- The narrator jumpstarts things by telling the reader that this story will be about Rikki-tikki-tavi, mongoose extraordinaire.
- Said story begins one day during a high summer flood. Rikki-tikki is washed away from his parents and almost drowns.
- When he comes to, he's wrapped in a warm cotton blanket and surrounded by his saviors, a British family living in India.
- You'd think this would be like alien abduction for any small animal, but Rikki-tikki isn't scared at all. In fact, the narrator informs us that a mongoose's natural curiosity prevents it from being afraid (so there).
- Rikki-tikki goes exploring. His shenanigans include climbing all over the British child, Teddy, nearly drowning in the bathtubs, and soaking his nose in writing ink.
- Silly mongoose.
- That night, Rikki-tikki sleeps with Teddy. Teddy's mother worries about the wild animal sleeping so close to her boy. And, uh, we're kind of with her.
- The father says pish-posh to such a worry. (He is British, after all.) After all, if a snake were to come into the room, there would be no better companion than a mongoose. The mother won't think of anything so awful, regardless of how obviously foreshadowing it might be.