英语博客：Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

　　This tale is of a brave mongoose, named Rikki-tikki-tavi, and his great fight to help a family that saved him. It all took place in the far-off land of India. It began on the first sunny day after many days of darkenss and rain. A young English boy, Teddy, went outside to explore. There he found a mongoose in the road. A mongoose is a small animal, a bit like a cat and a bit like a weasel. This mongoose, Rikki-tikki, had thick hair and a bushy tail that made him look like a cat. His skinny head and the way he moved his feet were just like a weasel. His wiggly nose and eyes were pink. But when he got mad, his eyes turned deep, deep red. A big summer flood had washed Rikki-tikki out of the hole where he lived. The water carried him along and dumped¹ him in a ditch² just outside Teddy's house. This was how Teddy found him. "Look, Mummy, a dead mongoose," Teddy said as he carried Rikki-tikki inside. "Let's have a funeral." "No Teddy," said his mother. "Maybe he's just wet. whey don't we dry him off?" Teddy's father wrapped the animal in a towel to warm him up. The towel tickled³ Rikki-tikki's little pink nose. The mongoose sneezed and then looked around. Rikki-tikki was very curious. Rikki-tikki ran up to Teddy and rubbed his wet head under the boy's chin. "Hey, that tickles," Teddy cried. "He wants to be your friend," Teddy's father laughed. "Wow, how amazing," said Teddy's mother. "He's a wild animal. I guess he's so tame⁴ because we've been kind to him." "As long as we don't pick him up by the tail, or put him in a cage," said Teddy's father, "he'll be happy here." Then Rikki-tikki spent the whole day running through Teddy's house making himself at home. At bedtime, he climbed up into bed right next to Teddy. The next morning Rikki-tikki went out into the garden. It was a large yard with rosebushes and plenty of tall grass. Rikki-tikki heard a sad song coming from the trees. He looked up and saw Darzee, the songbird. One of her eggs had fallen out of her nest and a snake had eaten it. "Those snakes, Nag⁵ and Nagaina, are evil," Darzee cried. The snakes were cobras, some of the biggest, deadliest snakes around. "I'm sorry," said Rikki-tikki, "but I am new here. Who is Nag?" Just then, a big snake slithered up through the tall grass. It hissed⁶ a low breath that was harsh⁷ like steam from a radiator⁸. Rikki-tikki was so scared by the sound that he jumped two feet.

1 dumped   

adj.废弃的v.倾倒( dump的过去式和过去分词 )；丢下；随便堆放；释放

参考例句：

• Too much toxic waste is being dumped at sea. 太多的有毒废料在向大海里倾倒。
• They dumped his belongings unceremoniously on the floor. 他们粗暴地把他的物品摔到地板上。

2 ditch   

n.沟，沟渠，渠道

参考例句：

• With the blind leading the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.如果瞎子替瞎子带路的话，那么两方肯定会掉到沟里。
• The water in the ditch is not very clean.沟里的水不很清洁。

3 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

4 tame   

adj.驯服的，柔顺的，乏味的；v.驯养，使...驯服

参考例句：

• His job is to tame lions.他的工作是驯狮。
• He is so tame that he agrees with everybody.他很随和，总是顺从他人的意见。

5 nag   

v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人

参考例句：

• Nobody likes to work with a nag.谁也不愿与好唠叨的人一起共事。
• Don't nag me like an old woman.别像个老太婆似的唠唠叨叨烦我。

6 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

7 harsh   

adj.严厉（酷）的，刺耳的，刺目的，毛糙的

参考例句：

• The sunlight is very harsh.太阳光很刺眼。
• Although his words are harsh,there is positiveness in them.虽然他的话很苛刻，但有建设性。

8 radiator   

n.暖气片，散热器

参考例句：

• The two ends of the pipeline are connected with the radiator.管道的两端与暖气片相连接。
• Top up the radiator before making a long journey.在长途旅行前加满散热器。