Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

by

Rudyard Kipling

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Darzee’s Wife Character Analysis

The partner of the tailorbird Darzee, she proves less foolish than her husband. Kipling even calls her “a sensible bird,” and she provides Rikki-tikki with valuable assistance in his final battle against Nagaina. When Rikki-tikki wishes aloud that Darzee would distract Nagaina so that he could destroy the eggs in her nest, Darzee’s wife, who “knew that cobra’s eggs meant young cobras later on,” takes up the task that her husband won’t, and provides the needed distraction by feigning an injury to her wing.

Darzee’s Wife Quotes in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

The Rikki-Tikki-Tavi quotes below are all either spoken by Darzee’s Wife or refer to Darzee’s Wife. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Man and the Natural World Theme Icon
).
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Quotes

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.

Related Characters: Rikki-tikki-tavi, Nag, Nagaina, Darzee , Darzee’s Wife
Explanation and Analysis:

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.”

Related Characters: Rikki-tikki-tavi (speaker), Nagaina, Darzee’s Wife
Related Symbols: The Cobra Hole
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Rikki-Tikki-Tavi LitChart as a printable PDF.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi PDF

Darzee’s Wife Quotes in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

The Rikki-Tikki-Tavi quotes below are all either spoken by Darzee’s Wife or refer to Darzee’s Wife. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Man and the Natural World Theme Icon
).
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Quotes

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.

Related Characters: Rikki-tikki-tavi, Nag, Nagaina, Darzee , Darzee’s Wife
Explanation and Analysis:

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.”

Related Characters: Rikki-tikki-tavi (speaker), Nagaina, Darzee’s Wife
Related Symbols: The Cobra Hole
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis: