"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" is a short story originally published in 1894 by Rudyard Kipling. It tells the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (named for the noise he makes) a mongoose who protects a British family living in India from two cobras, Nag and Nagaina, living in the garden. ( )

The great war between eternal foes, Mongoose and Serpent. Much like his other Jungle Book tales, Kipling adroitly straddles the fine line between beast and man to deliver a marvelous rendition of nature underscoring its beauty as well as parallel brutality. ( )

A 19th-century English family discovers a young mongoose half drowned from a flood. They revive it and decide to keep it as a pet.

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The Classic tale of a mongoose pitted against the cobras and welcomed among his human family for it. Set culturally and language wise in the late 1800s, and the ruling classes during the occupation of the British Empire, it may be a little 'dated' but it's a perfect short story of the animal underdog winning the day. ( )