Kan sursa

This is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi fought single-handed, through the bath-rooms 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. ::Es historia om gro-gwer ke Rikki-Tikki-Tavi fai ga sole, in banishambas de un gran dom in Segoli vilaja. Darzi, suterfaula, helpi a ta, e Chuchundra, miskarata kel nulves go tra mida de poda bat sempre kripi blisen mur, fai konsila a ta. Yedoh vere batala gei fai bay Rikki-Tikki. 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!” ::Ta es mangusta, bay farwa e kauda simili kota-ki, bat bay kapa e abyas simili laska. Suy okos e nok de suy sinfatiga-ney nos es rose. Ta mog skrapi swa enilok bay eni pata, avane o bake, kwel unkwe ta yao yusi. Ta mog puhisi kauda til ke it simili botelabrash, e suy batalakraisa al ke ta flai-lopi tra longe herba es “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 roadside 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.” ::Pa un dey, gao saif-ney inunda auswosh ta aus ti ta jivi kun patra e mata na dun, e porti ta, al ke ta kiki e kluki, along blikamina-ney handak. Ta findi un syao chuf de herba kel floti dar, e klingi a it til dekonsi. Al rikonsi ta zai lagi sub garme surya in mida de garden-ney daokin, ga myati-ney e kicha-ney, e un syao boy zai shwo: “Walaa un morta-ney mangusta. Nu zwo ba dafna.” “No,” said his mother, “let’s take him in and dry him. Perhaps he isn’t really dead.” :: "Non", suy mata shwo, "nu pren ba ta in dom e mah ta suhe. Shayad ta bu es verem morta-ney". 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 over a little fire, and he opened his eyes and sneezed. ::Li pren ta in dom, e un gran man lifti ta bay dwa finga, shwo ke ta bu es morta-ney bat haf-tufi-ney. Also li kuti ta inu vata e mah ta varme bli agni-ki, e ta ofni okos e ek-chihi. “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.” ::"Nau", gran man shwo (lu es inglish kel yus he en-habiti sey dom), "bu fobisi ta, e nu kan kwo ta zwo". 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 cotton wool, 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. ::Es zuy mushkile kosa, tu fobisi mangusta, bikos jigyas jal in ta fon nos til kauda. Devisa de ol mangusta-ney familia es "Lopi e en-jan", e Rikki-Tikki es vere mangusta. Ta kan vata, desidi ke it bu es hao fo chi, lopi sirkum tabla, en-sidi e ordini mao, skrapi swa e ek-salti on syao-boy-ney plecha. “Don’t be frightened, Teddy,” said his father. “That’s his way of making friends.” ::"Bu fobi, Tedi", suy patra shwo. "Tak hi ta fai amigitaa". “Ouch! He’s tickling under my chin,” said Teddy. ::"Ai! Ta tikli sub chibuk", Tedi shwo. 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. :: Rikki-Tikki kan nich inter boy-ney kolar e galsa, snufi bli aur e klimbi nich a poda, wo ta en-sidi al froti nos. “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.” ::"May boh", Tedi-ney mata shwo, "savaje ku bestia? Shayad ta es tanto alif bikos nu bin karim a ta". “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.” ::"Oli mangusta es tal", suy mursha shwo."Si Tedi bu lifti ta bay kauda o trai pon ta inu kafsa, ta ve lopi aus dom e inu dom oltaim. Nu dai ba a ta koysa fo chi". 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. ::Li dai a ta un syao pes de kru masu. Rikki-Tikki pri it gro. Afte finchi it, ta go inu veranda, sidi in suryaluma e puhisi farwa fo mah-suhe it til harriza. Dan ta en-sta pyu hao. “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.” ::"In sey dom ye pyu kosa fo explori", ta shwo a swa, "kem ol may familia explori duran ol jiva. Me zaruu resti e explori". 