# Rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915 "2000-01-19T19:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Flypsyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Flypsyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flypsyde)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/1 "2000-01-19T19:34:00Z")
…just wanted to run this up the flagpole and see who (besides Max, Aura and elelle) saluted. Any other Dopers remember this story? I think it was a film or an audio tape, as I remember the narrator always following up the name with “…has fallen into the well!” Wow. Mundane and pointless as all get out. * * * He weathered a firestorm of agony and did not break. And while Yori raged against his unbending courage, we took Kyuden Hiruma back. His loss is great, but so is the gift his suffering brought. -_Yakamo’s Funeral_ ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/2 "2000-01-19T19:44:00Z")
very, VERY vaguely. I remeber 1st grade class and the teacher reading us this book…but nothing about the plot, characters, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Nekosoft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c2a13f/32.png) [@Nekosoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nekosoft)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/3 "2000-01-19T19:52:00Z")
…has fallen in the well! If I remember, the first child to be born into a family has a long, glorious name and the second child is simply named “Po”. One day they’re playing and Rikkitikki- falls into a well, and Po rushes back to their parents to tell them, but by the time he gets there he’s so out of breath he can barely say Rikki’s name, let alone the fact that he’s fallen in the well. Eventually Rik gets rescued and everyone realizes that the honor of being the first-born isn’t always an advantage. ## This was my brother’s favorite story. My younger brother, obviously. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/4 "2000-01-19T20:20:00Z")
ya know, Flypo, I’m working on a 13" monitor here. 😛 * * * If your head is wax, don’t walk in the sun. -Benjamin Franklin ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/5 "2000-01-19T20:49:00Z")
Psycat…don’t complain. Just wait until Flyp starts a thread in which he is very obviously very interested. Then post about 250 hyphens to break segments of your reasonable response to the post. Then pretend it was accidental. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sylence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Sylence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylence)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/6 "2000-01-19T21:10:00Z")
I remember buying this book for my seven-year-old cousin. Neko has the plot down pretty well-- in China the tradition is to give the oldest son a really long flowery name and all the other children short names. So we have two children, Po and Rikkitikkitembonosarembocharibariruchipipperipembo (that’s how I remember the name, no clue how the book really spelled it). They go out one day and Rikki falls in a well. Po runs for help, but by the time he reaches Old Man With A Ladder he’s so out of breath he can’t say his brother’s name (tradition said you have to use the whole name-- if I remember right). Finally he gives up and says “Rikki fell in the well”, the old man with the ladder goes to save him, and the tradition of using long names is given up. – Sylence * * * I don’t have an evil side. Just a really, really apathetic one. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/7 "2000-01-19T21:19:00Z")
The book is still in print and available. Just do a search on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). Of course, you’ll have to spell the kid’s name right. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/8 "2000-01-19T21:28:00Z")
## _Thats_ the story I’ve been trying to remember. I have the name run through my head, but every time I ask someone about it they confuse it with “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”. That, or the 3 chinese brothers with the weird talents. (Drink the sea, etc…) [http://www.madpoet.com](http://www.madpoet.com) Computers have let mankind make mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/9 "2000-01-19T21:31:00Z")
SEVEN Chinese brothers. ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/10 "2000-01-19T21:56:00Z")
I thought it was five Chinese brothers. And I thought that Rikki-tikki-tembo-no-sa-rembo-yadda-yadda-rama-lama-ding-dong was Japanese. * * * An infinite number of rednecks in an infinite number of pickup trucks shooting an infinite number of shotguns at an infinite number of road signs will eventually produce all the world’s great works of literature in Braille. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/11 "2000-01-19T22:00:00Z")
No, seven…the first could swallow the sea. The second had an iron neck. The third could stretch and stretch and stretch his legs. The fourth could not be burnt. The fifth could hold his breath indefinitely. The sixth was Prancer, and the Seventh was Bashful. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/12 "2000-01-19T22:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Ukulele Ike: > The book is still in print and available. Just do a search on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). > > Of course, you’ll have to spell the kid’s name right. Is this the book discussed in this thread? I’ve never heard the story but would like to buy it for my niece. [Tikki tikki tembo](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805011668/o/qid=948318752/sr=2-1/103-5646815-2555016) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/13 "2000-01-19T22:05:00Z")
Here’s an Amazon link: [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0590420577/qid=948318728/sr=1-1/103-6026377-2747868](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0590420577/qid=948318728/sr=1-1/103-6026377-2747868) Looks like the original, classic children’s version DID have five brothers, and the politically correct remake upped it to seven…I assume both are based on the same folk tale, though, and I have no idea how many sibs were involved in that one. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/14 "2000-01-19T22:06:00Z")
AW: Yes, that’s the one! ---
**Author:** ![Flypsyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Flypsyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flypsyde)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/15 "2000-01-19T22:06:00Z")
Yep, Arnold, that sure sounds like the book. * * * He weathered a firestorm of agony and did not break. And while Yori raged against his unbending courage, we took Kyuden Hiruma back. His loss is great, but so is the gift his suffering brought. -_Yakamo’s Funeral_ ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/16 "2000-01-19T22:25:00Z")
Psy, I’m with you. At first I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with my screen, then I saw this thread. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/17 "2000-01-19T22:41:00Z")
I dont know what the hell the op is talking about. Thanks for fucking up the screen though…it breaks up my week in a really special way. * * * I’m not smiling at you…I have gas. ---
**Author:** ![kawliga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@kawliga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kawliga)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/18 "2000-01-19T22:42:00Z")
I had a Disney recording of the story when I was a lad. The name, however, was slightly different: Nikkinikkitembonosarimbo-umamuchigamagamaguchi. Most people called him “Long-name-no-can-say.” ---
**Author:** ![Flypsyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Flypsyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flypsyde)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/19 "2000-01-19T22:59:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Thanks for fucking up the screen though…it breaks up my week in a really special way. No problem. Least I could fucking do. * * * He weathered a firestorm of agony and did not break. And while Yori raged against his unbending courage, we took Kyuden Hiruma back. His loss is great, but so is the gift his suffering brought. -_Yakamo’s Funeral_ ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915/20 "2000-01-19T23:03:00Z")
This is so weird. I was standing in my kitchen the other day, thinking of stuff, and all of a sudden that name popped into my head. This was about 2 days ago. Then I get on the board today, and there it is. Right on my screen. :::insert Twilight Zone theme here::: Anyway, I know the story, but I heard it told with two different names. Rikkitikkitembonosarembohodibodiboscoichanonnoanontonaronacondo, and Stikkistikkistumbonosarumbohodibodi(all the rest is the same). Anyway, it’s a good story. * * * “The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his ribcage.” --anonymous redhead [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rikkitikkitimbonasarimbocherriberriruchipitperipimbo/12915.md?page=2)