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Tikki Tikki Tembo is a retelling of an old Chinese folktale written by Arlene Mosel and illustrated by Blair Lent. The story is about a family with two sons, in which the first-born and honoured son gets a long name, and the other son gets a short name (by tradition). Questions have arisen as to the origins and validity of the story, as this retelling (and others) come severely wrong in some aspects of Chinese culture. The first born son's full name is Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo which, according to the story, means "the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world" but is actually just gibberish. The second son's name is Chang which means "little or nothing" in the story, but not in actual Chinese. Also, the idea that first-born sons used to get long names, and other children hardly any, is not an accurate portrayal of the culture. Some suggest it is actually a take-off on a Japanese story, but still does not accurately reflect the culture. Blair Lent (January 20, 1930-) is an American author and illustrator of mostly Chinese-themed books. ...

It's a book aimed at school children from Kindergarten to Grade 2 For other uses, see Kindergarten (disambiguation). ... Second grade is a year of education in the United States and other countries two years after kindergarten, (usually 7-8 years old and a part of elementary school. ...

Other versions of the name are: Rikki tikki instead of Tikki tikki (not to be confused with Rikki-Tikki-Tavi) and Nikki Nikki Tembo-No So Rembo-Oo Ma Moochi-Gamma Gamma Goochi. All of these names are nonsense in Chinese. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi book cover Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is a short story in The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling about the adventures of a valiant young mongoose. ...

The Story

Once upon a time there was a family that lived in China. Their first child's name was Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo. His name meant everything wonderful in Chinese. Their second child's name was Chang, which meant little or nothing.

One day the two brothers were playing by the well. Chang fell into the well. Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo ran to tell his mother. "Mother, help! Chang has fallen into the well!"

"Oh no!" cried Mother! "We have to save him!"

They ran to the well and put a long ladder down the well. Mother and Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo climb down the ladder to save Chang.

The next day, Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo and Chang were playing by the well again. Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo leaned over the well too far and he fell in. Chang ran to get Mother.

"Mother, help! Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo..." By the time he said the long name, Chang was so out of breath he could not talk anymore. He tried again. "Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi..." He was even more out of breath this time. He took a deep breath and said "Tikki tikki tembo... no sa rembo chari bari... ruchi pip peri... pembo fell... into the... well!"

"Oh no!" cried Mother. They ran to the well and got the long ladder to put down the well. Mother and Chang climbed down the ladder and pulled Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo out of the well. But it took so long to get help that Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo had already drowned!

From then on, Chinese parents have always given their children short names.

A story found in 1967 by a now-retired librarian from the Long Beach Public Library has the version with a longer name for Tikki Tikki Tembo. It is Tiki Tiki Tembo No Sa Rembo Hari Bari Ruchi Ip Peri Pendo Kiki Pom Pom Michi Me No Amo Dom Bo Rico. This version is from before 1967. She stated because it is a folktale, the origin is probably not known.

External links

• Discussion of the validity of the story.
• MP3 of original Paul Wing version of the story
• Transcription of Paul Wing Nikki nikki version
• Video of Tikki tikki version