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—” ::Ta mah-pasi ol toy dey al wandi tra dom. Ta hampi droni in banipen, pon suy nos inu tinta on skribitabla e ek-jal it kontra nok de gran-man-ney sigara, bikos ta klimbi uupar a genus de gran man fo kan komo oni skribi. Al fa-nocha ta lai-lopi inu Tedi-ney kindashamba fo kan komo kerosinlampa gei lumisi, e wen Tedi fai kama Rikki-Tikki klimbi inu kama toshi. Bat ta es noreposishil kompanion, bikos ta mus en-stan al kada shum-ki e atenti it e en-jan kwo ye. Tedi-ney mata e patra, bifoo go somni, lai fo kan li-ney boy, eto Rikki-Tikki jagi on kushen. "Me bu pri to", Tedi-ney mata shwo, "ta mog kusi kinda". "Ta bu ve zwo nul tal kosa", patra shwo, "Kun toy syao bestia Tedi es pyu anchun kem kun shukidoga fo wahti ta. Si serpenta lai inu shamba nau..." But Teddy’s mother wouldn’t think of anything so awful. ::Bat Tedi-ney mata bu yao dumi om enisa tanto horor-ney. 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. He sat on all their laps one after the other, because every well-brought-up mongoose always hopes to be a house mongoose some day 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. ::Ranem pa sabah Rikki-Tikki lai a sabahfan al raki on Tedi-ney plecha. Oni dai a ta banana e buli-ney ovo. Ta sidi on genus de oli, un afte otre, bikos kada mangusta do hao eduka nadi bikam dom-mangusta koydey e hev shambas fo lopi. Rikki-Tikki-ney mata (ela gwo jivi in dom de un general in Segoli) kuydi rakonti a Rikki, kwo treba zwo si ta enives miti blan jen. 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 thorn-bush. ::Poy Rikki-Tikki ausgo inu garden fo kan kwo ye fo kan. Es gran garden, sol haf-kultivi-ney. Dar ye bush de rosa "Marshal Niel", gran kom tinza, ye lima e oranja baum, bambumenga e densika de gao herba. Rikki-Tikki ek-lisi laba. "Es ya gro-hao shikarlok", ta shwo. Al sey duma suy kauda fa-botelabrashlik, e ta en-flai-lopi tra garden, snufi-yen hir e dar. Turan ta audi muy griva-ney voses in spikabush. It was Darzee, the Tailorbird, and his wife. They had made a beautiful nest by pulling two big leaves together and stitching them up the edges with fibers, and had filled the hollow with cotton and downy fluff. The nest swayed to and fro, as they sat on the rim and cried. ::To es Darzi, suterfaula, e suy molya. Li hev un jamile nesta: li he tuhuntiri dwa gran lif e tuhunsuti li bay fibrika, poy fulisi holika bay koton e puh. Nesta zai swingi ahir-adar, li zai sidi on borda e plaki. “What is the matter?” asked Rikki-tikki. ::- Kwo ye? - Rikki-Tikki kwesti. “We are very miserable,” said Darzee. “One of our babies fell out of the nest yesterday and Nag ate him.” ::- Gro-beda, - Darzi shwo. - Yeri un de nuy bebi lwo aus nesta e Nag chi ta. “H’m!” said Rikki-tikki, “that is very sad—but I am a stranger here. Who is Nag?” ::- Hm! - Rikki-Tikki shwo. - Es muy triste, bat me es gariba hir. Hu es 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. ::Darzi e suy molya ek-ahfi swa inu nesta sin jawabi, bikos aus dense herba nichen bush kyete hising lai. Sey horor-ney lenge suon mah Rikki salti bak pa fule dwa futa. Poy, incha afte incha, kapa e chaurifi-ney kapushon de gran swate kobra Nag fa-lifti aus herba. Ta es pet futa longe fon lisan a kaudanok. Afte lifti trifenka de swa sobre arda, ta begin swingi ahir-adar, kom fukiflor sub feng, ta kan Rikki bay serpenta-ney dusokos kel sempre resti same kwo unkwe serpenta dumi. “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!” ::- Hu es Nag? - ta shwo. - Me es Nag. Mahan Boh Brahma he marki kadawan de nuy jenmin afte ke un-ney kobra extendi suy kapushon dabe shirmi somni-she Brahma fon surya. Kan ba e fobi ba! 