What was the first struggle the young mongoose had to deal with?

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi arrives at the bungalow in Segowlee cantonment after a heavy rain has washed him away from his home. Although the little boy, Teddy, thinks he is dead, he revives quickly and gets to know the family and the house. The next day, he makes his way into the garden and begins to hear about Nag, the cobra who is terrorizing the tailorbirds. Although Rikki has never battled a snake before because he is so...

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi arrives at the bungalow in Segowlee cantonment after a heavy rain has washed him away from his home. Although the little boy, Teddy, thinks he is dead, he revives quickly and gets to know the family and the house. The next day, he makes his way into the garden and begins to hear about Nag, the cobra who is terrorizing the tailorbirds. Although Rikki has never battled a snake before because he is so young, he has innate snake-fighting abilities. Nag knows this and wants to make a speedy end of the mongoose. Engaging Rikki in conversation, Nag hopes to keep him distracted so that Nagaina, the female cobra, can strike him from behind. The tailorbird sings out a warning, and Rikki jumps away just in time: "he heard her savage hiss as the stroke missed." Rikki jumps so high that he comes down right on the cobra's back, and he could have killed her right then if he had been more experienced. He bites her, but doesn't hold the bite long enough. He manages to injure Nagaina and make her angry. Rikki begins to make his mongoose chatter that sounds like "Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!" But his first struggle ends there, with Nag and Nagaina making their way into the long grass of the garden. Not being confident of his ability to take on two large cobras at once, Rikki does not follow them, despite his rage.