Rikki-Tikki-Tavi quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary genres best describe "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"?

   • Historical Fiction & Romance
   • Romanticism & Pastoral
   • Naturalism & Realism
   • Correct answer: Adventure Fiction & Fable
   • Gothic Horror & Mystery

   Adventure Fiction & Fable is exactly right. The story is a fast-paced adventure with escalating conflicts and mortal danger. It is also a fable: every animal has a distinct personality that embodies a moral quality (courage, cowardice, cunning, loyalty), and the story teaches a clear lesson about duty and bravery.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Which description best captures Rikki-tikki's character?

   • Correct answer: A courageous and curious mongoose driven by duty to protect his family
   • A calculating predator who hunts Nag and Nagaina for sport and adventure
   • A timid creature reluctantly forced by Teddy's family to confront the cobras
   • A tame pet mongoose who stays indoors and lets the family protect him

   Rikki-tikki's mongoose motto is "Run and find out" — he is defined by fearless curiosity and a deep sense of duty to the family that adopted him. He fights not for glory but because protecting them is his responsibility.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Which snake does Rikki-tikki kill first in the story?

   • Chuchundra, the musk-rat
   • Correct answer: Karait, a small brown snake
   • Nagaina, the cobra on the veranda
   • Nag, the five-foot black cobra

   Rikki-tikki kills Karait, a small but venomous dusty-brown snake, to save Teddy — his first true test as the family's protector.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does "Cantonment" mean in this story?

   • A rural farming village on the edge of the jungle
   • A walled city belonging to a local Indian ruler
   • Correct answer: A permanent military garrison or station
   • A large trading port where goods are exchanged

   The story is set in "Segowlee cantonment" — a permanent British military station in colonial India. Cantonments were established communities housing soldiers and their families.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What is the central theme of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"?

   • Trust between humans and animals creates unbreakable bonds
   • Nature is indifferent to human survival and must be conquered
   • Correct answer: Courage and duty triumph over fear and self-preservation
   • Intelligence and clever planning always defeat physical strength

   The story's core theme is courage in the face of mortal danger. Rikki-tikki faces enemies far larger and more deadly than himself because protecting the family is his duty. He doesn't fight for glory — he fights because it must be done.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What do the cobras and the mongoose symbolize in the story?

   • The intelligence of snakes compared to the impulsiveness of mammals
   • Correct answer: The cobras represent destructive evil; Rikki-tikki represents selfless courage
   • The conflict between wild animals and the domestic pets of colonizers
   • The natural world's indifference to human civilization and its comforts

   Nag and Nagaina embody calculating, murderous evil — they plot to kill innocents in cold blood. Rikki-tikki embodies selfless courage and loyalty. The story uses animals to dramatize a timeless struggle between destructive forces and those who protect the innocent.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What role does Chuchundra the musk-rat play in the story?

   • Correct answer: A frightened creature who represents cowardice and self-interest
   • A wise elder who coaches Rikki-tikki on how to defeat the cobras
   • A brave ally who helps Rikki-tikki fight Nag and Nagaina
   • An informant who reveals the cobras' secret plans to the mongoose

   Chuchundra is the story's symbol of cowardice. He weeps in the corners, too afraid to go near the wall, but selfishly passes on information about the cobras while denying he said anything. He is a direct contrast to Rikki-tikki's fearless courage.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How many eggs does Nagaina have in her nest?

   • Twenty-four
   • Forty
   • Seven
   • Correct answer: Twenty-five

   Nagaina has twenty-five eggs on the verge of hatching in the melon bed — each one a future cobra threat to the garden and the family.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Why does Nag hide in the bathroom at night?

   • He waits to bite the sweeper who throws dead snakes on the rubbish heap
   • He wants to kill Rikki-tikki in the bathroom before Nagaina's eggs can hatch
   • He is hunting for Chuchundra, who creeps round the house by the wall
   • Correct answer: He plans to kill Teddy's father so the family will flee the bungalow

   Nag and Nagaina plan to kill the big man (Teddy's father) so the family will leave the bungalow, clearing it for Nagaina's hatchlings. Nag waits by the water jar to strike when the man comes in the morning.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which literary device is most prominent throughout "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"?

    • Allegory — using one narrative as a systematic symbol for another
    • Correct answer: Anthropomorphism — giving human qualities and speech to animals
    • Pathetic fallacy — using weather to reflect a character's emotions
    • Stream of consciousness — presenting a character's unfiltered inner thoughts

    Anthropomorphism is the story's defining device. Every animal — from Rikki-tikki's heroic determination to Chuchundra's pathetic cowardice to Darzee's vain foolishness — speaks, reasons, and embodies distinct human personality traits. This is what makes the story a fable as well as an adventure.

