吉追上了她,她一頭沖進了她和納格曾經居住過的老鼠洞中。他小小的白牙咬住了她的尾巴,他和她一起鉆進了洞里——幾乎沒有一只獴,就算他有多聰明,多老到,會跟著眼鏡蛇鉆進蛇洞。洞里黑漆漆的,瑞吉-倜吉不曉得洞隨時都有可能變寬,給納格娜足夠大的回旋余地轉身反擊他。他死命咬著牙關不放,把兩條腿伸開當作車閘,在黑乎乎的潮濕悶熱的土坡上剎住了身子。接下來洞口的草叢突然不搖晃了,達茲叫道:“瑞吉-倜吉完了!咱們要給他唱一支挽歌。英勇的瑞吉-倜吉死啦!納格娜肯定會在地下殺了他!”
他即興編了一首異常傷心的歌,唱了起來,就在他唱到最催人淚下的部分時,草叢又顫動了,瑞吉-倜吉滿身泥土,舔著胡須,拖著身子,一步一步,踉踉蹌蹌地從洞里退出來。達茲吃驚得叫出了聲,歌聲停止了。瑞吉-倜吉抖抖皮毛上的土,打了個噴嚏。“一切都結束了,”他說,“那個寡婦再也不會出來了。”住在草梗中間的紅螞蟻聽見他的話,興師動眾排成長隊,蜂擁而下,要看看他說的是不是實話。
瑞吉-倜吉在草地上蜷起身子,一會兒就睡著了——他睡呀睡,一覺睡到大后晌,他可是大干苦干了一整天呢。
“現在,”他醒來后,說道,“我要回到屋子里去了。達茲,去告訴‘銅匠’,他會把納格娜死的消息傳遍整個花園的。”
“銅匠”是一只鳥兒,發(fā)出的聲音絕像小錘子敲打銅鍋的聲音。他之所以總發(fā)出聲音,是因為他是印度花園里的公告宣講員,負責把所有的消息告訴每一個想聽的人。瑞吉-倜吉走在路上時就聽見了他的聲音像小小的開飯鑼那樣響了起來,“注意啦!”接著是有節(jié)奏的“叮——咚——托可!納格死啦!——咚!納格娜死啦!叮——咚——托可!”這個消息讓花園里所有的鳥兒高興得唱了起來,青蛙們也呱呱地叫了起來——納格和納格娜不僅吃小鳥,也吃青蛙。
瑞吉-倜吉回到屋里,特迪、特迪媽媽(她的臉色仍然是慘白的,她剛剛昏過去了)和特迪的爸爸跑出來,對著他都要大聲哭起來了。那晚,他把給他的東西吃了個精光,一直吃到撐腸拄肚才算罷休,然后他趴在特迪的肩膀上上床睡覺了。特迪媽媽很晚才過來看看,看見他睡熟了。
“他救了我們的命,救了特迪的命。”她對丈夫說,“想想看,他是我們全家的救命恩人呢!”
瑞吉-倜吉被驚醒,跳了起來,因為所有的獴睡眠都很輕。
“噢,是你們。”他說,“你們還有什么可操心的?眼鏡蛇都死光了,要是還有活著的,還有我在這兒呢。”
瑞吉-倜吉有理由為自己驕傲,不過他才沒有得意忘形呢,他盡著一只獴的本分守護著花園。他使出跳躍、猛咬和狠撲等看家本領,讓眼鏡蛇再也不敢從墻里探出腦袋來。