Pick Out at least five figurative language from the poem below.

Excerpt adapted from

“Rikki-tikki-tavi”

by Rudyard Kipling

 

 

1 Rikki-tikki-tavi was a

mongoose, rather like a little

cat in his fur and his tail, but

quite like a weasel in his head

and his habits.

2 One day, a flood washed

Rikki-tikki out of the burrow

where he lived with his

family, and carried him away.

He found a floating wisp of grass, and clung to

it till he lost his senses. When he revived, he was

lying in the hot sun on the middle of a garden

path, very bedraggled indeed, and a small boy

and his mother were standing over him.

3 “Let’s take him in and dry him,” said the mother.

4 They took him into the house, and wrapped him

in a cloth, and warmed him over a little fire, and

he opened his eyes and sneezed.

5 “Now,” said the father, “don’t frighten him, and

we’ll see what he’ll do.”

6 It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a

mongoose, because he is eaten up from nose to

tail with curiosity. The motto of all the mongoose

family is “Run and find out,” and Rikki-tikki was

a true mongoose. He looked at the cloth, decided

that it was not good to eat, ran all round the

table, sat up and put his fur in order, scratched

himself, and jumped on the small boy’s shoulder.

7 “Don’t be frightened, Teddy,” said his father.

“That’s his way of making friends.”

8 “Ouch! He’s tickling under my chin,” said Teddy.

9 Rikki-tikki looked down between the boy’s collar

and neck, snuffed at his ear, and climbed down to

the floor, where he sat rubbing his nose.

10 “Good gracious,” said Teddy’s mother, “and that’s

a wild creature! I suppose he’s so tame because

we’ve been kind to him.”

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