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11. 11

    Question 11. How does Kipling characterize Darzee the tailorbird?

    • Correct answer: A well-meaning but scatterbrained bird whose wife proves far more practical
    • A brave and practical partner whose broken-wing trick lures Nagaina from her eggs
    • A fierce and loyal soldier who attacks Nagaina on the veranda beside Teddy
    • A noisy and faithful town-crier whose ding-dong song announces that Nag is dead

    Darzee is good-hearted but foolish — he sings premature victory songs and is useless in a crisis. His wife, by contrast, is the story's unsung hero: she fakes a broken wing to lure Nagaina away from her eggs, creating the critical diversion that lets Rikki-tikki destroy the nest.

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12. 12

    Question 12. How does Kipling foreshadow the story's deadly conflict?

    • By describing the garden as dark and dangerous from the first scene
    • By having Chuchundra warn Rikki-tikki that cobras will attack at night
    • Correct answer: Through the opening poem, which states "This shall end when one is dead"
    • By showing the cobra attack on Teddy in an early dream sequence

    The opening poem directly foreshadows the life-or-death stakes: "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!'" The final line, "This shall end when one is dead," tells the reader before the story begins that the conflict can only end in death.

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13. 13

    Question 13. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • Rikki-tikki is washed out of his burrow by a flood and found by Teddy's family.

      Happened

      A summer flood washes Rikki-tikki into the family's garden, where Teddy's mother thinks he is dead and they revive him.

    • Nag is described as a five-foot-long black cobra.

      Happened

      Nag is introduced as a five-foot cobra — large enough that Rikki-tikki momentarily doubts himself when he sees the snake's full size in the bathroom.

    • Rikki-tikki kills Nag by biting him in the garden during the day.

      Didn't happen

      Rikki-tikki kills Nag at night in the bathroom — he bites the snake behind the hood and holds on despite being shaken violently until the big man's gun finishes the job.

    • Darzee's wife distracts Nagaina by pretending to have a broken wing.

      Happened

      While Darzee sings uselessly, his wife creates a vital diversion — feigning a broken wing to lure Nagaina away from the melon bed while Rikki-tikki destroys her eggs.

    • Nag claims the god Brahm placed his mark on all cobras.

      Happened

      Nag proudly declares "The great God Brahm put his mark upon all our people" — referring to the spectacle-mark on a cobra's hood — as a way to demand fear and respect.

    • Nagaina threatens to bite Rikki-tikki while he sleeps in Teddy's room.

      Didn't happen

      Nagaina threatens Teddy directly at the breakfast table on the veranda — holding her hood close to the boy's face to force the family to stay still while she confronts them.

    • Rikki-tikki follows Nagaina underground into her hole.

      Happened

      In the story's climax, Rikki-tikki drags Nagaina's last egg to her hole to lure her back, then follows her underground — something no other mongoose would dare. He emerges victorious.

    • The story is set in Segowlee cantonment in British colonial India.

      Happened

      The setting is a British military cantonment in India — a key detail that places the story in its colonial context.

    • Chuchundra tells Rikki-tikki to go back to sleep and not worry about snakes.

      Didn't happen

      Chuchundra cries and passes on fearful hints about danger moving through the garden, but insists "I mustn't tell you anything" — he is too cowardly to give clear help.

    • "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" was first collected in The Jungle Book (1894).

      Happened

      The story was first published in magazines in 1893 and then collected in The Jungle Book in 1894, alongside the Mowgli stories.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What is the central conflict of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"?

    • A territory dispute between the mongoose and the cobras over hunting rights in the bungalow
    • An internal struggle as Rikki-tikki decides whether to remain a wild animal or become a house pet
    • A conflict between the British family and the dangerous wildlife of colonial India
    • Correct answer: A life-or-death struggle between Rikki-tikki and the cobras for control of the garden and the family's survival

    The central conflict is existential: Nag and Nagaina plan to murder the human family so their hatchlings can take over the garden unchallenged. Rikki-tikki stands between the cobras and the family's survival — a straightforward but genuinely life-or-death struggle.

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15. 15

    Question 15. What moral does the story teach through Rikki-tikki's contrast with Darzee?

    • Cunning and deception are the most valuable tools when facing a stronger enemy
    • Natural instincts are always more reliable than careful planning and strategy
    • Correct answer: Courage and determined action — not empty celebration — are what protect those we love
    • Loyalty to one's own species matters more than loyalty to adopted companions

    Kipling deliberately contrasts Rikki-tikki's relentless, focused action with Darzee's habit of singing premature victory songs. Rikki-tikki never celebrates until every threat is eliminated. The moral: courage means acting completely, not stopping when the situation looks favourable.

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