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. ::Ta extendi suy kapushon yoshi pyu, e Rikki-Tikki vidi un okula-marka pa it-ney baka. It ga simili halka de fixihuk. Rikki fobi duran un minuta, bat mangusta bu mog resti fobi fo longtaim. Obwol Rikki-Tikki nulves gwo miti jivi-she kobra bifooen, suy mata gwo mah-chi ta bay morta-ney-las, e ta jan ke zunsa de adulte mangusta es batali e chi serpenta. Nag jan se toshi, e pa glubitaa de suy lenge kordia ta fobi. “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?” ::- Wel, - Rikki-Tikki shwo al ke suy kauda en-puhifi snova, - marka ye o marka yok, ob yu dumi ke es raite tu chi faulakin aus nesta? 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. ::Nag zai dumi inen swa e kan-kan fo eni syao muva in herba baken Rikki-Tikki. Ta jan ke mangusta in garden maini morta fo ta e suy familia, ranem o tardem. Bat ta yao mah Rikki-Tikki dechauki. Also ta idyen mah-nise kapa e inklini it flanku. “Let us talk,” he said. “You eat eggs. Why should not I eat birds?” ::- Nu kunshwo ba, - ta shwo. - Yu chi ovo. Way me bu gai chi faula? “Behind you! Look behind you!” sang Darzee. ::- Baken yu! Kan baken yu! - Darzi gani. 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. 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. ::Bat Rikki-Tikki samaji ke fo kan bak taim yok. Tuy ta salti in aera tanto gao kom ta mog, e yus sub ta kapa de Nagaina, dushte molya de Nag, wisli-flai. Ela he kripi baken ta al ke ta zai kunshwo, fo finisi ta. Ta audi ela-ney savaje hisa al ke darba bu trefi. Ta lwo hampi on elay bey. Si ta wud bi lao mangusta, ta wud jan ke nau es taim fo rupti elay bey bay un kusa. Bat ta fobi horor-ney swipi-she bakdarba de kobra. Ta ek-kusi hi, bat bu basta longem, e salti wek fon elay swingi-she kauda, lyu-yen Nagaina wundi-ney e irisi-ney. “Wicked, wicked Darzee!” said Nag, lashing up as high as he could reach toward the nest in the thorn-bush. But Darzee had built it out of reach of snakes, and it only swayed to and fro. ::- Fuynik, fuynik Darzi, - Nag shwo al extendi swa uupar tanto gao kom ta mog fo ateni nesta in spikabush. Bat Darzi he bildi it ausen serpenta-ney ateni-mogsa, also it sol en-swingi ahir-adar. 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. ::Rikki-Tikki senti ke suy okos fa-rude e fa-garme (wen mangusta-ney okos fa-rude, ta es ira-ney). Ta en-sidi on kauda e bakpatas kom kanguruukin, kan sirkum e taratori por ira. Bat Nag e Nagaina he desapari inu herba. Wen serpenta darbi bu trefi, ta neva shwo enisa e neva dai eni indika om kwo ta yao zwo nau. Rikki-Tikki bu trai sekwi li, bikos ta bu es serte ke ta mog duyfu dwa serpenta pa un ves. Also ta troti a gravela-daokin bli dom, en-sidi e en-dumi. Ye seriose dela fo ta. 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, this 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. ::Si yu lekti lao kitaba om natura-vigyan, yu findi dar ke wen mangusta batali kontra serpenta e gei kusi, ta lopi wek e chi koy herba kel leki ta. Bu es raite. Jita fulem dependi fon kwaytaa de okos e kwaytaa de patas. Kobra-ney darba kontra mangusta-ney salta. Sikom nul oko mog sekwi muva de serpenta-ney kapa al ke ta darbi, dela es mucho pyu mirakla-ney kem eni magia-herba. Rikki-Tikki jan ke ta es yunge mangusta, tem pyu ta joi ke ta he duyfu eludi darba fon baken. Se dai a ta swa-sertitaa, e wen Tedi lai-lopi along daokin, Rikki-Tikki es yo tayar fo gei karesi. But just as Teddy was stooping, something wriggled 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. ::Bat yus al ke Tedi inklini, koysa torsi idyen in polva e vos-ki shwo: "Chauki! Me es morta!" To es Karait, bure-polvalik serpenta-ki kel pri lagi in polva; suy kusa es sam danjaful kom kobra-ney-la. Bat ta es tanto syao ke nulwan merki ta, also ta fai yoshi pyu nuksan a jenta. 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 his 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 gray head lashed within a fraction of his shoulder, and he had to jump over the body, and the head followed his heels close. ::Rikki-Tikki-ney okos fa-rude snova, ta lai-dansi a Karait bay toy osobe swingi-she muvimanera ke ta heredi fon suy familia. It es drole fo kan, bat it es perfektem balansi-ney e oni mog ek-salti a eni direksion ke oni yao. Es muhim al trati serpenta. Rikki-Tikki zai zwo kosa kel es mucho pyu danjaful kem batali kontra Nag. Karait es tanto syao e muvi tanto kway ke, si oni bu kusi ta bli kapabaka, oni gei piki inu oko o laba. Bat Rikki bu jan to. Suy okos es ga rude, e ta zai swingi al kan-shuki hao plasa fo kusi-teni. Karait ek-darbi. Rikki salti flanku, yao lai-lopi, bat dushte syao grey-polvalik kapa lai-flai ga bli suy plecha, e ta mus salti sirkum swa. Kapa sekwi ta-ney kabas ga bli. 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 forelegs, 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. ::Tedi krai versu dom: "Oo, kan ba! Nuy mangusta zai kili serpenta!" Rikki-Tikki audi skwila fon Tedi-ney mata. Patra auslopi kun stik, bat bifoo ke ta lai a loko, Karait fai un tro dale lansa, e Rikki-Tikki salti on serpenta-ney bey, mah-lwo kapa inter patas, kusi tanto uuparen bey kom ta mog e roli wek. Toy kusa paralisi Karait. Rikki-Tikki un-nem yao chi ta, begin-yen fon kauda (es chifan-ney abyas she mangusta), bat poy remembi ke fule chia mah oni lente, also fo kipi fortitaa e kwaytaa ta gai resti magre. 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. ::Ta go wek fo bani in polva sub ritsinbush, duran ke Tedi-ney patra bati morta-ney Karait. "Fo kwo zwo to?" - Rikki-Tikki dumi. - "Me he yo ladi olo". Dan Tedi-ney mata pren ta aus polva e embrasi-karesi, al krai ke ta he salvi Tedi fon morta. Poy Tedi-ney patra shwo ke ta es blage dona, e Tedi mah okos gran, in suy okos ye foba. Ol sey garbar idyen amusi Rikki-Tikki, obwol ta sertem bu samaji it-ney kausa. Samem Tedi-ney mata wud mog karesi Tedi por plei in polva. Rikki es ga santush. That night at dinner, walking to and fro among the wine-glasses on the table, he might 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!” ::Pa toy aksham, al akshamfan, promeni-yen on tabla miden vinoglasa, ta wud mog fulisi duza bay haoka tri ves. Bat ta remembi Nag e Nagaina. Obwol es muy priate tu gei embrasi-karesi bay Tedi-ney mata e tu sidi on Tedi-ney plecha, pa koy ves suy okos fa-rude e ta fai suy longe batalakraisa “Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-chik!” 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. ::Tedi pren ta kunem inu kama e insisti ke Rikki-Tikki somni bli suy sina. Rikki-Tikki es latif, ta bu kusi o skrapi, bat tuy ke Tedi en-somni ta chu kama e go promeni tra dom. In tumitaa ta miti Chuchundra, miskarata kel zai kripi bli mur. Chuchundra es nofelise bestia-ki. Ta krai-ki e pipi duran ol nocha, yao osi lopi a mida de shamba, bat nulves osi. [[Category:Fabula]]

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